History of the New York Yankees facts for kids
The history of the New York Yankees Major League Baseball (MLB) team spans more than a century. Frank J. Farrell and William Stephen Devery bought the rights to an American League (AL) club in New York City after the 1902 season. The team, which became known as the Yankees in 1913, rarely contended for the AL championship before the acquisition of outfielder Babe Ruth after the 1919 season. With Ruth in the lineup, the Yankees won their first AL title in 1921, followed by their first World Series championship in 1923. 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. They repeated as World Series winners in 1928, and their next title came under manager Joe McCarthy in 1932.
The Yankees won the World Series every year from 1936 to 1939 with a team that featured Gehrig and outfielder Joe DiMaggio, who recorded a record hitting streak during New York's 1941 championship season. New York set a major league record by winning five consecutive championships from 1949 to 1953, and appeared in the World Series nine times from 1955 to 1964. Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Whitey Ford were among the players fielded by the Yankees during the era. After the 1964 season, a lack of effective replacements for aging players caused the franchise to decline on the field, and the team became a money-loser for owners CBS while playing in an aging stadium.
George Steinbrenner bought the club in 1973 and regularly invested in new talent, using free agency to acquire top players. Yankee Stadium was renovated and reopened in 1976 as the home of a more competitive Yankees team. Despite clubhouse disputes, the team reached the World Series four times between 1976 and 1981 and claimed the championship in 1977 and 1978. New York continued to pursue their strategy of signing free agents into the 1980s, but with less success, and the team eventually sank into mediocrity after 1981. In the early 1990s, the team began to improve as their roster was rebuilt around young players from their minor league system, including Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. After earning a playoff berth in 1995, the Yankees won four of the next five World Series, and the 1998–2000 teams were the last in MLB to win three straight Series titles.
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 regularly reached the postseason, but were often defeated in the first two rounds. In 2009, the Yankees opened a new Yankee Stadium and won the World Series for the 27th time in team history, an MLB record. The Yankees appeared in the ALCS four times during the 2010s, but lost on each occasion.
2017–present: Rise of the "Baby Bombers"
The 2017 Yankees featured a group of young players who became known as the "Baby Bombers". Among them were outfielder Aaron Judge, catcher Gary Sánchez, starting pitcher Luis Severino, and first baseman Greg Bird. Judge hit a league-leading 52 home runs, the most ever by a rookie; he was the AL MVP runner-up and won AL Rookie of the Year honors. The infusion of talent led to both renewed fan interest and improved play. New York earned a postseason berth and reached the ALDS by beating the Twins in the AL wild card game. The Indians gained a two-game lead in the ALDS, but the Yankees won three consecutive times to advance to the ALCS. Against the Astros, the Yankees lost in seven games. After 10 years as the team's manager, Girardi was replaced by Boone. New York acquired outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, the 2017 NL MVP, in an offseason trade with the Marlins. Stanton had 38 of the 267 home runs hit by the Yankees in 2018, as the club set an MLB single-season record. They again qualified for the playoffs and made it to the ALDS, where they faced the Red Sox. The Yankees were defeated three games to one by their rivals, falling short of a return to the ALCS.
In 2019, the Yankees won 103 games and the AL East championship. The team hit 306 home runs, surpassing the previous season's record and finishing second in MLB behind the Twins, their opponents in the ALDS. After sweeping Minnesota, New York had another ALCS matchup with Houston. A walk-off home run by José Altuve in the sixth game gave the Astros their third playoff elimination of the Yankees in five years. The 2010s was the first calendar decade since the 1910s in which the Yankees did not win a pennant. Before the 2020 season, which was shortened to 60 games by the COVID-19 pandemic, the team sought to bolster its starting pitching by signing Gerrit Cole to a $324 million contract. The Yankees qualified for their fourth consecutive postseason, but were defeated by the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS. The 2021 Yankees earned a wild card playoff berth with a 92-win season and made the franchise's 57th playoff appearance, losing the AL wild card game 6–2 to the Red Sox.
As of 2021, the Yankees' 27 World Series championships are 16 more than the number won by the St. Louis Cardinals, who have the second-most titles among MLB teams. New York's championship total is the highest of any franchise in a major North American professional sports league; the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens are second behind the Yankees with 24 Stanley Cup wins. The 40 pennants won by the Yankees places them 17 in front of the Cardinals for the most won by an MLB team. The Giants and Dodgers are the only other clubs with 20 or more pennants. The Baseball Hall of Fame has inducted over 40 players and managers who have worn Yankees pinstripes. Forbes magazine has labeled the Yankees the most valuable team in baseball every year since 1998; the franchise was worth an estimated $5 billion in 2020.
In Glenn Stout's Yankees history book, the author wrote:
More often than not, they have shown just how the game of baseball is supposed to be played. Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Mattingly, Jeter, and dozens of other players impossible to forget have worn their uniform. Yankee Stadium has been their stage. The very definition of a dynasty, they have created the collective memories that make friends of strangers, given their city a face, and displayed its heart and soul.
Images for kids
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Babe Ruth in 1920, the year he joined the Yankees.
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Lou Gehrig was part of the Yankees' 1927 Murderers' Row lineup.
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Alex Rodriguez was named the 2005 and 2007 American League MVP.
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New Yankee Stadium on Opening Day of the 2009 season.
