New York Yankees history

In 1902, American League founder and president Ban Johnson relocated the Baltimore Orioles to New York to solidify his stake in major league baseball.

Ban Johnson new the only way the American League would survive was to put a team in New York. It wasn’t easy. New York Giants owner Andrew Freeman tried to stop Johnson’s move to New York several times. Freedman knew how best to stop Johnson. As a real estate man, he realized that the first requirement of any new team in New York would be a place to stay. The Giants had no interest in sharing their park, the Polo Grounds on 155th Street, with anyone. Neither was Manhattan Field available. The National League leased the property for $15,000 a year just to prevent any other team from using it. In the meantime, Johnson hired star pitcher and manager Clark Griffith to lead the new franchise. Johnson also signed pitcher Jack Chesbro. By early March, as the team prepared for spring training, time was beginning to run out on a place to play. A syndicate led by Joseph Gordon helped Johnson in his quest to find a park to play in.

Gordon proposed to build a ballpark in Washington Heights. He could not have chosen a more unlikely location that was why the property was still available. The location was also considered virtually unbuildable. Site preparation alone would require the rearrangement of hundreds of tons of rock and soil before a single nail could be driven to erect the stands. New York politician Tammany Hall looked forward to tapping in on the huge construction contract. To make it all happen, all Johnson had to do was hand the franchise over to Tammany. On March 11, 1903 Johnson reluctantly awarded the syndicate the franchise and became a partner with Tammany.

The first thing the Tammany did was promote pool room king Frank Ferrell and ex-cop Bill Devery to become the franchise’s first owners. Ferrell was known for his role in a gambling syndicate. In 1900, the New York Times estimated that the syndicate’s annual take was in excess of $3 million. Bill Devery became a member of the police force in 1878, after paying Tammany $200 to change his profession. Devery wasn’t drawn to law enforcement by any means. He soon was soliciting money from every gambling den and whorehouse on his beat. Devery soon became friendly with Farrell. Over time Devery provided protection for the gambling syndicate throughout New York City.

The Yankees first manager, Clark Griffith, was a pitcher of note in the National League, where he was affectionately known as the Old Fox. Players soon started to fill the New York roster. From Pittsburgh came star pitchers Jess Tannehill and spitball artist Jack Chesbro. They were joined by two of their former teammates outfielder Lefty Davis and catcher Jack O’ Connor. But the acknowledged star of the team was outfielder Wee Willie Keller.

While the players marched through spring training in Georgia, Farrell, Devery, and Ban Johnson still found the going tough in Manhattan. Even as 500 men worked from dawn to dusk to turn Washington Heights into a ballpark, the immigrant invaders found their neighbors less than welcoming. The park was completed after Freedman made a last ditch effort to try to stop Johnson. On April 22, the New York ballclub made their debut against the Washington Senators. The Senators won the game 3-1.

The average fan wouldn’t recognize the team as the Yankees, for they had not adopted the nickname or their distinctive pinstripe attire. And they were called “New York” As yet, the club had no other name. But within a few months, sportswriters began calling them “Yankees”.

The Yankees first home game was played on April 30, 1903, at Hilltop Park. The Yankees weren’t just another team, and soon the whole league knew it. Backed by Johnson, the Yankees got a deal on Detroit’s Kid Elberfeld. The Kid made the Yankees one of the best teams in the league as they won 16 of their next 24. A hot finish, which saw them go 19-10 in September, was enough to secure the club a fourth place finish with a 72-62 record.

In 1904 Jack Chesbro won 41 games in 51 starts, pitching 48 complete games, all still major league records. Chesbro led the league in winning percentage (.759). . For Yankee fans, the American League pennant became everything. And for the ballclub, everything depended on Jack Chesbro. Over the final three weeks of the season, he pitched 10 games, starting nine of them. The Yankees were in the heat of the AL pennant race with the Boston Americans (known today as the Boston Red Sox), and the pennant would be decided on the last series between the two clubs. In Boston the Yankees were swept in their last series in Boston, and the Americans were one game away from winning the pennant. The scene shifted back to New York, and manager Clark Griffith was positive Chesbro would bring the pennant home to the Yankees. Jack Chesbro took the mound for the final time that season, and the fourth time in eight days. With the game tied 2-2, Chesbro took the mound in the ninth inning. With a Lou Criger on third base, Chesbro had two strikes on Freddie Parent with two outs. Chesbro was one out away from getting out of the inning, when he threw a wild pitch that flew above catcher Red Kleinlow. Criger trotted home as Kleinow scrambled after the ball. Chesbro looked shocked. Clark Griffith dropped to his knees and buried his face in the dirt. The New York crowd sat in silence as Boston fans sang and cheered. After Yankee Patsy Dougherty struck out, the game was over. The Pennant was Boston’s. The Yankees were out.

After the Yankees lost the pennant in 1904. The headline “Pennant Lost by Wild Pitch” defined the season and Cresco’s career. Still the Yankees had won a place in Manhattan, by pushing the mighty Red Sox to the limit. Ban Johnson was ecstatic. Farrell and Devery were making money. Chesbro was the games best pitcher, Keeler was one of the game’s most dangerous hitters, and Elbertfeld was being recognized as a star. However, hardly a player on the team approached the 1904 standard, and they finished sixth in 1905, 21.5 games behind Philadelphia. The one bright spot of the season was the emergence of Hal Chase. He would prove to be the clubs most dominant personality for much of the next decade. Chase became the first of many players’ in the team’s long history whose personality would be more important than his talent. New York was a stage and Chase knew how to play it.

In 1906, the Yankees finished in second place. Shortstop Kid Elberfeld earned the nickname Tabasco Kid for his hotheaded nature. His attack on umpire Silk O’ Loughlin in the heat of the pennant race resulted in a suspension, which possibly cost New York its first AL championship. Hal Chase hit .323 with 76 RBI.

In 1907, the Yankees finished in fifth place with a 70-78 record. Things already looked bleak during spring training. Both Chesbro and Chase stayed home. Chase finally signed a contract just before Opening Day, and then took his time to report. During the season, manager Clark Griffith told owner Frank Farrell he wanted out. After several trades made by Griffith, Farrell started interfering and telling him whom to pitch. So Farrell hired Kid Elberfeld to take over. In 1908, the Yankees, under Elberfeld finished a dismal season with a 51-103 record, and for the first time, the Yanks finished in last place.

Before the start of the 1909 season, Elberfeld was fired and Farrell hired George Stallings. A new player of note appeared to carry the promise of future glory. Outfielder William Franklin “Birdie” Cree burst on the scene, and might have been the best player the Yankees had before acquiring Babe Ruth. In September 1909, charges were made that the Yankees had been stealing the opposing catcher’s signs. When the charges first leaked out, the New York press dismissed the charges as sour grapes. Ban Johnson thought otherwise and wanted Stallings fired.

In 1910, the Yankees continued to improve, finishing the season with an 88-63 record and a second place finish. Chase led the team in hits with 152 and RBI with 73. Stallings was in trouble and he knew it. Charges kept surfacing around that Stallings was still signal tipping. So he threw up a smoke screen. First baseman Hal Chase became Stallings scapegoat, and the manager put in motion a series of events that served to identify Chase as baseball’s most corrupt player. Each time the Yankees failed, Stallings blamed Chase for “laying down” and giving less than his best effort, and destroyed him in the press. But Stallings made a big miscalculation. He thought that the clubs improvement, the support of his players would force Farrell to back him, but it was Chase who received the support. It was an open secret that Chase wanted to manage the club and had been disappointed when Stallings was hired. After Stallings was fired, Chase took over as manager.

