Two related observations can be made about the New York Yankees year after year after year:
They spend boatloads of money.
They win more games than they lose.
But they don’t claim any championships, not anymore. The Yankees haven’t made it to the World Series in 14 years, not since earning their 27th world title in 2009.
It’s a far cry from the glory days of 1936-1939 (four straight championships) or 1949-1953 (five consecutive titles) or even 1960-1964 (five straight World Series appearances, including two championships).
The latter streak is of prime importance in this installment of our weekly rundown of the best teams of the Modern Era, analyzed in five-year increments.
The Yankees were the dominant team in the initial half-decade, which ran from the inaugural season of the Modern Era, 1961, through 1965. They fielded four of the 10 best clubs during the five-year period, including the two at the very top.
My rankings are based on team scores, which are plotted on a 100-point scale. The TS for each team is determined by four factors: winning percentage, the differential between runs scored and allowed per game, the differential between bases per out (BPO) attained by batters and allowed by pitchers, and postseason success (if any).
Team scores are equalized to allow year-by-year comparisons. We can say with confidence, for instance, that the 1961 Yankees (with a TS of 85.319 points) were evenly matched with the 1989 Oakland Athletics (85.486) and the 2004 Boston Red Sox (84.936). We can also say that New York’s 1961 TS was the very best in this particular half-decade.
The top 10 clubs during the 1961-1965 span are listed below, along with their records and Modern Era percentiles (the share of other 1961-2022 teams that they outranked). We’ll move on to 1966-1970 next week.
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1. New York Yankees (1961)
Record: 109-53
Team score: 85.319 points
Modern Era percentile: 98.9%
Manager: Ralph Houk
Stars: Right fielder Roger Maris blasted 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth’s hallowed record of 60 (and winning the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award in the process). But a case could be made that center fielder Mickey Mantle was even more valuable. Mantle batted .317 with 54 homers and 128 runs batted in.
Bottom line: Historians rank the 1961 Yanks among the greatest teams of all time. They won the American League title by a comfortable margin of eight games, then steamrolled the Cincinnati Reds in a five-game World Series.
2. New York Yankees (1962)
Record: 96-66
Team score: 85.088 points
Modern Era percentile: 98.8%
Manager: Ralph Houk
Stars: Injury-plagued Mickey Mantle played only 123 games, yet he was still named the league’s MVP. He paced the league with a solid .486 on-base average. Lefty starting pitcher Whitey Ford went 17-8 with a 2.90 earned run average.
Bottom line: The Yankees repeated as world champions in 1962, though their journey was rougher. They edged the Minnesota Twins by five games in the AL race before being extended to the seventh game of the World Series by the San Francisco Giants.
3. Minnesota Twins (1965)
Record: 102-60
Team score: 78.002 points
Modern Era percentile: 96.4%
Manager: Sam Mele
Stars: Nobody, but nobody, would have pegged shortstop Zoilo Versalles as an MVP candidate when the 1965 season started. But he led the American League in runs scored, doubles, and triples to take home the award. Rookie right fielder Tony Oliva won the batting title with a .323 average.
Bottom line: The Twins won five more games during the regular season than any other club in either league in 1965. But they fell short of their main objective, losing the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.
4. New York Yankees (1963)
Record: 104-57
Team score: 77.023 points
Modern Era percentile: 95.8%
Manager: Ralph Houk
Stars: Catcher Elston Howard emerged from semi-obscurity with the greatest season of his career. Howard batted .287, lofted 28 homers, and took home the American League’s MVP trophy. Whitey Ford enjoyed another great year on the mound: 24-7, 2.74.
Bottom line: New York breezed to the AL title in 1963, outdistancing the second-place Chicago White Sox by 10.5 games. Oddsmakers installed the Yankees as heavy favorites in the World Series, but they submitted meekly to a four-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers.
5. Los Angeles Dodgers (1963)
Record: 99-63
Team score: 75.294 points
Modern Era percentile: 94.9%
Manager: Walter Alston
Stars: The Dodgers were best known for their pitching staff, led by the lefty-right starting combo of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. Koufax won his first Cy Young Award (of three) with a 25-5 record, a stifling 1.88 ERA, and a league-leading 306 strikeouts. Drysdale chipped in 19 victories and 251 strikeouts.
Bottom line: Los Angeles finished the regular season with a six-game edge over the runner-up St. Louis Cardinals in the National League. The Dodgers’ pitchers completely shut down the Yankees in the World Series, allowing only four runs in a four-game sweep.
Next five
6. Los Angeles Dodgers (1965), 97-65, 94.2%
7. San Francisco Giants (1962), 103-62, 94.0%
8. New York Yankees (1964), 99-63, 93.4%
9. St. Louis Cardinals (1964), 93-69, 92.9%
10. Cincinnati Reds (1961), 93-61, 89.9%