New York Yankees,
professional baseball team and one of five teams in the East
Division of the American League (AL). The club plays at Yankee
Stadium in New York City and wears uniforms of white and blue. At
the end of the 2001 season, the Yankees had won 26 World Series
championships and 38 league pennants, more than any other major
league team.
New York has won an AL pennant and appeared in a World Series in
every decade since the 1920s. The legendary Yankees dynasty of the
1920s and 1930s won 11 pennants and 8 World Series championships,
with players such as outfielders Babe Ruth, Earle Combs, and Joe
DiMaggio; first baseman Lou Gehrig; infielder Tony Lazzeri; and
pitcher Waite Hoyt. From 1941 to 1947 New York continued its
success, winning 4 pennants and 3 World Series titles.
Manager Casey Stengel guided the Yankees from 1948 through 1960, the
team’s most overpowering era. During this period the club won ten AL
pennants and seven World Series championships, including five
straight championships from 1949 to 1953, a major league record. The
teams Stengel managed featured DiMaggio, catcher Yogi Berra, pitcher
Whitey Ford, and outfielders Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. The
Yankee dynasty continued through the early 1960s, as the team won
the AL pennant from 1961 to 1964 and World Series crowns in 1961 and
1962.
The next period of greatness came in the 1970s, after businessman
George Steinbrenner bought the franchise and hired former Yankee
shortstop Billy Martin as manager. Led by outfielder Reggie Jackson,
the Yankees won three straight pennants from 1976 through 1978,
going on to win the World Series in 1977 and 1978. The Yankees won
another AL pennant in 1981. After a relative dry spell, the
franchise returned to dominance in the late 1990s, winning the World
Series in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000.
The Yankees franchise originated as the Baltimore Orioles in 1901,
but it moved from Maryland to Manhattan Island in 1903 because AL
president Ban Johnson wanted an AL team in New York City. Named the
Highlanders for the elevated ground on which its stadium was built,
the franchise struggled in its new home. In 1913 the club moved to
the Polo Grounds, a stadium it shared with the National League’s New
York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants). Even with a new home and
a new name, Yankees, the club remained near the bottom of the AL.
The Yankees struggled until 1920, when they purchased the contract
of Babe Ruth, a talented pitcher and blossoming slugger, from the
Boston Red Sox. The club decided to have Ruth drop pitching and
concentrate on his hitting, with spectacular results: He hit 54 home
runs during his first year in New York, more than any other team in
the league hit during that year. In 1921 right-handed pitchers Carl
Mays and Waite Hoyt won a combined 46 games and Ruth put on an
extraordinary offensive performance to lead the Yankees to their
first pennant. His .378 batting average, 59 home runs, and 171 runs
batted in (RBIs) remains one of the best seasons of any hitter in
major league history. In the World Series, the Yankees lost to the
Giants. In 1922 the Yankees won a second pennant before falling
again to the Giants in the World Series.
The club moved in 1923 to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, where the
first Yankee dynasty was born. Manager Miller Huggins created the
legendary “Murderers’ Row”—a batting lineup that began with center
fielder Earle Combs, shortstop Mark Koenig, Ruth, first baseman Lou
Gehrig, left fielder Bob Meusel, and second baseman Tony Lazzeri.
The Yankees won four more pennants and three World Series during the
1920s, and the 1927 team is widely considered the most powerful team
in baseball history. Ruth hit 60 home runs that year to capture the
8th of his 12 home run titles, and Gehrig led the league in RBIs for
the first of five times.
Joe McCarthy, hired as manager in 1932, led the Yankees to eight
pennants and seven World Series titles. The Yankees’ four-game sweep
of the Chicago Cubs in the 1932 World Series is best remembered for
Ruth’s “called shot.” During the fifth inning of game three, Ruth
stepped to the plate, and legend has it that he pointed his bat as
if predicting a home run. Moments later, Ruth belted the ball over
the center field wall to break a 4-4 tie. By the time he retired in
1935, Ruth had hit 714 home runs and earned the nickname The Sultan
of Swat. His career home run record stood for 39 years until broken
by Hank Aaron.
