Salaries: Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle compared to teammates.

Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle are compared to teammates in descending order of annual salaries.

Tables below:
Italics: pitchers
Bold: Hall of Fame

Ruth played 15 years for the New York Yankees: 1920-1934. Ruth started his career as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and transitioned to an every day player. Ruth broke the season home record in his final Red Sox season, 1919, so he was a star when he joined the Yankees. Ruth was the highest paid Yankee in all of his 15 seasons with the club.

Mantle played his entire 18 year career for the Yankees: 1951-1968. Mantle was only 19 years old in his rookie season but became a star in 1952. It took him eight years to become the highest paid Yankee, which he remained though the rest of his career.

Only Mantle's seasons as the highest paid Yankee will be compared to Ruth, so the Babe has 15 and Mantle 11.

Remember, salary changes reflect performance in the previous season for Mantle who had 18 one year contracts. Ruth had several multi-year contracts, which is why his salary stays the same for some consecutive years. 

Babe	1920	1921	1922	1923	1924	1925	1926	1927	1928	1929	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Babe	60%	35%	75%	76%	76%	72%	72%	75%	64%	64%	69%	69%	67%	52%	29%
Mick					8%	18%	4%	18%	22%	28%	33%	28%	25%	36%	63%
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Mick					1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968

	1920	1921	1922	1923	1924	1925	1926	1927
Babe	$20,000	$20,000	$52,000	$52,000	$52,000	$52,000	$52,000	$70,000
#2	$8,000	$13,000	$13,000	$12,500	$12,500	$14,500	$14,500	$17,500
	1920	1921	1922	1923	1924	1925	1926	1927
Dif	$12,000	$7,000	$39,000	$39,500	$39,500	$37,500	$37,500	$52,500
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
%Dif	60.00%	35.00%	75.00%	75.96%	75.96%	72.12%	72.12%	75.00%
	1920	1921	1922	1923	1924	1925	1926	1927
	Carl	Home Run	Home Run	Bullet Joe	Bullet Joe	Herb	Herb	Herb
	Mays	Baker	Baker	Bush	Bush	Pennock	Pennock	Pennock

1928	1929	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934
$70,000	$70,000	$80,000	$80,000	$75,000	$52,000	$35,000	Babe
$25,000	$25,000	$25,000	$25,000	$25,000	$25,000	$25,000	#2
1928	1929	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934
$45,000	$45,000	$55,000	$55,000	$50,000	$27,000	$10,000	Dif
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
64.29%	64.29%	68.75%	68.75%	66.67%	51.92%	28.57%	%Dif
1928	1929	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934
Lou	Lou	Lou	Lou	Lou	Lou	Lou
Gehrig	Gehrig	Gehrig	Gehrig	Gehrig	Gehrig	Gehrig

	1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968
Mick	$65,000	$70,000	$60,000	$70,000	$90,000	$100,000	$100,000	$100,000	$100,000	$100,000	$100,000
#2	$60,000	$57,500	$57,500	$57,500	$70,000	$72,000	$67,500	$72,000	$75,000	$64,000	$37,500
	1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968
Dif	$5,000	$12,500	$2,500	$12,500	$20,000	$28,000	$32,500	$28,000	$25,000	$36,000	$62,500
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
%Dif	7.69%	17.86%	4.17%	17.86%	22.22%	28.00%	32.50%	28.00%	25.00%	36.00%	62.50%
	1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968
	Yogi	Yogi	Yogi	Yogi	Roger	Roger	Roger	Roger	Roger	Elston	Steve
	Berra	Berra	Berra	Berra	Maris	Maris	Maris	Maris	Maris	Howard	Barber

In previous posts in this series on salaries, discrepancies were changed to best guess. In this post, the default salaries were used. None were very different from best guess. Data was taken from https://www.baseball-reference.com/

Tables below show the Yankees teammates needed to equal or exceed that salary of the highest paid Yankee each year in these decades, which cover Ruth and Mantle: 1920s, 1930s, 1950s, 1960s.

The first row shows the team finish in the standings; if the Yanks also won the World Series, it's 1 (bold). The second row has the winning "percentage".  Team performance also impacts individual salary. Also, the Great Depression (economic) impacted 1930-1939.

In 1927 it took 6 Yankees to exceed Ruth's salary. Mantle never has such Yankee salary dominance.

This link contains the data. The data also is broken down below.

