He was part of the famed "Murderers' Row" Yankee batting lineup of the late 1920s (including the 1927 team), along with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Bob Meusel.

However, Lewis gave the starting shortstop role to Pinky Pittenger, and sent Lazzeri to the Lincoln Links of the Western League, where he batted .329 with 28 home runs in 82 games.

[2] That year he became one of what are today four Pacific Coast League hitters to have had a 30 home runs, 30 stolen bases season, along with Joc Pederson (2014), Frank Demaree (1934), and Lefty O'Doul (1927).

Barrow agreed after receiving confirmatory reports from other scouts, including Ed Holly and Paul Krichell, as well as ensuring that Lazzeri's insurance policy would cover his illness.

[2] After the 1925 season, Barrow purchased Lazzeri from Salt Lake City in exchange for the rights to Frank Zoeller and Mack Hillis and $50,000 ($868,691 in current dollar terms).

In a bases loaded situation in the seventh inning of the deciding game, Grover Cleveland Alexander struck out Lazzeri to save the series for the Cardinals.

[2][4] Baseball experts solicited by Billy Evans named Lazzeri the consensus best second baseman in the AL.[5] He incurred a muscle injury that threatened to end his season.

[6] Nevertheless, Lazzeri returned to the team, and hit a key double off of Alexander in the 1928 World Series, which the Yankees won.

[7] Despite the games he missed, Lazzeri tied Joe Judge for third place in Most Valuable Player voting, with the award being won by Mickey Cochrane.

In 1933, Lazzeri was named to appear in the first MLB All-Star Game, representing the AL against the National League (NL).

[17][18] The next day, Lazzeri signed with the New York Giants, to replace George Myatt and Lou Chiozza at third base.

[2] Lazzeri served as player-manager of the Wilkes-Barre Barons of the Class-AA Eastern League in 1943,[24][25] posting a .271 batting average in 58 games.

[2] Lazzeri died in 1946 at age 42 from a fall the coroner said was caused by a heart attack[27][28] in his Millbrae, California home.

[30] Although his offensive production was overshadowed by the historic accomplishments of teammates such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio, Lazzeri is still considered one of the top hitting second basemen of his era.

He holds the major league record of 15 RBIs in consecutive games (one more than Rudy York in 1946 and Sammy Sosa in 2002).

Lazzeri is also the only player in major league baseball to hit a natural cycle with the final home run being a grand slam on June 3, 1932.