Oct 29 2006 01:52 AM
Granted these wound up not needing to be done, since I did the leg work and did one for the Padres, I ought to finish the project outright
First up, you know them, you hate them, the New York Mother F*****g Yankees:
Apperances, 46 1st all time
Consecutive, 12 1995-2006 1st all time(unless you count 91-93 on the Braves 95-05 run, then its second all time
Two runs of 5 (49-53, 60-64), Two runs of 4 (36-39, 55-58) and three runs of 3 (21-23, 41-43, 76-78)
Divisions, 2006 is their 15th crown, 2nd to the Braves and naturally all of them have been won in the same division a claim the Braves can't say about their 16
AL Championships, 39 times clearly runs laps around the A's 14, and not even close are the Dodgers (18) Cardinals (17) and Giants (16)
In 2004 they nudged past the Braves for most LCS played with 12 and their 9 victories leads all time as well.
By virtue of the 1981 and 2006 ALDS the Yanks pulled ahead of the Braves 13-11 in apperances in Divisional Series, and sadly they still have the most wins with 8
Needless to say 26 World Championships most ever, Cardinals finally get their 10th and are in second place.
We start in 1921. John McGraw gets one over on his tenants and it looked like "Small Ball" won over the slugger as the Giants beat the Yankees 5-3, and then in 1922 the Giants swept the Yankees in 4 straight (there was one tie) and the Yanks were kicked out of the Polo Grounds!
Starting anew in MFY Stadium in 1923, The Yankees returned the favor by beating the Giants, 4 games to 2.
After finishing 2nd in 1924, the Yankees had a nosedive in 1925, finishing 7th with 69 wins. From 1926 through 1964, only in 1945 would they fail to finish higher then third and only in 1959 with 79 wins did they fail to win 80 games (in fact, other than 1981, it would be untill 1990 when they would win less than 70 in a season).
The era known for Murderers Row would be ingrained in baseball lore in 1926-1928. Ruth, Gehrig, Dugan, Lazzeri, Coombs, Hoyt, Pennock and the rest of the team most historians cite as "The Greatest Of All Time" were at their peak during these years.
A 7 game classic loss to the Cardinals though started things off in 1926. Grover Alexander's strikeout of Tony Lazzeri in the 7th inning (misconcepted as the game ender, thanks in part to 40's movie "The Winning Team") all but clinched the series for the Cardinals, but the series ended with Babe Ruth trying to steal second!
Well at least the Babe was going for the element of surprise!
The next two years were sweeps. The Pirates fell in 1927, generally the singular year citied as the best of all time, and the Yankees exacted revenge on the Cardinals in 1928. Combined with the 1932 sweep of the Cubs the Yankees reeled off 12 straight wins. The 1998-2000 Yankees are next on that particular list with 10, snapped in Game 3 at Shea Stadium!
The 1928 series would be the last for manager Miller Huggins who died suddenly of blood posioning in September of 1929. In 1932 he became the first person commemorated in Yankee Stadium's Monument Park
From 1929-1931, Connie Mack's Philadelphia A's enjoyed their final moments in baseball postseason glory. The Yankees were runners up in 29, but fell to third in 30, and there was a change at the helm, enter Joe McCarthy 
1932, did the Babe call his shot? Scores of documents have been written, from articles to sections of books, describing the events of Ruth's "Called Shot" including many artist renderings on canvas and statues and toys. Needless to say, Ruth's final World Series blast, which was followed by a Gehrig hr, was the final touch on the Roaring Twenties Yankee dynasty
After being runners up from 33-35, the 1936 Yankees, now firmly led by "The Great Joe DiMaggio", whom along with McCarthy would cultivate the myth of "Yankee Tradition" and the way they supposedly do things on River and 161st! So thats who you can blame Captain Intangiables on!
The 1936-1939 Yankees are probably an underated bunch. Well, as underated as any 4-peat champion Yankee squad can be! The Yankees of this run won as effortlessly and efficiently as you can get. They dispatched the Giants in 36 and 37, 1936 took 6 games, but 1937 took only 5. They ran through the Cubs in 4 games in 1938, Lou Gehrig's final World Series, and destroyed the Reds in 4 in 1939.
