1) New York Yankees win the 2009 World Series
The 2009 Yankees were stacked after signing C.C. Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Mark Teixeira in the offseason as well as trading for Nick Swisher. They finished the regular season with a record of 103-89. In the postseason the quickly dispatched of the Minnesota Twins in the ALDS, sweeping them before they beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4-2 in six games in the American League Championship series.
The Yankees got great performances all postseason from star third baseman Alex Rodriguez. The Angels swept the Red Sox in their ALDS to get to the ALCS. The ALCS MVP was Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia who finished the ALCS with a record of 2-0, winning games 1 and game 4.
In the World Series the Yankees played the Philadelphia Phillies, who got the World Series by beating the Colorado Rockies in the NLDS 3-1 and then beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 in the NLCS. At the trade deadline the Phillies traded for ace pitcher Cliff Lee, C.C. Sabathia’s teammate on the Cleveland Indians for many years. The Phillies also had former Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez, who famously called the Yankees his daddy.
Game 1 was a matchup of aces C.C. Sabathia and Cliff Lee, with the Phillies taking the lead in the series 1-0 by a score of 6-1. The Phillies got a complete game from Cliff Lee along with two solo shots from Chase Utley in that game.
Prior to game two, Jay-Z had a performance of his hit song Empire State of Mind with Alicia Keys to get the Yankee Stadium crowd pumped up. Game 2 was a matchup of A.J. Burnett and Pedro Martinez with the Yankees tying up the series at 1-1, going back to Philly. This was Pedro Martinez’s first appearance vs. the Yankees since the 2004 ALCS.
The Phillies scored in game two first before the Yankees got homers from Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui. A.J. Burnett departed from the game in the eighth inning to give way to Mariano Rivera who shut the door giving the Yankees the win.
Game 3 was the first in Philadelphia of the series; Andy Pettitte outlasted Cole Hamels to give the Yankees the 2-1 lead in the series. Once again the Phillies opened the scoring before the Yankees got on the board. In the fourth inning Mark Teixeira walked and Alex Rodriguez hit a ball deep to right field that was originally called a double before it was reviewed to show that the ball hit a camera on the top of the wall, giving the Yankees and Alex Rodriguez a two run homer.
That was the first ever homerun reviewed by instant replay in postseason history. The Yankees would win game 3 by a score of 8-5.
In game 4, the pitching matchup was C.C. Sabathia and Joe Blanton. This was the first time in the series that the Yankees took the lead first. The Phillies closer was the losing pitcher giving up the tie game. In the 9th inning, Yankees OF Johnny Damon made one of the most heads up baseball plays, you will see, after he stole second, he noticed 3rd base was uncovered due to the shift on Mark Teixeira and stole 3rd. The Yankees took the lead in that game for good after an Alex Rodriguez double.
In game 5, Cliff Lee and the Phillies got back in the win column beating out A.J. Burnett to make it a 3-2 series. The Yankees once again got on the board first. Chase Utley again made the big impact for the Phillies hitting a three run homerun. The Phillies would go onto win the game by a score of 8-6.
Game 6 was the last game of the series, and the 3rd one at Yankee Stadium. The pitching matchup was once again Andy Pettitte vs. Pedro Martinez. In the 2nd inning, the Yankees got on the board first thanks to a two run homerun by Hideki Matsui. The Yankees would go onto win the game with Hideki Matsui winning the World Series MVP. The final score of game 6 was 7-3.
This was the Yankees first World Series title since they won the Subway Series World Series in 2000 vs. the New York Mets.
2) New York Giants win Super Bowl XLII
The New York Giants inched into the playoffs in 2007 with a record of 10-6. They had an eventful season playing in the first ever NFL game outside of the United States, at Wembley Stadium in London. In that game, they held on for a 13-7 win over the Miami Dolphins.
In the turning point of the season, the New England Patriots finished their perfect regular season beating the Giants at the Meadowlands, by a score of 38-35.
The Giants beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild-Card Game by a score of 24-14 in Tampa Bay. The Giants were powered by a big 2nd half kickoff fumble recovery by Corey Webster and quarterback Eli Manning.
