Tomorrow afternoon, my extended family will celebrate the 90th birthday of my grandmother. A solid baseball fan, Grandma Betty is probably most famous for the “hot dog sandwiches” (wieners sliced the long way and put between slices of white bread) she’d smuggle into Metropolitan Stadium for her family. Her Fridley home has long been a way station for me to stop by before catching the Northstar train (RIP) to the ballpark.
So, in honor of her 90th trip around the sun, let’s take a gander at what MLB looked like in the year of her birth…
The 102-51-2 New York Yankees were—surprise, surprise—the cream of the baseball crop. It’s what happens when the rookie season of Joe DiMaggio (4.8 bWAR, 29 HR, 125 RBI, .323 BA, 128 OPS+) overlaps with perhaps the peak of AL-MVP Lou Gehrig’s (9.7 bWAR, 49 HR, 167 R, 152 RBI, .354 BA, 190 OPS+) prowess.
NYC also reigned supreme in the National League, with the 92-62 NY Giants riding Mel Ott (7.9 bWAR, 33 HR, 135 RBI, 177 OPS+) and NL-MVP Carl Hubbell (9.7 bWAR, 26-6, 2.31 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 169 ERA+) to their circuit crown.
Ultimately, the Bronx Bombers would prevail in a six-game World Series.
In the Negro Leagues, the Pittsburgh Crawfords (48-33-2) were tops, with the combination of Josh Gibson (LL in HR, RBI, and OPS), Cool Papa Bell, & player/manager Oscar Charleston being far too great a talent assemblage for any other club to match.
A few other fun facts about the Summer of ‘36…
The first Baseball Hall of Fame class was inducted into Cooperstown in 1936 (before the museum was even open to the public): Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, & Walter Johnson. Quite a crew!
It is crazy to think that all these events we look back on with wonder & awe took place within the lifespan of my grandmother. So, cheers to 1936 and Grandma Betty! She has told me she wants to get to the century mark, so provided we don’t all turn into bots within the next ten years, I’ll see you then for the 1946 recap.