With Chase at the helm of the Yankees, the club was never in the race in 1911. They finished sixth, with a 76-76 record. The star of the season was Birdie Cree, who emerged as one of the best players in the league. He hit .356, stole 48 bases, and knocked in 88 runs. The team’s fall from second place in 1910 to sixth in 1911, was blamed on Hal Chase. Chase was under suspension that he was “laying down” again. His high error totals made observers wonder if Chase was throwing games.

The real reason behind the Yankee demise was of the poor job of Farrell and Devery. Without the help of Tammany, each had proven to be lousy businessman. Their addiction to gambling and the high life had squandered their fortune. The club had stopped buying players, and the effect started to show on the field. Chase knew a sinking ship when he saw one. When Farrell began making noise about a change at the top, Chase stepped aside. Farrell hired Harry Wolverton.

In 1912, under Wolverton, the Yankees didn’t stand a chance. The Yankees lost often, but they looked good doing it. The club adopted what would become the most famous uniform of all sports, the pinstripes. Any chance of the team competing that season evaporated when a Walter Johnson fastball crushed Birdie Cree’s wrist early in July. The impact of Johnson’s pitch lasted beyond the 1912 season. Cree’s wrist healed, but his psyche didn’t. He changed overnight into a shy hitter who never regained confidence. Later in the season, Johnson tried to stop the bleeding and hired the greatest manager in the game, Frank Chance.

There were problems right away. Chase was less than enthusiastic and earned his manager’s wrath by repeatedly showing up late for practice. The team opened the 1913 season against Washington in front of newly elected President Woodrow Wilson. That was the only highlight of the season for the Yankees. Once again Hal Chase became the bad guy. He and other veterans openly mocked manager Frank Chance, who was deaf in one ear, and Chase loved insulting him, then watching the manager fume as players looked his way and laughed. In mid-May Chance charged that Chase was doing more than just laying down-he was actually tossing games. Chase’s reputation became Chance’s convenient scapegoat. Farrell gave him permission to seek a trade. The club lost the first six games without Chase, which caused Farrell to lose faith in Chance. The club finished the season with a pathetic 57-94 record.

In 1914, the club improved their record to 70-84. But without Chase, players remained indifferent and team chemistry was poison. Chance tried to install discipline, but players went behind his back to Farrell and Devery, who repeatedly rescinded fines. Chance couldn’t take it, the leader’s reputation was being badly tarnished. He didn’t get along with with team scout Arthur Irwin and wanted him dismissed. Then Chance suggested his own removal. As Chance sat in the Yankee clubhouse at the Polo Grounds on September 12 after his club defeated Philadelphia 2-1, Ferrell and Devery walked in. They heard Chance complaining to the press about the two owners. An argument followed, and soon the manager and ex-cop-turned-owner were in each others faces. When Devery called the manager a quitter, the manager took a wild swing at his boss. He missed, and Chance’s players soon pulled the two apart. Chance was let go a few days later.

As the new Federal League challenged the American League and National League, Ban Johnson knew the Yankees couldn’t fend off a possible raid by the Federal League. Ferrell and Devery were going broke over tension between Chance and Chase that caused their partnership to crumble. Ban Johnson, still protective of his league began casting about for new ownership. Farrell and Devery had outlived their usefulness.

The Giants had a host of well-to-do-fans, and McGraw knew most of them personally. He’d grown close to Colonel Tillinghast L’Hommideau Huston. Huston was a civil engineer during the Spanish-American War and made a fortune dredging Havana Harbor and building the sewer system. Through McGraw Huston met another big Giants fan, beer baron and Tammany politician Jacob Ruppert. Each man had tried to buy a piece of the Giants, but the team wasn’t for sale. Both Huston and Ruppert were both independently wealthy. Together, they were filthy rich. So on December 7, 1914, Huston and Ruppert with Farrell and Johnson. Their partnership offered Farrell and Devery a way out and a handsome profit.

For their trouble Farrell and Devery would split $460,000. A sum more than 25 times their original investment. They barley made it. The two continued to fight and soon stopped talking to each other. Devery died in 1919 of a blood clot in the brain, leaving an estate of $1,023. Farrell did only slightly better. He lived another seven years before dying of heart failure, his estate was valued at $1,072.

On December 31, Huston announced to the press that he and Ruppert had bought the Yankees. The transformation was taking place. Ban Johnson came through on his promise of players, at first, as he directed Detroit to release first baseman Wally Pipp to the Yankees. The club also got star third baseman Frank “Home run” Baker from the Philadelphia A’s. The Yankees ended the season, under manager Bill Donovan, with a record of 69-83 in 1915.

For much of the 1916 season, the U.S. had danced around entry into World War I. But on April 6, congress passed a formal declaration of war. The Yankees ended the season with an 80-74 record. Baker led the team in with a .269 average and Wally Pipp led the team with 143 hits and 99 RBI.

After a disastrous 1916 season, Miller Huggins replaced Bill Donovan as the new Yankee manager. Ban Johnson was petrified that due to the war, the 1918 season would not be played. A number of teams simply didn’t have enough money to survive a yearlong shutdown. Boston owner Harry Frazee wasn’t scared of the war and pursued many star players. Ruppert took his cue from the Boston owner, and he too began to shop around for players. Johnson tried to convince the government to let the players be exempt from the war, a proposal that angered many fans and supporters. The Government rejected Johnson’s plan and he was forced to close out the season. Frazee had other plans. He went to Washington and pleaded that baseball was good for the moral of the country, the government agreed with Frazee, but the season would be cancelled early.

Politics turned Ruppert and the Yankees and Frazee’s Red Sox into allies. Frazee had made it clear that he thought Johnson was in competent, he wanted the three-man National Commission to be replaced with a single commissioner. The Yankees began to wonder if Johnson was ever going to come through on his promise of players. Frazee seemed to have Johnson cornered, and the Yankees were inclined to agree with the Red Sox owner.

In 1919, the Yankees finished the season with an 80-59 record with a third place finish. The Yankees hitting attack was the biggest surprise in the league. The press even referred the batting lineup of Baker, Duffy Lewis, Del Pratt, Wally Pipp, and Ping Bodie as “Murderers’ Row,” a phrase a later generation of Yankee sluggers would make their own. In July, the Yankees, White Sox, Indians and Tigers remained close together. In the next few days, the pennant race, the future of the American League and the face of baseball all changed.

It began in Chicago, as the Boston Red Sox and White Sox squared off. Star pitcher Carl Mays, who’d pitched well all season, but suffered from nonsupport, lost his composure and walked off the field. He told reporters that he would never pitch again for the Red Sox. Frazee was quick to act. Boston’s season was over, but the four contending teams fighting for a pennant, Mays had value. Frazee struck a deal with the Yankees and Mays became New York property. Ban Johnson found out about the deal and declared the trade invalid and suspended Mays himself.

At first, all parties fought it out in public. Johnson announced that the suspension would last the whole year. The Yankees threatened to play Mays anyway and appealed the suspension. During this time, the two teams learned that Johnson owned a piece of Cleveland. That changed everything, and the Yankees knew it. “Conflict of interest” became the most important phrase in baseball. The Yankees won in court. To Johnson it was the beginning of the end. Although he’d linger on as American League president for another eight years, his tenure as the most powerful man in baseball was almost at the end.

