1939 New York Yankees
There are certain players that simply define the era that they play in. It helps that they're elite talents, but it's also their character that sets them apart. And when their time in the game comes to a close baseball feels a little empty without them. You can spend all day coming up with names, but few can compare to the grace and class of Lou Gehrig. Year in and year out the Iron Horse was a source of leadership and production as the Yankees usually rolled into World Series play. But something was different in 1939.
During the championship run of 1938, Gehrig noticed something was off during the season, but despite feeling tired, he maintained his production unhindered. That wasn't the case during spring training in '39 as everyone noticed that each facet of his game had taken a sharp drop-off. Despite his dismal spring, it wasn't like the Yankees were gonna sit their captain when the season began, and Lou took his spot at 1st Base when the regular season got rolling.
Things did not get better and even Yankee management were beginning to breathe down Manager Joe McCarthy's neck to make a change. In Detroit on May 2, Gehrig, "for the good of the team" told McCarthy to play someone else, benching himself and putting an end to his record streak of 2,130 consecutive games played. He was told that once he felt up to it he'd be right back out there, but he never played another inning. He went on to confirm the diagnosis of ALS, which would claim his life just a couple years later. The Yankees would hold a ceremony in his honor on July 4, 1939, where he would give the most famous speech in baseball history.
As for the rest of the season, the Yankees were rolling to yet another pennant. Behind the other Hall of Fame names, the Yankees finished 106-45, 17 games beyond the reach of Boston in 2nd place. In October, they met with the Cincinnati Reds who the Yankees quickly took a 3-0 series lead against. The Reds took a 4-2 Game 4 lead into the 9th inning, but sloppy defense allowed the Yankees to tie it up, then more sloppy defense led to 3 more runs in the 10th inning as the Yankees celebrated their fourth title in a row, the first time such a feat was accomplished. The 1939 Yankees got overshadowed by the enormity of Lou Gehrig's situation, as well as the fact that it gets lumped in as the last of four straight titles, but the team is massively underrated and belongs in the conversation as one of the greatest Yankees teams, if not one of the greatest MLB teams of all time.
