Michael Jackson "This is it"

New York Yankees won 7 vs 3 Philadelphia Phillies in World Champion Series Final

The Yankees have more championships than any other franchise in North American professional sports history, having passed the 24 Stanley Cup championships by the Montreal Canadiens in 1999.

They've won at least one title in eight of the past nine decades, with their previous championship coming in 2000. Their first came in 1923, and they've seemingly been on top of the baseball world since.

Here's a look at every Yankees' World Series title since that first championship in 1923 against the rival New York Giants:

2009: Yankees 4, Philadelphia Phillies 2 -- MVP: Hideki Matsui
The Yankees won their first World Series title in nearly a decade in a thrilling Fall Classic against the Phillies. Matsui was the unlikely star, as he had three homers and eight RBIs in the Series. He also drove in six runs in the clinching Game 6 to tie the World Series single-game record set by the Yankees' Bobby Richardson in 1960.

2000: Yankees 4, New York Mets 1 -- MVP: Derek Jeter
The Yankees were victorious over the Mets in the first Subway Series in New York since 1956, with Jeter hitting .409 with two home runs. The Yankees' four victories were by a total of just five runs, but it made them the first to win three consecutive titles since the A's did it from 1972-74.

1999: Yankees 4, Atlanta Braves 0 -- MVP: Mariano Rivera
The Yankees swept the Braves with the deciding game belonging to Roger Clemens, who sought a trade to New York the previous winter in hopes of adding a championship to his 14-year career. The five-time Cy Young Award winner shut out Atlanta into the eighth inning in a 4-1 victory. The Yankees' 25th World Series championship marked the first back-to-back sweeps since the Bronx Bombers of 1938-39.

1998: Yankees 4, San Diego Padres 0 -- MVP: Scott Brosius
The Yankees entered the World Series as overwhelming favorites, having set an American League record by winning 114 regular-season games, and easily dispatched the Padres in a sweep. Brosius hit .471 with two home runs and six RBIs. The Yankees completed their sweep with a 3-0 victory in Game 4, thanks to a number of infield singles and missed opportunities for the Padres, who stranded eight baserunners.

1996: Yankees 4, Atlanta Braves 2 -- MVP: John Wetteland
New York won its first World Series since 1978 and became the third team to lose the first two games at home and still go on to capture the crown. Wetteland set a Fall Classic record with four saves and Jim Leyritz provided one of the most heroic moments with a game-tying three-run homer off Mark Wohlers in the eighth inning of Game 4.

1978: Yankees 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 2 -- MVP: Bucky Dent
The Yankees met the Dodgers in the first World Series rematch since the Yanks and Braves squared off in 1957 and '58. New York lost the first two games but rallied back as Game 6 saw the Yankees make it four straight games and back-to-back World Series titles. Dent had a Series-high 10 hits.

1977: Yankees 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 2 -- MVP: Reggie Jackson
The franchise ended a 15-year title drought and Jackson lived up to his name of "Mr. October" as he joined Babe Ruth as the only Major Leaguers to hit three home runs in one World Series game. In Game 6 at Yankee Stadium, he drilled a two-run homer off Burt Hooton in the fourth, and just one inning later, Jackson again blasted a two-run shot, this one off Elias Sosa. And he finished off his power display with a monumental solo clout off Charlie Hough in the eighth.

1962: Yankees 4, San Francisco Giants 3 -- MVP: Ralph Terry
The Yankees won their 20th title in 25 appearances over a 40-year span behind Terry, who won Games 2 and 7. His best game came in the clincher, when he threw a shutout in a 1-0 victory at Candlestick Park.

The franchise ended a 15-year title drought in 1977 and Reggie Jackson lived up to his name of "Mr. October" as he joined Babe Ruth as the only Major Leaguers to hit three home runs in one World Series game.

1961: Yankees 4, Cincinnati Reds 1 -- MVP: Whitey Ford
The story of 1961 was, of course, the duel between Yankees teammates Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris for the American League home run title, which ended with Maris hitting a record 61. But that wasn't the only impressive feat for the Yankees as they won the World Series behind first-year manager Ralph Houk. Ford was the winning pitcher in Games 1 and 4.

