The 10 Greatest New York Yankees Outfielders of All Time

The New York Yankees have been blessed with some of the greatest outfielders in the history of Major League Baseball.

I put some emphasis on years played and World Series won in New York, as well as overall stats.

This list will count down my top 10 of the many stars that have patrolled the Yankees' outfield in their proud history.

10. Roy White (1965-1979)

Roy White was a lifetime Yankee and was an all-around solid player in every facet of the game throughout his career.

He helped the Yanks to three straight World Series in the '70s and picked up a pair of rings in the last two of the three. He played 15 seasons in the Bronx and was a two-time All-Star.

CAREER STATS

BA: .271 H: 1,803 HR: 160 R: 964 SB: 233 RBI: 758

9. Paul O'Neill (1993-2001)

O'Neill was one of the most popular players on the Yankees during those magical Dynasty Years in the late '90s.

Paul was traded to New York from the Reds for Roberto Kelly after the 1992 season, where his numbers improved. For instance, he hit .259 during his eight seasons in Cincy , while hitting a much improved .303 in the Bronx.

He had the highest batting average in the league in 1994, at .359, which earned him his first of four All-Star selections while in New York.

He did play in six World Series, including the Reds' 1990 World Championship team, but he is most notably remembered for his five while in Pinstripes, winning four of those. He will always be a fan favorite in New York.

CAREER STATS

BA: .288 H: 2,105 HR: 281 RBI: 1,269 R: 1,041 SB: 141

8. Roger Maris (1960-1966)

Roger Maris was a great slugger for the Yanks in the early 1960s.

He hit 61 homers in 1961, which broke Babe Ruth's record for most home runs in a single season. He held this record for 37 years until Mark McGwire broke it in 1998, legally or not.

Maris would play in New York for seven seasons after being traded there from the Kansas City Athletics on Dec. 11, 1959. He would go on to play in the World Series his first five seasons in the Bronx, but only winning two of them.

He also won back-to-back MVP awards during his first and second year in pinstripes.

CAREER STATS

BA: .266 H: 1,325 HR: 275 R: 826 RBI: 851

7. Earle Combs (1924-1935)

"The Kentucky Colonel," as they called him, spent his entire career in pinstripes and was a part of three World Series Championship teams.

Earle was never a power hitter (his single-season high was nine) and left most of that to his teammates Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. But as far as getting on base and scoring runs, Earle was the go-to guy.

His career OBP was .397, no doubt helped by his nearly 400 more walks than strikeouts in his career. Naturally he scored quite a few runs, 1,186 to be exact, which included eight straight years of 100 or more. He also led the league in triples three times.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1970 by the Veterans Committee.

CAREER STATS

BA: .325 H: 1,866 R: 1,186 3B: 154 BB: 670 SO: 278 OBP: .397

6. Reggie Jackson (1977-1981)

Mr. October signed as a free agent with New York in 1977 and was exactly what they needed to push them over the top.

Coming off a World Series loss to the Reds in '76, the Yanks needed a power hitter, and Reggie was just that. He hit 32 homers and drove in 110 runs in his first season of pinstripes.

The Yanks beat the Dodgers in the Series that year to end a 14-year title drought in the Bronx. They won it again in '78, and Reggie hit seven home runs between the two Series. He was clearly the driving force to those World Series titles.

He would also play in the 1981 World Series. However, he hadn't been 100 percent all year due to injury. The Yankees were defeated that year, and Jackson was traded to the California Angels.

He retired in 1987, having won five World Series and being a 14-time All-Star. He also won the MVP in '73 while with Oakland.

In 1993, he was elected to the Hall of Fame. He is the only player to hit 100 or more home runs for three different teams.

CAREER STATS

BA: .262 H: 2,584 HR: 563 RBI: 1,702 R: 1,551 SLG: .490

5. Dave Winfield (1981-1990)

Dave Winfield was one of the very few bright spots for the Yankees in the 1980s. He was the best all-around outfielder of his generation and had sustained success throughout his career.

He may very well be the greatest player never to win an MVP award.

Coming over from the Padres in 1981, he played in the playoffs that year for the first time in his already eight-year-old career. Unfortunately for him and the Yanks, he was ice cold against the Dodgers in the World Series that year, posting a 1-for-22 mark, good for an .045 batting average.

He would bounce back the next season, belting 37 homers and racking up 106 RBI, but the team as a whole would not fair as well. The team never made it back to the playoffs while Winfield was there.

The team's lack of success would not deter him from putting up great numbers for the rest of the decade, until George Steinbrenner's ongoing feud with Winfield boiled over in 1990, and he was soon traded to the Angels.