Outfielders Joe DiMaggio and George Selkirk and pitchers Lefty Gomez
and Red Ruffing joined the Yankees in the mid-1930s and helped
launch another dynasty that captured four consecutive World Series
titles from 1936 through 1939. Gehrig took himself out of the
starting lineup on May 2, 1939, after playing 2,130 consecutive
games. He died two years later, but his major league record for
consecutive games played was not broken until 1995, when Cal Ripken,
Jr., surpassed it.
Without Gehrig the Yankees depended on DiMaggio and new stars such
as shortstop Phil Rizzuto and left fielder Charlie Keller. In 1941
the trio powered New York to a championship, and DiMaggio’s streak
of hits in 56 consecutive games—a record still unbroken—earned him
the AL most valuable player (MVP) award. After leading the team to
another AL pennant in 1942 and a World Series victory in 1943,
McCarthy retired as manager early in the 1946 season. Bucky Harris
took over briefly, leading the club to another World Series title in
1947 before being replaced by Casey Stengel in 1948.
Stengel ushered in another Yankee dynasty as the franchise collected
seven World Series crowns from 1949 through 1960, including five
straight from 1949 to 1953. An effective system of minor league farm
teams provided a steady stream of new talent. Star-studded rosters
of the late 1940s and the 1950s featured Yogi Berra, DiMaggio,
Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, Phil Rizzuto, and Billy Martin.
Stengel’s system of platooning—rotating players at certain
positions—brought out their individual talents and allowed injured
stars a rest.
A trade that brought slugger Roger Maris to the Yankees in 1960
sparked another string of five pennant titles. Maris led the league
in RBIs that year and won the AL MVP award as he and Mantle
propelled the Yankees into the World Series. A year later Mantle and
Maris each chased Ruth’s single-season home run record of 60. In the
newly expanded 162-game season, Maris finished with 61 home runs and
Mantle with 54. (Ruth had set his record in a 154-game season.) The
Yankees went on to win the World Series under first-year manager
Ralph Houk. The Yankees captured two more pennants under Houk before
Berra took over as manager in 1964. That year the Yankees seized the
AL pennant by a one-game margin, led by pitchers Whitey Ford and Jim
Bouton.
The Yankees failed to win a pennant from 1965 to 1975. A group
headed by George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees in 1973 and
restored the team’s competitive edge with trades, high salaries, and
a succession of managers. In 1976 Billy Martin led the team to the
AL pennant in his first full season as manager. A year later the
Yankees won their first World Series in 15 years with a lineup
starring Reggie Jackson, catcher Thurman Munson, and third baseman
Graig Nettles. New York repeated as champion in 1978 under manager
Bob Lemon. The team’s pitching corps was led by Ron Guidry, who
compiled a 25-3 win-loss record.
The Yankees missed postseason play from 1982 until 1995, as
Steinbrenner changed managers numerous times. First baseman Don
Mattingly emerged as a top player and was named 1985 MVP after
driving in 145 runs, the most by an AL player in 32 years. Other
stars included pitcher Dave Righetti and outfielders Rickey
Henderson and Dave Winfield.
After hiring veteran manager Joe Torre at the end of 1995, the
Yankees’ 17-season championship drought ended in 1996 with a World
Series victory over the Atlanta Braves. Shortstop Derek Jeter was
named AL rookie of the year. In 1998 the Yankees stormed to the
pennant, compiling a 114-48 regular-season record. They went on to
sweep the San Diego Padres, 4 games to 0, in the World Series. Key
players included Jeter, center fielder Bernie Williams, first
baseman Tino Martinez, outfielder Paul O’Neill, and pitchers David
Cone, Orlando Hernandez, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, and David
Wells. One highlight of the season occurred in May, when Wells
pitched a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins, retiring all 27
batters he faced without allowing a base runner.
