History of the New York Yankees

Ruth and first baseman Lou Gehrig were part of the team's Murderers' Row lineup, which led the Yankees to a then-AL record 110 wins and a Series championship in 1927 under Miller Huggins.

As the 2000s progressed, the Yankees' rivalry with the Boston Red Sox increased in intensity as the sides met multiple times in the American League Championship Series (ALCS), trading victories in 2003 and 2004.

New York fell out of contention for the AL pennant in May, falling to seventh place after playing games away from Hilltop Park for a 24-day period while construction on the stadium concluded.

While the Yankees did not have to contend with direct competition for fans, as the FL chose to place its New York City franchise in Brooklyn instead of Manhattan,[35] the team nearly lost leading pitcher Ray Caldwell to the rival league after the 1914 season.

[36] With the Yankees finishing seventh in 1913 and sixth in 1914,[37] Farrell and Devery sold the team to brewery magnate Jacob Ruppert and former United States Army engineer Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston.

"[40] The new owners intended to spend freely to improve the club's talent level and made a major purchase in 1915, buying pitcher Bob Shawkey from the Philadelphia Athletics.

[67] The Yankees also became involved in another dispute with Ban Johnson, this time over the replacement of baseball's existing governing body, the National Commission, after reports came out that the 1919 World Series had been fixed.

He shared the MLB lead with Cy Williams by hitting 41 home runs in the 1923 season, and had a career-best .393 batting average; his performance earned him the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award.

[99] McCarthy's team was undergoing a transition from Murderers' Row; new contributors included Bill Dickey, who had first played for the Yankees in 1928, and pitchers Red Ruffing and Lefty Gomez.

[114] Writers have given the 1936–39 Yankees acclaim for their success in regular season and World Series play; Stout wrote that the 1939 squad was "magnificent", and that their campaign was "wholly without drama" besides Gehrig's departure from the lineup.

[115] In response to the Yankees' dominance, after the 1939 season the AL temporarily barred most transactions between the last pennant winner and other league teams in an attempt to prevent New York from improving its roster.

[131] Numerous injuries affected the team[132] during the 1949 season but it battled with the Red Sox for the AL pennant; before a season-ending two-game series at Yankee Stadium, New York trailed Boston by one game and needed a pair of wins.

"[151] In 1956, Mantle won the MVP award for a season in which he led the AL and MLB in batting average (.353), home runs (52), and RBIs (130), becoming the second Yankee (after Gehrig in 1934) to win a Triple Crown.

[160] In his first Yankees season, Maris led the league in slugging percentage, RBIs, and extra base hits, finished second with 39 home runs, and won the AL MVP Award.

However, the team lost four of them, falling short of a Series championship after Bill Mazeroski hit a walk-off home run in the final game, ending a contest that Appel called "one of the most memorable in baseball history.

Maris continued, though, and on October 1, the final day of the season, he homered against Red Sox pitcher Tracy Stallard into the right field stands of Yankee Stadium, breaking the record with 61.

[193] Despite an initial promise that he would "stick to building ships" and remain in the background, Steinbrenner proved to be a hands-on owner, clashing with Burke and forcing him out of his leadership position.

The 1976 American League Championship Series (ALCS) between the Yankees and Kansas City Royals went to a deciding fifth game, which was won by New York on a walk-off home run by Chambliss.

The Yankees of the late-1970s, noted for clubhouse conflict and on-field success, were later nicknamed "The Bronx Zoo", after a book of the same name by pitcher Sparky Lyle, and at the time, New York and the baseball world were agog at their antics.

[222] Steinbrenner traded prospects for veterans; sportswriter Buster Olney called this "a practice that ultimately inflicted serious damage on the organization, leaving the team without the needed influx of young and cheap talent.

"[221] In what became a trend in future seasons, the Yankees lacked effective pitching, undoing the efforts of a top-tier offense that included players such as Winfield and first baseman Don Mattingly, one of the few star hitters produced by the farm system during the era.

[226] The Yankees' 1985 season began with a batting lineup improved by an offseason trade for Rickey Henderson, the future MLB career stolen base and runs scored record holder.

[221] Despite falling attendance, the Yankees' finances were not significantly harmed, as they had a 12-year television rights contract with the Madison Square Garden network that gave them a record $500 million and flexibility to increase their payroll if desired.

[240] The players developed by the team during its rebuilding years included outfielder Bernie Williams, a future AL batting average leader,[241] and a group—Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera—that became the centerpiece during the 1996–2000 period, and was later nicknamed the "Core Four".

While the 1992 Yankees were 20 games behind the AL East winner, offseason acquisitions—third baseman Wade Boggs, pitcher Jimmy Key, and outfielder Paul O'Neill—helped the 1993 team to an 88–74 record and New York's highest finish (second) in seven seasons.

[245] A year later, the team reached the playoffs and gave Mattingly his first career postseason appearance by winning the first AL wild card berth, but it was eliminated in a five-game Division Series (ALDS) against the Seattle Mariners.

[252] For 1997, the Yankees signed starting pitcher David Wells and allowed closer John Wetteland to leave in free agency, enabling Rivera to inherit the role.

In a regular season that included another perfect game by a Yankees pitcher, this one by David Cone, New York led the AL East with 98 wins and beat the Rangers in the ALDS.

[145] Free agent pitcher Mike Mussina signed with the Yankees before their 2001 season began, and the club pulled away from the Red Sox as the year progressed to claim another divisional championship, as Clemens won 20 games.

[296] In the offseason, second baseman Robinson Canó departed New York for the Mariners in free agency, but the Yankees signed starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, who was coming off a 24–0 year with Japan's Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, to a seven-year contract.