If I were to name every championship team from Yankee history and ask you to name some players from that year, any fan worth their salt could probably get at least a couple. The lore of the likes of Babe
Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and plenty others is large enough that their names echo through even to Yankees’ fans born decades after any of them played.
However, just a couple stars does not a team make. Every Yankee team, successful or no, had players whose names you might only know in passing. Lyn Lary might be one of those names, who was a very solid player who helped the Yankees to the 1932 World Series title.
Lynford Hobart “Lyn” Lary
Born: January 28, 1906 (Armona, CA)
Died: January 9, 1973 (Downey, CA)
Yankee Tenure: 1929-34
Over a century before a 6-foot-7 fella from Linden would first make his mark on the Fresno State baseball team, Lary was born and raised in the Fresno area of California. His family later settled in Long Beach, where he was a multi-sport athlete in high school and planned to attend the University of Southern California. However at the last second, he instead opted to sign with a local semi-pro baseball team.
In 1925, he began his career in organized baseball when he was picked up by the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League at just 19 years old. Lary had a breakout season two years later, playing shortstop and helping the Oaks win the PCL pennant, as he finished second in league MVP voting. He had caught the eyes of several major league teams, and the Yankees decided to pick up him, as well as middle infield partner Jimmie Reese.
Over in the majors, the Yankees were come off a historically good 1927 season, so they elected to let the pair play another year with the Oaks in 1928. After another good year in the PCL in 1928, the Yankees brought Lary over for 1929. He mostly spent his first MLB season playing second fiddle to future MLB manager Leo Durocher, but Lary showed his potential, with his season grading out at a 113 OPS+ and 2.2 rWAR in only 80 games.
That led to the Yankees trading Durocher to the Reds ahead of 1930 (aided by the Babe’s annoyance with “Leo the Lip”) and letting Lary take the full-time reins at shortstop. Lary’s early career at the position wasn’t the smoothest defensively, but he showed plenty of potential at the plate. That eventually shone through with a career best year in 1931.
Appearing in every game for the Yankees in 1931, Lary hit .280/.376/.416, with 10 home runs (the only season in his career where he cracked double figures) and 107 RBI. He put up 4.9 WAR according to Baseball Reference and 4.7 according to FanGraphs.
The one thing the Yankees hadn’t managed to do in Lary’s career to that point was win the World Series, but he would help them there the following year. The 1932 Yankees are arguably the most underrated team in franchise history, as they went 107-47 and then swept the Cubs in the World Series. Hampered a bit by injuries, Lary only appeared in 91 games and put up a 86 OPS+, although he did win a ring as a member of the team, seeing time at all four infield positions and left field as well.
However, 1932 also ended up being the beginning of the end of his Yankees’ career. Yes, injuries partially limited Lary to 91 games, but so did the emergence of another young shortstop from California. Frankie Crosetti joined the Yankees in 1932, and seized the most of his opportunity, taking the full-time shortstop job from Lary, who — while solid — had never quite lived up to the potential he had shown in his PCL days.
The Yankees held on to Lary in 1933, hoping he could return to 1931 form, but his hitting stats never quite got back. After appearing in just one game at the start of the 1934 season, the Yankees decided to deal Lary to the Red Sox.
Over the rest of his career, Lary played for a variety of team and had some ups, but also some downs. He played through 1940, and performed well enough to get MVP votes in two different seasons (pacing the AL in stolen bases in 1936 with 37 for the St. Louis Browns), but never ended up living up to his full potential. A large part of what doomed him was mental mistakes. As mentioned, his fielding could be a bit sloppy, but miscues didn’t stop there. In one 1931 game, he apparently ran into the dugout instead of touching home on a game-tying, ninth inning home run from Lou Gehrig, leading to Gehrig passing him on the basepaths and instead only being credited with a triple with Lary being ruled out. Neither run scored and the Yankees lost. Lary claimed that the ball had bounced back into play after going over the fence, and he believed the ball had been caught, but that’s still a bad mistake.
Lary was a bit of a character off the field too. Babe Ruth had given him the nickname “Broadway,” and he tried to act accordingly, dressing snappy and driving flashy cars. Amusingly, he married actress Mary Lawlor, who had been in the play “No No Nanette” of Babe Ruth trade and “Curse of the Bambino” fame.
After his playing career, Lary returned to his native California, and passed away from heart failure in 1973.
You might only know the name Lyn Lary from looking at old Yankees’ stats, but as usual, the story goes far deeper than that.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
