Yankees' 27 World Championships

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Nov 5, 2009

Yankees' 27 World Championships

1923

The Yankees christened their brand new stadium in the Bronx -- forever known as "The House That Ruth Built" -- by winning the pennant by 16 games and dispatching the neighboring Giants in six games in the Series. Babe Ruth, the A.L. MVP, hit .368 with three home runs in the six games. The 1923 team is pictured during a reunion 25 years later.

1927

The legendary Murderer's Row lineup that included Babe Ruth (.356, a record 60 homers), Lou Gehrig (.373), Tony Lazzeri (.309) and Bob Meusel (.337) won 110 games before steamrolling the Pirates in four games.

1928

Gehrig and Ruth powered the Yankees to their sixth pennant in eight seasons before becoming the first team to sweep successive World Series. Ruth hit a ridiculous .625 in their four game sweep against St. Louis.

1932

Ruth's legendary "called shot" off Chicago's Charlie Root in the fifth inning of Game 3 at Wrigley Field broke a 4-4 tie and was the 15th, and final, World Series home run of his Hall of Fame career. The Yankees swept the Cubs in four games.

1936

With A.L. MVP Lou Gehrig leading the way and rookie Joe DiMaggio in the fold, the Yankees won their first Series without Babe Ruth. They pounded the Giants 18-4 in Game 2 (that's Tony Lazzeri crossing the plate after hitting a home run) and 13-5 in a Game 6 clincher highlighted by a seven-run rally in the top of the ninth.

1937

After winning the pennant by 13 games, Gehrig's deep and talented Yankees blew through a rematch with their crosstown rivals, pounding the Giants 8-1 in Game 1 and never looking back. The Yankees won in five.

1938

Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig (with Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia) were the toast of New York after making quick work of the Cubs in a four game sweep.

1939

A season marked by the tragic departure of the ALS-stricken Lou Gehrig from their lineup was capped by an easy Series victory. The most memorable play occurred in the top of the 10th inning of Game 4 when Charlie Keller bowled past Reds catcher Ernie Lombardi, who collapsed, allowing two more runs to score. The Yankees swept in four games.

1941

On the verge of tying the Series at two games apiece, the upstart Dodgers watched in horror as a third strike eluded catcher Mickey Owen in the top of the ninth inning at Ebbets Field. Tommy Henrich reached first and came around to score in a three-run rally that won the game and propelled the Yankees on to their ninth championship. The Yankees won in five.

1943

With many Major Leaguer serving in the armed forces during World War II, the depleted Yankees led by catcher Bill Dickey (right) won a seventh, and final, Series title for manager Joe McCarthy. Due to wartime travel restrictions, the first three games were played in New York. The Yankees beat the Cardinals in five games.

1947

Joe DiMaggio, pitcher Joe Page (who appeared in four games) and GM Larry MacPhail celebrated after a seven-game thriller with Brooklyn known for Yankees hurler Bill Bevens flirting with a no-hitter in Game 4 and Al Gionfriddo's game-saving catch of a DiMaggio drive in Game 6.

1949

The Casey Stengel era began with the Yankees taking revenge on their new skipper's former team, defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers in five games.

1950

The first meeting of the Yankees and Phillies was full of squeakers as (left to right) Allie Reynolds, Bobby Brown, Joe DiMaggio, Gene Woodling and Jerry Coleman fought off the underdog Whiz Kids by scores of 1-0, 2-1, 3-2, and 5-2.

1951

The Yankees rallied from a two-games-to-one deficit against Bobby Thomson's "Shot-Heard-Round-The-World" Giants. A three-run triple by Hank Bauer (left) in Game 6 proved decisive in Joe DiMaggio's last World Series.

1952

Scrappy second baseman Billy Martin's clutch grab of a dangerous two-out, bases-loaded infield fly by Brooklyn's Jackie Robinson saved Game 7 and allowed Yankee icons Mickey Mantle and Phil Rizzuto to celebrate the team's fourth straight championship.

1953

"If they had eight Babe Ruths, they couldn't beat us," Billy Martin (being hugged by Frank Crosetti, No. 2) said of the Dodgers. The brash second baseman earned Series MVP honors by batting .500 (12 for 24) with a double, a pair of triples, two home runs, and eight RBI in the six games as the Yankees won their record fifth successive championship.

1956

Billy Martin's brash pronouncement about the Dodgers proved false in 1955, but the Yankees got revenge the following year in a seven-game thriller. The highlight, of course, was Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5 -- still the only perfecto in World Series history.

1958

Bob Turley won 21 games and the Cy Young Award, then stemmed the tide against Hank Aaron's Milwaukee Braves by winning Game 5, saving Game 6, and winning Game 7 in relief of starter Don Larsen -- all in the space of four days.

1961

Powered by Roger Maris (then-record 61 homers) and Mickey Mantle (54), the Bronx Bombers rolled to the Series and downed the Reds even though Maris hit only .105 with a homer and two RBI in the five games and Mantle hit .167 while being plagued by a thigh abcess.

1962

The old rivals produced a nailbiter Series that included this clutch catch by Yankee leftfielder Tom Tresh off the bat of Willie Mays in the seventh inning of Game 7 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Series ended with second baseman Bobby Richardson snaring Willie McCovey's scorching line drive with the tying and winning runs in scoring position. Final score: 1-0. (Series MVP Ralph Terry inset.)

1977

After a drought of 15 years, the Yankees were World Series Champions once again, thanks to the heroics of Mr. October. Slugger Reggie Jackson made his legend in series-ending Game 6 by belting three home runs, each on the first pitch he saw, against the Los Angeles Dodgers and setting a World Series record of five total homers that was tied in 2009 by Philadelphia's Chase Utley. Billy Martin won what would be his only World Series title as a manager

1978

The Bronx Zoo Yankees of Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Thurman Munson, Graig Nettles, Lou Piniella, Goose Gossage and Mickey Rivers survived owner George Steinbrenner's daily bluster, manager Billy Martin's mid-season firing, and being 14 games behind Boston on July 19 to take their second straight title in their third successive Series appearance. The Yankees beat the Dodgers in six games.

1996

Closer John Wetteland, the Series MVP with four saves, jumped for joy after closing out the Braves in a six-game Series that saw the Yankees rally from a two-games-to-none deficit in Atlanta against a vaunted pitching staff that included John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux. The Series turned on a clutch game-tying Game 4 three-run homer by Jim Leyritz.

1998

The Yankees juggernaut won 114 games and then went 11-2 during the postseason. They scored 26 runs in their four-game pummeling of the Padres, which included the first three World Series saves of Mariano Rivera's career.

1999

Unlike in 1996, the Braves were no match for the Yankees, who swept their second consecutive Series. Mariano Rivera was on the hill to close it out, but the winning pitcher in Game 4 was Roger Clemens, who finally tasted the first World Series championship of his career.

2000

Manager Joe Torre celebrated his fourth Series championship in five years as his Yankees took down the Mets in five games in New York's first "Subway Series" since 1956.

2009

It was only fitting that the Yankees christened their new stadium with their 27th World Series title. The triumph capped a season of redemption for Alex Rodriguez and a team that had tasted often monumental defeat during the decade. Hideki Matsui drove in six runs in the clincher and was named Series MVP. The Yankees defeated the Phillies in six games.<br><br>Send comments to siwriters@simail.com

Yankees' 27 World Championships