The 10 greatest Yankees of all time

Andy Pettitte won the clinching games in each of the Yankees 2009 playoff series, while people debated his legacy.
Here's his legacy:
While he has a high ERA -3.92 - he's been the guy the team has been able to turn to whenever it need's big wins.
It's worth pointing out that during the 2004 collapse against the Red Sox, Pettitte was a member of the Houston Astros.
As a Yankee, he was the MVP of the 2001 ALCS, twice won 20 games, won the clinching game of the 1998 World Series and started the clinchers in 1996 and 2000.
So, yeah, he's been the backbone of five World Champions and that definitely earns him a spot on this list.

Whether to put Jeter or Jackson here was a hard decision. Jeter has spent his entire career in New York, while Jackson was a hired gun. But there might not have been a better hired gun in Yankees' history. In the 11 seasons before Jackson's arrival, the Yankees made it to the playoffs once. in the 13 seasons after he left, the Yankees did not return to the post season.
During Jackson's five seasons there, the Yankees won two World Series, three pennants and four division titles.
During World Series play as a Yankee, Mr. October batted .400 with eight home runs and 17 RBI.

The franchise' all-time leader in hits, Jeter has collected five rings during his career and been one of the best clutch players ever, with a career .313 average in post season play to go along with 20 home runs.

Whitey Ford was not OJ SImpson's getaway car. And if you don't know who he is, you probably don't know what Monument Park is.
Of all the starting pitchers who's careers started after 1920 - so that includes the likes of Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton - none has a lower ERA or higher winning percentage.
And, let it be known that while the teams Ford played for were good, his career winning percentage (.690) is higher than those squads, which won at a .576 clip on games he did not pitch.

It could be argued that Mantle had the greatest talent of any player to play in The Bronx.
He had speed. His muscles had muscles. He might have been the greatest combination of speed and power in history. Yes, maybe even better than Barry Bonds.
Mantle was everything a boy in the 1950s dreamed of being.
However, injuries and a drinking problem kept him from reaching the Top 5.
But can you complain when you're the sixth best Yankee of all-time?

It's hard for a Yankee legend to be unappreciated. But we tend to think of Berra as a folksy quote machine.
He was so much more.
Berra didn't win 10 World Series rings because he was a teammate of great players.
He was a defensive wizard behind the plate, batted .285 for his career and blasted more than 300 home runs.
He won three straight MVP awards and baseball historian Bill James lists him as the greatest catcher of all time.
Just for fun, here's a great Berra stat. In 1950, Berra drove in 124 runs on the strength of 28 home runs, a .322 average and a .915 OPS. All the while, he struck out just 12 times.

There are closers and there is Mariano Rivera.
Scoring one run off the man with 526 saves is like swimming the English Channel. It can be done, just not often.
Scoring two runs off the man with a 0.74 post-season ERA is like putting hair spray back in the aerosol bottle.
Scoring three runs of the man with eight seasons of an ERA below 2.00 is like finding the end of the rainbow.

Even Yankee haters have to love the Iron Horse.
And it's not because of his tragic ending. Gehrig is the Yankee who played alongside Ruth and forced pitchers to pitch to him.
Consider this: In 1927, Gehrig drove in a record 175 runs. But that was the same season Ruth blasted 60 home runs. So that means at least 60 times during that season Gehrig came to the plate with nobody on base. And he still set the record.

Let's get one thing straight. If Joe DiMaggio doesn't spend three of his prime years in the service of his country, Jeter is still chasing the Clipper's franchise hits record.
DiMaggio was America's idol. He has that famous hitting streak record. He had more home runs than strikeouts. He batted .325. And he played center field with uncommon grace.
Oh, and he married Marilyn Monroe.
If Ruth is the mythical Yankee. Joltin' Joe is the iconic Yankee.

Babe Ruth was supposed to go into the priesthood. Instead, he became a god.
If Ruth doesn't go to the Yankees, the franchise never comes close to the beast that it is.
Let's just do a quick run down of some of Ruth's not-so-well-known accomplishments in pinstripes:

• He led the league in runs seven times. Rickey Henderson, for his career, did so five times.


• He smashed 107 triples. Alex Rodriguez and Jeter have combined for 85 three-baggers.


• Ruth had eight seasons of 130 or more runs batted in. Rodriguez and Barry Bonds have combined for six.

Of course, Ruth was the first player to hit 30, 40, 50 and 60 home runs in a season and 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 for a career.
He also had a .342 career batting average. That's 25 points higher than Derek Jeter's career mark.
He's the reason there was a Yankee Stadium, that players wear uniform numbers, that foul poles exist and that an athlete can make more money than the president.