Our countdown on baseball’s 50 greatest teams (called the best 50 balls) today poured into the 1958 New York Yankees No. 24. Ranking from my new book The best team in baseball.
Here is a quick boilerplate note attached to each story I have in this series:
I compiled the best 50 by analyzing 2,544 major league teams from 1903 to 2024. (The historical percentile for a given club is the percentage of its other 2,543 teams.)
Please refer to my book to explain my TS calculations. The book also offers a separate breakdown of the best and worst clubs every decade, along with a comprehensive overview of the best 50 (including a position-by-position lineup and more information than you will find in this newsletter), and a similar summary of the 10 worst teams of all time.
Now enter today’s profile.
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Team: 1958 New York Yankees
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Team Score: 87.098
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Ranking History: 24 of 2,544
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Historical percentile: 99.10%
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Seasonal record: 92-62 (.597)
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Season position: No. 1 in the American League
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Final identity: World Champion
There is no decade of more thorough rule than the New York Yankees in the 1950s. They won eight American League delicacies and six World Series titles between 1950 and 1959, and in any 10 years, no team touched any team.
However, their dominance is not impressive, with five of their six championship rosters ranking below No. 60 in all-time rankings. In the 1950s, AL lacked balance and New York teams scored less. Yankees co-owner Del Webb laughed at the “about five or six” clubs of eight teams in 1957 without competition.
He couldn’t say the same thing in 1958. Seven teams won over 47% of the game, creating the most competitive environment for the AL since World War II. The Yankees faced the challenge. They took first place in mid-April and led the league to the rest of the Mickey Mantle and tilt Bob Turley and White Ford.
Get a complete low in 50 greatest (and 10 weakest) clubs of all time
The Braves beat the Yankees in the 1957 World Series and they seemed likely to repeat the feat in 1958. Milwaukee won three of the first four games. “I want the Yankees to enter the National League,” said the brave pitcher with a smile Lew Burdette. “If they finish fifth, they will be lucky.”
But the New Yorker will turn the ball and sweep the last three games 17-5. Bob Turley won Games 5 and 7, who made a 6.2-inning relief appearance. The right fielder Hank Bower In seven games, he won the championship with four home runs and eight hits.
No one prefers the turn of the game more than the Yankees manager Casey Stengel. “I think we can play in the National League right now,” he snorted.
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Mickey Mantle was sold for a star when he joined the Yankees in 1951. “He’s faster than any other racer I’ve ever seen,” Casey Stengel revels. Mantle has performed well in his first five seasons, with a total of 121 home runs and a .298 batting average – winning the American League triple with 52 home runs, 130 batting and .3553 BA before he moved to Overdrive in 1956.
Not surprisingly, in 1958, the cross country hit the Yanks with 42 home runs and 97 RBIs. Left fielder provides extra firepower Norm Siebern (.300), third baseman Andy Carey (.286), First Baseman Bill Skowron (73 RBIs in 126 games) and Yogi Berra and Elston Howardassign capture responsibilities.
Berra is a 13-year veteran who drove 90 runs and is not officially an assistant manager at Stengel. “Bella has a lot to do with the decision on the team, including who plays,” the pitcher said Ryne Duren. Howard beat .314, and he overturned the front-end bias and became the Yankees’ first black player. General Manager George Weiss once promised: “I will never allow blacks to wear Yankee uniforms.” He eventually succumbed to public pressure.
Whitey Ford is New York’s most famous pitcher, although Bob Turley covered him up in 1958. Ford released the Best Times of AL (2.01), but Turley led the league with 21 wins. “It all comes together,” Turi said of the greatest season of his 12-year career. He received a reward from the Cy Young Award.
