Left to right: Manager Joe McCarthy, team owner Jacob Ruppert,
Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri
October 10, 1937: The New York Yankees defeat the New York Giants, 4-2 in Game 5 at the Polo Grounds, and win their 2nd straight World Series, their 6th overall. This moves them past the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Athletics, who both have 5, to become the team with the most Series won. They have never seriously been threatened as such.
How unserious has it been? Through the 2021 season, these franchises have won at least 7 World Series: The Yankees, 27; the St. Louis Cardinals, 11; the Red Sox, 9; the A's, 9, and that's divided between 5 in Philadelphia and 4 in Oakland; the Giants, 8, and that's divided between 5 in New York and 3 in San Francisco; and the Dodgers, 7, and that's divided between 1 in Brooklyn and 6 in Los Angeles.
This is the last game in a Yankee uniform for Tony Lazzeri. "Poosh-em-up Tony" went 1-for-3. Joe DiMaggio and Myril Hoag hit home runs, to make a winner out of Lefty Gomez. The Yankees released Lazzeri, making him a free agent and allowing him to sign with anyone he wanted. He signed with the Cubs, and won another Pennant in 1938, but lost to the Yankees in the World Series.
As for the Giants, here is a team that had Hall-of-Famers in Mel Ott, Carl Hubbell and player-manager Bill Terry, and had won their 3rd Pennant in the last 5 seasons, but had only won the Series in 1 of them, and would only win 1 more over the next 72 seasons. So not only did the club not get the credit it deserved at the time, but the franchise has never really been the same, either.
As for the Giants, here is a team that had Hall-of-Famers in Mel Ott, Carl Hubbell and player-manager Bill Terry, and had won their 3rd Pennant in the last 5 seasons, but had only won the Series in 1 of them, and would only win 1 more over the next 72 seasons. So not only did the club not get the credit it deserved at the time, but the franchise has never really been the same, either.
The last survivor of the 1937 Yankees was Tommy Henrich, who died in 2009, at the age of 96. He was also the last survivor of the Yankee World Championship teams of 1938, 1939, 1940 and 1941.
UPDATE: Among the Yankees' many traditions is Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. From the 1936-39 team that won 4 straight World Series, they have honored 1st baseman Lou Gehrig and center fielder Joe DiMaggio with Monuments; and given Plaques to team owner Jacob Ruppert, general manager Ed Barrow, catcher Bill Dickey, and pitchers Charles "Red" Ruffing and Vernon "Lefty" Gomez. They have retired Gehrig's Number 4, DiMaggio's 5 and Dickey's 8.
*
October 10, 1937 was a Sunday. The only other scores on this day were in the NFL:
* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Washington Redskins, 14-0 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. The 'Skins shook this off, and Sammy Baugh became the 1st rookie quarterback to lead a team to an NFL Championship. Over half a century into the Super Bowl era, he remains the only one.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Cleveland Rams, 20-2 at League Park in Cleveland. The Rams moved to Los Angeles in 1946, to St. Louis in 1995, and back to Los Angeles in 2016.
* The Detroit Lions beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-3 at Titan Stadium in Detroit. The Pirates were renamed the Steelers in 1940.
* The Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Cardinals, 34-13 at the Dairy Bowl in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis, Wisconsin. The Dairy Bowl was a football stadium built in the infield of a speedway, now known as the Milwaukee Mile, at the Wisconsin State Fair Park.
* And the 2 NFL teams in New York City, named after the baseball teams with whom they were respectively groundsharing, the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers, were not scheduled.
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