The New York Yankees have basked in years of success. Sometimes, however, they faced a few pitchers who simply dominate them.
In this unpredictable world, there are people who despise the New York Yankees. Then, there are others who simply kill them every time they take the mound against them.
There are pitchers that have flat-out dominated the Yankees, regardless of whether what their record was in general. They may have been mediocre against some teams but when it comes to the Yankees, they bring their A game.
It’s a strange phenomenon but it’s also incredible, in a way. These guys just seem to execute all their pitches, make all the right plays when they face the Yankees.
We’ll focus later on the week on the hitters that have pulverized the Yankees from the plate. For now, let’s take a look at these five pitchers who have dominated against the Yankees from the mound.
5. Walt Johnson
We have to go all the way back to the early 1900s to find a pitcher that has truly dominated the Yankees. Walt Johnson played from 1907 until 1927 with the Washington Senators.
During that time frame, he had a dominating 41-25 record against the Yankees. In that dominance, he also boasted a 2.31 ERA and struck out 345 Yankees, the second highest amount against any individual team.
Johnson may not be well known in our circles, seeing as how he predates practically every Yankees fan alive today. However, he still makes the list with his great work against our Bronx Bombers.
I can’t speak to his personality or some of the finer games of his career but I can say that from the stats, he looked like he got the job done against the Yankees.
4. Harry Coveleski
For nine seasons, Coveleski wreaked havoc for several teams in the major leagues, the Yankees included.
In 21 games against the Bombers, he posted a 12-4 record and a stellar 1.57 ERA. He pitched 166.1 innings against them and only allowed two home runs.
For a period of the franchise that was known for launching home runs, that’s pretty impressive. Plus, out of his 21 games, he pitched 14 complete games, which is unheard of in this day and age.
Once again, Coveleski is one that many fans will not be aware of, mainly because he is considered a dinosaur. However, he still had great stats against the Yankees franchise.
3. Roy Halladay
Ah, a modern day pitcher who is extremely well-known. The incredible pitcher tortured the Yankees for 12 years when he donned a Toronto Blue Jays uniform until packing his bags for the National League.
Regardless, his time in the American League was just horrible for the Yankees. In 38 games against the boys in pinstripes, Halladay boasted a jaw-dropping 18-7 record. He posted a 2.98 ERA and struck out 195 batters in 253.1 innings.
In short, whenever he got on the mound against the Yankees, they were in for a rough time. Halladay was that pitcher they absolutely dreaded facing.
While the Yankees got to him a couple of times, Halladay won the majority of the battles. He killed them on far too many occasions that they were cheering when he went to the Philadelphia Phillies at the start of the 2010 season.
Halladay would be number one but he was just great all around. So he dominated the Yankees but he also pretty much dominated the entire world with his pitching.
2. Hoyt Wilhelm
Wilhelm, another older pitcher, lasted for 20 seasons in the major leagues, throwing for the New York Giants (not the football team, look it up), the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox among others.
Nicknamed “Old Sarge,” the knuckleballer pitched in both starting and relief roles for his teams. He owned the Yankees in his lengthy career. While his record wasn’t great (7-11), he posted an amazing 1.98 ERA in 75 games against the Bombers.
He pitched 209.1 innings against them and only allowed 148 hits during his career. Could it be because of the unwavering knuckleball he threw?
Very possible. However, all we know is that Old Sarge held the Yankees to very few runs in his 20-year career. Glad he’s not still in the game.
1. Frank Lary
He has to make the list because Frank Lary’s actual nickname is the “Yankee Killer.” He was a mediocre right hander primarily for the Detroit Tigers who simply showed up every time the Yankees were in town.
Lary finished his career with a 27-10 record against the Yankees from 1955-1961. So basically when the Yankees had a pretty hot-hitting lineup, Lary dominated.
For his entire career, he ended up being 28-13 against the Yankees, which is nothing to sneeze at. He allowed some more runs than other pitchers, with a 3.32 ERA, but he still found a way to beat this dominant squad.
Oh, did we also forget that he was a pretty solid hitting pitcher. He muscled out a game-winning home run against the Yankees in 1961.
At the plate and on the mound, Lary was the Yankees worst nightmare. All we can say is at least the Yankees have 27 World Series titles. Lary can’t take that away from them.
We’ll look later in the week at some of the dominant batters against the Yankees (yes, David Ortiz certainly makes the list). For pitching dominance, we had to go back in time to see just who crushed the Yankees.