		3		1		1		1		2
		.617		.641		.610		.645		.586
	1920	1920	1921	1921	1922	1922	1923	1923	1924	1924
	Babe Ruth	$20,000	Babe Ruth	$20,000	Babe Ruth	$52,000	Babe Ruth	$52,000	Babe Ruth	$52,000
1	Carl Mays	$8,000	Home Run Baker	$13,000	Home Run Baker	$13,000	Bullet Joe Bush	$12,500	Bullet Joe Bush	$12,500
2	Bob Shawky	$8,000	Carl Mays	$12,000	Carl Mays	$12,000	Bob Shawky	$10,500	Herb Pennock	$12,500
3	Duffy Lewis	$7,000	teammates	$25,000	Sad Sam Jones	$10,000	Sad Sam Jones	$10,000	Sad Sam Jones	$12,000
4	teammates	$23,000			Wally Schang	$10,000	Waite Hoyt	$10,000	Bob Shawky	$10,500
5					Everett Scott	$10,000	Wally Pipp	$10,000	Bob Meusel	$10,500
6					teammates	$55,000	teammates	$53,000	teammates	$58,000
	1920	1920	1921	1921	1922	1922	1923	1923	1924	1924

	7		1		1		1		2
	.448		.591		.714		.656		.571
1925	1925	1926	1926	1927	1927	1928	1928	1929	1929
Babe Ruth	$52,000	Babe Ruth	$52,000	Babe Ruth	$70,000	Babe Ruth	$70,000	Babe Ruth	$70,000
Herb Pennock	$14,500	Herb Pennock	$14,500	Herb Pennock	$17,500	Lou Gehrig	$25,000	Lou Gehrig	$25,000	1
Urban Shocker	$12,500	Urban Shocker	$12,500	Urban Shocker	$13,500	Herb Pennock	$17,500	Herb Pennock	$17,500	2
Sad Sam Jones	$12,000	Sad Sam Jones	$12,000	Bob Meusel	$13,000	Waite Hoyt	$16,000	Waite Hoyt	$16,000	3
Joe Dugan	$12,000	Joe Dugan	$12,000	Joe Dugan	$12,000	Earl Combs	$13,500	Earl Combs	$13,500	4
Bob Meusel	$11,500	Bob Meusel	$12,000	Waite Hoyt	$11,000	teammates	$72,000	teammates	$72,000	5
teammates	$62,500	teammates	$63,000	Dutch Ruether	$11,000					6
				teammates	$78,000
1925	1925	1926	1926	1927	1927	1928	1928	1929	1929

		3		2		1		2		2
		.558		.614		.695		.607		.610
	1930	1930	1931	1931	1932	1932	1933	1933	1934	1934
	Babe Ruth	$80,000	Babe Ruth	$80,000	Babe Ruth	$75,000	Babe Ruth	$52,000	Babe Ruth	$35,000
1	Lou Gehrig	$25,000	Lou Gehrig	$25,000	Lou Gehrig	$25,000	Lou Gehrig	$25,000	Lou Gehrig	$25,000
2	Tony Lazzeri	$16,000	Tony Lazzeri	$16,000	Earl Combs	$12,500	Bill Dickey	$12,500	Bill Dickey	$14,500
3	Herb Pennock	$15,000	Earl Combs	$13,500	Bill Dickey	$12,500	Tony Lazzeri	$12,000	teammates	$39,500
4	Waite Hoyt	$15,000	Bill Dickey	$12,500	Tony Lazzeri	$12,000	Lefty Gomez	$12,000
5	Earl Combs	$13,500	Herb Pennock	$12,500	Ben Chapman	$12,000	teammates	$61,500
6	teammates	$84,500	George Pipgras	$12,000	Herb Pennock	$10,000
			teammates	$91,500	teammates	$84,000
	1930	1930	1931	1931	1932	1932	1933	1933	1934	1934

In 1930-1934 look at all the Yankees Hall of Famers with salaries much less than Ruth.

	2		1		1		1		1
	.597		.667		.662		.651		.702
1935	1935	1936	1936	1937	1937	1938	1938	1939	1939
Lou Gehrig	$23,000	Lou Gehrig	$23,000	Lou Gehrig	$36,000	Lou Gehrig	$31,000	Lou Gehrig	$36,000
Lefty Gomez	$20,000	Lefty Gomez	$20,000	Bill Dickey	$18,000	Joe DiMaggio	$25,000	Joe DiMaggio	$27,500	1
Bill Dickey	$14,500	Bill Dickey	$14,500	Tony Lazzeri	$15,000	Bill Dickey	$20,000	Bill Dickey	$23,000	2
teammates	$34,500	teammates	$34,500	Joe DiMaggio	$15,000	teammates	$45,000	teammates	$50,500	3
				teammates	$48,000	Lefty Gomez	$20,000	Red Ruffing	$23,000	4
				Red Ruffing	$15,000					5
										6
1935	1935	1936	1936	1937	1937	1938	1938	1939	1939