The legal battle that tore the American League in two would, in the end turn Babe Ruth into a New York Yankee. The Yankees purchase of Ruth from Boston is the most famous transaction in sports. In New York it is considered the birth of the Yankee dynasty. In Boston it is still blamed for all the misfortunes in the franchise. In truth, there is no “curse” attached to the transaction. The Yankees weren’t propping up Harry Frazee financially nor was the deal dependant on a loan and mortgage on Fenway Park and it did not finance Frazee’s musical No, No, Nanette.

In fact, Babe Ruth was a growing problem for Frazee. His skills were matched only by his ability to cause trouble. In 1918 Ruth had brefiely jumped the team. But early in 1919 Ruth engaged in a battle with manager Ed Barrow over his repeated curfew violations. His refusal to pitch early in the season had cost the team the pennant. After setting a new home run mark of 29, the Babe went AWOL, skipping the final game of the season. On December 26, 1919, the Yankees agreed to buy Ruth for $100,000. Boston’s loss would be New York’s gain.

The Yankees opened the 1920 season in Philadelphia. By the games end it was clear that Ruth alone would not be the answer to New York’s problem. After a slow start, Ruth got on track. For the next three months Ruth rarely went more than three or four games without smacking a home run. One reason for Ruth’s turnaround was the emergence of Bob Meusel as an offensive threat. After Huggins shifted his lineup, Ruth went on a tear and the Yankees were back on top of the American League.

That got everyone attention, including Ban Johnson, who was still mad over his losses in court, now tried to convince Giants owner Charles Stoneham to cancel the Yankees lease on the Polo Grounds. Stoneham was intrigued. The Yankees were outdrawing his team, and he disliked sharing the revenue with the Yanks. But Johnson overplayed his cards. The Yankees held the mortgage to Fenway Park and threatened more legal action. Stoneham didn’t want to get dragged into Johnson’s lost cause, and within days, a new lease was signed through 1922, but the two Yankee owners knew it was time to find a new ballpark. However, the Yankees couldn’t hold on to first place as the White Sox pulled ahead. The Story of the 1920 season happened on August 16. That game will be remembered as the game in which pitcher Carl Mays unleashed the pitch that killed Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman. After Chapman was hit, he fell to his knees, blood coming from his ear, struggling to stand. Chapman lost consciousness and died the next day.

After the 1919 season, the Yankees hired Ed Barrow away from the Red Sox. Barrow and Huggins made the perfect team. Barrow got right to work, as he signed pitcher Wait Hoyt away from Boston. While Barrow and Huggins focused on the team on the field, Ruppert and Huston were concerned with the field itself. In February they announced with great fanfare that they had finally secured a location for their own ballpark.

The Yankees were a much improved team in 1920. Hoyt gave them a dependable arm. Frank Baker was still valuable. And hitting behind Ruth, Bob Meusal gave the Yankees the most powerful one-two punch in baseball. The Yankees hit stride, but Cleveland played better at the end of the season and won the pennant. The story of the season was, of course, Babe Ruth. Ruth hit a set another major league record by blasting 54 home runs. Ruth also scored 158 runs, which was also a new record.

In 1921, the Yankees and the Indians had left the rest of the league behind, but either club couldn’t quit shake each other. The Yankees held first place by percentage points when Cleveland came into town for a four-game set. The Yankees would win the series and clinch the American League title for the first time in their history. Meanwhile, John McGraw and his New York Giants had overtaken Pittsburgh and won the National League pennant.

The city of New York was in baseball frenzy. For the first time, the Yankees and Giants were going to play each other in the World Series, it would be dubbed as the “Subway Series”. However, the Giants would beat the Yankees in the last bets-of-nine World Series.

In 1922, Ruth’s season was ruined by a pre-season run in with new Commissioner Kensaw Landis. The two battled over the Babe’s post -World Series barnstorming trip, which Landis ruled illegal. Angry at being openly defied by the Yankee slugger, Landis suspended Ruth and teammate Bob Meusal for the first month of the season. A mad Ruth batted only .315 with 35 home runs in 110 games. As a result of the partial lost of their two best hitters, the Yankees were outscored 867-758 by a Browns team that nipped at their heels all season long. However, the Yankees edged the Browns by one game to repeat as AL pennant winners.

In a rematch of the 1921 Subway Series, Ruth and the Yankees were thrashed again. Ruth was a particular disaster in the series, hitting only .118 with no home runs.

In 1923, the Giants-Yankees rivalry extended beyond the white lines of the baseball diamond. The Yankees moved out of the Polo Grounds after Yankee Stadium was built, a monumental state-of-the-art facility. When Yankee Stadium opened, Babe Ruth was the first to hit a home run in the new ballpark. The Yankees had an easy time winning the AL flag by 16 games over the Detroit Tigers. Ruth regained his status as the AL’s best hitter by leading in runs with 151, home runs with 41, slugging at .764. He also drew 170 walks. Ruth won the MVP Award. But the real strength of this Yankee team was the pitching. Herb Pennock, another Red Sox refugee, went 19-6 for New York to lead the AL in winning percentage. Waite Hoyt was second in ERA at 3.01, and Sam Jones led New York in victories with 21. The Yankees 3.66 ERA led all AL pitching staffs.

The Yankees would meet the Giants again in the World Series, but the result was different. The Yankees won the last three games of the series for their first ever World Series crown. Ruth bounced back to hit .368 with three home runs in the series. Bob Meusel knocked in eight runs in the series, while Joe Dugan drove in five. That evening at a hotel party, Ruppert announced that Huggins would return to the club for the 1923 season. Both men thought the club was in fine shape to repeat.

In 1924, the Yankees dropped to second place, 2 games behind the underdog Washington Senators. You couldn’t blame it on Babe Ruth, he won his only batting title at .378 and led in home runs with 46, and runs at 143. The rest of the offense wasn’t bad either, Wally Pipp hit a league leading 19 triples, third baseman Joe Dugan, scored 105 runs and Bob Meusel hit .325 and drove in 120 runs. It was the Yankee pitching that had faltered, compiling an ERA of 3.86. Before the season opened, Carl Mays was sold to the Reds, who had fallen out of favor with Huggins. As a result, two youngsters seemed about ready to burst on the scene. Outfielder Earle Combs had been the most talked about player in the Minor Leagues in 1923, and Columbia Universities Lou Gehrig was touted as the next Babe Ruth.

The New York Yankees found out just how dependant they were on the 30-year-old Babe Ruth in 1925. In Spring Training, their overweight and worn-down right fielder suffered an intestinal abcess brought on by too much eating and drinking. Stomach surgery and a suspension by manager Miller Huggins for insubordination limited Ruth’s season to 98 games, and the Yankees collapsed to seventh place with a 69-85 record.

In 1926, the Yankees returned to the top of the AL with a 91-63 record. For New York, shortstop Mark Koenig, solidified the defense, and the big three, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Earle Combs, all had big year. Ruth hit .372, scored a league-leading 139 runs, he also led the league in home runs with 47. A blossoming Gehrig led all AL hitters in triples with 20, banged out 47 doubles, and scored 135 runs. Combs hit .299 with 12 triples and 133 runs. The Yankees faced off against the St.Louis Cardinals in the 1926 World Series. The series went the full seven games before the Cards beat the Yankees. But Ruth was the star of the series, hitting three home runs in game four.

