For years, the New York Yankees have dominated the world of baseball with 27 championships. One thing we don’t talk about a lot is which teams had the greatest season of all time. Truly, there are many teams that should get some recognition.
5 Greatest Yankees Teams of All-Time
1998 Yankees
The 1998 New York Yankees, a team nobody saw coming, turned out to be something truly special in the world of baseball.
What made them so special was the dynamic lineup that they had from 1-9. There were no easyouts in the lineup. More importantly, their lineup had a great combination of youth and experience as well as power and speed.
Last but not least, their pitching rotation was phenomenal, with four starting pitchers who each achieved more than 10 wins. These standout pitchers included David Cone, Orlando Hernandez, Andy Pettitte, Hideki Irabu, and David Wells. Then, there was closer Mariano Rivera who was lights out when coming out of the bullpen. Overall, there’s no match for this team even if you bring up other great teams that have accomplished something spectacular like this Yankees team.
1927
Oh yes, the 1927 New York Yankees is another special team that comes to mind when it comes to talking about being one of the greatest teams of all time.
They were well known as the Murderer’s Row. The team consisted of a lineup of Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel, and Tony Lazzeri. Not to mention those six players that were part of the team did happen to bat .307 as a whole and scored nearly 1,000. Another interesting thing about this team is how they would outscore their opponents by a margin of 376 runs. Now that’s the true definition of dominance.
This Yankees team showed that it can go up against anybody.
1996
The year that proved to be the birth of a dynasty that came to follow afterward.
This Yankees team was never expected to reach 92 wins or win the World Series. All while this was the first full season of rookie Derek Jeter as well for manager Joe Torre. It also marks their first World Series in 18 years.
Even though there weren’t many exceptional events associated with this team, there were some players who made significant contributions. Players like Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez drove in 100 runs which proved to be a difference in the ’96 championship run.
Then, there was LHP Pettitte became the only pitcher in the starting rotation to record 20 wins. Ultimately, Pettitte finished with a record of 21-8 with a 3.87 ERA through 221 innings pitched. The rest was history.
1977
There are a lot of reasons to think why the ’77 Yankees team fit into the top five greatest teams of all time. One was that it marked the first time in 15 years that the Yankees had won a World Series. Another was thanks to the three-home run performance by Reggie Jackson in the clinch of Game 6 of the World Series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. Overall, this team should not denied in any way it’s not a top-five team of all time.
1961
This season a historic home run race battle by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris proved to be memorable for the entire season. They would combine for 115 home runs along with 269 RBI during their race to catch up with Babe Ruth. The team also managed to win 109 games which is the third most in franchise history.
In addition, LHP Whitey Ford played an important for the ’61 Yankees. During that season Ford managed to display career-highs across the board. He finished the season the year with 25 wins, 283 innings pitched, and 209 strikeouts.
