Glory Days T he Yankees were one of eight teams to join the American League when it began play in 1901 Only they weren’t called the Yankees and they didn’t play in New York For their first two seasons the team was called the Baltimore Orioles In 1903 they moved to New York and became the Highlanders Not until 1913 did the team change its name to Yankees New York’s first stars were pitchers Jack Chesbro Russ Ford and Slim Caldwell New York became known for its hitting in 1920 after the team made a deal with the Boston Red Sox for Babe Ruth Unlike the other hitters of his day Ruth swung hard at every pitch that looked good When he connected the ball traveled higher and farther than anyone had ever seen Ruth would go on to set records with 60 homers in a season and 714 in his career Ruth changed the game with his power hitting The Yankees built a championship club around him When New York added 6
LEFT Babe Ruth RIGHT This postcard shows New York’s four team leaders from the 1930s Tony Lazzeri Lefty Gomez Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio Lou Gehrig to the lineup the team was just about unbeatable Ruth and Gehrig got plenty of help from dangerous hitters such as Bob Meusel Earle Combs and Tony Lazzeri New York’s pitching was almost as good The Yankees won the pennant six times during the 1920s and added three World Series championships Gehrig was the heart of the team in the 1930s A graceful young star named Joe DiMaggio joined him in 1936 The Yankee Clipper chased down balls in center field and always seemed to get a hit in the clutch The Yankees won five World Series during the decade Among their stars were Lefty Gomez Red Ruffing and Bill Dickey DiMaggio played through the 1940s when the Yankees won four more championships Having big stars play for many years was the key to success for New York In 1951 DiMaggio played his final season That same year Mickey Mantle was called up from the minors Mantle was the 7
greatest switch-hitter the game had ever seen Some said he hit the ball even harder than Ruth had Mantle was the heart of a club that won 12 pennants and seven World Series from 1951 to 1964 His teammates included Yogi Berra Phil Rizzuto Whitey Ford Elston Howard and Roger Maris The Yankees always did a good job of finding reliable role players who fit in well with their superstar teammates New York’s magic touch began to fade in 1965 For the first time since their early years the Yankees went more than 10 seasons without a first-place finish The team needed a boost of energy It got it when George Steinbrenner became the Yankees owner in 1973 Steinbrenner loved to win and he hated to lose even more The Boss rebuilt the Yankees around catcher Thurman Munson and outfielder Reggie Jackson The two stars didn’t always get along but together they led New York to championships in 1977 and 1978 LEFT Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle ABOVE George Steinbrenner chats with Joe Torre The Boss hired Torre as the team’s manager in 1996 9
