1930s All-Decade Team

The 1930s was the last time the world would see Babe Ruth in pinstripes. Baseball said goodbye to sports first superstar. Joe DiMaggio arrived to take the gigantic void left by the Babe’s departure and it didn’t take long for the Yankee faithful to embrace it’s newest superstar. The game also welcomed arguably the greatest hitter who has ever played, Ted Williams, and one of the games greatest shortstops that you’ve never heard of, Arky Vaughan. It was the end of a big chapter but also the start of another.

Baseball’s most exclusive clubs remained extremely exclusive with no player joining the 3,000 hit or 500 home run clubs. Nor did a pitcher join the 300 wins or 3,000 strikeout clubs. However, two other clubs started that to this day remain incredibly exclusive. Babe Ruth created both the 600 and 700 home run clubs.

Catcher

Bill DickeyHOF

Age: 23-32
Years: 1930-1939
Positions: C
Teams: New York Yankees

Bill Dickey Hitting Stats
WAR	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
42.6	1,213	4,474	722	1,431	247	56	168	937	26	18	485	187	.320	.389	.513	.902

First Base

Lou GehrigHOFMVP

Age: 27-36
Years: 1930-1939
Positions: 1B
Teams: New York Yankees

Lou Gehrig Hitting Stats
WAR	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
73.1	1,397	5,255	1,257	1,802	328	91	347	1,360	72	70	1,028	439	.343	.453	.638	1.091

Second Base

Charlie GehringerHOFMVP

Age: 27-36
Years: 1930-1939
Positions: 2B
Teams: Detroit Tigers

Charlie Gehringer Hitting Stats
WAR	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
61.1	1,434	5,629	1,181	1,865	400	76	146	1,003	101	52	766	209	.331	.414	.507	.921

Third Base

Red Rolfe

Age: 22-30
Years: 1931-1939
Positions: 3B
Teams: New York Yankees

Red Rolfe Hitting Stats
WAR	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
21.1	831	3,413	692	1,041	201	54	43	377	36	15	396	231	.305	.379	.433	.812

Shortstop

Arky VaughanHOF

Age: 20-27
Years: 1932-1939
Positions: SS
Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates

Arky Vaughan Hitting Stats
WAR	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
53.2	1,149	4,300	754	1,413	231	94	71	631	66		640	189	.329	.420	.476	.895

Outfield

Babe RuthHOF

Age: 35-40
Years: 1930-1935
Positions: OF
Teams: New York Yankees, Boston Braves

Babe Ruth Hitting Stats
WAR	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
40.6	713	2,405	607	797	110	24	198	652	22	24	632	351	.331	.472	.644	1.116

Outfield

Joe DiMaggioHOFMVP

Age: 21-24
Years: 1936-1939
Positions: OF
Teams: New York Yankees

Joe DiMaggio Hitting Stats
WAR	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
26.3	554	2,319	520	791	143	49	137	558	16	1	99	117	.341	.397	.622	1.019

Outfield

Mel OttHOF

Age: 21-30
Years: 1930-1939
Positions: OF
Teams: New York Giants

Mel Ott Hitting Stats
WAR	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
68.7	1,473	5,341	1,095	1,673	287	54	308	1,135	50		956	474	.313	.420	.560	.980

Starting Pitcher

Lefty GroveHOFMVP

Age: 30-39
Years: 1930-1939
Positions: SP
Teams: Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox

Lefty Grove Pitching Stats
WAR	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	SHO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	SO/9	WHIP
78.3	351	268	199	76	2.91	2,399	197	26	31	907	776	639	1,313	4.9	1.243

Starting Pitcher

Lefty GomezHOF

Age: 21-30
Years: 1930-1939
Positions: SP
Teams: New York Yankees

Lefty Gomez Pitching Stats
WAR	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	SHO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	SO/9	WHIP
43.4	322	278	165	89	3.24	2,234.2	163	26	10	949	804	904	1,337	5.4	1.313

Starting Pitcher

Carl HubbellHOF2x MVP

Age: 27-36
Years: 1930-1939
Positions: SP
Teams: New York Giants

Carl Hubbell Pitching Stats
WAR	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	SHO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	SO/9	WHIP
55.5	383	303	188	104	2.71	2,596.2	197	31	30	917	782	467	1,281	4.4	1.118

Starting Pitcher

Red RuffingHOF

Age: 25-34
Years: 1930-1939
Positions: SP
Teams: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees

Red Ruffing Pitching Stats
WAR	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	SHO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	SO/9	WHIP
38.2	334	298	175	98	3.59	2,439	201	28	9	1,123	972	858	1,260	4.6	1.306

Starting Pitcher

Dizzy DeanHOFMVP

Age: 20-29
Years: 1930-1939
Positions: SP
Teams: St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs

Dizzy Dean Pitching Stats
WAR	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	SHO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	SO/9	WHIP
43.0	305	219	147	80	2.96	1,908.1	151	26	31	736	628	432	1,144	5.4	1.193

Honorable Mention

Catcher – Mickey Cochrane
First Base- Jimmie Foxx
Second Base- Billy Herman
Third Base- Stan Hack
Shortstop- Joe Cronin
Outfield – Earl Averill
Outfield – Chuck Klein
Starting Pitcher – Johnny Allen
Starting Pitcher – Bill Lee

All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.

3 responses to “1930s All-Decade Team”

Garry Harris

October 21, 2017 at 12:24 pm

I love these all-time teams. I make a hobby of creating them myself. Just my opinion:

There’s no obvious choice at 3B so, Red Rolfe or Stan Hack can be arguable. My choice is from the St Lous Browns:
3B Harlond Clift,

Babe Ruth played most of his game in the 1920s and Joe DiMaggio in the 1940s.
LF Joe Medwick
CF Earl Averill, Wally Berger
RF Mel Ott, Paul Waner

The 1930’s is not the best decade for pitching. My list:
Carl Hubbell
Lefty Grove
Lon Warneke
Larry French
Red Ruffing

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Anonymous

April 10, 2024 at 9:41 am

How can you not have Hank Greenberg ge on that list – in the full decade his stats might be the best

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1. Dave Franks
  
  April 10, 2024 at 11:06 am
  
  Greenberg undoubtedly had a very strong decade but regardless of which statistical camp you’re in, traditional/counting or sabermetrics, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx both had superior ten year stretches.
  
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