1995–2008
The Core Four Dynasty
Jeter, Rivera, Posada, Pettitte -- the Core Four. Four championships in five years, six pennants, and the most dominant stretch since the 1950s. Joe Torre's calm hand steadies the ship.
The Captain
Derek Jeter→KEY PLAYERS
The Stars of The Core Four Dynasty
Derek Jeter
Core Four Dynasty
Mariano Rivera
Core Four Dynasty
Bernie Williams
Core Four Dynasty
Andy Pettitte
Core Four Dynasty
Jorge Posada
Core Four Dynasty
Robinson Cano
Core Four Dynasty
Alex Rodriguez
Core Four Dynasty
Paul O'Neill
Core Four Dynasty
Hideki Matsui
Core Four Dynasty
Mike Mussina
ERA: 3.88
Core Four Dynasty
Tim Raines Sr.
AVG: .299
Core Four Dynasty
Randy Johnson
ERA: 4.37
Core Four Dynasty
Paul O'Neill
AVG: .303
Core Four Dynasty
Tino Martinez
AVG: .276
Core Four Dynasty
Jason Giambi
AVG: .260
Core Four Dynasty
Alfonso Soriano
AVG: .276
Core Four Dynasty
Johnny Damon
AVG: .285
Core Four Dynasty
Melky Cabrera
AVG: .269
Core Four Dynasty
Scott Brosius
AVG: .267
Core Four Dynasty
Chuck Knoblauch
AVG: .272
Core Four Dynasty
SEASONS
1995–2008 Season by Season
Lost ALDS to Seattle Mariners, 2-3
2nd in AL East · Mgr: Buck Showalter
The Dynasty Begins
1st in AL East · Mgr: Joe Torre
Defending champs win 96, Rivera becomes the closer, first interleague Subway Series -- then Cleveland ends it in the ALDS
2nd in AL East · Mgr: Joe Torre
The Best Record in AL History
1st in AL East · Mgr: Joe Torre
Back-to-Back Sweeps
1st in AL East · Mgr: Joe Torre
Subway Series Champions
1st in AL East · Mgr: Joe Torre
The post-9/11 World Series: Jeter's flip play, two walk-off wins in the Bronx, then Gonzalez's bloop ends the dynasty
1st in AL East · Mgr: Joe Torre
103 wins, the centennial season, Giambi's grand slams -- then the Angels end it in four games and the dynasty is officially over
1st in AL East · Mgr: Joe Torre
Boone's walk-off wins the ALCS against Boston, but the Marlins upset the Evil Empire in six World Series games
1st in AL East · Mgr: Joe Torre
A-Rod arrives, 101 wins, a 3-0 ALCS lead -- then the most infamous collapse in baseball history as Boston comes back
1st in AL East · Mgr: Joe Torre
A-Rod wins MVP, Cano debuts, Small and Chacon rescue the rotation -- but the Angels end it again in the ALDS
1st in AL East · Mgr: Joe Torre
Lost ALDS to Detroit Tigers, 1-3
1st in AL East · Mgr: Joe Torre
Lost ALDS to Cleveland Indians, 1-3
2nd in AL East · Mgr: Joe Torre
3rd in AL East · Mgr: Joe Girardi
HISTORIC MOMENTS
Defining Moments of The Core Four Dynasty
Derek Jeter's Major League Debut
May 29, 1995. Yankee Stadium. A 21-year-old shortstop from Kalamazoo, Michigan, walked into the visiting lineup card slot against the Seattle Mariners...
The Death of Mickey Mantle
August 13, 1995. Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. Mickey Mantle died at 63 years old, and the Yankees lost something that statistics...
1995 ALDS: Mariners Stun the Yankees in Five
We were up 2-0. Two games to none, both wins at home, Jim Leyritz's walk-off homer in the 15th inning of Game 2 still echoing through the Bronx. After...
Don Mattingly's Only Postseason
He waited fourteen years. One thousand seven hundred and eighty-five regular-season games without a taste of October. Don Mattingly debuted in 1982 and...
Joe Torre Hired as Yankees Manager
On November 2, 1995, the New York Yankees introduced Joe Torre as their new manager, and the back page of the Daily News greeted the news with two...
