The most iconic American League franchise and the most iconic National League franchise are set to do battle in the World Series for the 12th time ever.
The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers bring a lot of tradition with them entering the 2024 World Series. The franchises have 33 World Series titles between them and a combined 66 appearances in the Fall Classic. With that kind of rich history, the two organizations feature postseason heroes at virtually every position.
But who were the very best playoff performers for each franchise? Ahead of their latest championship bout, we compiled the Yankees’ and Dodgers’ all-time World Series starting lineups.
Yankees’ all-time World Series lineup
Catcher: Yogi Berra
Career World Series stats: .274/.359/.452, 12 home runs, 39 RBIs in 75 games, 10 World Series titles
When you win the most World Series titles of any player in MLB history, you’re automatically making this list. Berra’s record 10 World Series championships will likely never be touched, and he played pretty well in the 14 times he reached the Fall Classic. He hit the first pinch-hit homer in World Series history as part of the Yankees’ 1947 triumph and hit two homers in Game 7 of their 1956 World Series victory.
First base: Lou Gehrig
Career World Series stats: .361/.483/.731, 10 home runs, 35 RBIs in 34 games, six World Series titles
Gehrig dominated throughout his various World Series trips, but his most memorable performance came in 1928. The Yankees star hit .545 with four home runs in a four-game sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals. He also had nine RBIs, which matched the number of runs the Cardinals scored in the whole series.
Lou Gehrig (right) won three World Series titles playing alongside Babe Ruth, including in 1927. (Bettman/Getty Images)
Second base: Billy Martin
Career World Series stats: .333/.371/.566, five home runs, 19 RBIs in 28 games, four World Series titles
Decades before his famous stints as the Yankees’ manager, Martin was a clutch performer for New York on the biggest stage. His catch on a popup by Jackie Robinson in Game 7 of the 1952 World Series was viewed as a title saver. A year later, he hit .500 in the 1953 World Series, knocking in the series-winning run in Game 6.
Third Base: Scott Brosius
Career World Series stats: .314/.333/.529, four home runs, 13 RBIs in 20 games, three World Series titles, 1998 World Series MVP
The Yankees teams that won the World Series four times and appeared in it five times from 1996 to 2001 were littered with stars. Perhaps none of the Bronx Bombers from that era were better in the Fall Clasic than Brosius. His two home runs in Game 3 of the 1998 World Series propelled him to MVP honors. In 2001, Brosius hit an unforgettable game-tying two-run home run with two outs in the bottom ninth inning of Game 5 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Shortstop: Derek Jeter
Career World Series stats: .321/.384/.449, three home runs, nine RBIs in 38 games, five World Series titles, 2000 World Series MVP
Jeter’s most iconic moment might be his walk-off home run in Game 4 of the 2001 World Series, which earned him the moniker “Mr. November.” But his performance in the 2000 World Series against the New York Mets was his best. He hit .409 with two homers amid a 14-game hitting streak in the World Series.
Outfielder: Mickey Mantle
Career World Series stats: .257/.374/.535, 18 home runs, 40 RBIs in 65 games, seven World Series titles
The Mick might have the claim for best World Series player of all time. No one has more home runs, RBIs, extra-base hits (26), walks (43) or runs (42) in the history of the Fall Classic than Mantle. His best series came in 1960, when he hit .400 with a .545 on-base percentage, three homers and 11 RBIs over seven games against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Outfielder: Babe Ruth
Career World Series stats: .347/.497/.788, 15 home runs, 30 RBIs in 36 games, four World Series titles
As a member of the Boston Red Sox, Ruth established himself as one of the top pitchers in World Series history. His 29.2 consecutive scoreless innings stood as a record for more than 40 years. With the Yankees, he asserted himself as the best hitter of all time. His play in the World Series was no different. While there are too many feats to recount here, his finest moment came in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series when the Babe is believed to have called his shot.
Babe Ruth’s infamous home run from the 1932 World Series has been immortalized, with this illustration depicting the moment. (Photo by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)
Outfielder: Joe DiMaggio
Career World Series stats: .271/.338/.422, eight home runs, 30 RBIs in 51 games, nine World Series titles
Only Berra won more titles than DiMaggio. The Yankees legend took home a World Series title in each of the first four seasons and each of his last three. While his career predated the World Series MVP award, he might have won it 1950 versus the Phillies after his home run in the 10th inning gave the Yankees a 2-0 series lead.
