New York Yankees: All-time best second basemen in franchise history

New York Yankees all-time best second basemen – No. 4: Gil McDougald

39.7 WAR

In the ten seasons Gil McDougald played for the Yankees, New York finished first in the American League eight times. His stats were never mind-boggling, but he still finished in the top 20 in MVP voting five times.

He won the 1951 Rookie of the Year by hitting .306, with 14 homers and 63 RBI. He also recorded his career-high .884 OPS that season. He walked regularly and was in the top ten in on-base percentage twice.

McDougald split his time between second and third but played more games at the cornerstone to qualify for this list. It didn’t seem to matter where he played because, in 1957, he led the AL in Defensive WAR and was in the top ten in this category seven other seasons.

His postseason numbers never quite matched what he did in the regular season. In 53 playoff games, he hit just .237, 39 points behind his career mark. His OPS was only .689, 77 points lower than what he posted in-season.

Fortunately, it didn’t matter as the Yankees won five championships in McDougald’s time in New York.