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New York Yankees: The franchise all-time bracket

ByBill Felber|
TAMPA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 26: A detailed view of the New York Yankees logo on top of Steinbrenner Field before the spring training game between the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals at Steinbrenner Field on February 26, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 26: A detailed view of the New York Yankees logo on top of Steinbrenner Field before the spring training game between the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals at Steinbrenner Field on February 26, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
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New York Yankees
(Olen Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images)

The all-time New York Yankees bracket features legendary teams from 1927 to 2009. All eight entrants were World Series champions, several by sweeps.

The first trick to winning an all-time New York Yankees bracket is qualifying for an all-time Yankees bracket.

After all, the franchise can lay claim to 27 World Series titles, a number that overflows an eight-team bracket pretty thoroughly.

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So selecting the competitors will require a few rules.

First, we’ll require at least one, but no more than two, teams from every era. For the purpose, these are the eras:

  • The Ruth-Gehrig era, 1923-1932. We’re picking 1927 and 1932, both of which swept their World Series after dominating their regular seasons.
  • The DiMaggio-Gehrig era, 1936-1949. The 1936 and 1939 teams are the two best.
  • The Mantle era, 1951-1962. The obvious selections are the 1953 and 1961 champions.
  • The Core Four era, 1996-2009. The 1998 club is an obvious choice, and the 2009 World Series winners make an excellent modern complement.

That leaves out some powerful teams, notably the1923, 1928, 1938, 1943, 1956, 1977 and 2000 World Series winners. But hey, the number eight is a cruel taskmaster.

The format is identical to previous bracket challenges. Each matchup in the tournament is decided based on seven criteria. You can think of each as a ‘game,’ the winner of four games advancing. The seven criteria are:

  1. Game 1: Regular season winning percentage.
  2. Game 2: Post-season winning percentage
  3. Game 3: Team OPS+
  4. Game 4: Team ERA+
  5. Game 5 (if necessary): Team WAR
  6. Game 6 (if necessary: Fielding percentage above the league average for the season in question.
  7. Game 7 (if necessary): The standard for Game 7 is Hall of Famers or likely future Hall of Famers.
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