Yankees: 5 Players You’d Never Believe Led New York in WAR for a Full Season

2. Tommy Henrich

Things were back to normal later in the decade, which makes Tommy Henrich‘s accomplishment that much more impressive. The former Yankees outfielder led the team in WAR in 1947 (5.1) and helped the team win its first World Series since Chandler did so in ’43. Henrich was among those who enlisted in the Army and missed the WS triumph four years earlier. He was out of baseball from 1943-1945, but returned in 1946 and got back to his All-Star form in ’47, slashing .287/.372/.485 with 109 runs scored, a league-leading 13 triples, 16 homers and 98 RBI in 142 games. Henrich was a rock solid Yankee, logging five All-Star seasons and finishing sixth in the MVP voting twice. But what makes his performance so unique in ’47 was the fact he outperformed DiMaggio, Rizzuto, Snuffy Stirnweiss (who was coming off three consecutive tremendous campaigns), George McQuinn and Billy Johnson. Henrich continued his incredible play by hitting .323/.364/.484 with two runs scored, one homer and five RBI in the WS win over the Brooklyn Dodgers. That was one of his four championship victories with the Yankees and it was by far his biggest contribution — in his age-34 season!