Murderers' Row

Murderers’ Row was the nickname given to the New York Yankees baseball team of the late 1920s, widely considered one of the best teams in history. The nickname is in particular describing the first six hitters in the 1927 team lineup: Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel, and Tony Lazzeri.

Original "Murderers' Row"

The term was originally coined in 1918 by a sportswriter to describe the pre-Babe Ruth Yankee lineup of 1918. A 1918 newspaper article described it: "New York fans have come to know a section of the Yankees' batting order as 'murderers' row.' It is composed of the first six players in the batting order—Gilhooley, Peckinpaugh, Baker, Pratt, Pipp, and Bodie. This sextet has been hammering the offerings of all comers."^[1]

1927 Yankees

The term was initially associated with the beginning of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig Yankee teams in the mid-1920s, and is commonly recognized to refer specifically to the core of the 1927 Yankee hitting lineup.

Owner Jacob Ruppert is the man most often credited with building the team, although general manager Ed Barrow may have had as much to do with it. In a game of a July series against the Washington Senators, the Yankees beat their opponents 21–1, and prompted Senators' first baseman Joe Judge to say, "Those fellows not only beat you but they tear your heart out. I wish the season was over."^[2]

Season results

The 1927 season was particularly spectacular by baseball standards for the Yankees. After losing in the 1926 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, they went 110–44 the next year, winning the A.L. pennant by 19 games and sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1927 World Series. Only four teams have won more regular season games: the 1906 Chicago Cubs and the 2001 Seattle Mariners with 116, the 1998 Yankees with 114 and the 1954 Cleveland Indians with 111. However, the 1998 Yankees and 2001 Mariners played in 162-game schedules. Both the Cubs and the Indians lost in the World Series, while the Mariners lost to the Yankees in 2001 ALCS. The 1998 Yankees went 11–2 in the playoffs, sweeping the San Diego Padres in the World Series.

The 1927 Yankees batted .307, slugged .489, scored 975 runs, and outscored their opponents by a record 376 runs. Center fielder Earle Combs had a career best year, batting .356 with 231 hits, left fielder Bob Meusel batted .337 with 103 RBIs, and second baseman Tony Lazzeri drove in 102 runs. Gehrig batted .373, with 218 hits, 52 doubles, 18 triples, 47 home runs, a then record 175 RBIs, slugged at .765, and was voted A.L. MVP. Ruth amassed a .356 batting average, 164 RBIs, 158 runs scored, walked 137 times, and slugged .772. Most notably, his 60 home runs that year broke his own record and remained the Major League mark for 34 years until Roger Maris broke it by one with 61; however, just like the 1998 Yankees and 2001 Mariners, this was done in a 162-game schedule, a fact that Commissioner Ford Frick wanted noted when the single-season home run record was to be referenced.^[3] The pitching staff led the league in ERA at 3.20, and included Waite Hoyt, who went 22–7, which tied for the league lead, and Herb Pennock, who went 19–8. Wilcy Moore won 16 as a reliever. The 1927 Yankees would eventually send six players along with manager Miller Huggins and president Ed Barrow to the Baseball Hall of Fame; only the 1928 Yankees had more with 9 players along with Huggins and Barrow. Three other Yankee pitchers had ERAs under 3.00 that season. After sweeping the Pirates in the Series, the Yankees repeated the feat by sweeping the Cardinals in the 1928 World Series. The Yankees remain the only team to ever sweep the World Series in consecutive years; the Yankee teams of 1938–1939 and 1998–1999 repeated the feat.

Roster

Key

	Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
#	Position in the lineup
AB	At-bats
H	Hits
BA	Batting average
OBP	On-base percentage
SLG	Slugging percentage
HR	Home runs
RBI	Runs batted in

Starting lineup

#	Player	Position	Games	AB	H	BA	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI
1	Combs, EarleEarle Combs	CF	152	648	231	.356	.414	.511	6	64
2	Koenig, MarkMark Koenig	SS	123	526	150	.285	.320	.382	3	62
3	Ruth, BabeBabe Ruth	RF	151	540	192	.356	.486	.772	60	164
4	Gehrig, LouLou Gehrig	1B	155	584	218	.373	.474	.765	47	175
5	Meusel, BobBob Meusel	LF	135	516	174	.337	.393	.510	8	103
6	Lazzeri, TonyTony Lazzeri	2B	153	570	176	.309	.383	.482	18	102
7	Dugan, JoeJoe Dugan	3B	112	387	104	.269	.321	.362	2	43
8	Collins, PatPat Collins	C	92	251	69	.275	.407	.418	7	36

Bench players

Player	Position	Games	AB	Hits	BA	HR	RBI
Bengough, BennyBenny Bengough	C	31	85	21	.247	0	10
Grabowski, JohnnyJohnny Grabowski	C	70	195	54	.277	0	25
Gazella, MikeMike Gazella	IF	54	115	32	.278	0	9
Morehart, RayRay Morehart	IF	73	195	50	.256	1	20
Wera, JulieJulie Wera	IF	38	42	10	.238	1	8
Durst, CedricCedric Durst	OF	65	129	32	.248	0	25
Paschal, BenBen Paschal	OF	50	82	26	.317	2	16

Pitchers

Player	Role	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Hoyt, WaiteWaite Hoyt	SP	36	256 ^1⁄3	22	7	2.63	86
Pennock, HerbHerb Pennock	SP	34	209 ^2⁄3	19	8	3.00	51
Pipgras, GeorgeGeorge Pipgras	SP	29	166 ^1⁄3	10	3	4.11	81
Ruether, DutchDutch Ruether	SP	27	184	13	6	3.38	45
Shocker, UrbanUrban Shocker	SP	31	200	18	6	2.84	35
Thomas, MylesMyles Thomas	RP	21	88 ^2⁄3	7	4	4.87	25
Shawkey, BobBob Shawkey	RP	19	43 ^2⁄3	3	4	2.89	23
Giard, JoeJoe Giard	RP	16	27	0	0	8.00	10
Beall, WalterWalter Beall	RP	1	1	0	0	9.00	0
Moore, WilcyWilcy Moore	RP	50	213	19	7	2.28	75

Legacy

The term "Murderers' Row" is commonly used as a descriptor for teams with formidable talent.^[4][5]

During the 2006 ALDS, Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland referred to the 2006 Yankees as "Murderers' Row and Cano" since the entire lineup consisted of players such as Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui, Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada and new second baseman Robinson Canó all of whom would have multiple All-Star game appearances over their careers. Despite Leyland's nomenclature, the team did not have the success of the original 1927 team as they were defeated by the Tigers in that series.

See also

• 1927 New York Yankees season
• M&M Boys
• Core Four

References

1. The Big Apple: Murderers' Row. Barry Popik. Accessed October 29, 2007.
2. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=awtbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LU4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=1186,85065
3. http://www.salon.com/2001/10/03/asterisk
4. Archived December 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
5. Murray ChassPublished: October 26, 1999 (1999-10-26). "ON BASEBALL; Yanks' Starters Are Murderers' Row of the 90's". New York Times. Retrieved 2012-07-06.