The Yankees fell to 3rd in 1940, but would return to the series in 1941, defeating the Dodgers in 5. A portent of things to come with those two franchises. The Yankees would win the AL pennants again in 1942 and 1943, losing to the Cardinals in 5, and then returning the favor in 5 games in 1943. Then WWII took a toll on the roster, and the Yankees would not be back in the Fall Classic untill 1947, where they once again beat the Dodgers, this time in 7.
McCarthy was gone by 1945, but it would take untill 1949 for the Yankees to find a true successor. And he came from the PCL by way of Brooklyn and Boston (Braves), Casey Stengel came in, much in the way Joe Torre would some 5 decades later. Much riddicule for the move that would soon give way to acceptance. Granted veterans like DiMaggio and Rizzuto hated him for his constant lineup shuffle, and some say Whitey Ford would have won 300 games if not for Stengel's constant need to keep him out of the rotation and only throw him against the opponent's best pitcher, but Stengel still got the job done.
1949, after successfully navigating a classic pennant race, boosterd by a classic series out of DiMaggio in the final weekend against the Red Sox, the Yankees defeated the Dodgers in 5 in the World Series. 1950 would see a sweep of the Whiz Kid Phillies, 1951 would see a 6 game win over the Giants (couple of guys named Mays and Mantle made their debuts that season) and in 1952 and 1953 they beat the Dodgers. It took 7 games in 52 and 6 in 53. While lacking the 30's efficiency, this is still one of the greatest strings in North American professional sport. That, and perhaps the birth of baseball's first TV mega super-star in Mickey Mantile is probably what makes this era more beloved through the years.
The Stengel era would start its desent in 1954, course they still won 103 games (only time Stengel won 100 actually) but while they would make it to the World Series every year except for 1959, the final years were uneven, in fact they played a seventh ballgame in each of those 5 series. Losing to the Dodgers in 55, beating them in 56, losing to the Braves in 57 and then beating them in 58, and finally losing to the Pirates in 1960, and the Yankees decided that the game had passed Stengel by. 
Or maybe it was because he didn't use Ford for Game 7, who knows. Either way, Stengel out, Ralph Houk in, and the 60's were getting underway.
1961 is the other singular Yankee team that lazy historians tend to look to as the greatest ever. Naturally due to "61 in 61" but Whitey Ford would have his best year ever, Yankees won 109 ballgames and hit a ton of HRs that stood as the all-time single season record for a team untill the Juiced Player/Ball era of the 1980's and 1990's. They crushed the Reds in 5 games, and the next year beat the Giants in 7. They would get completely trashed in 4 games by the Koufax led Dodgers, and in 1964 the Cardinals, led by Bob Gibson would beat the Yankees in 7 games. A chapter in Yankee history slammed shut.
The rest of the 60's were a quagmire for the Yankees, but things started to turn in 1968 (see the Horace Clarke years weren't as bad as 70's Yankee bandwagoneers want you to think) They finished 2nd in 1970, but fell to 4th from 71-73. It was here that the Boss, George M. Steinbrenner, the Third assumed controll
The Yankees returned to the postseason in 1976, winning the first of three straight AL East pennants. A classic ALCS against the Royals, capped off with Chris Chambliss' Game Winner. 
They would proceed to get swept by the Big Red Machine in the World Series.
But the accquistion of Reggie Jackson that winter would bolster a fine lineup, led by Thurman Munson, Lou Piniella, Mickey Rivers and Graig Nettles. Anchored by Mike Torrez, Catfish Hunter and Ed Figueroa, the Yankees repeated and played the Royals again in the ALCS, in another 5 game classic. They would beat the Dodgers in 6 games, the final game made famous thanks to 3 homers on 3 pitches by Mr. October
1978 would be a rough one, a bad start and injuries had the Yankees in turmoil all summer. Billy Martin quit after yet another incident involving his hatred of both Reggie Jackson and George Steinbrenner. But the pitching of Ron Guidry and Rich Gossage kept the Yankees afloat, to the point where they made their move against the Red Sox late in the summer. They wound up in a tie at the end of the regular season, forcing "The Bucky Dent Game"
They won that game, to seal up their 3rd straight AL East. They beat the Royals in 4 this time, and beat the Dodgers in the World Series in 6 games.
