Yankees Owner Jacob Ruppert & Manager Joe McCarthy At Game 1, 1936 World Series

Good Luck, Joe
Colonel Jacob Ruppert, owner of the Yankees, autographs a baseball for Joe McCarthy, Yank manager, as a token of best wishes before the start of the opening game of the World Series with the Giants, at the latter’s home park, The Polo Grounds, New York City. photo: Acme September 30, 1936

This photograph reminds us that there used to be no playoffs in baseball.  The two best teams in the American and National League  would get to the World Series immediately after the conclusion of the regular season. The Fall Classic would begin as early as September, as was the case here in 1936 with game one occurring on September 30.

After losing game one 6-1 the Yankees pounded the Giants 18-4 in game two and would win the series against the New York Giants, four games to two. The World Series was over October 6.

That’s a far cry from the current post-season situation where endless rounds of playoffs drag on until November with the potential for a team with the twelfth best overall record to win the championship.

Ruppert’s best wishes came through for McCarthy not just for 1936, but for the next three seasons as well, with the Yankees winning four consecutive World Series.

Unfortunately the Yankee owner was not on hand to see the finale of that run. Jacob Ruppert died January 13, 1939 at the age of 71.