ONEBUBBLE

27. George Steinbrenner – It all starts with The Boss. #27 is for him.
26. The New Stadium – Best home record in the regular season. 7-1 at home in the playoffs. Gazillions of home runs. And a World Series title in its first year.
25. The Fans – The Yankees fans were everywhere. At every game.
24. Pedro Martinez – Two starts in New York = Two Wins for the Yankees. Who’s Your Daddy?
23. The Redsox – Hmm…they suck
22. Yogi Berra – The “It Ain’t Over ’til It’s Over” attitude. You can never count this team out until the last out is made. Led the league in walk-offs and a handful of memorable comeback wins.
21. Brian Cashman – We know he’s got cash to burn. Still, he assembled the right group of both talent and characters to do what they did this season.
20. Jerry Hairston Jr. – Great bunt last night. Big hit in the 13th inning against the Angels in Game 2 of the ALCS and eventually scored the winning run.
19. Brett Gardner – The Super Sub. Great speed. Solid Defense.
18. Jose Molina – One hit in the postseason but that’s not why he’s on this list. Ask AJ Burnett.
17. Joba Chamberlain – Did everything that was asked of him. Starting. Relieving. The unconventional pitching schedule towards the end of the regular season. Through all that, Joba slowly got his mojo back as the postseason went on.
16. David Robertson – 0.00 ERA and two big wins in the postseason.
15. Damasco Marte – 0.00 ERA & 0.50 WHIP in the postseason and 2 HUGE strikeouts of Utley and Howard last night.
14. Nick Swisher – 29 HRs in the regular season. Struggled during the playoffs but came alive in the pivotal Game 3 against the Phillies with a homer, double and 2 runs scored. No one plays harder than this guy.
13. Melky Cabera – The Melk Man always delivers. 3 memorable walkoff hits in the regular season. 13 hits in the postseason. He did his job in the center field. and perhaps the funnest Yankee to be around.
12. Robinson Cano – .320 avg 204 hits 25 HRs in the regular season. Struggled in the postseason….but he fielded the final out of the season… that should count for something. I think.
11. Joe Giradi – Does he over-manage on occasions? Probably. But so what. The players love him. Plays hard for him. and he got #27 in his 2nd season as the skipper and that’s all that really matters. Go get some sleep Joe. You deserve it.
10. Jorge Posada – Had his up and down in the postseason but still came up with some timely hits. One of the Original Four. Caught the first pitch from Pettitte and the last pitch from Rivera. Hip Hip…Jorgeeeeeee!!
9. AJ Burnett – In perhaps the biggest game of the season as well as his career, Burnett pitched brilliantly in Game 2 of the World Series to even the series at 1-1. Someone should have smashed a pie in his face for that.
8. Johnny Damon – The at-bat against Brad Lidge in Game 4 with two outs and two strikes in the 9th is all you need to know. Then he stole two bases on one pitch. Then he scores the go-ahead run. Enough said.
7. Mark Teixeira – Led the AL with 39 HRs during the regular season but that’s not why he’s so valuable. I’m tempted to give him the MVP base solely on his play at 1st base.
6. Hideki Matsui – The 2009 World Series MVP batted .615 (8 for 13) with 3 HRs and 8 RBIs. That’s softball numbers people.
5. CC Sabathia – Arguably the most important free agent signing during the off season. The shutdown ACE that the Yankees had been looking for and it was worth every penny. 3-1 in the playoffs with a 1.98 ERA. He single-handedly shut down the Angels in the ALCS.
4. Alex Rodriquez – You think he has finally earned his ridiculous salary? In the postseason, A-Rod batted .365 with 6 HRs and 18 RBIs and a handful of clutch clutch hits. Tying 2-run homer in the 9th against the Twins (ALDS Game 2). Tying solo homer in the 11th against the Angels (ALCS Game 2). Go-ahead hit against the Phillies (WS Game 4). You decide.
3. Andy Pettitte – He’s the Most Victorious Pitcher (MVP) in postseason history with 18 wins. He’s 4-0 this postseason with 2 wins in the World Series. He’s the winning pitcher in each series clincher. He now has 5 World Series titles. I think that sums up his career pretty nicely.
2. Derek Jeter – El Capitan. Mr. November. Captain Clutch. Or as I like to call him DJ Hero. Yes, #2 is #2 on this list. In another superb postseason, Jeter batted .344 and led the team with 22 hits and safely got on base in all 15 games including 3 hits in the series clincher. DJ..he’s my hero.
1. Mariano Rivera – Was there any doubt that the greatest closer of all time will be the one closing this list as numero uno? There’s really nothing more needed to be said. No stats needed here to confirm his greatness. Simply put, the Yankees would not win these 5 World Series titles without Mo.