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New York Yankees Best Single Seasons

This is a list of the New York Yankees best single seasons. I decided to select two players for each infield position, six outfielders (regardless of specific position), and one designated hitter for each AL team. Hitters had to play at least 51% of games at their position. For pitching, we selected seven starting pitchers, three non-closers, and two closers. Starting pitchers had to start at least 20 games during the selected season. Relief pitchers were deemed non-closers if they saved less than 10 games. Closers are pitchers that save more than 10 games.


  • Catcher – Bill Dickey, 1937

  • Bill Dickey
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    147 .442 6.2 140 609 87 176 35 2 29 133 3 73 22 .332 .417 .570 .987

  • First Base – Lou Gehrig, 1927

  • Lou Gehrig
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    209 .540 11.8 155 717 149 218 52 18 47 173 10 109 84 .373 .474 .765 1.240

  • Second Base – Tony Lazzeri, 1929

  • Tony Lazzeri
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    158 .443 7.8 147 639 101 193 37 11 18 106 9 68 45 .354 .429 .561 .991

  • Third Base – Alex Rodriguez, 2007

  • Alex Rodriguez
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    175 .445 9.4 158 708 143 183 31 0 54 156 24 95 120 .314 .422 .645 1.067

  • Shortstop – Derek Jeter, 1999

  • Derek Jeter
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    156 .428 8.0 158 739 134 219 37 9 24 102 19 91 116 .349 .438 .552 .989

  • Outfield – Babe Ruth, 1923

  • Babe Ruth
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    231 .571 14.1 152 697 151 205 45 13 41 130 17 170 93 .393 .545 .764 1.309

  • Outfield – Mickey Mantle, 1957

  • Mickey Mantle
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    217 .498 11.3 144 623 121 173 28 6 34 94 16 146 75 .365 .512 .665 1.177

  • Outfield – Joe DiMaggio, 1941

  • Joe DiMaggio
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    181 .486 9.1 139 622 122 193 43 11 30 125 4 76 13 .357 .440 .643 1.083

  • Designated Hitter – Jason Giambi, 2006

  • Jason Giambi
    wRC+ wOBA WAR G PA R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
    147 .407 2.8 139 579 92 113 25 0 37 113 2 110 106 .253 .413 .558 .971

  • Starting Pitcher – Ron Guidry, 1978

  • Ron Guidry
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    47 9.6 35 35 25 3 1.74 273.2 16 9 0 61 53 72 248 8.2 0.946

  • Starting Pitcher – Russ Ford, 1910

  • Russ Ford
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    63 11.0 36 33 26 6 1.65 299.2 29 8 1 69 55 70 209 6.3 0.881

  • Starting Pitcher – Jack Chesbro, 1904

  • Jack Chesbro
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    65 10.2 55 51 41 12 1.82 454.2 48 6 0 128 92 88 239 4.7 0.937

  • Starting Pitcher – Lefty Gomez, 1937

  • Lefty Gomez
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    53 9.4 34 34 21 11 2.33 278.1 25 6 0 88 72 93 194 6.3 1.171

  • Starting Pitcher – Spud Chandler, 1943

  • Spud Chandler
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    50 6.5 30 30 20 4 1.64 253 20 5 0 62 46 54 134 4.8 0.992

  • Relief Pitcher – David Robertson, 2011

  • David Robertson
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    23 1.1 70 0 4 0 1.08 66.2 0 0 1 9 8 35 100 13.5 1.125

  • Relief Pitcher – Dellin Betances, 2014

  • Dellin Betances
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    36 3.7 70 0 5 0 1.40 90 0 0 1 15 14 24 135 13.5 0.778

  • Closer – Mariano Rivera, 2008

  • Mariano Rivera
    ERA- WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP
    32 4.3 64 0 6 5 1.40 70.2 0 0 39 11 11 6 77 9.8 0.665

Bench

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.

    Like

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