Fansided

Ranking every World Series winners in history

By Staff

UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 05: Brooklyn Dodgers president Walter O'Malley and his manager, Walter Alston, exchange hugs and grins after bringing Brooklyn its first World Series championship in history. Flock did it the hard way, winning the final game in Yankee Stadium. (Photo by NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 05: Brooklyn Dodgers president Walter O'Malley and his manager, Walter Alston, exchange hugs and grins after bringing Brooklyn its first World Series championship in history. Flock did it the hard way, winning the final game in Yankee Stadium. (Photo by NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) /
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BRONX, NY – OCTOBER 1978: New York Yankees’ Reggie Jackson No. 44 watches the flight of his ball and begins to run for first against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the World Series at Yankee Stadium in October of 1978 in Bronx, New York. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
BRONX, NY – OCTOBER 1978: New York Yankees’ Reggie Jackson No. 44 watches the flight of his ball and begins to run for first against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the World Series at Yankee Stadium in October of 1978 in Bronx, New York. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

45. 1978 New York Yankees

100-63, AL East Champions, Won World Series 4-2 Over Los Angeles

A 162-game regular season wasn’t enough for the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in 1978. Deadlocked with identical 99-63 records, the American League East rivals squared off for a tiebreaker game to earn the right to play the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS. Bucky Dent’s famous home run helped lift the Yankees to a 5-4 win, which was the 25th victory of the season for Ron Guidry (25-3, 1.74) who was voted the unanimous Cy Young Award winner.

New York beat the Royals 3-1 to advance to the World Series for the second consecutive season, and captured the 22nd World Championship in franchise history with a 4-2 series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Oddly enough, the Yankees celebrated back-to-back titles with a different manager after Billy Martin resigned in the middle of the 1977 season. Bob Lemon managed the Yankees to a 48-20 record down the stretch, which helped New York overcome what was at one point a 14-game deficit in the standings.

Reggie Jackson (27 HR, 97 RBI) hit two home runs in the World Series, cementing himself as “Mr. October,” but it was Dent that earned MVP honors by hitting .417/.440/.458 with seven RBI.

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