1979 would see the Yankees bounce to 4th, but they returned with a vengance in 1980, winning 103 games and promptly got swept by the Royals in the ALCS.
The strike year resulted in the Yankees being on top at the time of the strike, only to be topped by the Brewers during the 2nd half. It would take 5 games for the Yanks to dispatch the Brew Crew. In the ALCS, they met Old Friend, Billy Martin with the Billy Ball A's. It was all Yankees as they won in 3 games. The Dodgers were waiting though, and they won in 5 games.
Another way MFY fans try to pass on a "long suffering" label is the Yankee squads of the 1980's. While they were truely horrid for a good 4 year stretch in the early 1990's, the 1980's were actually a pretty decent run. Just a lack of dependable pitching did them in during the early Mattingly years.
By 1994 the Yankees were back to their traditional ways, although this was a year wiped out by the players strike, the Yankees did hold the best record in the game at the time of the strike.
1995 would represent Don Mattingly's only postseason apperance, and he did put on a show. The Yankees made it in as the Wild Card, and lost a classic 5 game series to the Mariners. Buck Showalter is shown the door, Joe Torre enters and it's
in 1996. The Yankees win the AL East proper for the first time since 1980, and proceed to decimate the Rangers in 4 games in the ALDS. The ALCS against the Orioles becomes forever known as the Jefferey Maier series, 
but the Yanks prevail in 5 and go on to win the World Series in 6 against the Atlanta Braves.
1997 the Yanks win the Wild Card and lose a tough 5 game series to the Indians.
The Yankees returned to the top of the AL East for the first of 9 straight years in 1998, with a 114 win barrage. The Rangers were swept in the ALDS, the Indians put up a fight but lost in 6 and the Padres were no match and were swept. 1999 would feature a 1930's-esque efficiency. Rangers swept, Red Sox only won 1 ALCS game (Pedro Martinez vs Roger Clemens in Fenway, I honestly thought THAT was the one that would Reverse The Curse, but that would have to wait another 5 years), and the Braves were swept in the World Series. Since the Divisional round was added, that 1999 run of 11-1 has not been equaled, or obvioulsy topped.
2000 would see the first of two classic ALDSs against the Oakland A's. Both would go 5. In fact the Yankees' opponents in both the 2000 and 2001 ALCSs were the Mariners! 2000 would go 6 and 2001 would go 5. The Mariners of 2001 actually won 116 games in the regular season, a taste of revenge they must say. The 2000 World Series is escaping me right now, so nothing of, ehem, consequence happened. I mean what, not like a team celebrating in a road stadium where the fans of the road team out numbered the home tea...oh uh #@_)$(#)_($)_@#($@#)_$(
EHEM! Moving right along, after the 26th championship banner was raised, it looked like the 2001 Yankees were going to "Win One For New York" in the month after 9/11. Despite heroics in the Yankee Stadium games, it wasn't meant to be, as the Diamondbacks won in a dramatic Game 7, that can be considered
Yankees would come back to lose in 4 to the Angels in 2002, then in 2003 they beat the Twins in 4 in the ALDS, then win the ALCS in a classic 7 game series against the Red Sox, featuring another ALCS winning walk off, this one by Aaron Boone
They would lose to the Marlins though in a 6 game World Series.
2004 looked like it would go the same way. A 4 game defeat of the Twins, but this time the Red Sox prevailed. Becoming the first team ever to come back from a 0-3 deficit the Sox defeated the Yankees in a 7 game classic enroute to their first championship since 1918.
The Yankees have not been to the ALCS since, losing to the Angels again in 2005, this time in 5 games, and of course going down in 4 to the Tigers this October.
Whew! The less involved Twins, Athletics and finally the AL Champion Tigers to follow, sometime in November!
Sleep is needed...
