Top 10 Pitching Perfomances in New York Yankees History

When coming up with a list of the top 10 pitching performances in Yankees history, I stuck to a six-pack of very specific ground rules:

1) A perfect game is a free pass

There have been only 16 in the modern era, and the Yankees have three of them. It's the holy grail for a pitcher, and that's good enough for me.

2) Timing matters

A regular-season no-hitter is an amazing accomplishment, but is it more impressive than a lights-out performance in the postseason? Not necessarily.

3) Transcendence is rewarded

Did the pitcher dominate his opposition to the point where it looked like he was operating at a different level? This is also known as The Reverse Igawa.

4) Starters get the edge

I was dying to include Mariano Rivera somewhere on this list, but we're talking about the 10 best pitching performances of all-time. I can't choose a closer over someone who dominated for eight or nine innings. I still love you though, Sandman.

5) Staying power

Does the memorable game double as the defining moment of the player's Yankee career? Has the performance stood the test of time?

6) Modern love

I kept the list within the last 60 years for two reasons. First, I wanted to stick with the post-integration era (respect, J-Rob). Second, trying to compare the merits of C.C. Sabathia and Whitey Ford is hard enough. Attempting to historically judge Jack Chesbro's 41-win season for the '04 (that's 1904) Highlanders would probably give me a stroke. So, haunt me the next time I'm staying at an 1870s farmhouse if you like, but the old fogies lose.

With the ground rules set, let's get to the business.

10. Roger Clemens, Game Five, 2000 ALCS

With everything that's happened since the release of the Mitchell Report in late 2007, it's become difficult to properly contextualize Roger Clemens' career with the Yankees.

Here's what we do know: Clemens authored one of the most dominant postseason games of all time (yes, all time) on Oct. 14, 2000.

With the Yankees holding a 2-1 edge in the American League Championship Series, Clemens dismantled the Mariners on their home field in Game Five, setting an ALCS record with 15 strikeouts in a 5-0 Yankees win.

Clemens allowed just one hit over nine overpowering innings, his lone mistake being a double by Al Martin leading off the seventh. The line drive actually glanced off the glove of a leaping Tino Martinez before skipping into the right-field corner.

Clemens—as he was wont to do—found himself at the center of controversy for coming up and in with two fastballs on future teammate Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod later said of the first-inning brush-back pitches, "I have my own thoughts on that, and I don't want to discuss them."

When dealing with the hot-headed (and possibly roid-raging) Clemens, this was probably a wise idea.

9. Andy Pettitte, Game Five, 1996 World Series

Andy Pettitte took the ball in Game Five of the 1996 World Series with something to prove.

Joe Torre had given his young ace the ball in Game One against the Atlanta Braves, but Pettitte struggled, getting knocked out in third inning after allowing seven runs.

With John Smoltz at his apex, Pettitte never gave his team a chance in a 12-1 loss.

Now the series was tied 2-2, and Pettitte was getting another crack at the Braves with an opportunity to send the Yankees back to the Bronx, one win away from their 23rd championship.

Pettitte made the most of his second chance. He cruised through the Atlanta lineup in the final game at Fulton County Stadium, scattering five hits and three walks over 8 1/3 innings.

Pettitte had to be that good, as John Smoltz was nearly his equal. The Braves ace allowed just one unearned run, striking out 10. Smoltz would later say that it was the best game he'd ever pitched.

That Pettitte bested the eventual '96 NL Cy Young winner that night tells you everything you need to know.

8. Whitey Ford, Game One, 1961 World Series

The 1961 Yankees are regarded as one of the great teams in baseball history, so one might assume the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds that season was more a coronation than an actual challenge.

That wasn't the case, however, as the Reds battled the Yankees in five mostly competitive games. Ford got the ball in the opener, fresh off a 25-win season, but suddenly with an added amount of pressure on his left shoulder.

A minor surgery on Mickey Mantle's hip had been complicated by a virus, and the superstar outfielder was relegated to the bench for Game One.

The uncertainty that came with losing your best player hours before first pitch may have rattled some pitchers, but Ford would not be denied, outdueling Cincinnati's Jim O'Toole in a 2-0 Yankees win.

Ford was masterful, allowing two singles over nine innings, striking out six and walking just one. It was the third consecutive World Series shutout for Ford, a still standing Major League record.

Ford would toss five more shutout innings in Game Four before being forced out of action with an ankle injury. He got the win anyway and was later named series MVP.

Bonus points: "The Chairman Of The Board" = All-time nickname

7. Ron Guidry, 18-Strikeout Game, June 17, 1978

Did you know the baseball tradition of standing up to cheer with two strikes actually originated the night Ron Guidry struck out 18 California Angels at the Stadium on June 17, 1978?

It was a historic performance by "Louisiana Lightning", and the highlight of one of the greatest seasons by a pitcher in the modern era.

