“I would rather beat the Yankees regularly than pitch a no hit game.” – Cleveland great Bob Feller.
The New York Yankees have defined greatness 27 times in franchise history, so choosing 5 that stand out above the rest proved no simple feat. While part of me feels I have done an injustice to some of the great teams that inevitably had to be left off the list, here are my picks for the 5 greatest New York Yankees teams of all-time.
1927 Yankees, 110-44-1
The 1927 Yankees team, its lineup aptly dubbed “Murderer’s Row,” is widely considered the greatest baseball team that ever played. The team’s offensive core, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, comprised the most devastating back-to-back duo any baseball lineup has ever seen. Ruth hit a (then) record 60 home runs and knocked in 164 runs in 1927, while Gehrig was belted 47 homers and an incredible 175 runs batted in. But remarkably, neither led the team in hits. That honor went to center fielder Earle Combs, who tallied 231. The Yankees hit a combined 158 home runs that season. Second best in the league? Philadelphia, with 56. Oh, and four pitchers on the Yankees’ staff recorded 18 or more wins in 1927, led by Waite Hoyt’s 22. New York swept the Pittsburgh Pirates to claim their second World Series title.
1939 Yankees, 106-45
For the New York Yankees, the 1939 season was bittersweet. Stricken with a rare muscular disease that would claim his life two years later, “The Iron Horse” Lou Gehrig sat out for the first time since the 1925 season, ending his streak of 2,130 consecutive games played. But young center-fielder Joe Dimaggio, a pillar of excellence for future Yankee generations, had one of his finest seasons ever, batting .381 with 30 home runs and 126 RBI. Third-baseman Red Rolfe led the league in hits (213), runs scored (139), and doubles (46). Thanks to Dimaggio, Rolfe, and eight other A.L. All-Stars, the Bronx Bombers swept Cincinnati in the World Series to claim their fourth straight championship under manager Joe McCarthy.
1998 Yankees, 114-48
The 1998 Yankees didn’t have the star-power of a Ruth, Gehrig, or Dimaggio. One of their leading hitters that year was Scott Brosius, a solid but unspectacular third-baseman. And yet they won an astounding 114 regular season games, more than any previous Yankee team, or any previous American League team for that matter. What the 1998 Yankees lacked in “superstars,” it made up for in consistency. Ten players hit 10 or more home-runs, though none more than 28 (TIno Martinez). Six pitchers won 10 or more games, including David Cone and a career best 20. The Yankees won the American League by 22 games that year, and recorded 125 total wins, a record that still stands. In October, they swept the San Diego Padres in the World Series to bring home their 24th championship.
1961 Yankees, 109-53
The Yankees’ 1961 season is largely remembered for Roger Maris’s record breaking 61 home-runs. But the ’61 Yanks were far from a one-man show, as evidenced by their 109 wins. Mickey Mantle, whose season was cut short due to injury, finished just shy of Maris with 54 homers and came in second in the league’s MVP voting. A remarkable six players in all hit 20 or more home-runs. The Yankees won their 19th championship after totaling 827 runs scored that year, but likely could have succeeded with far fewer: Opposing teams had the misfortune of facing one of the greatest single season four-man pitching rotations ever assembled, headed by Cy Young Award winner Whitey Ford (25-4, 3.21 ERA).
1932 Yankees, 107-47
The 1932 Yankees included a record-setting nine future Hall of Famers, and are regarded as one of the most complete baseball teams ever assembled. Legendary sluggers Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig once again paced the offense, while four starting pitchers compiled 17 or more wins each, including 24 by Lefty Gomez. The Yanks swept the Chicago Cubs to claim their fourth World Series title. In the Series’ four games, Gehrig batted a stellar .529 and batted in 8 runs, but this was overshadowed by one of the most legendary stories in baseball history, Babe Ruth’s “called shot” in Game 3 of the World Series.
Sources: all stats courtesy of baseball-reference.com
Joe is a die-hard Yankees fan, who grew up idolizing “Donnie Baseball,” Don Mattingly.