1931 New York Yankees season

The 1931 New York Yankees season was the team's 29th season. The team finished with a 94–59–2 record (.614), finishing 13.5 games behind the Philadelphia Athletics. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium. This team is notable for holding the modern day Major League record for team runs scored in a season with 1,067 (6.88 runs per game average).

1931 New York Yankees
League	American League
Ballpark	Yankee Stadium
City	New York City, New York
Record	94–59 (.614)
League place	2nd
Owner	Jacob Ruppert
General manager	Ed Barrow
Manager	Joe McCarthy (1st season)
Seasons

New York was managed by future Hall-of-Famer Joe McCarthy; 1931 was his first season with the Yankees after spending the previous five with the Chicago Cubs. The owner and general manager (Jacob Ruppert and Ed Barrow, respectively), would also eventually be indicted into the Hall-of-Fame.

For the second straight season, the Yankees fielded nine players who would eventually be enshrined in the Hall of Fame (Earle Combs, Bill Dickey, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Gomez, Tony Lazzeri, Herb Pennock, Red Ruffing, Babe Ruth, and Joe Sewell). This is the most all time, tied with the previous year's team as well as the 1932 and 1933 Yankees teams. The same nine Hall of Famers played for the 1931, 1932, and 1933 teams, with the 1930 team differing only by not having Joe Sewell and instead featuring Waite Hoyt.

Offseason

• December 10, 1930: Cy Perkins was purchased by the Yankees from the Philadelphia Athletics.
• January 13, 1931: Harry Rice was selected off waivers from the Yankees by the Washington Senators.

Regular season

First baseman Lou Gehrig set an American League record by driving in 185 runs, breaking his own record of 173 set in 1927. The total, which was six short of Hack Wilson's all-time record of 191 set the previous year, still stands as of the end of the 2022 season.

Season standings

American League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Philadelphia Athletics	107	45	.704	—	60‍–‍15	47‍–‍30
New York Yankees	94	59	.614	13½	51‍–‍25	43‍–‍34
Washington Senators	92	62	.597	16	55‍–‍22	37‍–‍40
Cleveland Indians	78	76	.506	30	45‍–‍31	33‍–‍45
St. Louis Browns	63	91	.409	45	39‍–‍38	24‍–‍53
Boston Red Sox	62	90	.408	45	39‍–‍40	23‍–‍50
Detroit Tigers	61	93	.396	47	36‍–‍41	25‍–‍52
Chicago White Sox	56	97	.366	51½	31‍–‍45	25‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

1931 American League record Sources:
Team	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	NYY	PHA	SLB	WSH
Boston	—	12–10–1	13–9	12–10	6–16	4–16	8–14	7–15
Chicago	10–12–1	—	7–15–1	11–11	6–15	3–19	12–10	7–15
Cleveland	9–13	15–7–1	—	13–9	13–9	4–18	16–6	8–14
Detroit	10–12	11–11	9–13	—	8–14	4–18	11–11	8–14
New York	16–6	15–6	9–13	14–8	—	11–11	16–6	13–9–1
Philadelphia	16–4	19–3	18–4	18–4	11–11	—	14–8	11–11–1
St. Louis	14–8	10–12	6–16	11–11	6–16	8–14	—	8–14
Washington	15–7	15–7	14–8	14–8	9–13–1	11–11–1	14–8	—

Roster

1931 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers 22,34 Ivy Andrews 20 Lefty Gomez 14 Hank Johnson 34 Lou McEvoy 16 Herb Pennock 12 George Pipgras 19,21 Gordon Rhodes 18 Red Ruffing 15 Roy Sherid 24 Jim Weaver 19 Lefty Weinert 17 Ed Wells		Catchers  8 Bill Dickey 10 Arndt Jorgens  9 Cy Perkins Infielders  4 Lou Gehrig  2 Lyn Lary  5 Tony Lazzeri 26 Jimmie Reese  2 Red Rolfe 27 Joe Sewell		Outfielders 26 Sammy Byrd  7 Ben Chapman  1 Earle Combs  6 Dusty Cooke 28 Myril Hoag  3 Babe Ruth 35 Dixie Walker		Manager -- Joe McCarthy Coaches 31 Jimmy Burke 30 Art Fletcher

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Bill Dickey	130	477	156	.327	6	78
1B	Lou Gehrig	155	619	211	.341	46	185
2B	Tony Lazzeri	135	484	129	.267	8	83
SS	Lyn Lary	155	610	171	.280	10	107
3B	Joe Sewell	130	484	146	.302	6	64
OF	Babe Ruth	145	534	199	.373	46	162
OF	Earl Combs	138	563	179	.318	5	58
OF	Ben Chapman	149	600	189	.315	17	122

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Samuel Byrd	115	248	67	.270	3	32
Jimmie Reese	65	245	59	.241	3	26
Arndt Jorgens	46	100	27	.270	0	14
Cy Perkins	16	47	12	.255	0	7
Dusty Cooke	27	39	13	.333	1	6
Myril Hoag	44	28	4	.143	0	3
Dixie Walker	2	10	3	.300	0	1
Red Rolfe	1	0	0	----	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Lefty Gomez	40	243.0	21	9	2.67	150
Red Ruffing	37	237.0	16	14	4.41	132
Hank Johnson	40	196.1	13	8	4.72	106
Herb Pennock	25	189.1	11	6	4.28	65
Gordon Rhodes	18	87.0	6	3	3.41	36

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
George Pipgras	36	137.2	7	6	3.79	59
Ed Wells	27	116.2	9	5	4.32	34
Roy Sherid	17	74.1	5	5	5.69	39
Jim Weaver	17	57.2	2	1	5.31	28
Ivy Andrews	7	34.1	2	0	4.19	10

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Lefty Weinert	17	2	2	0	6.20	24
Lou McEvoy	6	0	0	1	12.41	3

Awards and honors

League records

• Lou Gehrig, American League single season record, runs batted in (RBI) for a season (185).

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Newark Bears	International League	Al Mamaux
A	Albany Senators	Eastern League	Bill McCorry
B	Scranton Miners	New York–Pennsylvania League	Buck Elliott and Ernie Vick
D	Cumberland Colts	Middle Atlantic League	Leo Mackey

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Cumberland

References

• 1931 New York Yankees at Baseball Reference
• 1931 New York Yankees team page at www.baseball-almanac.com