New York Yankees Best Single Seasons

In: Best Single Seasons By Franchise, Teams

These are the greatest individual seasons in New York Yankees history, broken down by player and position. Since we’re celebrating standout seasons, players can show up multiple times especially if they logged meaningful time at different spots on the field. Outfielders and pitchers may also appear for multiple seasons when those performances rank as the franchise’s best at their respective positions.

Catcher

  • Thurman Munson – 1973

    Thurman Munson Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.2 141 147 576 519 80 156 29 4 20 74 48 64 4 6 .301 .362 .487 .849

    • First Base

  • Lou Gehrig – 1927HOFMVP

    Lou Gehrig Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    11.9 205 155 717 584 149 218 52 18 47 175 109 84 10 8 .373 .474 .765 1.240

    • Second Base

  • Robinson Cano – 2012

    Robinson Cano Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.4 149 161 697 627 105 196 48 1 33 94 61 96 3 2 .313 .379 .550 .929

    • Third Base

  • Alex Rodriguez – 2007MVP

    Alex Rodriguez Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    9.4 175 158 708 583 143 183 31 0 54 156 95 120 24 4 .314 .422 .645 1.067

    • Shortstop

  • Derek Jeter – 1999HOF

    Derek Jeter Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.0 156 158 739 627 134 219 37 9 24 102 91 116 19 8 .349 .438 .552 .989

    • Outfield

  • Babe Ruth – 1923HOFMVP

    Babe Ruth Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    14.1 225 152 699 522 151 205 45 13 41 131 170 93 17 21 .393 .545 .764 1.309

    • Outfield

  • Babe Ruth – 1920HOF

    Babe Ruth Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    11.9 234 142 615 457 158 172 36 9 54 137 150 80 14 14 .376 .533 .849 1.382

    • Outfield

  • Mickey Mantle – 1957HOFMVP

    Mickey Mantle Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    11.3 217 144 623 474 121 173 28 6 34 94 146 75 16 3 .365 .512 .665 1.177

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Ron Guidry – 1978Cy Young

    Ron Guidry Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    9.6 47 35 35 25 3 1.74 273.2 16 9 0 61 53 72 248 23.5% 0.95

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Russ Ford – 1910

    Russ Ford Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    11.4 63 36 33 26 6 1.65 299.2 29 8 1 69 55 70 209 0.88

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Andy Pettitte – 1997

    Andy Pettitte Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    8.4 65 35 35 18 7 2.88 240.1 4 1 0 86 77 65 166 16.8% 1.24

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Lefty Gomez – 1937HOF

    Lefty Gomez Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    9.2 53 34 34 21 11 2.33 278.1 25 6 0 88 72 93 194 16.9% 1.17

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Jack Chesbro – 1904HOF

    Jack Chesbro Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    10.6 65 55 51 41 12 1.82 454.2 48 6 0 128 92 88 239 0.94

    • Relief Pitcher

  • David Robertson – 2011

    David Robertson Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    3.7 26 70 0 4 0 1.08 66.2 0 0 1 9 8 35 100 36.8% 1.13

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Mariano Rivera – 2008HOF

    Mariano Rivera Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    4.3 32 64 0 6 5 1.40 70.2 0 0 39 11 11 6 77 29.7% 0.67

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Mariano Rivera – 2005HOF

    Mariano Rivera Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    4.0 32 71 0 7 4 1.38 78.1 0 0 43 18 12 18 80 26.1% 0.87

    • Honorable Mention

  • Catcher – Jorge Posada, 2007
  • First Base – Lou Gehrig, 1934
  • Second Base – Robinson Cano, 2010
  • Third Base – Alex Rodriguez, 2005
  • Shortstop – Derek Jeter, 1998
  • Outfield – Babe Ruth, 1921
  • Outfield – Aaron Judge, 2024
  • Outfield – Babe Ruth, 1927
  • Starting Pitcher – Gerrit Cole, 2023
  • Starting Pitcher – Catfish Hunter, 1975
  • Starting Pitcher – Whitey Ford, 1964
  • Starting Pitcher – David Cone, 1997
  • Starting Pitcher – Lefty Gomez, 1934
  • Relief Pitcher – Mariano Rivera, 1996
  • Relief Pitcher – Dellin Betances, 2015

    • All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.

    1 Comment

    1. I’ll take the 1921 Ruth any day over your selection regardless of the comparison to some hypothetical replacement. Ruth had an 846 slugging pct versus 745.

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