Dwight Gooden's No-Hitter Against Seattle
May 14, 1996. A Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, a modest crowd of just over 20,000 scattered around the place, and Dwight Gooden on the mound for a...
The Jeffrey Maier Game: 1996 ALCS Game 1
A 12-year-old kid in the front row of Section 31 reached over the right-field wall at Yankee Stadium, stuck his glove into the field of play, and...
1996 World Series: Yankees Rally Past the Braves
The 1996 World Series was the Yankees' first championship in 18 years, a six-game comeback over the Atlanta Braves that launched the dynasty nobody saw...
Derek Jeter Named ROY
Derek Jeter wins the AL Rookie of the Year unanimously, kicking off a Hall of Fame career as the face of the franchise.
First Interleague Subway Series Game
The Yankees hosted the Mets on June 16, 1997, in the first regular-season Subway Series game.
Yankees Retire Don Mattingly's No. 23
August 31, 1997. A Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, 55,707 people in the seats, and not one of them there to watch a first-place team play the...
1997 ALDS Game 4: Sandy Alomar Jr. Stuns Rivera
Sandy Alomar Jr. hit a game-tying homer off Mariano Rivera in Game 4 of the 1997 ALDS.
Brian Cashman Named Yankees General Manager
On February 3, 1998, the New York Yankees named 30-year-old Brian Cashman their general manager, and the guy taking over didn't even want the job...
David Wells's Perfect Game Against the Twins
May 17, 1998. Yankee Stadium. A Sunday afternoon matinee against the Minnesota Twins, and the biggest event of the day -- according to the Yankees'...
1998 World Series: Yankees Sweep the Padres
Nobody remembers the 1998 New York Yankees correctly. They remember Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. They remember the home run chase, the grainy footage...
1998 Yankees Win 125 Games
The 1998 Yankees complete a 125-50 campaign with a World Series sweep of the Padres, widely regarded as the greatest team ever.
Roger Clemens Traded to the Yankees
February 18, 1999. Pitchers and catchers had barely dropped their bags in Florida when the news broke: the New York Yankees had traded for Roger...
David Cone's Perfect Game on Yogi Berra Day
July 18, 1999. A Sunday afternoon in July, 98 degrees and climbing. Yankee Stadium had already been the site of something extraordinary before David...
1999 World Series: Yankees Sweep the Braves
The 1999 New York Yankees have a problem, which is that they have to live between the 1998 and 2000 squads. On one side you've got the greatest regular...
2000 World Series: Yankees Win the Subway Series
There were 44 years of hypothetical arguments -- Yankees vs. Mets, Bronx vs. Queens, pinstripes vs. blue and orange -- and when it finally happened...
Mike Mussina's Near-Perfect Game
Mussina took a perfect game into the ninth inning against Boston before Carl Everett singled.
Derek Jeter's Flip Play
Jeter's iconic relay throw from the first-base line saved Game 3 of the ALDS against Oakland.
2001 World Series: Gonzalez's Walk-Off Ends the Dynasty
Luis Gonzalez's bloop single off Mariano Rivera in Game 7 ended the Yankees' four-year dynasty.
The Yankees' Centennial Season
The 2002 season marked the franchise's 100th anniversary, celebrated with 103 wins and a painful ALDS exit.
Giambi's Walk-Off Grand Slam
Jason Giambi hit a walk-off grand slam on May 17, 2002, in his first season as a Yankee.
2002 ALDS: Angels End the Dynasty
The Anaheim Angels upset the 103-win Yankees in the ALDS, winning three straight after losing Game 1.
Jose Contreras Signing and the Birth of 'Evil Empire'
The Yankees signed Cuban defector Contreras, prompting the Red Sox president to call them the 'Evil Empire.'
Yankees Retire Ron Guidry's No. 49
August 23, 2003. Fifteen years after his last pitch in pinstripes, Ron Guidry finally got his number back -- except this time it was to take it out of...
2003 ALCS Game 3: Pedro Martinez vs. Don Zimmer
A 72-year-old bench coach in a windbreaker charged Pedro Martinez on a pitcher's mound, and Martinez threw him to the ground like a rag doll. That's...