Before the 1999 season the Yankees traded Wells and two other
players to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Roger Clemens. During
the season David Cone pitched a perfect game, and the Yankees won
the AL pennant. In the World Series they swept the Braves, 4 games
to 0. In 2000, despite a late-season slump, the Yankees reached the
World Series again and faced off against their cross-town rivals,
the New York Mets, in a so-called Subway Series. The Yankees won the
series, 4 games to 1, to become the first team to win three straight
titles since the Oakland Athletics did so from 1972 to 1974. In 2001
New York added top pitcher Mike Mussina and again reached the World
Series, but the Yankees lost their title to the Arizona
Diamondbacks, 4 games to 3.Managed by Joe Torre and paced by
shortstop Derek Jeter, outfielder Bernie Williams, and reliever
Mariano Rivera, New York won AL championships in 1996, 1998, 1999,
2000, 2001, and 2003. The club won four World Series titles during
this span, including a victory over the cross-town rival New York
Mets in 2000—a “Subway Series.”
CHAMPIONSHIPS
1921 - d. NY Giants in 6 games
1927 - d. Pittsburgh in 4 games
1928 - d. St. Louis in 4 games
1932 - d. Chicago in 4 games
1936 - d. NY Giants in 6 games
1937 - d. NY Giants in 5 games
1938 - d. Chicago in 4 games
1939 - d. Cincinnati in 4 games
1941 - d. Brooklyn in 5 games
1943 - d. St. Lous in 5 games
1947 - d. Brooklyn in 7 games
1949 - d. Brooklyn in 5 games
1950 - d. Philadelphia in 4 games
1951 - d. NY Giants in 6 games
1952 - d. Brooklyn in 7 games
1953 - d. Brooklyn in 6 games
1956 - d. Brooklyn in 7 games
1958 - d. Milwaukee in 7 games
1961 - d. Cincinnati in 5 games
1962 - d. San Francisco in 7 games
1977 - d. Los Angeles in 6 games
1978 - d. Los Angeles in 6 games
1996 - d. Atlanta in 6 games
1998 - d. San Diego in 4 games
1999 - d. Atlanta in 4 games
2000 - d. NY Mets in 5 games
2001 - d. Arizona Diamondbacks in 7 games
Won the AL Pennant in 1921, 1922, 1923,
1926, 1927, 1028, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943,
1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960,
1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1996, 1998, 1999,
2000, 2001, 2003
TOP MANAGER
Joe McCarthy managed from 1931-1945 and compiled a 1460-867 record.
Casey Stengel managed from 1949-60 and finished with a 1149-696
record. Joe Torre has managed since 1996 and has compiled a 487-322
record. Buck Showalter was named managed of the year in 1994. Torre
was co-manager of the year in 1996 and won the award in 1998.
MVP
Lou Gehrig (1936), Joe DiMaggio (1939, 1941, 1947), Joe Gordon
(1942), Spud Chandler (1943), Phil Rizzuto (1947), Yogi Berra (1951,
1954, 1955), Mickey Mantle (1956, 1957, 1962), Roger Maris (1960,
1961), Elston Howard (1963), Thurman Munson (1976), Don Mattingly
(1985)
CY YOUNG
Bob Turley (1958), Whitey Ford (1961), Sparky Lyle (1977), Ron
Guidry (1978), Roger Clemens (2001)
ROOKIE OF YEAR
Gil McDougald (1951), Bob Grim (1954), Tony Kubek (1957), Tom Tresh
(1962), Stan Bahnsen (1968), Thurman Munson (1970), Dave Righetti
(1981), Derek Jeter (1996)
RETIRED NUMBERS
1 - Billy Martin (2B-mgr)
3 - Babe Ruth (OF)
4 - Lou Gehrig (1B)
5 - Joe DiMaggio (OF)
7 - Mickey Mantle (OF)
8 - Bily Dickey (C), Yogi Berra (C)
9 - Roger Maris (OF)
10 - Phil Rizzuto (SS)
15 - Thurman Munson (C)
16 - Whitey Ford (P)
23 - Don Mattingly (1B)
32 - Elston Howard (C)
37 - Casey Stengel (Mgr)
44 - Reggie Jackson (OF)
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