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3 Best Hitting Performances in Yankees History

By Tristan Jung

Babe Ruth has some of the greatest single-season hitting performances in MLB history.
Babe Ruth has some of the greatest single-season hitting performances in MLB history. / Keystone/Getty Images
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The New York Yankees wouldn't have won 27 World Series without employing some of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball. Yankee Stadium's Monument Park is filled with the numbers of the all-time greats.

However, it's worth wondering which single-season Yankee hitting performances stand out the most. After looking at more than 100 seasons of data, here's a list of the three best single-season hitting performances in Yankees history, all of which came in a six-year span.

3. Lou Gehrig, 1927

Lou Gehrig's MVP-winning 1927 season was one for the history books. Gehrig hit 47 homers and had a career-high OPS of 1.240. He had an astonishing 173 RBI and a .373 batting average. Amazingly, this was only Gehrig's third full season, and he kept up this level of production for the rest of his career.

2. Babe Ruth, 1921

It's no surprise that Babe Ruth features heavily on this list. Ruth completely changed the game of baseball by making the home run a common occurrence. Ruth hit 59 homers, his then career high, while also maintaining a .378 batting average and a .512 OBP. Ruth also racked up 168 RBI and scored 177 runs during this prolific campaign.

1. Babe Ruth, 1923

However, in terms of pure offense, Babe Ruth's 1923 season stands above the rest. He slashed .393/.545/.764, earning himself a ridiculous 1.309 OPS. Although he "only" hit 41 homers that year, his 170 walks and .545 OBP were career highs. His 14.1 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) from 1923 is the best such mark in MLB history, and no position player other than Ruth has ever posted a WAR higher than 12.5.

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Tristan Jung is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Tristan Jung also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username tristan1117. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.