Aaron Boone's Walk-Off Home Run in 2003 ALCS Game 7
Boone's leadoff home run in the 11th inning of Game 7 beat Boston and sent the Yankees to the World Series.
2003 World Series: Marlins Upset the Yankees
The Marlins beat the Yankees in six games behind Josh Beckett's dominant Game 6 shutout.
Alex Rodriguez Traded to the Yankees
The Yankees acquired A-Rod from Texas in a blockbuster trade after the Red Sox deal fell through.
Yankees Lose 22-0 to Cleveland
The Yankees suffered a historic 22-0 shutout loss to the Indians.
2004 ALCS: The Greatest Collapse in Baseball History
The Yankees blew a 3-0 ALCS lead as the Red Sox became the first team in MLB history to win a series after trailing 0-3.
Robinson Cano's 2005 Rookie Debut
Cano debuted on May 3, 2005, beginning a career that would produce six All-Star selections as a Yankee.
Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon Save the 2005 Rotation
Journeymen Aaron Small (10-0) and Shawn Chacon rescued the 2005 rotation after injuries decimated the staff.
A-Rod's 2005 AL MVP Season
Alex Rodriguez won the AL MVP in 2005, hitting .321 with 48 home runs and 130 RBI.
Yankees Sweep Five Games at Fenway in 2006
From August 18 through August 21, 2006, the New York Yankees marched into Fenway Park with a one-and-a-half-game lead over the Boston Red Sox in the AL...
2006 ALDS: Tigers Upset the Yankees
On October 3, 2006, the Yankees opened the ALDS against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium and won 8-4 behind Chien-Ming Wang. Derek Jeter went...
Cory Lidle Dies in Manhattan Plane Crash
On October 11, 2006, at approximately 2:42 p.m. EDT, a Cirrus SR20 aircraft crashed into the Belaire Apartments at 524 East 72nd Street on Manhattan's...
The 2006 AL MVP Vote: Morneau Edges Jeter
The 2006 AL MVP race came down to Derek Jeter and Minnesota's Justin Morneau, and Morneau won by 14 points. Fifteen first-place votes to twelve. That's...
Joba Chamberlain's 2007 Debut
On August 7, 2007, Joba Chamberlain walked to the mound at Yankee Stadium, threw his first pitch in a major league game, and struck out the first...
The Bug Game: 2007 ALDS Game 2 in Cleveland
October 5, 2007. Jacobs Field, Cleveland. Game 2 of the ALDS. Bottom of the eighth inning. The Yankees led 1-0. Joba Chamberlain -- the 22-year-old...
Joe Torre Declines Yankees' Offer, Ending 12-Year Run
On October 18, 2007, Joe Torre held a press conference and explained, with the quiet dignity that had defined his 12-year tenure, why he was walking...
A-Rod Opts Out During the 2007 World Series
On October 28, 2007, during Game 4 of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies, agent Scott Boras announced that Alex Rodriguez...
Joe Girardi Hired as Yankees Manager
The Florida Marlins fired Joe Girardi on October 3, 2006. Six weeks later, the Baseball Writers' Association handed him the National League Manager of...
A-Rod Re-Signs for 10 Years and $275 Million
Six weeks after Scott Boras hijacked the World Series to announce his opt-out, Alex Rodriguez sidelined his own agent and re-signed with the Yankees...
Chien-Ming Wang's Baserunning Injury in Houston
On June 15, 2008, at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Chien-Ming Wang -- the Yankees' ace, a 19-game winner in each of the previous two seasons -- was...
The 2008 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium
On July 15, 2008, Yankee Stadium hosted the All-Star Game for the final time, and baseball decided to throw the building the kind of party it deserved...
The 2008 Finale at the Old Yankee Stadium
September 21, 2008. A Sunday night in the Bronx. More than 54,000 fans packed into the original Yankee Stadium for the last time, and most of them...
Mike Mussina's 20-Win Farewell
On September 28, 2008 -- the final day of the regular season -- Mike Mussina defeated the Boston Red Sox 6-2 at Fenway Park to earn his 20th win. He...
CC Sabathia Signs a Record $161 Million Contract
The Yankees hand CC Sabathia a record 7-year, $161 million deal in December 2008, the first domino in a $423 million spending spree that rebuilt the...
CHAMPIONSHIPS