A batting champion in 1945 and a two-time All-Star, he played a role with three different World Series championship squads during his time in New York.

Furthermore, he was able to parlay his sporting accomplishments into attending the University of North Carolina, where he played significant roles with the football and baseball programs.

The 1943 Yankees won the American League pennant with 98 wins; Stirnweiss played little in the World Series that year.

The Yankees, having lost in the previous year's World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in upset fashion, returned the favor in 1943 and won the championship in five games.

As a regular in 1944, Stirnweiss served as the Yankees' leadoff hitter and had a breakout season, leading the league with 205 hits, 125 runs, 16 triples and 55 stolen bases.

Providing sturdy and almost error-less defense from second base as well, Stirnweiss was arguably the most vital player on a Yankees team which won 83 games and finished in third place in the American League in 1944.

His base stealing was a bit more uneven in 1945, only posting a 66% success rate that was a far cry from his 83% figure the previous year.

He also exhibited a disciplined eye at the plate as well; he drew 151 walks as a regular over the course of these two seasons and posted a comparatively moderate total of 149 strikeouts during this same time period.

His results, on the whole relative to his position, were not horrible, but they were not up to the lofty numbers of 1944 and 1945, and they were not up to the standard that Joe Gordon prior to that had established during what was ultimately a Hall of Fame career.

He posted a pair of .216 batting averages in his final two full seasons in the Major Leagues, doing so again in 1951 after joining the Cleveland Indians.

A father with six children, Stirnweiss fell ill and suffered a heart attack in June 1957, and he needed some time to recuperate from his health problems.