A look at the most dominant dynasties in Yankees’ history

The Yankees have won 27 World Series, 40 AL pennants, and 20 Division titles making them the most decorated MLB team. Their on-field exploits thrilled generations of fans, and their statistics became part of baseball lore. Babe Ruth made an envious milestone with 714 home runs while Joe DiMaggio went hitting for 56 games in a row. Roger Maris’ 61-homer record stood in the American League for 61 years and only another Yankees Aaron Judge surpassed it.

The offensive power once led fans to call the Yankees the Murderers’ Row teams. They began a tradition of excellence in the 1920s and continued until the early 1960s. From 1920 to 1964, the Yankees were the best baseball sports team that won everything before it, including back-to-back World Series championships multiple times. It was a time when baseball players were national heroes and wore baggy flannel uniforms and pancake gloves. Let’s look back to those dynasties to know the heroes who were the New York Yankees.

1927-28: The beginning of a marvelous era

This was when Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were at their best and the Yankees blanked the Pirates and the Cardinals 4-0 each to become world champions in 1927 and 1928. Ruth hit 60 home runs in 1927, but only 54 in 1928. Throughout two seasons, his OPS was a crazy 1.215.

Gehrig drove 173 runs in 1927 and 147 runs in 1928. In both of those years, he led the Major Leagues in RBIs. Over those two seasons, his OPS was 1.179.

These Yankees were just impossible to stop with these two leading from the front. Ruth hit.400 with two home runs and an OPS of 1.271 against Pittsburgh in the 1927 World Series. Gehrig hit .308 with an OPS of 1.207. And against St. Louis in 1928, the two of them had the best-hitting game in World Series history. In the four games, Ruth hit .625, hit three home runs, and had an OPS of 2.022. Gehrig hit .545 and had four home runs, giving him an OPS of 2.433.

1936-39: The era of four World Series victories

Between 1936 and 1939, the Yankees won all four World Series titles. They defeated the Giants 4-2 and 4-1 in 1936 and 1937. The next two championships saw them sweeping both the Cubs and the Reds 4-0 each.

Babe Ruth played his last season with the Yankees in 1934. But Lou Gehrig continued to power the Bombers past the rivals. In the last few years of Gehrig’s career, before his health gave out, New York also won the next three Fall Classics. The era also saw the emergence of another Yankee great Joe DiMaggio and the team had several New York Hall of Famers, including Bill Dickey, Joe Gordon, and Red Ruffing.

1949-53: The era of the five world championships

This was the greatest period for the Yankees and they reached a pinnacle that couldn’t be matched by another team. They had five straight World Series wins, where they beat the Dodgers thrice in 1949, 1952, and 1953, trounced Phillies 4-0 in 1950, and defeated the Giants 4-2 in 1951.

During this period, the Yankees were really out of this world. From 1947 to 1957, the Yankees went to the World Series for all but two years in 1948 and 1954. Their five straight World Series wins remain the longest winning streak in MLB history. This Yankees dynasty transitioned from the DiMaggio era to the Mantle era. In 1951, DiMaggio won his last ring while Mantle had his first ring. Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto, two of the Yankees’ all-time greats, were on all five championship teams.

Games 6 and 7 of the 1952 World Series saw two of Mickey Mantle’s famed 18 World Series home runs.

1961-62: The era of dominance by the Yankees

The Yankees returned to their winning ways after a gap of two years. They routed the Reds to win the 1961 World Series. However, it 1962, they had to fight hard to win 4-3 against the Giants.

In 1961, Roger Maris hit home run number 61 in the last game of the season to beat Babe Ruth’s record of 60. Maris won the AL MVP award for the second year in a row, and his teammate Mickey Mantle hit 54 home runs. The Yankees then beat the Reds in five games to win the World Series. Whitey Ford, who had a shutout in Game 1 and five scoreless innings to win Game 4, was named the series MVP.

The next year’s Fall Classic was a much closer game. In their first World Series since moving to San Francisco, the Giants took the Yankees to seven games. Even though the Yankees won, the series came down to the last pitch. In the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7, with runners on second and third and two outs, and the Giants down by one run, Willie McCovey hit a line drive that Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson caught to win the series.

1977-78: The George Steinbrenner era began

In 1977, the Yankees won their first title with George Steinbrenner in charge and they repeated it in 1978. In both of those years, they also beat the Dodgers in a rematch of the World Series. There was a standout moment in each season. In 1977, Game 6 of the Fall Classic was the game that made Reggie Jackson Mr. October. Jackson hit three home runs in three at-bats against three different Dodgers pitchers, helping the Yankees win the game and the series.

In 1978, it was the Bucky Dent Game, and it broke a tie in the AL East. They played a playoff game against Boston at Fenway Park. In the seventh inning, when the Yankees were down 2-0, Dent hit a three-run home run over the Green Monster to win the game and cement his place in the rivalry’s history.

1998-2000: The Yankees were back as a force

After their 1978 championship title, the Yankees lost their way and failed to win any World Series for 17 years. The year 1996 witnessed a change in their fortune with the fab four — Jeter, Posada, Pettitte, and Rivera — leading from the front and the Yankees got hold of the title after beating Atlanta 4-2. But they lost the ALDS in 1997 and it led to a massive organizational change that saw Brian Cashman taking over as the general manager.

A new era began for the Yankees that saw them sweeping three straight World Series championships. In 1998, they routed the Padres 4-0. The Braves surrendered 4-0 in 1999. The Mets lost the Subway Series 4-1 in 2000.

Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera became cult figures after the Yankees won a record 114 games in the regular season and ended the postseason 11-2 in 1998.

The Yankees’ last championship series win came in 2009 when they trounced the Phillies 4-2 to win their 27th World Series title.

Do you have any other Yankee team to add to their golden years? Let’s know.