1941 New York Yankees

 Good seasons are very common, and happen all the time for multiple players on just about every team...Great seasons are a bit more uncommon but it's not shocking to see entire all star teams comprised of guys having such types of seasons...Once-in-a-lifetime are as the name implies and the chances are rare that you get even one of those guys a season. So imagine the odds when two of those types of seasons happened in the same year.

Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox was putting together a .400 BA season, to date the last time it has ever happened in baseball, meanwhile in the Bronx, Joe DiMaggio found a way to outshine him by putting together a record breaking hitting streak of 56 games. Each man would be far and away the obvious choice for MVP, but only one of them was getting the award in 1941. Not that either man was lacking in such recognition in their career (Williams would win 2 MVPs in his career, DiMaggio would win 3) but to take home the hardware in '41 would be the ultimate bragging right. Blame the fact that some writers didn't like Williams, or that fact that the Yankees finished better than the Red Sox in the standings, or the fact that hitting .400 was a marathon while the hitting streak captivated the minds and attention of the country, but when the votes were tallied it was DiMaggio with the recognition, 291 voting points compared to Teddy Ballgame's 254.

Besides personal glory, The Streak also inspired a slumping '41 Yankees and turned their season around, putting them in first place and allowing them to pull away from the competition, winning the pennant with a 101-53 record; 17 games better than 2nd place Boston. With the pennant, the Yankees and Manager Joe McCarthy returned to the World Series after their 4-straight title streak was snapped the year prior, and waiting to try to stop them this year was a new opponent that Yankee fans were going to get real familiar with in the coming decades: Brooklyn.

The World Series proved to be tight on the offense. After splitting 3-2 wins to open the series, the Yankees and Dodgers took a scoreless Game 3 into the 8th inning. DiMaggio, despite his legendary hitting streak, was contained to just a .263 BA in the series, but with 1 out, he singled in the games first run as the Yankees held on to win 2-1. The Dodgers had a chance to tie the series up in Game 4 as they took a 4-3 lead into the 9th inning. And after 2 quick outs, it looks like the Dodger's were on their way to the victory. Now the stage was set for one of the most infamous and crazy moments in WS history...

Tommy Henrich was hitting as Hugh Casey delivered a 3-2 pitch. Henrich swung and missed for the Strikeout. Game over, right? Nope, because Mickey Owen didn't catch it clean and the ball got away, allowing Henrich to break for 1st Base and keep the game alive. Up next, DiMaggio, who walked. Then up was Charlie Keller who was already 3-4 with an RBI in the game. Here, he delivers a Double that scored both Henrich and DiMaggio, putting the Yankees ahead and ruining the day for every Brooklyn fan. Bill Dickey walked next, then Joe Gordon added a 2-Run double of his own. The Yankees took a 7-4 lead, with all four 9th inning runs being unearned. The Dodgers went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th and instead of a 2-2 series, the Yankees were now a win away.

The Yankees took an early lead in Game 5, and after Tommy Henrich homered to make it 3-1, Tiny Bonham took control on the mound for the complete game victory, giving the Yankees their 9th title, and introducing the Dodgers franchise to the familiar feeling of failure that they would experience many, many more times against the Bronx Bombers.

All star Joe DiMaggio may not have been able to win the Batting Title with his team best .357 BA, but his 56 game hitting streak proved to be the greater feat. Someone might one day find a way to hit .400, while no one can even get close to hitting in 56 straight games. Baseballs biggest names in the modern age can't even get within 10 games of the mark.
The MVP wasn't *just* because of The Streak, as his 30 Home Runs and MLB best 125 RBI certainly helped contribute to the cause, not to mention leading his team to a pennant.

That swing above for Henrich was the famous strike 3...but unlike other WS failures in history, this failure was outdone (outfailed?) by the passed ball that allowed him to reach 1st Base anyway and keep the game going long enough for the Yankee rally. Tommy's season wasn't just defined by the one moment, as he hit the above mentioned Game 5 homer to give the Yankees that insurance run, and he did manage to edge DiMaggio for the team's Home Run lead with his 31.

Gordon and Keller had similarly successful all star seasons, finishing 7th and 5th for MVP, and both hitting very well in the World Series. The Yankees as a team only batted .247, while Keller hit .389 with 5 R and 5 RBI and Gordon hit .500 with a Home Run and 5 RBI of his own.

Other regulars on the field. Sturm was the next attempt to find the man who could fill Lou Gehrig's shoes at 1st Base. This would be his only season as a player, but he would go on to work as a scout for the Yankees, leading to them signing a guy by the name of Mantle. Dickey, meanwhile, was enjoying just another all star season in his Hall of Fame career.

The bench, mostly. Nothing too crazy. Catchers look decent if you forget they were mostly sitting behind the HoF starter. Selkirk is a funny looking card. That is indeed a Yankee outfielder with the #3 on his back. Selkirk was the man who replaced Ruth in Rightfield, and inherited his number in the process. By '41 he was near the end of his career, and while he was regulated to a role player off the bench, he still kept the number. Six more men would wear the legendary number before it was finally retired for Ruth in 1948.

1941 wasn't quite the eye popping season for Yankee pitching. Gomez and Ruffing led the team with 15 Wins each, while Russo was the only pitcher to manage 200+ Innings Pitched or 100+ Strikeouts (209.2 and 105, respectively). Russo and Ruffing represented at the all star game.

Closers were still a ways off from becoming mainstream, but Grandma Murphy was giving the baseball world a glimpse of what a big time Closer would look like, leading the majors with 15 Saves and 31 Games Finished. While he didn't "Save" any World Series games that year, he was the winning pitcher in the Game 4 comeback, pitching a perfect 8th and 9th inning to keep the Dodgers down.

Other prominent arms on the staff. A few rookies, but mostly all looking like they belong on a World Champion. 

What really makes a dynasty? It's more than just having a few key guys leading the charge year after year, it's also about being able to make smooth transitions between generations to ensure that every position is covered as one player ages out and a new regular emerges. Crosetti wasn't exactly the superstar at the center of those 5 WS winning teams between 1932-1939, but he was in charge of the always vital position of Shortstop. After a poor showing in 1940, the Yankees decided to pull the trigger on a rookie named Phil Rizzuto and bench Crosetti. While Frankie would find a place on roster for three more title runs, the switch to Rizzuto would prove to be career defining as Rizzuto would go on to win 7 titles of his own and become one of the greatest Shortstops of his era, en route to the Hall of Fame.