In 1927, the public’s attention was focused on the heroics of the Yankees, who led the AL on every day of the 1927 season and finished with a 110-44 record, 19 games ahead of the A’s. Ruth hit 60 home runs, more than any other AL team. Lou Gehrig kept pace in home runs until September, a month in which Ruth hit an incredible 17 home runs, Gehrig finished with 47. Between Ruth and Gehrig, they hit 25 percent of the leagues 439 home runs. Ruth was first in runs with 158 and second in RBI with 164. Lou Gehrig won the AL MVP Award. The rest of the New York order included leadoff great Earle Combs, who was third in runs with 137, first in hits with 231, and first in triples with 23. Bob Meusel hit 47 doubles, Mark Koenig scored 99 runs, and Tony Lazzeri was third in the AL in home runs with 18.

All this slugging overshadowed the Yankees’ pitching which compiled the AL’s best ERA at 3.20. Waite Hoyt led in wins with 22, Wilcy Moore, Hoyt, and Urban Shocker were first, second, and fourth in ERA at 2.28, 2.64, and 2.84, and four Yankees topped .700 in winning percentage. As a staff, New York also led the league in shutouts, fewest hits and fewest walks. The 1927 Yankees are considered the best team in baseball history. Their 110 wins was the best mark by any team up until that point.

The Yankees faced off against the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team that was all but beat before the series even started. In batting practice, the Yankees were hitting long home runs while the Pirate players watched in awe, wondering how they were going to win against the powerful New York club. The 1927 World Series took only four days, as New York outscored the Pirates 23-10 and swept them in four games. The Yankees sweep the World Series so convincingly that the team forever became known as “Murderer’s Row”.

The 1927 season was also remembered by the mini scandal which resulted in the forced resignation of Ban Johnson from the AL presidency after 27 years of service, when he publicly protested the decision by Landis who smeared the names of baseball legends Tris Speaker and Ty Cobb, who were charged with fixing a game in 1919.

The Yankees kicked off the 1928 season by winning 34 of their first 42 games. But the Yanks were not quite the same team that had romped to the 1927 pennant. Eighteen game winner Urban Shocker’s heart gave out and he was forced to retire. He would die September, the first of many Yankees to die before their time. The Yankees relaxed in the second half of the season and fought off injuries that knocked Dugan, Koenig, Meusel, Lazzeri, and Pennock out of the lineup for a significant amount of time. The Yankees awoke and took three of four from the surging A’s and rolled to another AL pennant as Ruth hit 54 home runs, Gehrig tied him for the league lead in RBI’s with 145, George Pipgras and Wait Hoyt won 23 games.

The Yankees dominated the 1928 World Series to an even greater degree than the year before, as they again swept the World Series, this time against the St. Louis Cardinals. Between Ruth and Gehrig, they hit seven home runs and knocked in 13 runs in the series. Waite Hoyt was the series top pitcher, winning two complete games.

In 1929, the Yankees had slipped to second place with an 88-66 record. Ruth led the team in home runs with 46 and in RBI with 154. The story of the season however was of manager Miller Huggins. Huggins entered the hospital on September 20 after an ugly eye blemish under his left eye refused to disappear, five days later, he was dead of blood poisoning. The Yankees were playing Boston at Yankee Stadium when few players noticed a flag started its low descent from the top of the staff. Half way down it stopped and drooped, a mute signal that one of the greatest leaders in the game had passed away. After the fifth inning the players were told of his death, and members of both teams gathered around home plate for a minute of silence as word of Huggin’s death was announced to the crowd.

The Yankees hired Joe McCarthy in 1931 to replace former Yankee pitcher turned manager Bob Shawkey.

The New York Yankees came back in 1932 to reclaim the AL pennant after a three-year exile. In his last great year, the 37-year-old Ruth hit .341 with 120 runs and 137 RBI. Combs, the greatest leadoff man of the 1920s also had his last big season, batting .321 and scoring 143 runs. Ben Chapman stole a league-high 38 bases and banged out 41 doubles. Lefty Gomez and Red Ruffing won a combined 42 games, and Johnny Allen went 17-4. The game of the year came against the A’s, in which Lou Gehrig hit four home runs. The Yankees finished the season with a 107-47 record.

The 1932 World Series featured one of the best-known episodes in Ruth legend-the suppose “called shot”. There was bad blood between the two clubs over the Cubs alleged treatment of former manager and then-Yankee skipper McCarthy. With the score tied at four in game three, Ruth came to bat. He took strike one from Root. As Cub players heckled Ruth, he held up his hand, a gesture he repeated after strike two. He drove the next pitch deep into the stands for his last World Series home runs as New York went on to sweep the Cubs. The Yankees had swept the third World Series in a row in which they had appeared in. It will never be known for certain, but on-deck hitter Gehrig insisted that Ruth had meant to call his home run and point where it would go.

In 1933, the Yankees opened the season with seven straight wins, but the team would struggle, Ruth was out of shape and was slipping badly. The yanks would finish the season with a 91-59 record.

The Yankees opened the 1934 season in customary fashion, moving smoothly into first place and Ruth hit his 700 home run. But on July 24, the season turned. The Yankees took the field against the St.Louis Cardinals and in the seventh inning, Cardinal outfielder Harland Clift drove the ball deep to left. Earle Combs, playing left field, took off after the ball, which was headed toward the bleachers. Running at full speed, he reached for the ball just as he crashed into the concrete barrier before the stands. Combs crumbled to the ground and was out cold. Rushed to the hospital, doctors discovered a skull fracture. Combs slipped in and out of consciousness for several days before a long slow recovery. But his season was over. He returned to play in 1935, but he would never be the same player he had once been. The Yankees never recovered from his loss, and finished the season 7 games behind Detroit.

At the end of the 1934 season, Babe Ruth, who wanted to manage the Yankees, was let go. Ruth signed with the Boston Braves in hopes of becoming their manager. “Well” wrote John Kieran, “he’s gone”. No one knew what the future held for the New York Yankees, but while the ballclub and Ruth underwent their drawn out divorce, the club began a new relationship, one with a player who would prove to be just as important to the club’s future as Ruth had been to it’s past, his name was Joe DiMaggio.

In 1935, the Yankees were now led by Lou Gehrig. Before the season started, McCarthy announced that Gehrig would be the Yankees captain, a post that had gone unfilled since Miller Huggins stripped Ruth of the title a year before. Although the Yankees moved into first place, they slowly fell away in midseason. Gehrig knocked in 119 runs, but the Yankees finished the season with an 89-60 record.

The 1936 season was the year that the Yankees discovered another legend in Joe DiMaggio. The 21-year-old had been purchased from the Pacific Coast League San Francisco Seals for $25,000. Breaking into the Yankee lineup with a triple and two singles against St.Louis on May 3, DiMaggio went on to hit .323 with 132 runs, 44 doubles, 29 home runs, 125 RBI, and a league-leading 15 triples. The Yankees went 102-51 to take the AL flag by 19.5 games, thanks to MVP Lou Gehrig (who hit .354, 49 home runs, 125 RBI), shortstop Frankie Crosetti (who drew 90 walks and scored 137 runs), and catcher Bill Dickey (who hit .362 with 22 home runs).

