Which World Series legends stand out?
9 mins read

Which World Series legends stand out?

With two of the three highest winning percentages in MLB history, the Yankees and Dodgers are two of baseball’s exemplary teams.

As they prepare to confront this year’s World SeriesThe Post creates an all-time team for each franchise and decides who has the advantage at each position:

Yankees legend Lou Gehrig during the 1939 World Series. Bettmann/CORBIS

first base

Dodgers: Gil Hodges
Yankees: Lou Gehrig

Hodges finally got his comeuppance and so did IInducted into the Hall of Fame in 2022 After a career in which he scored 370 goals and was named to eight All-Star teams. He drove in at least 100 runs seven times for the Dodgers in the 1940s and ’50s. One of the “Children of Summer”.

Gehrig is the standard bearer of this position; He struck out 493 times and had a lifetime batting average of .340. Meanwhile, he appeared in 2,130 consecutive matches. Gehrig, who won two MVP awards, may have had his best season in 1934, when he hit .363 with 49 homers and 166 RBIs.

Side: Yankees

second base

Dodgers: Jackie Robinson
Yankees: Robinson Cano

Robinson broke MLB’s color barrier in 1947 and became the first Rookie of the Year award winner. A gutsy base runner, his steal at home against the Yankees in the 1955 World Series was immortalized. Robinson won the MVP award and was named to six All-Star teams. He finished his career with a .887 OPS.

Cano (named after Jackie Robinson) hit at least 25 homers in five different seasons with the Yankees. He also won a Gold Glove and finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2005. PED questions Cano’s numbers; After leaving the Yankees, he was suspended twice for testing positive for banned performance enhancers.

Edge: Dodgers

Jackie Robinson stole home plate safely under a tag attempt from Yankees catcher Yogi Berra in the eighth inning of the World Series opener at New York’s Yankee Stadium on September 28, 1955. access point

shortstop

Dodgers: Pee Wee Reese
Yankees: Derek Jeter

The prototypical shortstop of his era, Reese was a formidable defender without a loud bat. Reese produced a .743 OPS in his lifetime; this was roughly average throughout his career. The 10-time All-Star, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984, was the heart of Brooklyn’s perennial pennant winners in the 1940s and ’50s.

Few players in the history of the game have been associated with winning as much as the former Yankees captain. Jeter, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame with 99.7 percent of the vote, was a central figure on five World Series-winning teams with the Yankees and finished his career with 3,465 hits and a lifetime .310 batting average. Jeter won five Gold Glove awards.

Side: Yankees

Derek Jeter celebrates his last World Series title in 2009. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

third base

Dodgers: Justin Turner
Yankees: Alex Rodriguez

The infielder, who was outbid by the Mets after the 2013 season, reinvented his swing by focusing on launch angle. He hit at least 20 homers four times with the Dodgers and produced a .865 OPS during his nine seasons with the team. Turner received a World Series ring as part of the 2020 team that beat the Rays. He became a two-time All-Star with the team.

Rodriguez won two of his three MVP awards while playing for the Yankees and played a key role in the team’s last World Series championship in 2009. Rodriguez’s two PED-related suspensions prevented him from being elected to the Hall of Fame after his career. He scored 696 goals and was named to 14 All-Star teams.

Side: Yankees


Follow The Post’s postseason Yankees coverage:


left field

Dodgers: Matt Kemp
Yankees: Mickey Mantle

In his 10 seasons with the Dodgers (mostly on teams that failed to reach the postseason), Kemp hit 203 homers and produced a .842 OPS. He finished second in the 2011 MVP voting after leading the National League with 39 homers and 126 RBIs in the majors. He also won two Gold Glove awards with the Dodgers.

One of the iconic players in major league history and a three-time MVP winner, Mantle is widely regarded as the game’s greatest hitter of all time. Mantle hit 536 career homers and appeared on seven teams that won the World Series. He was named to 20 All-Star teams and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974.