Guidry was unstoppable in '78, carrying the Yankees on his back as they chased down the Red Sox in one of the most memorable pennant races in baseball history.

He finished the season 25-3 with a 1.74 ERA, racking up nine shutouts and 248 strikeouts. In the 31 years that have passed, only one pitcher (Pedro Martinez in 2000) has posted a lower ERA in a season.

The wipeout of the Angels was a microcosm of Guidry's dominating season.

He struck out nine Angels in a row at one point. Six Angels struck out at least twice, with poor Joe Rudi (a two-time AL MVP runner-up) fanning four times for the Golden Sombrero. Guidry scattered three singles and a double, walking two in a 4-0 win.

Yankee Stadium was home to three perfect games, but no pitcher ever dominated a game in the Bronx quite like Gator did against the Halos.

6. Mike Mussina, Near Perfect Game, Sept. 2, 2001

Mike Mussina's entire career was marked by great things almost happening.

He almost won 20 games in 1995.

He almost did it again in 1996.

He almost reached the World Series with the Orioles.

He almost hung around long enough to win a World Series with the Yankees.

And he almost threw a perfect game. In fact, no one has ever come closer to perfection without attaining it than Mussina at Fenway Park on Sept. 2, 2001.

The Moose was unstoppable that Sunday night, retiring the first 26 batters he faced before the insane Carl Everett stepped in the box as a pinch-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning. Mussina got ahead in the count, 1-and-2, before Crazy Carl flicked the next offering into left-center field for a clean single.

The Fenway crowd went nuts, because you know, they're dirtbags like that. Mussina grimaced, fully aware of how close he came to history. To his credit, he didn't let the devastation of the moment sink him. He retired Trot Nixon on a routine grounder to close out a 1-0 Yankees win.

His final line: 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 13 K

Almost perfect.

Incredibly, this wasn't the first time Mussina flirted with perfection. Hell, it wasn't even the second.

Pitching for the Baltimore Orioles on May 30, 1997, he retired the first 25 Cleveland Indians he faced before surrendering a single to Sandy Alomar Jr. A year later, on Aug. 4, 1998, he retired 23 consecutive Detroit Tigers before Frank Catalanotto doubled with two outs in the eighth.

If you ever end up sharing a Mountain Dew with Mussina in Montoursville, PA, I suggest you avoid bringing up any of these near perfect games. In fact, I'd just scrub the word "perfect" from your vocabulary until you cross the state line.

5. Dave Righetti, No-Hitter, July 4, 1983

It still seems strange to me that the Yankees moved Dave Righetti out of the rotation and into their bullpen in 1984.

This was a team perpetually starved for starting pitching in the '80s, and yet the powers that be decided that their 1981 Rookie of the Year was best suited as a reliever.

I suppose it wasn't a terrible idea—Righetti did make two All-Star teams as a closer and even held the all-time single-season saves mark for a brief time. But the events of July 4, 1983, still has to make you wonder what might have been.

It was George Steinbrenner's 53rd birthday when "Rags" took the mound against the Boston Red Sox. He ensured it was a memorable Independence Day for The Boss, throwing the first Yankee no-hitter since Don Larsen had his perfecto against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series.

Righetti was masterful, striking out 10 and walking four. He fanned Wade Boggs—who entered the game batting .361—on a nasty slider to end the game.

“I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to cry,” Righetti said of the final out. “But then I saw [catcher] Butch [Wynegar] coming and I thought he would kill me.”

Sports. Suppressing men's feelings since the beginning of time.

4. Allie Reynolds, No-Hitter, Sept. 28, 1951

The Yankees are running out of numbers as it is, so maybe it's not such a wise idea to suggest that Allie Reynolds' No. 22 deserves to be retired.

That said, Reynolds was the best pitcher during the greatest dynasty in Yankee history, and that has to count for something, right?

Here are Reynolds' win-loss totals in his eight seasons in pinstripes: 19-8, 16-7, 17-6, 16-12, 17-8, 20-8, 13-7, 13-4.

That's a cumulative record of 131-62, a .686 winning percentage that ranks eighth in franchise history. He also added a 7-2 mark in the World Series with two shutouts. New York won the World Series in six of Reynolds' eight years.

The '51 season was a special one for the man known as "Super Chief" (an all-time underrated nickname for a man who was one quarter Creek Indian). This was Reynolds' second no-hitter of the season, becoming the first American League pitcher to accomplish the feat.

Reynolds struck out nine and walked four in his no-no against the rival Boston Red Sox, retiring the great Ted Williams on a pop-out to end the game.

Making Reynolds' feat all the more impressive, he essentially had to retire Williams twice to close it out. Yogi Berra misjudged a pop-up on the game's penultimate pitch. Undaunted, Reynolds induced another Teddy Ballgame foul pop on the next pitch. This time, Yogi made the play.

