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1927 Yankees Photo Gallery
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).
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.
My Visit to Yankee Stadium Reveals the Answer!
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 him 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
We’d love to hear what you think about this or any other related baseball history topic…please leave comments below.
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Information: Stats from Baseball Reference.com; SABR article on Joe Styborski by Gary Cieradkoski
Great article and find. I googled “Don Miller-N.Y. Yankee” who was in the picture and also was a bullpen pitcher and a phenom who never made .it. Up pops a complete autographed 1927 team picture likely taken the same day. The same players and coaches are present although they have moved around a bit. Can’t really make out which one is Joe S.- Picture was actioned off in 2021 by Don Miller’s grandaughter for $441,000+. Take a look. Few more fans in the stands. Be nice if you could put them sise-by-side.
By the way, in the picture of the 1927 Yakees pitching staff the pitcher third from the right is Don Miller and not Walter Beall.
Thanks…you know, I originally had that player identified as Don Miller but I wasn’t sure, as he does look like Beall. That’s why I left it as “maybe Walter Beall.” I shoule have trusted my original instincts! I remember going back and forth about that player identification ten years ago when I first worked on it. Thanks for clearing this up!