The Giants won the NL as New York resumed its place atop the baseball world for the first time in more than a decade. The fans called it the “nickel series” after the price of a subway ride from the stadium to the Polo Grounds. The Yanks defeated the Giants in six games. Yankee Jake Powell was the series hitting star, batting .455 with five RBI. Most importantly, McCarthy won his first crown, and Lou Gehrig had one a title without Babe Ruth.

The 1937 season was a rough imitation of 1936. The Yankees machine scored the most runs in the league (979), allowed the fewest (671), and finished at 102-52, 13 games up on Detroit. Gehrig batted .351, the last time he would hit .300. Bill Dickey hit .332 with 29 home runs and 133 RBI. Rookie Tommy Henrich also had a respectable year hitting .320 and collecting 14 doubles. The pitching wasn’t bad either, as Lefty Gomez and Ruffing each won 20 games as the club led the league in ERA.

Once again, the Yankees met the Giants in the World Series. The Yanks made short work of the Giants, winning the series in five games, outscoring them 28-12. Lefty Gomez was the star of the series by winning two complete games for the Yankees.

The Yankees marched on in 1938, winning the AL by 9.5 games over Boston. Although the Yankees placed few hitters among the league leaders, their offense blended to produce 966 runs, the most in the AL. Gehrig hit just .295 with 29 home runs, and Joe DiMaggio batted .324 and drove in 140 runs on 32 home runs. Bill Dickey hit .313 with 27 home runs, and Joe Gordon took over from veteran second baseman Tony Lazzari and contributed 25 home runs and 97 RBI.

The World Series was an utter mismatch, as the New York ballclub swept the Cubs in four straight by a combined score of 22-9. The Yankee pitchers recorded an ERA of 1.75 to their opponents 5.03. Red Ruffing was the star of the series by winning two complete games. With that, the Yankees to that point had lost a total of three games in their last six World Series.

The 1939 season marked a turning point in the history of the Yankees and the American League. Geri’s teammates had noticed something wrong with their 35-year-old leader early in the 1938 season, when the ball no longer jumped off his bat. Steadily deteriorating from the start of spring training in 1939 through eight games into the regular season, the “Iron Horse” finally called it quits, ending baseball’s longest consecutive game streak at 2,130 games (since been broken by Cal Ripken Jr). Shortly afterward, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The season paused on July 4, when the Yankees held “Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day” at the stadium. After the first game of the doubleheader, a microphone stand was placed near home plate, and Gehrig’s former teammates-Ruth, Lazzeri, Meusel, Combs, and others-joined the current squad in a semicircle around Gehrig. Gehrig delivered his famous speech by saying “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth”. With that, the crowd roared, and even Ruth, who had a fall out with Gehrig, threw his arms around Gehrig’s shoulders in a memorable embrace.

The Yankees ran away with the AL pennant for the fourth straight time in 1939, which was an AL record. The New York attack was led by AL MVP Joe DiMaggio (who won the batting title at .381 and drove in 126 runs). As usual, New York pitchers allowed the fewest runs in the AL, behind 21-7 Red Ruffing and 12-6 Bump Hadley.

The Yankees swept the Reds in the World Series, and at that point, won 28 of their last 31 World Series games. Rookie Charlie Keller was the hitting star, batting .438 with six RBI.

The 1940 Yankees stumbled badly, winning 18 fewer games than the 1939 team. DiMaggio hurt his knee trying to stretch a single into a double. The Yankees finished the season with an 88-66 record. After the Yanks disappointing season, the Yankees signed shortstop Phil Rizzuto from the American Association.

The New York Yankees won the 1941 pennant by 17 games over Boston, but the pennant race was overshadowed by the hitting performance by Joe DiMaggio. After a slow start, DiMaggio hit in a record 56 straight games with a hit. DiMaggio finished the season third in the AL in batting at .357, first in RBI with 125, as he won the AL MVP. During the season, Lou Gehrig had died. The first Yankee-Dodger World Series looked like it would go at least six games, but the Yanks put them away in five. Joe Gordon was the series star, hitting .500 with five RBI.

In 1942, the Yankees again won the AL pennant with a 103-51 record. Joe DiMaggio batted .305 with 123 runs, 21 home runs and 13 triples. Sophomore Phil Rizzuto stole 22 bases, and his double play partner Joe Gordon hit .322 with 103 RBI. The Yankees lost Tommy Henrich to the Army as World War II increasingly affected baseball rosters. The Yankee pitching was just as strong, as pitchers Tiny Bonham, Spud Chandler, and Hank Borowy were second, third and fifth in the AL in ERA at 2.27, 2.37, and 2.53. The Yankees lost the 1942 World Series to the St.Louis Cardinals in five games. It was the first time since 1923 that a team had beaten the Yankees in the World Series.

In 1943, the Yankees lost Joe DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto and Red Ruffing to the war. But the Yankees still managed to win the AL pennant by winning 98 games. The Yankee’s were matched against St.Louis in the World Series for the second year in a row. Billy Johnson was the star of the series in hits with just six. That World Series win would be the last for manager Joe McCarthy.

In January 1945 a syndicate including Dan Topping, Del Webb, and Larry McPhail purchased the Yankees, Yankee Stadium, and the team’s farm system for $2.8 million.

In 1947, a reunited Yankee team scored the most runs in the AL (794), allowed the fewest (568) and ran away with the AL flag by 12 games over Detroit. New York tied an AL record with a 19-game winning streak. MVP Joe DiMaggio hit .315 with 97 runs, and Tommy Henrich drove in 98 runs. Allie Reynolds went 19-8, and reliever Joe Page compiled a 2.49 ERA and 17 saves. The Yankees faced off against the Brooklyn Dodgers for the second time. The Dodgers took the Yanks to seven games, but the Bronx Bombers won in seven games.

In 1948, Babe Ruth died. Baseball fans filed past the casket of Babe Ruth in the rotunda of Yankee Stadium on August 18. Ruth died of throat cancer at the age of 53.

In 1949, rookie manager Casey Stengel won the AL pennant while none of the Yankee star led the AL in any major hitting category. Only Henrich, with the third best slugging mark of .526, appeared in the top five. Stengel overcame injuries to DiMaggio. The Yankees featured a solid pitching staff that included 21-10 Vic Rashid, 17-6 Allie Reynolds, and super reliever Joe Page, who went 13-8 with 27 saves. The Yankees faced off against the Dodgers in the World Series for the third time. The Yankees defeated the Dodgers again in five games.

In 1950, the Yankees finished the season with a 98-56 record, winning the AL pennant. Nine wins came from rookie pitcher Whitey Ford. Phil Rizzuto won the AL MVP Award with a .324 average. In the World Series the Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in a sweep.

In 1951, the Yankees won their third straight AL pennant. Although the Yankees featured no .300 hitters, they did have clutch-hitting catcher Yogi Berra (who won the AL MVP), and pitching ace Eddie Lopat (21 wins and 2.91 ERA). Allie Reynolds hurled a pair of no-hitters for New York. The Yankees won the World Series in six games against the Giants. Perhaps more noteworthy than the Yankees victory was a changing of the guard in the Bronx, as Joe DiMaggio ended his Hall of Fame career in pinstripes, a 19-year-old outfielder named Mickey Mantle made his debut.