Reynolds had been criticized for talking about his first no-hitter—against the Cleveland Indians on July 12—as it was in progress.

He said this to the media after blanking the Red Sox:

“Well, you fellows wrote about that and I received a lot of letters bawling me out for breaking baseball tradition. You’d be surprised how many people were sore about it. So, this time, I never said a word."

This isn't really pertinent, but let the record show that I'm going to start talking like this.

3. David Cone, Perfect Game, July 18, 1999

As someone who was at Yankee Stadium on July 18, 1999, I can tell you that Mother Nature was conspiring against baseball immortality that day.

It was an afternoon game—Yogi Berra Day, as fate would have it—and I recall it being roughly 282 degrees with the humidity of Satan's sauna by first pitch. These were not the best conditions to sit next to a sweaty fat guy on Coors Light No. 12, and I assume these weren't David Cone's ideal conditions for pitching, either.

But it got worse. After Cone retired the first nine Montreal Expos, the skies opened up and a 33-minute rain delay followed.

Cone didn't let the break in action bother him. In fact, his stuff was better when he returned. Cone manhandled a young Expos team seeing him for the first time in possibly the most efficient perfect game in baseball history. Cone never went to three balls on any batter, needing just 88 pitches (68 of them strikes) for 27 outs. He struck out 10.

"It was probably the best slider I ever had that day." Cone told The Daily News on the 10-year anniversary of his feat. "It was making a left-hand turn, almost stopping and turning left at the plate."

Oddly, the game doubled as the beginning of the end for Cone. He won just two more games the rest of that season and then plummeted to 4-14 with a 6.91 ERA in 2000. He joined the Red Sox in 2001 and was out of the league for good a year after that.

As for any youngsters doing a double-take at the above photo, yes, that's your manager rushing to greet Cone following the final out. That was a man destined for good things.

2. David Wells, Perfect Game, May 17, 1998

David Wells was always well aware of his image.

In fact, it seemed like Wells often went out of his way to reinforce his party boy "everyman" reputation, often at the expense of his team.

He even wrote a book called, Perfect I'm Not: Boomer on Beer, Brawls, Backaches and Baseball.

There was a legacy being carefully cultivated here, folks.

Put it this way: You have to be a royal pain in the ass to win 18 games, win a World Series, pitch a perfect game and still get traded in the offseason. Boomer pulled it off.

But no matter what your thoughts are on Wells the human, Wells the pitcher was a pleasant anomaly, and often times, a flat-out joy to watch.

His high point came against the Minnesota Twins on May 17, 1998. It was Beanie Babies Day, which if you'd actually believe it, was kind of a big deal at the time.

Wells was lights out, plowing through the Twins like it was a plate of Tostado Nachos at T.G.I. Friday's. The 34-year-old struck out 11 batters, needing 120 pitches to complete the perfecto.

Wells later claimed in his autobiography that he was "half-drunk" and suffering from a "raging, skull-rattling hangover" during the game.

It came off as another attempt by Wells to be liked by the cool kids. It's too bad he never realized that sometimes the set doesn't need more dressing.

1. Don Larsen, Perfect Game, Game Five, 1956 World Series

Can you imagine if a pitcher—a Yankee, no less—threw a perfect game in the World Series today? We would hear John Sterling's head explode live on the radio. Literally, the brain matter splattering against Suzyn Waldman's pantsuit would be audible. Joe Buck would faint like a damsel in distress. Tim McCarver would sob like a tweener at a Twilight screening. Man, this would be really awesome. Things were different back when Don Larsen pitched the first, and still only, perfect game in postseason history. This is when people wore suits to games and actually yelled things like, "Hooray!" when the home team excelled. Twenty years later, people charged the field like rabid monkeys after Chris Chambliss' walk-off homer in the 1976 ALCS. I suppose our sports culture may have finally found a happy median. But back to Larsen. What you have to keep in mind was that this was a very ordinary pitcher. He had a 81-91 career record. He had gone 3-21 for the Baltimore Orioles two years earlier. Meanwhile, his nightlife habits made him an early composite of David Wells. But like Wells, there was magic hiding in that hard-lived body. Facing the Brooklyn Dodgers in a series the Yankees eventually won in seven games, Larson was perfect, striking out seven on 97 pitches. Mickey Mantle made the most memorable defensive play of the game, running down Gil Hodge's fifth-inning 400-foot drive deep into Death Valley. To this day, Larsen has difficulty believing how he earned a date with baseball immortality. “Sometimes,” Larsen said last year, “I wonder why it happened to me.”

Dan Hanzus writes the Yankees blog River & Sunset and can be reached via e-mail at [e-mail]. Follow Dan on Twitter at danhanzus.