1958: Yankees 4, Milwaukee Braves 3 -- MVP: Bob Turley
This was a rematch of the '57 Fall Classic, and the Yankees were looking for revenge and got it in a thrilling seven-game series. New York became just the second team to win a World Series despite facing a 3-1 deficit. Turley, who couldn't even make it out of the first inning in Game 2, won Games 5 and 7.

1956: Yankees 4, Brooklyn Dodgers 3 -- MVP: Don Larsen
Larsen made history when he became the first and still only pitcher to throw a World Series perfect game when he did it in Game 4, earning the World Series MVP Award in only the second year it was given. The Series went all the way to Game 7, but there wasn't much drama, as it was won easily by the Yankees in a 9-0 rout of Brooklyn's beloved "dem Bums."

1953: Yankees 4, Brooklyn Dodgers 2
The Yankees won an unprecedented fifth straight World Series behind Billy Martin, who had a Series-high .500 average with 12 hits, two triples, two home runs and eight RBIs. He also had the game-winning hit in Game 6 in the bottom of the ninth inning when he drove Hank Bauer home with an RBI single off Clem Labine to give the Yankees a 4-3 win in the clincher.

1952: Yankees 4, Brooklyn Dodgers 3
New York defeated Brooklyn for the fourth time in Series play behind left fielder Gene Woodling, who led all regulars with a .348 batting average. The Yankees won Game 7, 4-2, with Bob Kuzava pitching the last two innings for his second Series-clinching save in 12 months.

1951: Yankees 4, New York Giants 2
The Yankees spoiled a World Series appearance for the Giants, who made the Fall Classic only after Bobby Thomson's legendary "Shot Heard 'Round the World" against the Dodgers in the three-game National League tiebreaker series. The clinching Game 6 marked Joe DiMaggio's final Major League game, while in Game 2, Mickey Mantle, playing in his first World Series, tripped over a drainage outlet in Yankee Stadium, sustaining a knee injury that would haunt him throughout his career.

1950: Yankees 4, Philadelphia Phillies 0
New York recorded its sixth World Series sweep in 24 years. In Game 4, Ford, a 21-year-old rookie, made a name for himself when he shut out the Phillies for eight innings in a 5-2 win. Philadelphia, though, scored a pair of unearned runs and got the tying run to the plate with two outs in the ninth. But Allie Reynolds struck out pinch-hitter Stan Lopata to finish the sweep.

In 1953, the Yankees won an unprecedented fifth straight World Series behind Billy Martin, who had a Series-high .500 average with 12 hits, two triples, two home runs and eight RBIs.

1949: Yankees 4, Brooklyn Dodgers 1
Casey Stengel, in his first season as the Yankees' manager, won his first of seven World Series titles with New York. In the clinching Game 5, the Bombers battered the first three Dodgers pitchers to take a 9-2 lead after six frames. As usual, Brooklyn battled back and, as usual, it wasn't enough. Reliever Joe Page struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth, and the Yankees were champs once again, winning the game, 9-6.

1947: Yankees 4, Brooklyn Dodgers 3
With everyone finally back from World War II, the Yankees and Dodgers resumed a rivalry that had begun in 1941. Again, this one ended with another World Series title for the Yankees. Game 4 was a memorable one, as Bill Bevens was one out away from a no-hitter, leading 2-1, when Cookie Lavagetto, pinch-hitting for Eddie Stanky, collected Brooklyn's first hit of the game, a double off the right-field wall that scored two runs, thus ending not only Bevens' no-hit bid, but also the game.

1943: Yankees 4, St. Louis Cardinals 1
Despite World War II, which depleted every Major League Baseball roster, the Yankees and Cardinals both repeated as league champs, but this time, New York emerged victorious. The Yanks clinched the Series in Game 5, as Spud Chandler improved upon his Game 1 performance with a 10-hit shutout, with New York winning, 2-0, on Bill Dickey's two-run homer in the sixth.

