Murderer’s Row
The Murderer’s Row was the informal name given to the New York Yankees during the late 1920’s. The focus was later shifted to Earle Combs, Babe Ruth, Bob Meusel, Lou Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri, six of the hitters in the Yankees lineup in the year, 1927.
The term came into being somewhere in 1918. It was coined by a sportswriter who wanted to describe the team before the Babe Ruth era came along. Nothing came to be as fitting as Murderers Row, which perfectly complimented how other teams viewed the historical
lineup.
The first newspaper article that used the term, stated, "New York fans have come to know a section of the Yankees' batting order as 'murderers' row’. It is composed of the first six players in the batting order --
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gilhooley,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Peckinpaugh, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Run_Baker, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Pratt,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wally_Pipp, and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ping_Bodie. This sextet has been hammering the offerings of all comers."
The pitching staff of the 1927 New York team had a very low ERA at 3.20. Three of the lowest ERAs in the American League were produced by Yanks which included Wilcy Moore’s 2.28, Urban Shocker’s 2.83 and Waite Hoyt’s 2.64.
The team gave up the lowest number of runs to opponents in all American League which was 599. Chicago stood after Bronx Bombers but even they had a difference of a hundred plus runs at 708 runs.
The Yankee’s pitching lineup gave up the least amount of walk opportunities to their opponents at 409 in all of American League. They had eleven shutouts which once again was the highest in American League. Their pitching staff’s performance that year was
simply flawless and has never been repeated till now as they led their league in all pitching categories but shockingly, the term Murderer’s Row was given to their batting lineup.
They had stellar mound work and it was their performance on the mound that gave them an edge by quite a margin over everybody else.
“The '27 Yankees were an exceptional team because they met every demand. There wasn't any requirement that was necessary at any particular moment that they weren't up to”, USA Today published.
The term is a symbol of baseball performances at its finest. Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth formed a dynamic pair and their batting was phenomenal. They had an All Star team backing them up. Due to the high standard performances given by the team, the name hasn’t
been given to any other team simply because no one has ever been able to perform like they did. Only teams with formidable talent can hope to be compared to them.
The Murderer’s Row and the Yanks lineup of 1927 in general is said to be the best in the history of Major League Baseball.
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