Title given to the 1927
New York Yankees lineup, widely considered one of the best
baseball offenses of all-time, featuring
Babe Ruth and
Lou Gehrig in their primes.
The 1927 Yankees went an impressive 110-44, before sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series.
As a team the Yanks hit 158 home runs, which isn't alot until you consider that the next highest total in the American League had a mere 56 (Philadelphia A's). In fact, Ruth's 60 homers were more than any TEAM in the AL. Gehrig hit 47. Yankees second baseman Tony Lazzeri hit "only" 18 home runs, which was good for 3rd in the league (and the team).
Outfielder Earle Combs hit only 6 homers, but led the league in hits (231) and triples (23).
Ruth, Gehrig, and Combs were the top 3 in the league in runs scored.
The Yankees hit a league-leading .307 as a team, and scored 6.29 runs per game (next was the A's with only 5.43).
The lineup was fairly constant, with 7 of the 8 starters playing in over 110 games.
"Murderer's Row" was composed of C Pat Collins, 1B Lou Gehrig, 2B Tony Lazzeri, SS Mark Koenig, 3B Joe Dugan, and OFs Babe Ruth, Earle Combs, and Bob Meusel. Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri, and Combs were all future members of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
While the team was known for its hitting, its pitching was tremendous as well. The pitching staff compiled a league-leading 3.20 ERA (Chicago White Sox were a distant second with 3.91).
The 1927 New York Yankees are one of the most historical teams in all of American sport. Their lineup dominated their competition in a way that perhaps has never been duplicated.
Source: baseball-reference.com (for statistics info)