In 1952, the Yankees won the AL pennant for the fourth consecutive time. Under Casey Stengel, the Yanks won the pennant despite the loss of Joe DiMaggio, and starting infielders Jerry Coleman and Bobby Brown to military action in Korea. Phil Rizzuto led the majors in sacrifice hits for a record fourth straight year. Gil McDougal hit 16 doubles, five triples, and 11 home runs. Allie Reynolds had his best year in 1952, collecting a 20-8 record, a league-high 160 strikeouts and a league best 2.07 ERA.

In the 1952 World Series, the Dodgers pushed the champs to a full seven games. In the deciding game, Mickey Mantle’s sixth inning solo home run secured, reliever Bob Kuzava retired the last eight Dodger batters, and the Yankees took a fourth straight World Championship.

In 1953, Casey Stengel became the first to manage five consecutive flag-winners. He did so with a sharp pitching staff. 24-year-old Whitey Ford returned from two years of military service to win 18 games, and Eddie Lopat led the league with a 2.43 ERA. Along with Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi, and Johnny Sain, the five pitchers combined for a 74-30 record. The hitting was strong as well. Yogi Berra racked up 27 home runs and 108 RBI, and Mickey Mantle clubbed 21 home runs.

In the 1953 World Series, the Yanks faced off against the Brooklyn Dodgers. In game five, Mickey Mantle hit a grand slam to secure the Yankees victory. In game six, Brooklyn tied the score three-all with two runs in the top of the ninth. But Billy martin’s 12th hit of the series scored Hank Bauer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Yankees an all-time record fifth consecutive World Championship.

In 1954, the Yankees won 103 games, but were ousted out of the AL pennant race by the Indians, who won 111 games. Yogi Berra won his second AL MVP Award by hitting .307 and knocking in 125 runs.

In 1955, the Yankees were poised to win another World Series. The Yankees and Yogi Berra, who won his third MVP, took a sixth AL flag in seven years. The Bronx Bombers able to survive pitching problems and held of Cleveland by 3 games with a 96-58 record. The Yankees faced off against the Dodgers in the World Series. After year of heartbreaking losses, the Dodgers finally beat the Yanks in seven games for their first World Series crown.

The Yankees opened the 1956 season wanting revenge. Their target: The Dodgers, who had beaten then the year before. New York took hold of first place on May 16 and never looked back. Mickey Mantle, age 24, became the newest Yankee Stadium legend, winning the Triple Crown and the MVP Award with 52 home runs, 130 RBI, and a .353 average. Yogi Berra totaled 30 home runs and 105 RBI, Hank Bauer knocked 26 home runs, and Gil McDougal batted .311. Pitcher and ERA champ won 19 games. The Yanks and the Bums faced off in the World Series. Game five provided a long-lasting memory, when on October 8, Don Larsen pitched the first and only World Series perfect game to give the Yanks a 3-2 game lead. The Yankees won the World Series in seven games.

In 1957, the Yankees won the AL flag with a 98-56 record. Mickey Mantle won another MVP Award with a .365 average and 34 home runs. Yogi Berra hit 24 home runs, while Bill Skowron (.304) and Rookie of the Year Tony Kubek (.297) were all reliable bats. However, the Yanks lost in the World Series to the Milwaukee Braves in seven games.

In 1958, the Yankees won the AL flag, their eighth in nine seasons of the decade. Leading the way were Mickey Mantle (42 home runs), Bob Turley (21-7 and Cy Young winner), and Whitey Ford (ERA leader with 2.07). New York outdistanced themselves from the second place White Sox. The Yanks beat the Braves in a rematch of the 1957 World Series in seven games. Hank Bauer led all Series hitters with ten hits, four home runs, and eighth RBI.

In 1960, the Yankees returned to the top of the AL after a one year drop. In the winter of 1959, general manager George Wise acquired Roger Maris via Kansas City. The 25-year-old hitter turned the tables and won the 1960 MVP Award, by leading the AL in RBI with 112. Mickey Mantle contributed with a league-high 40 home runs. The Yankees faced the Pittsburgh Pirates in one of the most dramatic endings in Series history. Pittsburgh’s Bill Mazeroski led off the bottom of the ninth inning against Ralph Tery. Maz belted Terry’s second pitch over Berra’s head into the left-field stands for the win and the series. The Yankees, not taking the defeat well, fired manager Casey Stengel.

The Yankees of 1961, now under the leadership of Ralph Houk, were more awesome than the year before, winning 109 games and the AL pennant by 8 games. The story of the year was the home run race between Mantle and Maris to break Babe Ruth’s record. Roger Maris finally broke Ruth’s record on the last day of the season at Yankee Stadium with a home run off Boston’s Tracy Stallard for number 61. The Bombers set a new team record with their 240 home runs. Mickey Mantle also flirted with the record, but a September injury stalled him at 54. Bill Skowron, Elston Howard, Yogi Berra, and Johnny Blanchard each belted 20 or more home runs. Cy Young Award winner Whitey Ford claimed a league-leading 25 wins, while Luis Arroyo won 15 games. The Yankees and Reds faced off in the 1961 World Series, and the Bronx Bombers beat them in five games.

In 1962, the Yankees were off and running, taking their third consecutive AL pennant. Mickey Mantle missed 39 games, yet still belted 30 home runs and seized the MVP title. Roger Maris followed his 61 home runs with 33 bangers and 100 RBI. Ralph Terry led the league with 23 wins and Ford won 17. The Yankees faced off against their old rival Giants, but the Giants were now in San Francisco, but the result was the same, as the Yankees beat the Giants in seven games for their 20th World title in the last 40 years.

In 1963, the Yankees won their fourth consecutive AL pennant, beating the White Sox by 10.5 games, despite injuries to Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. The Yankees were led by Elston Howard, who batted .287 with 28 home runs and 85 RBI, as he was awarded the MVP title. The Yankees faced off against another rival in the Dodgers, but the Dodgers, like the Giants were no longer in New York, they now resided in Los Angeles. This time, the Yanks were no match for the Dodgers, and were swept, for the first time since 1922.

In 1964, under new manager Yogi Berra, the Yankees tied their own record by winning their fifth consecutive AL flag. Catcher Elston Howard won his second consecutive Gold Glove Award for his stellar defense. Brooklyn native Joe Pepitone socked 28 home runs and drove in 100 runs. Mickey Mantle enjoyed his last great year in 1964, batting .303 with 35 home runs and 111 RBI. The Yankees age was clearly showing, but the Yanks still managed to win the AL with a 99-63 record. In the 1964 World Series, the Yankees faced off against the St.Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals dismantled the Yankees in seven games. Mickey Mantle hit three home runs in his last last World Series. During the season, the Yankees were sold to CBS.

After their loss in the World Series, the Yankees fired Yogi Berra, and replaced him with Johnny Kean, who managed the Cardinal in 1964. With retirement near, the Yankees held Mickey Mantle Day to celebrate their everlasting hero. Second baseman Bobby Richardson won his last of five Gold Glove Awards. The Yankees age were finally showing in 1965, as the club slipped to 77-85 record.

In 1968, Mickey Mantle retired from baseball. In his last season, Mantle hit .237 with 18 home runs .Mantle cracked his 536th and last home run of his career on September 20, 1968. Beyond the numbers, Mickey Mantle had been the Yankees for a generation of fans. His sudden departure had fans thinking how did Mantle get so old fast. Bobby Murcer arrived in New York in 1965, and was touted as the next Mickey Mantle.

