By Ron Griffitts
Contributing columnist
In fall 1927, the Pittsburgh Pirates (94-60-2) managed by Donie Bush met the New York Yankees (110-44-1) managed by Miller Huggins in the World Series.
The Pirates were led on offense by brothers Lloyd (.355 BA, 133 R, 14 SB, 223 H) and Paul Waner (.380 BA, 131 RBI, 114 R, 18 3b, 237 H), Pie Traynor (.342 BA, 106 RBI, 93 R, 196 H), Joe Harris (.326 BA), George Grantham (.305 BA, 96 RBI), Glenn Wright (105 RBI), Clyde Barnhart (.319 BA), and Kiki Cuyler (.309 BA).
Their pitching staff was headed by Lee Meadows (19-10), Carmen Hill (22-11), Vic Aldridge (15-10), Ray Kremer (19-8, 2.47 ERA) and Johnny Miljus (8-3, 1.90 ERA).
The Yankees were led on offense by Babe Ruth in his record setting season (.356 BA, 60 HR, 165 RBI, 158 R, 192 H), Lou Gehrig (.373 BA, 47 HR, 173 RBI, 149 R, 218 H, 18 3b), Tony Lazzeri (.309 BA, 102 RBI, 92 R, 22 SB), Mark Koenig ( 99 R), Bob Meusel ( .337 BA, 103 RBI, 24 SB) and Earle Combs ( .356 BA, 127 R, 231 H).
The Yankee pitching staff was led by Waite Hoyt (22-7, 2.63 ERA), Herb Pennock (19-8), Urban Shocker (18-6, 2.84 ERA), Dutch Ruether (13-6), George Pipgras (10-3) and Wilcy Moore (19-7, 2.28 ERA) with Myles Thomas (7-4) in the bullpen.
Ruth with 60 home runs had more than the entire Pirate team who only had 54.
Game one was in Forbes Field in Pittsburgh with Waite Hoyt facing Ray Kremer. The Yankees built up a 5-3 lead and held for a 5-4 win with the help of a save by Wilcy Moore. The Bronx Bombers took a 1-0 lead in the series as Lou Gehrig contributed two RBI’s for the winners.
In game two, George Pipgras held the Pirates to seven hits and two runs in pitching a complete game. Mark Koenig had three hits as the Yanks went up 2-0 in the series with a 6-2 victory.
For game three, the teams switched to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx section of New York City and the Yankees continued their momentum as they scored eight runs before Pittsburgh could score. They went on to an 8-1 win highlighted by a three-run Babe Ruth home run and a complete game by Herb Pennock.
Game four was the closest of the games as the two teams went into the ninth inning with the score tied 3-3. In the bottom half of the inning, Earle Combs led off with a walk and Bob Meusel singled with Combs going to second. Pirate pitcher Johnny Miljus uncorked a wild pitch and Combs went to third.
Miljus intentionally walked Babe Ruth and with the bases loaded, he struck out Gehrig and Meusel. But with Tony Lazzeri at the plate, Miljus threw another wild pitch. Earle Combs scored the winning run as the Yanks won the game 4-3 and the World Series. Babe Ruth had a two-run home run and his two home runs were the only ones in the series as the Pirates had none.
New York was back in the World Series the next year while Pittsburgh did not return until 1960.
That Yankee team is considered one of the greatest of all time. By way of comparison, less than a decade before the average number of home runs per team for a season was just under 15 while the Yankees in 1927 had 158.
Statistics for this article were from baseball reference.com and sabr.org.
