The Yankees don’t often lose four consecutive crucial games, but is does happen. Many years ago, the Yankees held a precarious 1/2-game lead over the second place Tigers on Sunday, September 10, 1944, with the third place Browns trailing by 1 game. The Yankees didn’t play again until Saturday, which is a fascinating tale.
Two Rainouts in Philadelphia
The Yankees and Athletics had a single night game scheduled at Shibe Park on Wednesday, but it rained in the morning and the Athletics called the game before noon because the field was in terrible shape. No, not from the rain. There had been a football game played the previous night, and the field was torn up, a condition exacerbated by the downpour. The Yankees-Athletics game was rescheduled for Thursday, but it rained some more and the game was again postponed, but this time there was intrigue.
From Philadelphia to Yankee Stadium
The Athletics shared Shibe Park with the Phillies, and the National League team was scheduled to play New York – the Giants – on Friday. The Yankees-Athletics game was moved to Yankee Stadium, and a two game set scheduled for Saturday and Sunday became a three game series, with one game played on Saturday followed by a doubleheader on Sunday. It didn’t help as the Yankees proceeded to drop all three games, putting them in third place, 2 games behind the now first-place Tigers. The Yankees then visited Detroit, where the home team won two out of three games.
Swept in St. Louis
The Yankees continued to play inconsistent baseball and ended the season in St. Louis with four games, still in third, trailing the first place Tigers by 3 games and the second place Browns by 2 games. The Browns won a Friday twin bill and then won the final two games as they swept four games from the Yankees. Meanwhile, the Tigers split a double header with the Senators on Friday, won on Saturday, and lost their last game on Sunday, giving the Browns their first and only pennant.
The Best Players Were in the Military
The 1944 Yankees were a very different team from the 1943 World Champions, as were most other teams, thanks to WWII. Many of the best players were in the military and the level of play was much lower. The Yankees lost Spud Chandler, who won 20 games in 1943 with a 1.64 ERA, Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Joe Gordon, Phil Rizzuto, Tommy Henrich, and George Selkirk. Of course, every team in baseball lost major players.
Stirnweiss Was a Star and Etten Was the Home Run Leader
But the Yankees still had some stars. Second baseman George Stirnweiss finished fourth in batting with a .319 average and led the league with 55 steal, 125 runs scored, and 205 hits. He and teammate Johnny Lindell tied for the lead in triples with 16 each. First baseman Nick Etten led the league with 22 home runs. The Yankees led all American League teams with 96 home runs.
Yankees' Droughts
Nineteen forty-four was the beginning of a minor drought. The Yankees had gone three years without a World Championship from 1924-1926 and again from 1929-1931, but they won from 1936-39, 1941, and 1943. The 1944 season was the first of three in which they didn’t win the World Series and no more than two seasons passed (1959-60) without a championship until the winless streak from 1963-1976.
No Pennant Yet
The four consecutive losses that ended the Yankees’ slim 1944 pennant hopes are almost unknown, unlike the four consecutive losses sixty years later that cost them the 2004 pennant. But the 1944 losses were followed by a World Championship in 1947, while the 2004 losses have been followed by not only a World Championship drought but by a streak of four seasons in which the Yankees haven’t won a pennant.
References:
Drebinger, John. “Yank-Athletic Game Rained Out, Set in Double Bill Here Sunday; Shift From Philadelphia Seen as Favoring New York.” New York Times. 15 September 1944, p. 23.
