The Baseball Scholar

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

• Age: 26
• Years: 1973
• Positions: C
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 24
• Years: 1927
• Positions: 1B
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 29
• Years: 2012
• Positions: 2B
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 31
• Years: 2007
• Positions: 3B
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 25
• Years: 1999
• Positions: SS
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 28
• Years: 1923
• Positions: RF
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 25
• Years: 1920
• Positions: RF
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 25
• Years: 1957
• Positions: CF
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 27
• Years: 1978
• Positions: SP
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 27
• Years: 1910
• Positions: SP
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 25
• Years: 1997
• Positions: SP
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 28
• Years: 1937
• Positions: SP
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 30
• Years: 1904
• Positions: SP
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 26
• Years: 2011
• Positions: RP
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 38
• Years: 2008
• Positions: RP
• Teams: New York Yankees

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

• Age: 35
• Years: 2005
• Positions: RP
• Teams: New York Yankees

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.