New York Yankees Playoffs

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team that plays in the Eastern Division of the American League. Known unofficially as the "Bronx Bombers", they are the most successful franchise in the history of professional sports in North America, winning more championships than any other team. In November of 2009, they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in six games to win their 27th World Series title.

The Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League have the second-most titles of any team in North America with 24. The St. Louis Cardinals are the next closest team in baseball with 10 championships. http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/al/nyyanks/yankees.html

The Yankees have been criticized for spending more money on players than any other baseball team. They have a payroll of over $200 million, which many observers say gives them an unfair advantage. In addition to their World Series crowns, the Yankees have won 40 American League pennants and 16 Eastern Division titles.http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/

In 2010, the Yankees lost the AL East race to the Tampa Bay Rays, however, they were able to get into the playoffs by winning the wild card. In the American League Division Series, the Yankees met with the Minnesota Twins.

The Twins had home field advantage, being the division winner of the AL Central. However, the Yankees ended up sweeping the Twins in three straight games. New York won game one in Minnesota 6-4 with a sixth inning rally. They followed that up with a come-from-behind 4-2 win in game two. The series then shifted to New York, where the Yankees easily won game three 6-1 as starting pitcher Phil Hughes earned the win in his first career playoff start.http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/playoffs/division/nyymin;_ylt=Aod79l7C4WRrCWGodKZULmkkPMsF

The sweep of the Twins sent the Yankees to the American League Championship Series. They will play either the Tampa Bay Rays or the Texas Rangers.

The Yankees have been the most successful MLB team in terms of World Series championships, as they have won more than any other team. The Yankees have been to 40 World Series' winning 27 of those.http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/nyy/history/championships.jsp Their 27 world championships is the most of any professional sports team in the United States.

The Yankees first World Series championship came in 1923. After losing in the Series to the New York Giants for back-to-back seasons, the Yankees recovered to defeat them in the third meeting for their first championship. With the help of Hall of Famers like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, the Yankees won back-to-back championships for the first time in 1927 and 1928.http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/nyy/history/championships.jsp

In recent history, the Yankees have been to the World Series seven times since 1996. They won five of those series, in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009. In 2001 and 2003, the Yankees lost in the Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Florida Marlins, respectively.http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws.jsp?feature=recaps_index