The highlight of the 1969 season was “Mickey Mantle Day” celebrated on June 8, between games of a double-header. After cants from the crowd, Mantle spoke to his beloved fans. The Yankees finished the season with an 80-81 record.

In 1970, the Yankees added another great player to their roster, Thurman Munson, the AL Rookie of the Year, hit .302 for the Yankees in his first full season.

Yankee fans couldn’t help but compare Bobby Murcer to Mickey Mantle, especially after Murcers Gold Glove season of 1972. That year, the 26-year-old hit .292 with 33 home runs, 102 runs scored and 96 RBI. That season, the Yankees acquired pitcher Sparky Lyle from the Boston Red Sox.

On January 4, 1973, 42-year-old shipping magnate George Steinbrenner made the deal of a lifetime when he purchased the Yankees for $10 million, of which only $833,333,033 was his own money. Steinbrenner was introduced to Yankee team president Mike Burke by Cleveland Indian president and GM Gabe Paul, who became the Yankees GM. One of Gabe’s first moves was trading for third baseman Craig Nettles.

In 1975, the Yankees signed pitcher Catfish Hunter from the Oakland A’s, a deal that made him the richest player in the league. It was a new day in Yankee history. Hunter was the first Yankee widely acknowledged to be the best at his position in more than a decade. After a slow start in 1975, the Yankees hired former Yankee star Billy Martin as manager.

Billy Martin won fans over in the first game of the 1976 season, by making umpire Jim McKean reverse a home run hit by the Brewers Don Money, to help the Yankees win the game. Gabe Paul was still working his magic by acquiring Mickey Rivers, Chris Chambliss, and Lou Piniella. The Yankees were finally a competitive team. The Yankees won the AL East with a 97-62 record. Thurman Munson won the AL MVP Award by hitting .302, 17 home runs, and 105 RBI. Craig Nettles led the AL in home runs with 32. Sparky Lyle led the AL with 23 saves. The Yankees faced off against the Kansas City Royals in the 1976 ALCS, which provided another classic Yankee moment. In the fifth game of the series, the score was tied 6-6, when Chris Chambliss stepped to the plate. On the first pitch thrown by Mark Littel, Chambliss hit a towering shot into the stands as the Yankees won the game and pennant. The World Series however was a disappointment as the Yankees were defeated in four games.

Prior to 1977, free agent Reggie Jackson left the Baltimore Orioles and joined the Yankee roster. During the season, Reggie fought with manager Billy Martin, who clashed with owner George Steinbrenner, who didn’t get along with anyone. Yankee land quickly became known as the “Bronx Zoo.” At the start of 1977, it looked like the Yankees would breeze through the playoffs. After all they won 97 in 1976, and now they added Jackson, Mike Torrez and rookie phenom Ron Guidry. Jackson did indeed have a big year in ’77 with a .286 average, 32 home runs and 110 RBI. The new pitchers performed well too, as Don Gullett went 14-4, Torrez went 14-12, and Guidry finished 16-7. Sparky Lyle made history by becoming the first reliever to win the Cy Young Award by saving 26 games. The Yankees won the AL East with 100 victories. In the ALCS, the Royals pushed the Yankees to a full five game series before being defeated.

The Bi-costal World Series between Los Angeles and New York became Jackson’s private stage. In the sixth and final game, Mr. October launched three home runs on three consecutive pitches to join another Yankee, Babe Ruth, as the only player to hit three home runs in one World Series game. The Yankees closed out the Dodgers to win their first World Series crown since 1962. Jackson was the series MVP by batting .450 and belting a record five home runs for the series.

In 1978, the baseball world revolved around the AL East. For the final ten weeks of the season, the Red Sox and the Yankees were involved in a wild, exciting race, full of memorable moments on and off the field. To make things worst, the two-time defending pennant winning Yankees were in the midst of turmoil. Reggie Jackson had been suspended by manager Billy Martin, and a week later Martin was forced to resign after making derogatory remarks about Jackson and owner Steinbrenner. Bob Lemon took over as manager. The problems caused the Yankees to suffer on the field and found themselves 14 games in back of the talented Red Sox. After Lemon took over things began to change. The Yankees climbed back in the race after beating the Red Sox in four straight games in what became known as the “Boston Massacre” Tied after the regulation 162 games, the two squads played a single game at Fenway to determine the division champ. The Red Sox went into the seventh inning with a slim 2-0 lead, but Yankee shortstop Bucky Dent swatted a three-run home run to take the lead. The Yankees went on to win the game and the division.

The Yankees faced off against the Royals for the third straight year in the ALCS. The result was the same, as the Yanks defeated the Royals in four games. Although the conclusion was a repeat of the 1977 World Series, the Yankees beat the Dodgers in six games, but the story was different. After the Dodgers busted out of the starting gate, winning the first two contests, the Yanks shut them down the rest of the way, winning the series and giving New York its 22nd World Title.

In 1979, the Yankees didn’t even come close to repeating, as they lost two key players. Relief ace Goose Gossage was sidelined for two months after injuring his arm in a fist fight with teammate Cliff Johnson. And gritty catcher and team captain Thurman Munson was killed in a plane crash in August. The Yankees never recovered from the loss of Munson and dropped to 4th place with an 89-71 record.

In 1980, the Yankees took the AL East crown under manager Dick Howser by winning 103 games. The Yankees got great years out of Reggie Jackson who hit .300 with 41 home runs and 111 RBI, and catcher Rick Cerone, who batted .277 with 85 RBI, and Tommy John, who led the AL with 22 wins. In the ALCS, the Royals swept the Yankees, who had beaten them three straight times in the 1970s. After the 1980 season, the Yankees signed another star by the name of Dave Winfield.

In 1981, the Yankees weathered the players strike and the first split-season campaign. Dave Winfield put up great numbers in the short season by hitting .294 with 13 home runs and 68 RBI in 105 games. In the ALCS, the Yankees swept the Oakland A’s, setting up a rematch of the 1978 World Series. This time it would be the Dodgers time to shine as they beat the Yanks in six games. After the series was over, free agent Reggie Jackson left the Yankees to play with the Anaheim Angels.

In 1982, the Yankees, for the first time in history, cancelled their home opener due to a blizzard. That was the start of a bad season in which the Yankees dropped to 79-83. Dave Winfield won the first of four consecutive Gold Glove Awards. Winfield led the Yankees in home runs with 37 and RBI with 106.

In 1983, the Yankees hired Billy Martin again as their manager, and the Yankees responded by winning 91 games. Dave Winfield again led the team in Home Runs with 32 and in RBI with 116. The highlight of the season was on July 4 as Dave Righetti thrilled a packed Yankee Stadium by pitching a no-hitter against the Red Sox. It was the first no-no for the Yankees since Don Larsen in 1956. The Yanks finished the season in seventh place.

In 1984, the big story was the battle for the batting title between Dave Winfield and newcomer Don Mattingly. In his last at-bat of the season, Mattingly, with three hits already, slapped a fourth hit past second base off Detroit reliever Willie Hernandez, raising his average to .343 to win the title. Winfield only had one hit that game and ended the season with a .340 average. The Yankees finished the season with an 87-75 record.

