When New York City was the Baseball Capital of the World

Gotham. The City. The Big Apple. New York. Capital?

Many years ago on one of my travels, I randomly asked a man on the street, whom had never been to the US, if he could go to any place in the world for a day, where would it be? He didn’t even have to think… he exclaimed, “New York!” I have heard this same proclamation from Scotland to Japan; people are simply mystified by the Big Apple. New York City represents the greatness of what a big city should and could be. It’s a melting pot of cultures, ideas, and expressions. This is why, some consider NYC the capital of the world…

“Today America is the Roman Empire and New York is Rome itself” – John Lennon

However, like all great things, the city has had it’s ebbs and flows. The highs of post-WWII bled into the economic lows of the 70’s. And, just over the past year, Covid-19 has rocked Manhattan to a new bottom, and there has been an unfortunate mass exodus of the city. But, even as I’m writing this, New York is already bouncing back. Business are opening back up and people are out in the streets. Among NYC greatest qualities is it’s resiliency.

So it begs the question, is New York City really the capital of the world??? Do John Lennon’s words still ring true? Did they ever? I’ll leave that red hot potato up to more qualified people to answer. BUT, this did get me to thinking. What IS New York the capital of exactly? Pizza? Naples, and even New Haven (Ok, probably not) have a claim there. Comedy? Los Angeles and Chicago would beg to differ. Rats? Possibly! (I kid, I kid). What about baseball? A-ha!

But, much like the city, the baseball teams of New York have had their ups and downs, peaks and valleys, and highs and lows. Everyone knows about the Yankees, but they haven’t won a ring since ’09 (A lifetime in Yankee years). And the Mets, well forget about the Mets (for now). The Yankees, though, ARE the model MLB franchise with their twenty-seven World Championships. Very few teams around the world have experienced the enormous highs of the club. Looking closer at the Yankee dynasty, I found the answer I was looking for.

Out of their twenty-seven championships, the Yankees won an absurd six rings in the 1950’s. On further review, a New York baseball club represented the city every single year of the decade (except one, see below) in the World Series, with five of those matchups being an all New York contest.  Albeit through the narrow of narrowest lenses, I found, unequivocally, when New York was actually at the absolute pinnacle of the baseball world.

Let’s take a look a the decade’s World Series results at a glance:

That’s an incredible nine year stretch! Moreover, even though in ’59 there wasn’t a representative from New York, the Dodgers were only two seasons removed from Brooklyn, and many of the parts of the ’55 team were still in place. And, it’s not just the fact that New York was overwhelmingly represented in the World Series during the decade, but ALL of the NYC teams would be involved in some of the greatest moments in MLB history.

“The shot heard round the world” preceded “the catch,” which begat “the steal” (Yogi maintained until the day he died Jackie was out) which helped the “Bums” finally break through in ’55. In turn, we get the Yankees answering back the following year with Don Larsen’s magical “perfecto.” The decade saw DiMaggio passing the torch to Mantle, and witnessed the mighty Bombers continue their dominance. “The Duke of Flatbush,” “The Say Hey Kid,” and “The Mick” all roamed their respective centerfields. Moment after moment, great team after great team, year after year; The Yankees, Dodgers and Giants were all the toast of the city. It truly was a golden era for New York. Thus, without debate, in the 1950’s New York City was the capital of the baseball world. Don’t believe me? Just ask Ken Burns…

In the end, all things must pass. The Giants and Dodgers would move out west in ’58. Expansion hit in ’62, and the Mets were historically bad. The “Amazins’” would go on to perform miracles in ’69 and ’86, but, hey, it’s the Mets. We all know the history of the Yanks and they will always be relevant to the baseball world, but just like the city itself, the success of the city’s teams have their ebbs and flows. As the start of the season quickly approaches, hope springs eternal. New questions begin to fill my head. Do the Yankees and Mets have the same resiliency as the city they call home to bounce back after a very strange COVID season? Will the Yankees and Mets be able to restore New York’s once great status? Or will the thought of another “Subway Series” just be a pipe dream? Where could I possibly have the Yankees and Mets finishing the 2021 season???

Check out my next post, Predictions: 2021 MLB Season/Postseason Winners to see if New York, even for a year, can be, once again, the Capital of the Baseball World.