In sports, fatigue generally sets in for other fans when a certain team wins too much, especially in a row. That being said, there must have been lots of fatigue outside of the Bronx after 1953, when the Yankees broke their own record for consecutive titles. Today, even with it being a long time since their last title, the Yankees are in no short supply of haters. The Dodgers and Astros may be swapping around the crown of most hated, but Yankee Haters will always be around, such is the effect of such long term sustained winning that the Yankees had achieved from the Babe Ruth era all the way through the Mickey Mantle years, with a resurgence in the Derek Jeter run.
The pinnacle of that success is undoubtedly in the 1949-1953 run where the Yankees won every World Series. In '53, there was no mistake what the mission was; the Yankees had won 4 titles in a row and all of baseball was looking to finally bring down Casey Stengel and company. The Yankees though, had never been as locked in for the regular season, and easily handled business with a 99-52 record, and 8.5 games way ahead of the Cleveland Indians, both results were the best yet under Stengel.
For the 3rd time in 5 years and a rematch of last year, the Yankees faced off against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series. The first 4 games each went to the home teams. Game 5 turned into a high scoring offensive battle, but the Yankees would survive and finally claim a victory for a road team as the series went back to Yankee Stadium. New York started Game 6 with a quick lead and took a 3-1 game to the 9th, but the Dodgers rallied to tie it up, threatening to tie the series up and roll with momentum to a Game 7. Billy Martin, however, would save the day for a 2nd year in a row in the bottom of the 9th, this time as a hitter. With the winning run on 2nd base, he smacked an RBI single up the middle to walk things off and make the Yankees champions for a record 5th consecutive year.
"Casey's Boy" was quickly making a name for himself with the Yankees. After saving the day in 1952, he continued his October heroics in '53. He started things off right away in Game 1 with a bases loaded Triple in the 1st inning of a 9-5 win. In Game 2 he smacked a game tying Home Run in an eventual 4-2 win, and in Game 5 he hit a 2 run blast making things 8-2 and the difference maker in the eventual 11-7 victory. Then in Game 6 with the score tied in the bottom of the 9th, he ruined Brooklyn's year again with the title clinching walk-off hit. There was no World Series MVP award back then, but his .500 (12-24) and 8 RBI performance would have netted him such distinction.
Berra continued to lead the Yankee offense with 27 Home Runs and 108 RBI. He'd add a Home Run against the Dodgers as well. The all star would finish runner-up for the MVP.
Gen Woodling would set the tempo in Game 5 with a Home Run to lead off the game. While he wasn't that bog of a long ball threat in the regular season, that 13 on-base was no error as he would lead the league with a .429 OBP along with his team high .306 Average.
Other lineup regulars. Mickey Mantle would lead the group with 105 Runs and 8 Stolen Bases. Rizzuto, Mantle and Bauer were all among the all stars. Bauer above shows the moment that he scored the winning run in Game 6 and made the Yankees 5-in-a-row champions.
Other hitters. Jerry Coleman came back late in the year from Korea to help in the title push.
The Whitey Ford history remembers was showing up at last in '53. He'd lead the Yankees with 18 Wins, 207 Innings and 110 Strikeouts while getting a touch of MVP consideration.
Lopat was low on Strikeouts but big on terrorizing hitters like Greg Maddux one day would. His 2.42 ERA was tops in the AL and he bested the Dodgers in a Complete Game effort in Game 2 during the World Series.
Couple other Starters that year. McDonald would get the start in Game 5 where he'd benefit from a potent Yankee offense for the Win.
Reynolds would get the start in his fair share of games in 1953, but getting 13 Saves out of the bullpen earns this all star a Closer distinction. He'd pick up a Save in Game 5 against the Dodgers, and while he blew the lead in the 9th of Game 6, Billy Martins walk-off hit would instead give him the Win.
Bullpen and the rest. Sain would have trouble in the World Series against Brooklyn, but the Yankee offense came to life behind him and made him the Game 1 winner after their late onslaught of runs.
Despite limited playing time, Mize would reach his 10th and final all star game in 1953. After the season he'd announce his retirement, not wanting fans to get sick of him with diminishing ability. The Hall of Fame would eventually come calling.
