New York Yankees are a professional baseball team that plays in the American League (AL) East division of Major League Baseball (MLB). From 1923 to 2008, the club played its home games in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. That stadium was demolished after the 2008 season, and in 2009 the team moved into a new Yankee Stadium nearby. The Yankees have won more pennants (40) and World Series (27) than any other MLB team. Many of the game’s greatest players have starred for the Yankees, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle.
The Yankees began as the New York Highlanders in 1903, filling an AL spot vacated by the bankrupt Baltimore Orioles. Playing at Hilltop Park in Manhattan, the Highlanders were also called the Hilltoppers. In 1913, the team became the Yankees and began sharing upper Manhattan’s Polo Grounds ballpark with the National League‘s New York Giants.
In 1920, the Yankees acquired outfielder Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox for $125,000, then a record price for a ballplayer. That season, Ruth hit 54 home runs, breaking his own major league record of 29. The team won its first AL pennant in 1921, only to lose to the rival Giants in the World Series. The Giants beat the Yankees again in the 1922 World Series. In 1923, the Yankees moved into Yankee Stadium and finally topped the Giants for the team’s first championship. The Yankees lost the 1926 World Series, but won titles again in 1927 and 1928. In 1927, Ruth hit 60 home runs, a record that stood until 1961, when it was broken by another Yankee slugger, outfielder Roger Maris. The 1927 Yankees are considered one of the greatest teams in baseball history, winning 110 games and losing only 44. Manager Miller Huggins and six players from that team were later elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame—Ruth, Gehrig, second baseman Tony Lazzeri, outfielder Earle Combs, and pitchers Waite Hoyt and Herb Pennock.
Miller Huggins died suddenly near the end of the 1929 season. He was eventually replaced by Joe McCarthy, who managed the Yankees to world titles in 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, and 1943. The Yankees won the 1947 World Series under manager Bucky Harris. Yankee stars of the 1930’s and 1940’s included Gehrig, DiMaggio, catcher Bill Dickey, pitcher Lefty Gomez, shortstop Phil Rizzuto, outfielder Charlie Keller, and pitchers Spud Chandler, Allie Reynolds, and Joe Page.
From 1949 through 1960, manager Casey Stengel led New York to seven more championships. Yankee stars of the 1950’s included Mantle, pitcher Whitey Ford, outfielder Hank Bauer, and catcher Yogi Berra. The Yankees won the World Series again in 1961 and 1962.
After several down years, New York returned to the World Series in 1976 and won it in 1977 and 1978. Stars of those teams included pitchers Catfish Hunter and Ron Guidry, outfielder Reggie Jackson, and catcher Thurman Munson. After losing the 1981 Word Series, the Yankees slumped again for several years. New York returned to dominate the late 1990’s, winning the World Series in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000. Those Yankees teams were led by manager Joe Torre and featured shortstop Derek Jeter, outfielder Bernie Williams, catcher Jorge Posada, and pitchers Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera. New York won its last championship in 2009. Recent stars have included outfielder Aaron Judge, infielders Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez, and pitcher Gerrit Cole.
