42 Facts About Yankees

1. New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx.

2. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball as a member club of the American League (AL) East division.

3. In 1921 — the year after acquiring Ruth — the Yankees played in their first World Series.

4. In 1923, the Yankees moved to their new home, Yankee Stadium, which took 11 months to build and cost $2.5 million.

5. That season, the Yankees became the first team in baseball to occupy first place every day of the season, winning 110 games.

6. The Yankees declared July 4, 1939 to be "Lou Gehrig Day", on which they retired his number 4, the first retired number in baseball.

7. Two months after the Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1941 World Series, the first of seven October meetings between the two crosstown rivals before the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles.

8. The "underdog" Yankees came from behind to catch and surprise a powerful Red Sox team on the last two days of the 1949 season, a face-off that fueled the beginning of the modern Yankees–Red Sox rivalry.

9. In 1954, the Yankees won 103 games, but the Cleveland Indians took the pennant with a then-AL record 111 wins; 1954 was famously referred to as "The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant".

10. Yankees lost the 1957 World Series to the Milwaukee Braves when Lew Burdette won three games for the Braves and was awarded World Series MVP.

11. In 1966, the Yankees finished in last place in the AL for the first time since 1912.

12. Yankees were not able to replace their aging superstars with promising young talent, as they had consistently done in the previous five decades.

13. The Yankees was one of four teams who voted against the establishment of the draft.

14. The Yankees won 103 games and the AL East by three games over the Baltimore Orioles, but were swept by the Royals in the ALCS.

15. Under Michael, the Yankees led the AL East before a strike hit in June 1981.

16. The Yankees struggled under Bob Lemon, who replaced Michael for the second half of the season.

17. In return the Yankees got Dale Murray and Tom Dodd.

18. The Yankees went on to sweep the San Diego Padres in the World Series.

19. In 2000, the Yankees faced the Mets in the first New York City Subway World Series in 44 years.

20. The Yankees won 11 consecutive postseason series in this 4-year period.

21. In 2004, the Yankees signed free agents Kenny Lofton and Gary Sheffield; and traded Alfonso Soriano to the Texas Rangers in exchange for star shortstop Alex Rodriguez, who moved to third base from his usual shortstop position to accommodate Jeter.

22. On June 18, 2007, the Yankees broke new ground by signing the first two professional baseball players from the People's Republic of China to the MLB, and became the first team in MLB history to sign an advertising deal with a Chinese company.

23. The final regular-season game at Yankee Stadium was played on September 21, 2008 with the Yankees defeating the Orioles.

24. At the beginning of the 2009 season, the Yankees opened the new Yankee Stadium, located just a block north on River Avenue from their former home.

25. The Yankees set a major league record by playing error-free ball for 18 consecutive games from May 14 to June 1, 2009.

26. The Yankees starting pitching was led by ace Luis Severino, who rebounded from his last season to lead the Yankees' pitching staff.

27. The Yankees sent Dellin Betances, Starlin Castro, Sanchez, Severino, and Judge to the 2017 All-Star Game.

28. The Yankees traded Starlin Castro and prospects Jorge Guzman and Jose Devers to the Miami Marlins for reigning National League Most Valuable Player Giancarlo Stanton.

29. The Yankees swept Boston in the two-game series, with the first game lasted 4 hours and 42 minutes, 3 minutes shorter than the longest MLB 9-inning game.

30. The Yankees beat the Twins in a three-game sweep to advance to the ALCS for the second time in three seasons.

31. The Yankees recorded a record-tying three triple plays throughout the 2021 season.

32. The Yankees were the league leaders in "road attendance" each year from 2001 through 2006.

33. In 2008, the Yankees announced a joint venture with the Dallas Cowboys to form the basis for a partnership in running food and beverage, and other catering services to both teams' stadiums.

34. In 2022, the Yankees were again ranked as the second most valuable team behind the Cowboys, valued at $6 billion.

35. In 2005, the team's average player salary was $2.6 million with the Yankees having the five highest paid players in MLB.

36. In 2019 the Yankees stopped playing Smith's rendition to allegations of racism in some of her songs.

37. Yankees's was the first number retired in Major League Baseball history.

38. On May 14, 2017, the Yankees retired number 2 in honor of Derek Jeter.

39. Yankees are known to have multiple rivalries across the league, none being more famous than their longtime foe: The Boston Red Sox.

40. The inaugural game between the two teams occurred more than 100 years ago, in 1903, when the Yankees hosted the Red Sox (then named the Americans) at Hilltop Park.

41. Teams finished tied for first in 1978, when the Yankees won a high-profile tiebreaker game for the division title.

42. The most recent World Series between the two New York teams was in 2000, when the Yankees defeated the Mets.