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Which do you think is the top moment in Yankees history? Participate in our tournament and help us find out!
The Yankees have had countless incredible moments throughout their long 110-year history in New York. Recounting every single one of them is pretty damn difficult. However, Pinstripe Alley is going to try to determine the greatest moment in Yankees history by selecting the top 32 moments and pitting them against each other in a NCAA-style tournament.
We chose the 32 moments in the tournament by dividing the Yankees' history into four different eras: founding through 1959, 1960-79, 1980-99, and 2000 to the present. From there, we compiled what we felt were the top eight moments in Yankees history from each era. It was a challenge to separate Yankees history into four different eras of mostly varying lengths, but we felt it was the best way to include the highest quality array of moments in this tournament.
Limiting the Yankees' first 56 years to one group of eight was especially tough since that era featured the team's first 18 championships. Unfortunately, because the era was played so long ago that the top moments don't linger in our memories as much as those from more recent times. Altering the era's date range to a fewer year might have allowed to include Lombardi's "Big Snooze" in the '39 World Series or Allie Reynolds's second no-hitter of '51, but it also would have forced us to leave off some of those amazing moments from 1960-79 or 1980-99, all of which could be argued have a place in this tournament.
Nonetheless, these are the 32 moments we came up with, and it's a damn solid collection. Every day for the next few weeks, we'll pit one moment against another to determine by the voting poll which moves on in the tournament. The author for the day will provide a few paragraphs on each moment to give you a refresher. Here are the first round matchups:
Founding-1959
(1) Gehrig's "Luckiest Man" speech vs. (8) Henrich's strikeout-turned win in the '41 World Series
(2) Larsen's perfecto vs. (7) Gehrig's four-homer game
(3) Ruth's "Called Shot" vs. (6) Martin's walk-off single in '53 clinches record fifth title in a row
(4) DiMaggio's hit streak reaches 56 vs. (5) Ruth hits his 60th homer
1960-79
(1) Maris hits his 61st homer vs. (8) Mantle homer ends '64 World Series Game 3
(2) Chambliss blast ends ALCS vs. (7) Yanks and Murcer win one for Munson
(3) Bucky F'in Dent vs. (6) Line out ends '62 World Series Game 7
(4) Reggie homers thrice in '77 World Series Game 6 vs. (5) Guidry fans 18 Angels
1980-99
(1) Cone's perfecto vs. (8) Abbott's one-handed no-hitter
(2) Wells's perfecto vs. (7) Mattingly's first playoff homer
(3) Leyritz homer ties '96 World Series Game 6 vs. (6) The Jeffrey Maier homer
(4) Tino's '98 World Series slam vs. (5) Righetti's July 4th no-hitter
2000-present
(1) Aaron Boone vs. (8) Jeter dives into stands
(2) Late-game '01 World Series heroics vs. (7) A-Rod owns Nathan in the '09 ALDS
(3) Jeter's Flip Play vs. (6) Mo's last game
(4) DJ3K vs. (5) Sojo wins the Subway Series
You can also view all the moments in bracket style below (click to embiggen):
Image may be NSFW.
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The series kicks off tomorrow with the 1 vs. 8 matchup in the Founding-1959 region, then moves on to 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, and 4 vs. 5. The rest of the first round proceeds chronologically by era. Any guesses on which moment will be the tournament favorite? Have any other thoughts on the Yankees' top 32 moments? Comment, and be sure to vote once the matchup posts begin on Tuesday!