Designated hitter: Reggie Jackson
Career World Series stats: .400/.500/.891, eight home runs, 17 RBIs in 15 games, two World Series titles with Yankees, 1977 World Series MVP
Mr. October might also have a claim as the best World Series performer in MLB history. He won three titles with the Oakland Athletics along with a World Series MVP in 1973. Four years later, Jackson won World Series MVP again, this time with the Yankees, when he hit three home runs on consecutive pitches against the Dodgers in the series-clinching game.
Starting pitcher: Whitey Ford
Career World Series stats: 10-8, 2.71 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 94 strikeouts, seven complete games, three shutouts, 146 innings pitched. 22 starts, six World Series titles, 1961 World Series MVP
Ford has the most wins and strikeouts in World Series history. He also has the second-most shutouts. The lefty pitched 14 shutout innings over two starts in the 1961 World Series, which was part of his World Series record streak of 33 straight scoreless innings.
Yankee pitcher Whitey Ford helped New York win six World Series titles (Bettman/Getty Images).
Starting pitcher: Red Ruffing
Career World Series stats: 7-2, 2.63 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 61 strikeouts, eight complete games, 85.2 innings pitched, 10 starts, six World Series titles
Ruffing was the Yankees’ ace through six World Series titles between 1932-41, pitching in a then-World Series record six Game 1s during that stretch. Ford eventually broke that mark, but Ruffing was incredibly effective in the Fall Classic.
Starting pitcher: Roger Clemens
Career World Series stats: 3-0, 1.50 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 37 strikeouts, 36 innings pitched, five starts, two World Series titles (with Yankees)
Clemens excelled in almost all of his World Series outings, recording a quality start in each one. He pitched nearly eight innings of one-run ball in the Yankees’ 1999 clinching win and had eight shutout innings against the Mets in Game 2 of the 2000 World Series.
Starting pitcher: Don Larsen
Career World Series stats: 3-2, 2.67 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 24 strikeouts, one complete game, one shutout, 33.2 innings pitched, seven outings (six starts)
Pitching a perfect game guarantees your inclusion on this list. Larsen’s masterpiece in Game 5 of the 1956 Fall Classic against the Dodgers remains the only perfect game in World Series history and one of just three postseason no-hitters.
Don Larsen pitched the first and only perfect game to date in World Series history against the Dodgers in 1956. (Getty Images/Bettman)
Relief pitcher: Mariano Rivera
Career World Series stats: 2-1, 11 saves, 0.99 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 32 strikeouts, 36.1 innings pitched, 24 outings, five World Series titles, 1999 World Series MVP
Did you expect anyone else here? Beyond Rivera’s World Series excellence, his 0.70 career ERA in the postseason remains the lowest in history among qualified pitchers.
Dodgers’ all-time World Series lineup
Catcher: Steve Yeager
Career World Series stats: .298/.323/.579, four home runs, 10 RBIs in 21 games, one World Series title, 1981 World Series co-MVP
In his fourth World Series trip, Yeager finally got the Dodgers over the hump. He did so in a big way, hitting two homers in the 1981 Fall Classic against the Yankees even though he was the Dodgers’ backup catcher. His second homer served as the game-winner in Game 5.
First base: Gil Hodges
Career World Series stats: .267/.349/.412, five home runs, 21 RBIs in 39 games, two World Series titles (with Dodgers)
The Yankees blocked Hodges from winning the World Series on a few occasions in the 1940s and ‘50s. He finally got his first title in 1955, knocking in the only two runs of the Dodgers’ 2-0 win in Game 7.
Second base: Jackie Robinson
Career World Series stats: .234/.335/.343, two home runs, 12 RBIs in 38 games, one World Series title
Robinson, like Hodges, was denied of a ring repeatedly by the Yankees. The Dodgers finally prevailed in 1955, with Robinson delivering one of the more iconic moments of the Fall Classic by stealing home in Game 1. The series win would represent Robinson’s lone championship in six appearances.