Side: Yankees

Mickey Mantle against the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1953 World Series. Associated Press

central area

Dodgers: Duke Snider
Yankees: Joe DiMaggio

Willie Mays, Mantle and Snider (better known as Willie, Mickey and Duke) gave New York a special trio of center fielders in the 1950s. Snider was no Mays or Mantle, but he scored 407 career goals and starred in six pennant winners with Brooklyn/Los Angeles. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980.

The Yankee Clipper was excellent in his first five seasons and then became a legend with a 56-game hitting streak in 1941. DiMaggio won three MVP awards and was part of nine teams that won the World Series. The Hall of Famer has reached 361 career goals and struck out just 369 times. For a power batsman, this rate is almost unheard of in any era.

Side: Yankees

right field

Dodgers: Mookie Betts
Yankees: Babe Ruth

The versatile Betts, a former Red Sox MVP, maintained his stardom in Hollywood for five seasons. Betts won two silver medals with the Dodgers and was named to four All-Star teams. He has a .902 OPS in 587 games with the Dodgers and reached his second World Series with the club this year.

Another former Red Sox star who found success elsewhere, Bambino expanded beyond sports in the 1920s and ’30s. Who can forget his 60-point performance in 1927? (Okay, almost no one alive has ever seen it.) Ruth went to seven World Series with the Yankees, winning four.

Side: Yankees

Babe Ruth won four World Series with the Yankees. access point

catcher

Dodgers: Roy Campanella
Yankees: Yogi Berra

Campanella, a three-time MVP, had scored more than 30 goals over four seasons before an automobile accident ended his career in a wheelchair. He was a key component of the Brooklyn teams that reached the World Series five times over an eight-year period starting in 1949. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1969.

Berra had a championship ring on each of his 10 fingers. The three-time MVP scored 358 goals in his career and was selected to the All-Star Game for 15 seasons. Berra, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1972, had a .811 OPS in 75 World Series games during his lifetime.

Side: Yankees

Roy Campanella (left) and Yogi Berra (right) access point

designated hitter

Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani
Yankees: Aaron Judge

The first 50/50 hitter (homers and stolen bases) in MLB history, Ohtani and the Dodgers appear to be made for each other. There’s no bigger star in baseball and the Showtime Dodgers are just the right environment for him.

Referee kicks are events not to be missed. The star outfielder set an AL record with 62 home runs in 2022 and has slugged 58 more this season.

Edge: Dodgers

Shohei Ohtani plays in his first World Series. access point
Aaron Judge seeks his first title. NY Post’s Robert Sabo

starting pitcher

Dodgers: Sandy Koufax
Yankees: Whitey Ford

Koufax was pure wizardry for five seasons, starting in 1962, when he threw the first of four career no-hitters. The left-hander finished his career by winning three Cy Young awards over four seasons. Even before he became Sandy Koufax, he was part of the Dodgers teams that won the World Series in 1955 and ’59. He later dominated teams that won the World Series in 1963 and ’65 and went to Cooperstown.

The Chairman was methodical, winning 236 games and posting a 2.75 ERA in 16 seasons with the Yankees. He twice led the major leagues with lowest ERA. The left-hander was at his best in the World Series, going 10-8 with a 2.71 ERA in 22 starts. Another Yankees player in the Hall of Fame.

Edge: Dodgers

Former Dodgers ace Sandy Koufax in 1957. New York Post

closer

Dodgers: Kenley Jansen
Yankees: Mariano Rivera

Jansen saved 350 games for the Dodgers and posted a 2.37 ERA during his 12 seasons with the club. The player, who was selected as an All-Star three times at the club, started his professional career as a catcher.

Mariano Rivera keeps The Post afloat after winning the 2009 World Series. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

The first Hall of Famer to receive 100 percent of the vote, Rivera is baseball’s gold standard for closers. No one was more reliable in a big spot, and his 652 saves were the most of all time. Rivera pitched to a 0.70 ERA with 42 saves in 96 career postseason appearances. He won five World Series with the Yankees.

Side: Yankees