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“Scenes from 1941, Baseball’s Greatest Year” Photo Gallery
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Here’s a Streak From 1941 You Probably Aren’t Aware Of!
(And no, I’m not talking about DiMaggio!)
The 1941 baseball season is considered by many baseball historians to be one of the greatest ever. As we all know this was the year of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. It was also the year of Ted Williams’ .406 average, the last time a player hit over .400. In addition, the Dodgers won their first pennant since 1920, and faced the Yankees in the Fall Classic.
But there was another memorable steak that year that often gets overlooked. Seventy-nine years ago this month, June 1, 1941, a largely forgotten Yankee player named Johnny Sturm hit a home run, his first in the majors, and one of only three he hit in his one year career. It was an eighth-inning two-run blast into the right-field stands at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, breaking a 1-1 deadlock.
Who would have thought it was the start of a recording-setting consecutive 24-game home run streak that would stand for 53 years? From June 1 to June 29, 1941, the Yankees homered in every game. The streak had New York fans buzzing…until it was overtaken by DiMaggio’s exciting and historic run.
In the featured photo above, we see first baseman Johnny Sturm on left with Yankee infield teammates Joe Gordon (2B), Phil Rizzuto (S), and Red Rolfe (3B).
It wasn’t until 1994 that the record would be broken when the Tigers homered in 25 straight games. The current record is held by the 2019 Yankees who broke the record last season by homering in 31 straight games.
In an otherwise unremarkable career, Johnny Sturm hit .239, with three home runs, and 36 RBI. He was the player who replaced Babe Dahlgren at first base after Dahlgren had replaced Lou Gehrig. Sturm hit .286 in the 1941 World Series.
Here’s a few other notable events from the 1941 baseball world:
May 15, 1941: In a game against the Chicago White Sox, Joe DiMaggio began his major league record 56 game hitting streak with a hit off Sox pitcher Eddie Smith
January 21 – Bob Feller signs with the Indians for a reported $30,000.
February 25 – Days after the start of spring training‚ the New York Yankees sell Babe Dahlgren‚ the man who took over first base from Lou Gehrig in 1939‚ to the Boston Braves.
June 1 – Johnny Sturm hits a home run to start a consecutive-game home run streak of 24 games.
June 1 – Mel Ott’s two-run homer, the 400th of his career and his 1,500th RBI, gives the New York Giants a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds
June 2 – Lou Gehrig passes away.
July 6 – The unveiling of the Lou Gehrig monument at Yankee Stadium
July 16 – Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak ends at 56 games against the Cleveland Indians.
July 25 – Lefty Grove of the Boston Red Sox earns his 300th career win, which is also his last
September 17 – 20-year-old Stan Musial makes his major league debut with the St. Louis Cardinals
September 28 – Entering the last day of the season, Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox was hitting .3995, which would have been good for a .400 average. Williams decided to play in both games of a double-header to make it completely legitimate. He went 6-for-8 in the two games to leave his average at .406.
October 6 – The New York Yankees defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 3-1, in Game 5 of the World Series to win their fifth title in six years, and their ninth overall, four games to one. This is the World Series made memorable by the Mickey Owen passed ball.
November 27 – In a controversial vote, Joe DiMaggio is named American League MVP over Ted Williams.
A lot happened in 1941. You can see why many baseball historians consider it the greatest year in baseball history.
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Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: All from Google search
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The Yankees broke the record last season. They homered in 31 straight games.
The mere mention of Johnny Sturm has me expectantly awaiting the appearance of Dr. Wilhelm “Germany” Schaefer’s next contribution to our blessed blog here. (Of course I am also expectantly awaiting the arrival of Dr. COVID 19 at the Keedy household, which should help to put matters in a more-telling perspective.)
Dr. S may be the only (other) living student of the national pastime to realize that J. Sturm of the ’41 Yanks was immediately followed in the Bombers’ lineup by Jerry M. Drang. It’s a carefully-guarded historical fact the historical nuances of which only Germany can explain.
I leave it to him, therefore, while I struggle to get my pandemic mask to fit.
/s/ Dolph
Germany is clueless re Jerry M. Drang. Is Michael using the mask as protection against the virus or my blogs? (both?)
Thanks for the little known homer streak, Gary–and the update, Danny. But, please, when they come back for the 60 games, no “rocket” ball this year. Don’t appreciate miss-hit 400 foot home runs to the opposite field.
Six HOF players on ’41 Yankee roster. Can you name them? No, not Frenchy Bordagaray!
Best,
GBS
Maybe Frenchy wasn’t HOF material, but he had a pretty good looking wife! Check her out in this post I wrote about him a while back. As I said then, it looks like Frenchy married quite a bit over his head!
It was also a year that White Sox OF Taffy Wright set an American League record by driving in a run in 13 straight games. At least it was the record until 2008, when researchers found that Tris Speaker had 14 straight games with an RBI that went unrecognized for almost 80 years.
Taffy played 9 years with years interrupted by the war years. Pretty decent lifetime .311 lifetime average, but didn’t play the necessary 10 for consideration for HOF.
I had never heard of him until recently. we should start a campaign to get him more recognition. “Pulling for Taffy”, anyone?
Believe it or not, I’m familiar with Taffy Wright! I remember identifying him a couple times when I did the player IDs for the Leslie Jones Boston Public Library collection a few years ago. The pics I saw of him were from his time with the White Sox. Glad to see I’m not the only living person who’s familiar with Taffy Wright!
Good post, Gary, about a little known streak
Glad I threw in FB to prompt the link, Gary. You have to admit Frenchy did look pretty cute in that ‘stache. That, plus his zany personality won fair lady.
Very funny when they noticed his absence in right field!
Thanks!
Bill S.
You’re right, Bill. I think I’ve been a tad too hard on Frenchy. With that ‘stache, he was a pretty good looking dude himself. But I still think he married a bit over his head! His wife Victoria was, as they used to say back then, “a real looker!”
And how about this scene I made up as Frenchy showed up with this “doll-face” hanging on his arm: “You can almost hear the jealous chatter from his gawking teammates as Frenchy sauntered into the Brooklyn clubhouse for the first time with this gorgeous little sugar plum (as they said back then) on his arm. Who could blame him for the “eat-your-heart-out” grin painted all over his face. The 1930’s clubhouse lingo probably went something like this:’Hey you bums… take a gander at Frenchy’s new dish…a real knockout, a real hot tamale. This tomato’s definitely a looker! That little kitten could have any creep she wants, so what’s a good-lookin’ doll-face like her doin’ with an eye-sore like Frenchy anyhow? How’s he rate?’ ” Haha!
Yeah, and at first the guys thought she might have played football. They liked the way her “backfield” was in motion! (ouch)
Haha!…you’re almost as bad as me!
#metoo police 👮 knocking on your door…