Third base: Justin Turner
Career World Series stats: .270/.349/.500, three home runs, four RBIs in 18 games, one World Series title
Turner was integral to the Dodgers making three World Series trips in four season. While he was quiet in the first appearance, he was stellar in the second and magnificent in the third. In 2020, he hit .320 with two homers as the Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays for their first title in 32 years.
Shortstop: Corey Seager
Career World Series stats: .298/.414/.511, three home runs, nine RBIs, in 13 games, one World Series title, 2020 World Series MVP
Seager’ 2020 postseason run was even more memorable than Turner’s, as he won NLCS and World Series MVP. He hit .400 with a .556 on-base percentage and two homers in six games against the Rays.
Outfielder: Duke Snider
Career World Series stats: .286/.351/.594, 11 home runs, 26 RBIs in 36 games, two World Series titles
Snider’s 11 homers in the World Series are the most ever by a Dodgers hitter. He also made history getting to that number, as he’s the only player to ever hit at least four home runs in different World Series, doing so in 1952 (seven-game loss to Yankees) and 1955 (seven-game win over Yankees).
Outfielder: Joc Pederson
Career World Series stats: .275/.341/.700, five home runs, nine RBIs in 17 games, one World Series title (with Dodgers)
Pederson might have won World Series MVP in 2017 had the Dodgers beaten the Houston Astros in the seven-game series, which saw him slug three homers. His Fall Classic heroics continued in 2020, when he went 4-for-10 and hit the game-winning home run in Game 5 of the Dodgers’ eventual series win.
Outfielder: Pedro Guerrero
Career World Series stats: .333/.417/.762, two home runs, seven RBIs in six games, one World Series title, 1981 World Series co-MVP
Guerrero only made the World Series once with the Dodgers. However, he made a major impact. He had three hits in the Game 6 clincher in 1981, falling a double short of the cycle as he knocked in five runs as part of their 9-2 victory over the Yankees.
Starting pitcher: Sandy Koufax
Career World Series stats: 4-3, 0.95 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, 61 strikeouts, four complete games, two shutouts, 57 innings pitched, eight outings (seven starts), four World Series titles, 1963 and 1965 World Series MVP
Koufax’s World Series record doesn’t reflect just how dominant he was in the Fall Classic. He struck out 23 hitters over 18 innings in the Dodgers’ 1963 win against the Yankees. In 1965, Koufax pitched a three-hit shutout against the Minnesota Twins in Game 7 to win the World Series.
Sandy Koufax pitched the Dodgers to a World Series title over the Twins in 1965. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Starting pitcher: Orel Hershiser
Career World Series stats: 2-0, 1.00 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, 17 strikeouts, two complete games, one shutout, 19 innings pitched, two starts, one World Series title, 1988 World Series MVP
Hershiser’s 1988 season was historic, becoming the first pitcher to ever win Cy Young, NLCS MVP and World Series MVP in the same year. He went the distance in both of his World Series starts that year, pitching a shutout in Game 2 against the Athletics before allowing two runs in the World Series clincher in Game 5.
Starting pitcher: Johnny Podres
Career World Series stats: 4-1, 2.11 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 18 strikeouts, two complete games, one shutout, 38.1 innings pitched, six starts, four World Series titles, 1955 World Series MVP
Podres had an ordinary regular season in 1955, but he was stellar in the Dodgers’ win over the Yankees that year. He pitched a shutout over the Yankees in Game 7, which helped him earn MLB’s first World Series MVP honor.
Johnny Podres was embraced by Dodgers teammates following his performance in Game 7 of the 1955 World Series. (Photo by William Greene/Sports Studio Photos/Getty Images)
Starting pitcher: Don Drysdale
Career World Series stats: 3-3, 2.95 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 36 strikeouts, three complete games, one shutout, 39.2 innings pitched, seven outings (six starts), three World Series titles
Drysdale helped form one of the best rotations in baseball alongside Koufax in the early 1960s, pitching one-run complete games in the 1963 and 1965 World Series.
Relief pitcher: Larry Shery
Career World Series stats: 2-0, two saves, 0.71 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, five strikeouts, 12.2 innings pitched, four outings, one World Series title, 1959 World Series MVP
Sherry closed out each of the Dodgers’ four victories in the 1959 World Series, allowing just one earned run in 12.2 innings pitched.
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