		1		1		1		1		2
		.636		.636		.617		0.656		.669
	1950	1950	1951	1951	1952	1952	1953	1953	1954	1954
	Joe DiMaggio	$100,000	Joe DiMaggio	$90,000	Vic Raschi	$40,000	Yogi Berra	$36,000	Yogi Berra	$40,000
									Phil Rizzuto	$40,000
1	Tommy Henrich	$40,000	Phil Rizzuto	$65,000	Yogi Berra	$33,000	Bob Kuzava	$19,000
2	Joe Page	$35,000	Allie Reynolds	$41,500	Eddie Lopat	$28,000	Mickey Mantle	$17,500	Mickey Mantle	$21,000
3	Phil Rizzuto	$32,000	teammates	$106,500	teammates	$61,000	teammates	$36,500
4	teammates	$107,000	Yogi Berra	$28,500
5					Phil Rizzuto	???	Phil Rizzuto	???
6
	1950	1950	1951	1951	1952	1952	1953	1953	1954	1954

	1		1		1		1		3
	.623		.630		.635		.597		.513
1955	1955	1956	1956	1957	1957	1958	1958	1959	1959
Yogi Berra	$50,000	Yogi Berra	$58,000	Yogi Berra	$65,000	Mickey Mantle	$65,000	Mickey Mantle	$70,000
Phil Rizzuto	$38,000	Mickey Mantle	$32,000	Mickey Mantle	$60,000	Yogi Berra	$60,000	Yogi Berra	$57,500	1
Mickey Mantle	$25,000	Phil Rizzuto	$30,000	Whitey Ford	$34,000	Whitey Ford	$34,000	Gil McDougald	$35,000	2
teammates	$63,000	teammates	$62,000	teammates	$94,000	teammates	$94,000	teammates	$92,500	3
										4
Whitey Ford	$21,000	Whitey Ford	$28,500					Whitey Ford	$31,000	5
										6
1955	1955	1956	1956	1957	1957	1958	1958	1959	1959

		1		1		1		1		1
		.630		.673		.593		.646		.611
	1960	1960	1961	1961	1962	1962	1963	1963	1964	1964
	Mickey Mantle	$60,000	Mickey Mantle	$70,000	Mickey Mantle	$90,000	Mickey Mantle	$100,000	Mickey Mantle	$100,000
1	Yogi Berra	$57,500	Yogi Berra	$57,500	Roger Maris	$70,000	Roger Maris	$72,000	Roger Maris	$67,500
2	Whitey Ford	$36,000	Whitey Ford	$36,000	Yogi Berra	$57,500	Yogi Berra	$52,500	Whitey Ford	$53,000
3	teammates	$93,500	teammates	$93,500	teammates	$127,500	teammates	$124,500	teammates	$120,500
4
5			Bill Skowron	$35,000	Whitey Ford	$47,500	Whitey Ford	$50,000	Ralph Terry	$38,000
6			Roger Maris	$32,000	Bill Skowron	$37,500	Elston Howard	???	Elston Howard	???
	Elston Howard	???	Elston Howard	???	Elston Howard	???
	1960	1960	1961	1961	1962	1962	1963	1963	1964	1964

	6		10		9		5		5
	.475		.440		.444		.512		.497
1965	1965	1966	1966	1967	1967	1968	1968	1969	1969
Mickey Mantle	$100,000	Mickey Mantle	$100,000	Mickey Mantle	$100,000	Mickey Mantle	$100,000	Mel Stottlemyre	$53,500
Roger Maris	$72,000	Roger Maris	$75,000	Elston Howard	$64,000	Steve Barber	$37,500	Lindy McDaniel	$42,000	1
Elston Howard	$70,000	Elston Howard	$75,000	Whitey Ford	$60,000	Lindy McDaniel	$35,000	Horace Clarke	$37,000	2
teammates	$142,000	teammates	$150,000	teammates	$124,000	Mel Stottlemyre	$33,500	teammates	$79,000	3
						teammates	$106,000			4
Whitey Ford	$58,000	Whitey Ford	$60,000	Steve Barber	$32,500	Al Downing	$32,500	Joe Pepitone	$35,000	5
Joe Pepitone	???	Joe Pepitone	???	Mel Stottlemyre	$28,500	Joe Pepitone	???	Al Downing	$32,500	6
				Joe Pepitone	???	Roy White	???	Bobby Murcer	$37,500
1965	1965	1966	1966	1967	1967	1968	1968	1969	1969

This link contains the data.

Salaries: sluggers before free agency 1920-1976. First of a series. Sunday, March 7, 2021

Salaries: Mantle, Mays, Aaron. Sunday, March 14, 2021

Salaries: Mantle and Maris, the M & M Boys of 1961. Monday, March 15, 2021

Salaries: Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, Yankee teammates. Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Salaries: DiMaggio, Williams, Musial: first paid $100,000. Wednesday, March 17, 2021