So Richard Justice has a good blog post today about how the Roy/Lance trades went down last July, but he had an interesting little comment about not rebuilding, and dropped some history on us:
'You're always in some state of transition,. I'm sure the '28 Yankees were a little bit different than the '27 Yankees. That's just reality."
Is he right? (And hell and yes we're reaching on this post, it's just that it's gloomy out, and I need a break)
The '27 Yankees could pretty easily be listed as the Greatest Team of All Time, going 110-44, 114-44 if you count the World Series sweep, scored 975 runs (a +376 run differential), and were 31 games ahead of their nearest competitor.
The '28 Yankees went 101-53, won the AL, swept the World Series. But outscored their opponents by "just" 209 runs.
As a team, the '27 Yankees hit .307/.384/.488 and finished 1st in the AL in every category but doubles (2nd) and stolen bases (4th). The team ERA was 3.20, and 5th starter George Pipgras was 10-3. Herb Pennock led the team with eight losses, but a 3.00 ERA, and 19 wins.
The '28 Yankees hit .295/.365/.450 as a team, finishing 5th in doubles, 3rd in triples, and 7th in stolen bases. The pitching staff had a team 3.74 ERA, and a 102 ERA+.
So, yeah, there was a little bit of a difference between the '27 and '28 Yankees. But the '28 Yankees swept the Cardinals in the World Series. I could handle that kind of "drop-off."
(This post was brought to you by Hyrdrocodone)
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
