1927 AL Stargell Award

The 1927 New York Yankees are perhaps the most famous team in baseball history. Nicknamed "Murderers' Row" for their lineup of terrific hitters, they won the pennant (with 110 wins) and the World Series with ease. Their best player, Babe Ruth, had one of the most famous seasons by any individual player ever. This was the year that the Babe hit 60 home runs in a season, becoming the first player ever to reach that milestone.

American League 1927

			AVG	OBA	SLU	AB	HIT	DB	TP	HR	RUN	RBI	BB	SB	OPS
RF	B RUTH	NY	356	487	772	540	192	29	8	60	158	164	138	7	1258
1B	L GEHRIG	NY	373	474	765	584	218	52	18	47	149	175	109	10	1240
RF	H HEILMANN	DET	398	475	616	505	201	50	9	14	106	120	72	11	1091
LF	G GOSLIN	WAS	334	392	516	581	194	37	15	13	96	120	50	21	908
LF	B MEUSEL	NY	337	393	510	516	174	47	9	8	75	103	45	24	902
OF	T COBB	PHI	357	440	482	490	175	32	7	5	104	93	67	22	921
LF	B FOTHERGILL	DET	359	413	516	527	189	38	9	9	93	114	47	9	929

CF	E COMBS	NY	356	414	511	648	231	36	23	6	137	64	62	15	925
CF	T SPEAKER	WAS	327	395	444	523	171	43	6	2	71	73	55	9	839
CF	A SIMMONS	PHI	392	436	645	464	163	33	9	15	86	108	31	10	1081

2B	C GEHRINGER	DET	317	383	441	508	161	29	11	4	110	61	52	17	824
2B	T LAZZERI	NY	309	383	482	570	176	29	8	18	92	102	69	22	866
SS	J SEWELL	CLE	316	382	424	569	180	48	5	1	83	92	51	3	805
CA	M COCHRANE	PHI	338	409	495	432	146	20	6	12	80	80	50	9	904
CA	M RUEL	WAS	308	403	376	428	132	16	5	1	61	52	63	9	779

        Ruth and Lou Gehrig both played for the Yankees; as you can see, they were the dominant hitters in the league. Once again, Ruth hit more home runs than any other team in the league. Only 439 home runs were hit by all AL batters; Ruth and Gehrig combined for 107, almost 25% of the league total.
        Earle Combs and Bob Meusel were fellow members of Murderers' Row. Combs had a terrific year, the best of his career. He was a good player, nicknamed "The Kentucky Colonel", a high average hitter who spiked his game with lots of triples. Combs is in the Hall Of Fame, though he is among its weaker members. He was a legitimately fine player, in the same mold as Andy Van Slyke, but his career was short (only 12 years), and his greatness is questionable.
        Long Bob Meusel was also a good hitter. Meusel led the AL in home runs and RBI in 1925, while Ruth had an off-year. He was usually not a big home run hitter, but he hit for high averages and had lots of doubles. Meusel also had a reputation for having the best throwing arm of any outfielder in the game at that time.
        After The Babe and Lou, I think the best player in the league was Tiger slugger Harry Heilmann, who for the fourth time in his career hit higher than .390.
        Tony Lazzeri also played for the Yankees; he finished third in the AL in home runs, behind Ruth and Gehrig. Though Lazzeri had a fine year, I think Mickey Cochrane was the best player of this group. He was a dominant defensive catcher, and his team (the Athletics) had a good year. They won 91 games, and finished in second place, 19 games back of the Yankees.
        Muddy Ruel was a typical catcher of the period. Ruel played for 19 years, and hit only 4 home runs in his career. But he wasn't a bad hitter; he occasionally hit over .300, and walked three times as often as he struck out. Ruel had his best years with the Washington Senators in the mid-1920's, when the Senators won their only World Series.