[wvuauthor]

The New York Yankees have one of the richest histories in any sport. The Yankees have won 39 American League pennants dating back to 1921. Out of those 39 seasons the Yankees managed to produce 26 World Series titles; more than any other team in the league.

It all started in 1913 when the New York Highlanders were renamed the Yankees. The first big move for the Yankees came in 1920 when they the purchased the contract of Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox for $125,000. This will prove to be one of the greatest moves in baseball history.

In 1921, a year after acquiring Ruth, the Yankees won their first American League pennant. Skip ahead to 1923 and the team played their first game in Yankee Stadium. In front of 74,200 fans the Yankees defeated the Red Sox 4-1. A three run homer by Babe Ruth was the highlight of the game; this was the first home run ever hit at Yankee Stadium.

On June 1, 1925 Lou Gehrig began his streak of 2,130 consecutive games played when he stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter. In 1927 Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run breaking his own major league record. Seven years later in 1934 the Yankees celebrated two major milestones. Babe Ruth hit his 700th career home run, and a couple of months later the team acquired Joe DiMaggio.

May 2, 1939 brought an end to Gehrig’s consecutive game streak. A couple of months later Gehrig is the first player in Major League Baseball history to have his jersey retired, and he concludes the day by reciting his famous speech.

In 1941 Joe DiMaggio started his 56 game hitting streak with a single against Chicago at Yankee Stadium; two months later the streak ends against Cleveland.

In 1948 Babe Ruth had his jersey retired at Yankee Stadium, and ended up dying of throat cancer later that year. Three years later in 1951, Yankee great Mickey Mantle made his major league debut. Later on that year Joe DiMaggio announced his retirement from baseball.

In 1953 the Yankees won a record fifth consecutive word championship; a record that still stands today.

1961 saw Roger Maris hit 61 home runs to establish a new Major League record that topped the previous high of 60 hit by former Yankee Babe Ruth. Yankee great Mickey Mantle had his uniform retired in 1969 to end a run as one of the greatest players of all time.

Another record was set once again by a Yankee player in 1977 when Reggie Jackson hit three home runs in game six of the World Series.

In 1996 the Yankees finally brought the title back to the Bronx after defeating the Braves in the World Series; this was the Yankees 23rd title. They followed this performance up with three consecutive titles from 1998 to 2000.

This is not even a fraction of the Yankees history book, and they are adding to it every season!

[Joshua Kaufman]

Finally, wvu - something we can agree on. The Yankees are the premiere franchise in all of sports. They have set the watermark for excellence and try to build on their success every year. I think you're assessment of their history is right on the money and it was a good post.

[wvuauthor]

I knew we would find something!! Yes, I agree that the Yankees have set the bar for excellence, and it will be like that for some time. It would take years and years of dominance by any team to match what the Yankees have done!