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1927 Yankees Photo Gallery

Miller Huggins and Babe Ruth
Yankees Waite Hoyt, Babe Ruth, Miller Huggins, Bob Meusel, Bob Shawkey
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Uncredited/AP/REX/Shutterstock (9640730a) New York Yankees' Babe Ruth hits a home-run. As part of its collection of Babe Ruth items, the Baseball Hall of Fame says it has the bat the slugger used to hit his then-record 60th home run in 1927 Baseball Babe Ruth 60th HR Bat - 24 Apr 2018 Credit: AP/Shutterstoc
1927 Yankees
ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - MARCH, 1926. Three famous Yankees get together for a photo at spring training in St. Petersburg in March of 1926. Left to right are Babe Ruth, manager Miller Huggins, and Lou Gehrig.. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images)
Lou Gehrig with his mother, Christina
Babe Ruth made his debut with the Yankees in 1920
Tony Lazzeri later in his career with the Yankees
Art Fletcher later became a long-time coach for the Yankees.
Lou Gehrig
1927 Yankees autographed team ball. I wonder how much that's worth!
Scene from the 1927 World Series
Babe Ruth, Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert, pitcher Bob Shawkey, and Lou Gehrig., Spring training, 1925
Tony during his playing days with the Yankees
Yankees Meusel, Ruth, Combs, Gehrig
Pat Lyons and Babe Ruth
Urban Shocker with the Yankees.
Yankees Waite Hoyt, Babe Ruth, Miller Huggins, Bob Meusel, Bob Shawkey
Miller Huggins

Who Is the “Mystery Player” in this Famous 1927 Yankees Team Photo?

“It’s always the same. Combs walks. Koenig singles. Ruth hits one out of the park. Gehrig doubles. Lazzeri triples. Then Dugan goes in the dirt on his can. -“Jumpin’ Joe” Dugan, speaking of his 1927 Yankee teammates

As we all know, the 1927 Yankees are often cited as the greatest team of all-time. Who can argue with that assertion, considering that it included the famous “Muderous’ Row”? The first six batters in their formidable lineup were: Earle Combs (.356, 231 hits), Mark Koenig (.285, 62 RBIs), Babe Ruth (.356, 60 home runs, 164 RBIs)), Lou Gehrig (.373, 47 home runs, 175 RBIs), Bob Meusel (.337, 103 RBIs), and Tony Lazzeri (.309. 18 home runs, 102 RBIs). All but Koenig and Meusel are enshrined in the Hall of Fame. The mound crew consisted of Hall of Famers Waite Hoyte (22-7) and Herb Pennock (19-8), plus standout hurlers Urban Shocker (18-6), and Wilcy Moore (19-7).

**1927 Yankees pitching staff L-R: Bob Shawkey, Joe Giard, Myles Thomas, Urban Shocker, Waite Hoyte, Herb Pennock, Wilcy Moore, maybe Walter Beall, Dutch Reuther, George Pipgras.**

As a team, the 1927 Yankees batted .307 with a .489 slugging average, scored 975 runs, and outscored their opponents by a record 376 runs. They posted a 110-44 record (.714), a combined staff 3.20 ERA, and finished 19 games ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Athletics. In the 1927 World Series, they swept the National League pennant-winning Pirates, 4-0.

Who is the Mysterious Player?

Recently, one of our readers, Tom Ford, asked me about the player identifications for this famous photo [see featured photo above. Complete player IDs below], and was wondering about the player second from the right, next to trainer, Doc Woods, and wondering if I had ever identified him.

**Babe Ruth, Miller Huggins, Lou Gehrig**

I told Tom I have an interesting story about this photo. I remember working on the player identifications for this one about 10-12 years ago when I was sort of the unofficial “player identifier’ for the Baseball Fever website, and I had kept a copy in my files. Initially, I was able to identify all the players in the photo except for the same guy Tom was inquiring about: the player next to Doc Woods in the top row. I had never seen him before. So just who was this guy?

My Visit to Yankee Stadium Reveals the Answer!

At the same time I was working on this photo, my daughter was working for the NY Knicks. One summer, my wife and I took a trip to New York to visit her. As part of the trip, we went to a game at Yankee Stadium. As this was my one and only trip to Yankee Stadium, at one point during the game I took a stroll through the inner walkways of the stadium, looking at the many Yankee photos displayed on the walls. To my surprise, I suddenly came upon this photo of the ’27 Yankees, mounted on a plaque with all the names engraved below it. I remember distinctly that the unknown guy was identified in the photo as “Joe Styborski.” When I got home I shared the news with my Baseball Fever mentor, Bill Burgess. Needless to say, we were all thrilled that I had made this discovery quite by accident. Since the Yankees themselves made the identification, I’d say that was a pretty good confirmation of his identity!

Who was Joe Styborski?

Of course, that led to the obvious question: just who is Joe Styborski? I had never heard of him. A search through the Baseball Encyclopedia and Baseball Reference lists no such player. Eventually, we uncovered information – I don’t remember how or where – that this guy was the batting practice pitcher who had somehow made his way into the photo of one of the greatest teams ever, the 1927 Yankees!

Recently, I discovered that there is a lot more to Joe Styborski’s story than I realized. He was a college phenom at Penn State in the 1920s with a blazing fastball but also with control issues. Upon graduation in July, 1927, Miller Huggins invited to join the Yankees for a “look-see.” Although he didn’t stick with the team, he pitched in a couple exhibition games for the Yankees before being assigned to the Easton Farmers of the Class D Eastern Shore League. He bounced around the minors for a while with some success, but ended his career in professional baseball a couple years later after becoming a dentist. If you’d like to read more about his career, here’s a link to an interesting article about him by Gary Cieradkoski that appeared on the SABR Bioproject website.

Check out the featured photo above again. See how many names you can pick out on the team many historians regard as the greatest in baseball history before reading the identifications below!

1927 Yankees Player Identifications

Top Row, L-R: Lou FGehrig, Herb Pennock, Tony Lazzeri, Wilcy Moore, Babe Ruth, Don Miller, Bob Meusel, Bob Shawkey, Waite Hoyt, Joe Giard, Ben Paschal, Joe Styborski, Doc Woods. Middle Row, L-R; Urban Shocker, Joe Dugan, Earle Combs, Charlie O’Leary,(coach), Miller Huggins (Mgr.), Art Fletcher (coach), Mark Koenig, Dutch Ruether, Johnny Grabowski, George Pipgras,. Bottom Row, L-R: Julie Wera, Mike Gazella, Pat Collins, Eddie Bennett (mascot), Benny Bengough, Ray Morehart, Myles Thomas, Cedric Durst.

Gary Livacari

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Photo Credits: All from Google search

Information: Stats from Baseball Reference.com; SABR article on Joe Styborski by Gary Cieradkoski