The Memorable Snuffy Stirnweiss

By Mike Whiteman December 14, 2025

There are five players with consecutive 8+ WAR seasons in Yankee history: Babe Ruth Lou Gehrig Mickey Mantle Snuffy Stirnweiss Aaron Judge Cue the old Sesame Street song "One of these things is not like the others..." In 1943, the Yanks had perhaps the best second baseman in all of baseball, Joe Gordon. Gordon was a five-time All Star and 1942 American League Most Valuable Player. After the season he was called to military service due to World War II. Like many teams, the War decimated the Yankee lineup, and the team that manager Joe McCarthy ran out in 1944 was barely recognizable when compared to the 1943 edition that had won the World Series. Stepping in at second base was George "Snuffy" Stirnweiss. After failing his Army physical due to stomach ulcers in Spring 1943, he joined the Yanks and become a utility infielder. His rookie season slash of .219/.333/.288 in limited action didn't seem to predict great things, and certainly wouldn't make fans forget Gordon. Stirnweiss's minor league numbers - career .271 batting average looked good but not particularly special.

There was one thing though that Snuffy did very, very well. He could run. In 1942 he stole 72 bases for the Newark Bears, the Yankees' top minor league team. Speed would be useful, as baseballs themselves lost some bounce due to wartime restrictions on materials and balata, a harder substance, was used instead of the traditional cork and rubber design. Offensive numbers were down significantly from pre-war seasons. Going into the season, Yankee manager Joe McCarthy expressed confidence in his young infielder, expecting him to succeed and joining Aaron Ward, Tony Lazzeri, and Gordon among the great Yankee second sackers. Stirnweiss seemed to play as well as reasonably expected to start 1944 - .282 and 21 stolen bases through the first half of the season. Something clicked as the weather got hotter - after the All-Star break he slashed .352/.413/.536 with 25 doubles, 11 triples, five home runs and 34 stolen bases. McCarthy was even more bullish on his emerging star, declaring "George Stirnweiss is the best second baseman in the American League". As the Yankees struggled in the middle of the pack in the standings that summer, Stirnweiss was a revelation "hitting, fielding, bunting, stealing, making great plays, starting rallies, giving the opposition batteries the jitters, keeping things stirred up, win or lose" per legendry baseball writer Dan Daniel in The Sporting News.

The Yankees ended up in third place in 1944, six games behind the St. Louis Browns. From June on, they could be found anywhere from first to sixth in the standings. Stirnweiss did all he could, finishing with a .319/.389/.460 slash, leading the American League in runs (125), hits (205), triples (16) and stolen bases (55). He led all AL second basemen in fielding percentage, putouts, and assists. He finished fourth in MVP voting, behind pitchers Hal Newhouser and Dizzy Trout of Detroit, and shortstop Vern Stephens of St. Louis. While there was no Gold Glove in 1944, he did make The Sporting News "Number One Fielding Team" of players with the highest fielding percentage at each position. George Stirnweiss came from out of nowhere and had a season better than anyone could have imagined. How to follow up? Try with a season just as good or better! He came out hot from the beginning, batting .333 in April. His encore was special - finishing third in MVP voting while leading the league in batting (.309), slugging percentage (.476), runs (107), triples (22) and stolen bases (33). Add another solid defensive season and his WAR (not the kind they were concerned of in 1945) was higher (8.8) than in 1944 (8.6). The ballplayers came back from military service in 1946, including the incumbent Gordon, who claimed his second base position, with Stirnweiss moving to third. He handled the hot corner well, and still found himself at second at times as Gordon suffered a number of injuries during the season. His offense regressed significantly - batting .251 with only 18 stolen bases, but was selected to his only All-Star game (there was no All-Star game in 1945 due to travel restrictions).

Gordon would be dealt to Cleveland for Allie Reynolds after the 1946 season, and Stirnweiss went back to second base. While he was never the offensive impact player he was in 1944 and 1945 , he was a solid, steady presence at the top of the lineup and in the field for the 1947 World Champions, scoring 102 runs. He had a similar 1948 season and set a then MLB record with a .993 fielding percentage. Stirnweiss lost his hold on the second base job to rookie Jerry Coleman in 1949. He was dealt to the St. Louis Browns in 1950, and moved to the Indians as a backup in 1951. His only appearance in 1952 was as a ninth-inning defensive substitute on May 3rd. He was later released, and his career was over. His career stats look reasonable - .268 career batting average and 103 OPS+, but 1944 and 1945 jump out at you - lots of bold those seasons at Baseball-Reference page. His 1945 season is - by the WAR metric - the best of any second baseman in Yankee history. Maybe McCarthy knew something the rest of the baseball world didn't! Snuffy Stirnweiss was one of a number of players who exceled in the leanest of the World War II seasons who came back to earth when things went back to normal. While not the star he once was, the hustling infielder continued to be a valuable member of the Yankees after the War and ended up as one of the many interesting players in the storied franchise's history.