1941: Yankees 4, Brooklyn Dodgers 1
Back in the World Series after their unexpected absence in 1940, the Yankees were led by DiMaggio, who hit in 56 straight games during the regular season and faced the Dodgers, who made the postseason for the first time since 1920. Game 4 is the one that people still remember as the Dodgers' Hugh Casey struck out Tommy Henrich to seemingly end the game but the ball got by catcher Mickey Owen, and Henrich scampered to first base. That opened the floodgates, as Charlie Keller and Joe Gordon eventually rapped two-run doubles, propelling the Yankees to an improbable 7-4 victory.

Babe Ruth made the 1932 Series a famous one when, as legend has it, he called his shot in the fifth inning of Game 3, pointing to the center-field bleachers and hitting Charlie Root's next pitch into those same bleachers for a home run.

1939: Yankees 4, Cincinnati Reds 0
The Yankees captured their fourth straight World Series title with ease, winning 106 games and sweeping the Reds despite the loss of Lou Gehrig, who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Charlie Keller helped pick up the slack as he led all regulars with a .438 batting average in the World Series.

1938: Yankees 4, Chicago Cubs 0
Joe McCarthy became the first manager to win three consecutive World Series titles. Dickey and Joe Gordon led the Yankees as they both had a .400 average against Cubs pitching.

1937: Yankees 4, New York Giants 1
The Yankees and Giants met for a rematch of the 1936 World Series, and again the Bronx Bombers won after being paced by future Hall of Famers Gehrig and DiMaggio. Gehrig hit his 10th and last World Series home run, while DiMaggio hit his first as the Yankees became the first team to win six World Series titles.

1936: Yankees 4, New York Giants 2
The Yankees started a new era as they played their first World Series without Babe Ruth and their first with DiMaggio. Even without Ruth, the Yankees' offen,se was too much for the Giants, as evident in Game 2 when the Yankees rapped 17 hits, including Tony Lazzeri's grand slam, which was only the second in Series history.

1932: Yankees 4, Chicago Cubs 0
Ruth made this Series a famous one when, as legend has it, he called his shot in the fifth inning of Game 3, pointing to the center-field bleachers and hitting Charlie Root's next pitch into those same bleachers for a home run. It went down as one of the most memorable home runs in baseball history, but Gehrig had quite the World Series as well by hitting .529 in the four games, with nine hits, three of which were home runs.

1928: Yankees 4, St. Louis Cardinals 0
It was another World Series and another sweep for Murderers' Row, with Ruth stealing the show by batting .625, including three home runs in the clinching Game 4. Gehrig also was a star in the Series, as he hit .545 with four homers. In the finale, the Yankees became the first team to hit five home runs in a single World Series game.

1927: Yankees 4, Pittsburgh Pirates 0
The 1927 Yankees remain one of baseball's greatest teams ever, and it certainly showed with a sweep over the Pirates, who had won the World Series just two years earlier. It also marked the first time that an AL team swept an NL team in the Fall Classic. Ruth hit the only two home runs in the Series and shortstop Mark Koenig had nine hits in 18 at-bats.

1923: Yankees 4, New York Giants 2
For the third straight year, the Yankees and Giants matched up, but this time, the Yanks would play their home games in brand-new Yankee Stadium and this time they would finally win their first World Series title. For most of Game 6, it looked as if the Giants would push the Yankees to a seventh game, but in the top of the eighth, the Yanks scored five times, thanks to three walks and Bob Meusel's two-run single, and they held on for a 6-4 triumph.

Rhett Bollinger is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


The franchise ended a 15-year title drought in 1977 and Reggie Jackson lived up to his name of "Mr. October" as he joined Babe Ruth as the only Major Leaguers to hit three home runs in one World Series game.

In 1953, the Yankees won an unprecedented fifth straight World Series behind Billy Martin, who had a Series-high .500 average with 12 hits, two triples, two home runs and eight RBIs.