The New York Yankees have had a lot of good, successful managers throughout their history.
Miller Huggins, Billy Martin, Joe Girardi, Yogi Berra, Buck Showalter, and Ralph Houk have had found success in the role.
However, there have been three managers who have been noticeably better than the rest, in different times and eras.
One of them is associated with the modern late-90s dynasty, and the other two made their names in the 30s, 40s, and 50s.
3. Joe Torre
The Yankees hadn’t won a World Series since 1978.
Joe Torre was hired as the team manager in 1996, and he won his first Fall Classic and the first one for the Yankees in 18 years in 1996.
He had been a major league manager for quite some time before going to the Bronx, starting in 1977 with the New York Mets.
With his usually calm demeanor, he led the Yankees’ late-90s dynasty with three consecutive titles (1998, 1999, 2000) in addition to that 1996 win.
He managed the “Core Four” (Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera) to perfection, and also had star players such as Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius, Roger Clemens, David Cone, David Wells, Jason Giambi, and Alex Rodriguez, among others, under his leadership.
Those of a certain age were lucky enough to have grown up watching the Yankees during the dynasty years under Joe Torre and the Core Four but for younger Yankees fans those days are an era they never experienced. Even the 2009 season is something they may not remember.
— Gershon Rabinowitz (@GershOnline) May 20, 2021
With the Yankees, he also lost two World Series (2001 to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2003 to the Florida Marlins).
He accumulated a 1,173-767 record and a .605 winning percentage with the Yankees.
He is a member of the Hall of Fame since 2014.
2. Joe McCarthy
Joe McCarthy has a special place in the Yankees history.
He was the manager of those highly successful 1930s and 1940s teams that won seven World Series championships.
He managed 15 full seasons for the Yankees, and won seven rings: 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, and 1943.
He also lost the 1942 Fall Classic.
He successfully managed the transition from Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to a new star of epic proportions: Joe DiMaggio.
After that, he did the same with DiMaggio and Yogi Berra.
McCarthy won an outstanding 1,460 games for the Bombers, with only 867 losses.
That’s good for a rock-solid .627 winning percentage.
With the two World Series he won as a member of the New York Giants in 1921 and 1922, he accumulated nine championships.
Of course, he is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, since 1957.
1. Casey Stengel
The “Old Professor” is widely recognized as the best manager in Yankees history.
With him at the helm, the Yankees absolutely owned baseball in the 50s.
He took over in 1949, until 1960.
Over that span, he led New York to 10 American League pennants, winning seven World Series.
Of course, it helps that those Yankees had some of the game’s brightest starts, with Berra, DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto and Mickey Mantle.
Casey Stengel is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame since 1966.
With the Yankees, he had a 1,149-696 record and a .623 winning percentage.
Between Stengel and McCarthy, they have 14 of the Yankees’ 27 World Series championships.
Give us this day our daily Casey Stengel photo. 😉
"If you ran a delicatessen store, you would want to be the best delicatessen store, wouldn't you? Well, that's how I feel about the Yankees." ~~ Casey Stengel pic.twitter.com/dtEdvyNHKX
— Bud Painton (@George_the_3rd) August 19, 2021
His eccentric style and incredibly successful resume made him one of the most widely respected figures in the game, both back then and today.
NEXT: 3 Worst Seasons In Yankees History