2004 New York Yankees

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.

In 2003, New York won yet another American League pennant but lost to a relentless Floria Marlins team during the World Series 4-2.