He would play another five seasons, finally winning his only World Series in '92 with the Blue Jays. He retired a 12-time All-Star, with seven Gold Gloves and six Silver Slugger awards. In 2001, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

CAREER STATS

BA: .283 H: 3,110 HR: 465 RBI: 1,833 R: 1,669 SB: 223

4. Bernie Williams (1991-2006)

Bernie was one of the best switch hitters in the game and was, for good reason, a feared hitter in the playoffs.

He played his entire career in New York and naturally he played quite a few postseason games throughout his 16 seasons in the Majors. He played in a total of 12 postseasons, which came all in a row, where he amassed 121 playoff games.

He also set the playoff record for most home runs hit (22), which has since been broken by Manny Ramirez.

He won four World Series rings and played in a total of six World Series. Bernie appeared in five All-Star games and won four Gold Glove awards for his stellar play in center field, a position for the Yankees that has not seen anyone like Bernie since he was in his prime, both offensively and defensively.

He decided to hang it up after the 2006 season after several years of diminishing performances. But he will not be soon forgotten by Yankees fans who cheered Bernie on for his entire career.

CAREER STATS

BA: .297 H: 2,336 HR: 287 RBI: 1,257 R: 1,366 SB: 147

3. Joe DiMaggio (1936-1951)

Joltin' Joe would not be third on many lists. He was the most popular player of his time and was the ultimate Yankee.

He broke in at age 21 in 1936, having 206 hits in his rookie season, and he never looked back. Over his first seven seasons he hit .339 with 219 home runs, while driving in 930 runs. He also helped the Yanks to six World Series titles in those first seven seasons.

But unfortunately for him, WWII was raging in Europe and he served the next three years over there, which just happened to be right in the middle of his prime.

He returned to baseball in '46 but was on the downside of his career, by his standards any way. He hit .290 in his first year back, which was very unexpected, as his previous career low was .305. After a productive year in 1950, he struggled to hit .263 in '51 and retired after that season.

He won a total of nine World Series Championships (second only to Yogi Berra for most all-time at 10) along with being an All-Star every season he played and a three-time MVP. He holds the record for most consecutive games with a hit at 56 straight games.

In 1955, he was elected to the Hall of Fame.

CAREER STATS

BA: .325 H: 2,214 HR: 361 RBI: 1,537 R: 1,390 3B: 131 SLG: .579

2. Mickey Mantle (1951-1968)

The Mick was the star for the Yankees in the 1950s, with Joe DiMaggio seemingly passing the torch to him as Lou Gehrig did to DiMaggio. His torch would shine very bright for the next 15 seasons.

After a promising rookie season in '51, Mantle earned his first of 14 straight All-Star game appearances. In '56 he belted 52 homers, driving in 130 runs and hitting .353, giving him the Triple Crown. He won MVP the very next year, as well hitting a career-high .365.

In 1960 he teamed up with Roger Maris and, quite possibly, formed the best offensive outfield the game has ever seen. Over the next three seasons Mantle and Maris, M&M, combined to hit 257 homers and drive in 665 runs together. They were the offensive backbone that helped the Yanks win the '61 and '62 World Series.

Mantle's numbers began to fall after the '62 season. He was continually hampered by bad knees and eventually made the move to first base for the last two seasons of his career. He retired a 17-time All-Star and three-time MVP in 1968, a lifelong Yankee.

CAREER STATS

BA: .298 H: 2,415 HR: 536 RBI: 1,509 R: 1,677 SLG: .557

1. George Herman "Babe" Ruth (1920 - 1934)

The Sultan of Swat was the greatest Yankee outfielder of all time, but was not always a Yankee or outfielder.

He started out a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in 1914 and was a pretty good one at that, posting a 94-46 record to go along with a 2.28 ERA. But he was converted to an outfielder in 1918 by the Sox and led the league in home runs and RBI in 1919.

Then the most famous and lopsided trade in the history of professional sport occurred in January of 1920. He was traded to the Yankees for $100,000, and the Red Sox have regretted it ever since.

Over the next 15 seasons he slugged 659 homers, drove in 1,971 runs, and hit .349 in New York, also winning four World Series with the Yanks.

As for the Sox, well, they had to wait 85 years for their next World Series crown—thus the origin of "The Curse of the Bambino."

Ruth is third all-time for career homers with 714 and holds the record for highest SLG at .690 and OPS at 1.164. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1936. He is the only member of the exclusive 90 wins and 700 home run club, lol.

CAREER STATS

BA: .342 H: 2,873 HR: 714 RBI: 2,213 R: 2,174 BB: 2,062 SLG: .690 OPS: 1.164