In 1985, the Yankees improved their record to 97-64. Batting third in the Yankee lineup, Don Mattingly showed a marked increase in his power statistics as he cracked 35 home runs and an AL leading 145 RBI. The performance captured the AL MVP Award that year. Mattingly also displayed power at first base, winning his first of four straight Gold Gloves that season. During the season, Rickey Henderson became the first AL player to post a 20 home run/50 steal season. Dave Winfield hit .275 with 26 home runs.

In 1990, Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent ordered George Steinbrenner to give up controlling interest of the Yankees because of alleged gambling activities.

During the early 1990s, the Yankees started to invest in themselves, as they started to rebuild the team through free agency and their farm system. They signed Mike Gallego and slugger Danny Tartabull, and signed Bernie Williams and Jim Leyritz straight from their farm system. In 1993, Steinbrenner was reinstated and quickly signed Boston star Wade Boggs, while Jimmy Key and Jim Abbot were added to the team. But the key trade was of Roberto Kelly for Paul O’Neal, who became one of the most liked players in Yankee history. In 1995, the Yankees signed David Cone from the Toronto Blue Jays, and they got a deal when they signed Darryl Strawberry. The Yankees also signed rookie pitcher Andy Pettitte and John Wettland.

The Yankees made their way back into postseason action in 1995 as a wild card team, when they posted a 79-65 record. Boggs led the team in hitting with a .324 average, Bernie Williams led the team in hits with 173. Paul O’Neal led the team in home runs with 22 and in RBI with 96. David Cone led the pitching staff with 18 wins. In Don Mattingly’s first playoff series, he led the Yankees with ten hits and six RBI, while hitting .417. However, the Yankees would lose a hard fought five game series to the Seattle Mariners. The end of the season would be the last for Don Mattingly.

In 1996, a major change happened to the Yankees. The first change happened after their dramatic loss in the ALDS. Manager Buck Showalter took the blame and was fired. General Manager Gene Michael was offered a pay cut, but he refused, so he stepped down and became a Yankee coach. The Yankees hired Bob Watson to take his place. But this wasn’t an ordinary transaction, for Watson had become the first African American to ever be named to such an important position in Yankee management. The Yankees then hired the next great Yankee skipper by signing former Cardinal manager Joe Torre. Torre brought in a couple of his own people, former Red Sox manager Don Zimmerman became bench coach, former Yankee player Willie Randolph became third base coach, Chris Chambliss became the new hitting instructor, and Mel Stottlemeyer became the pitching coach.

The Yankees also signed rookie Derek Jeter, who would become the teams best player thought the decade and into the new millennium. The Yankees traded for Tino Martinez and catcher Joe Girardi, while signing Tim Raines.

The Yankees opened the 1996 season with high expectations. The Yankees had a lead as big as 12 games in July, but a surge by the Orioles and Red Sox, shrunk the Yankee lead. During that time, the Yankees traded for power hitter Cecil Fielder to add to the strength of the lineup. The Yankees also signed Doc Gooden for a more balanced pitching staff. The Yankees won 92 games and finished four games ahead of Baltimore to win the AL East.

In the ALDS, the Yankees faced the Texas Rangers and soundly defeated them in four games. In their first ALCS since 1981, the Yankees faced off against the Baltimore Orioles. The turning point of the series came when Derek Jeter hit a fly ball deep to right field and as right fielder Tony Tarasco tried to make a catch to rob Jeter of a hit, but instead, he was robbed as 12-year-old Jeffrey Maier beat Tarasco to the punch and stuck his glove out to catch the ball. Torasco pointed towards the kid to argue that their was interference, umpire Richie Garcia called the hit a home run which tied the game. The Yankees went on to win the game and series in five games to give the Yankees their first AL flag since 1981.

In the 1996 World Series, the Yankees would face the Atlanta Braves. The Braves jumped out the gate and won the first two games in New York. While the Yankees prepared to go down south for the next three games, Joe Torre was as calm as anyone could be being down 2-0 in the World Series. The Yankees would go to Atlanta and tie the series at 2-2, when Jim Leyritz hit a home run off of Mark Wohlers to cap off a memorable comeback to win the game and even the series at 2-2. The Yankees then went on to win the next two games to give the Yankee their first title since 1978.

In 1997, the Yankees saw the emergence of closer Mariano Rivera, which made the Yankees even better. The Yankees signed David Wells for a sounder pitching staff, while the Yankees reached within their farm system and signed catcher Jorge Posada. The Yankees finished the season with a 96-66 record. However, the Yankees would loss in the postseason to the Indians in 5 games.

In 1998, the Yankees named thirty-one-year-old Brian Cashman to replace Bob Watson as their GM. Cashman started off by signing Scott Brosius and Chilli Davis, but the two key trades happened when Cashman signed Twins second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, and pitcher Randy Johnson from the Mariners. The highlight of the season came when David Wells pitched a perfect game on May 17 against the Twins. The Yankees were so dominate in 1998, they were being compared to the great teams in Yankee history. The Yankees won a ML record 114 games, which solidified their place in history. The Yankees were ready for the postseason.

In the ALDS, the Yankees disposed the Rangers in 3 games, and then defeated the Indians in the ALCS, for the Yankees second AL pennant in three years. In the World Series, the Yankees destroyed the San Diego Padres in four straight games, as the Yankees closed out a record setting season by winning their 24th championship.

In 1999, the Yankees finished the season with a 98-64 record, and a first place finish. The Yanks were led by Derek Jeter (.349 batting average, with 219 hits), Tino Martinez (28 home runs), and Bernie Williams (115 RBI). The highlight of the season came when David Cone pitched a perfect game on “Yogi Berra Day” on July 18. In the Postseason, the Yankees took care of business in their defense of their title by sweeping the Texas Rangers, the defeating the Red Sox in six games, before beating the Atlanta Braves in four straight games in the World Series, for the Yankees 25th World Series title.

In 2000, the Yankees were poised to win the AL again. Jeter led the team in batting average by hitting .339 and hits with 201. Bernie Williams led the team in home runs with 30, and Andy Pettitte led the staff with 19 wins. The Yankees made a few more acquisitions by signing star pitcher Roger Clemens and slugger David Justice. The Yankees won the AL East for the third consecutive season by winning 87 games.

In the playoffs, the Yankees defeated the Oakland A’s in the ALDS, the beat the Seattle Mariners in the ALCS to give the Yankees their third straight AL crown. In the World Series, the Yankees faced off against their cross town rival Mets. The Mets proved no match for the Bronx Bombers as they were defeated in five games. The Yankees had won their third straight World Series crown and their 26th championship.

In 2001, the Yankees would try to win their fourth straight title by winning 95 games. Jeter led the team again with a .311 batting average with 191 hits. Tino Martinez led the team in home runs with 34, and Roger Clemens led the pitching staff with 20 wins. The Yankees however would loss in the World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In 2002, the Yankees signed slugger Jason Giambi to a lucrative contract. The Yankees finished the season with a 95-65 record. The Yankees would again win their division but would lose to the Angeles in the ALDS.

In 2003, the Yankees returned to the top of the AL with a 101-61 record. The Yanks signed another big star in Alex Rodriguez. The Yanks won the AL, but would be disappointed again in the World Series, losing to the Florida Marlins in six games.

In 2007, the Yankees were a team that tried to find its place among the great Yankee teams. Alex Rodriguez had a brilliant year as he hit 54 home runs and drove in 156 RBI. However, the Yanks were ousted in the playoffs by the Indians, in which caused Steinbrenner to fire Joe Torre.