In the 2nd round, the Giants beat the rival Dallas Cowboys by a score of 21-17, getting touchdowns from Amani Toomer and Brandon Jacobs. That win gave the Giants a chance to play the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay for the NFC Championship.
The kickoff temperature in Green Bay was -1 F, which caused the turf to be frozen and feel like concrete. The Giants beat the Packers 23-20 to advance to the Super Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona. On the Packers drive to start overtime, Giants cornerback Corey Webster got in the way of a Brett Favre pass, and intercepted the ball leading to Lawrence Tyne’s game winning field goal.
The Giants upset the previously undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl by a score of 17-14. The Giants were down in the fourth quarter before one of the best drives in Super Bowl history. Giants quarterback Eli Manning engineered that Super Bowl winning drive with 2:40 left on the clock.
On the final drive, the Patriots defense swarmed Eli Manning giving way for a sure fire sack, but somehow Eli Manning got out and fired a bomb for 32 yards to David Tyree who caught the ball on his helmet in one of the best catches ever. That catch would eventually lead to a Plaxico Burress touchdown to put the Giants up for good, and win the Super Bowl.
The Giants became the 3rd team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl after starting 0-2. The loss for the Patriots ruined their perfect season and saved the 1972 Miami Dolphins from having another member in the record books.
3) New York Giants win Super Bowl XLVI
The 2011 New York Giants were a team built much like the 2008 team, with defense being the star. They once again did not play exceptionally well in the regular season, before dominating in the playoffs beating the Falcons, 24-2 in the Wild Card game.
In the 2nd round they once again beat the Packers 37-20 in 31o weather. In the NFC championship game they beat the San Francisco 49ers in San Francisco by a score of 20-17, which included a punt return muffed by 49ers returner Kyle Williams, with the Giants recovering it. That turnover put the Giants in field goal range for Lawrence Tynes to hit the game-winning 31 yard kick.
The Giants got on the board first in the Super Bowl after Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was called for intentional grounding and the Giants were given the safety. The Giants would again get a signature catch this time from Mario Manningham, after Patriots coach Bill Belichick, famously stated, “Make them throw it to Manningham”. The Giants did and won the Super Bowl, again defeating the rival New England Patriots.
4) New York Rangers win the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals
The Rangers started the season with a new head coach in Alain Vigneault, after they fired John Tortorella. The 2014 Eastern Conference Finals were a matchup of two Original Six teams in the New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens. The Rangers beat the Flyers and Penguins in 7 games to advance the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Rangers came back from 3-1 down to beat the Penguins in 7 in the prior series after rallying around mourning teammate Martin St. Louis while the Canadiens swept the Lightning in the first round and then beat the Bruins in 7 in the next round before going up against the Rangers.
The Rangers opened the series with a barrage of goals winning 7-2 in Game 1 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The Rangers’ Chris Kreider would be tripped and fall into Canadiens star goalie Carey Price, injuring him for the rest of the series. The Canadiens would turn to rookie Dustin Tokarski for the rest of the series, which went six games before the Rangers won it at the Garden.
In Game 3, former Ranger Brandon Prust hit Ranger Derek Stepan up high, breaking his jaw, which led to a two game suspension by the NHL. In the melee that followed, Rangers Daniel Carcillo attempted to get away from the referee escorting him to the penalty box, and made contact with the referee resulting in a game misconduct and a multi game suspension.
In Game 4, the Rangers and Canadiens played to a 2-2 tie before Martin St. Louis broke the tie in overtime beating Dustin Tokarski and giving the Rangers the win.
The Rangers came out flat in Game 5. In Game 5, the Canadiens chased Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, and then the Rangers came back to tie the game at 4 before eventually losing that game 7-4.
In Game 6, the Rangers played well from the outset in front of their home crowd, and Dominic Moore put the Rangers up to win their first Eastern Conference crown since 1994. However, the Rangers would lose 4-1 in the Stanley Cup finals to the Los Angeles Kings, weeks later.
5) Johan Santana pitches the first No-No in Mets history
On June 1st, 2012, Mets pitcher Johan Santana did something that no Mets pitcher prior in the 51 years the Mets had been around had done, he threw a no hitter. Every no hitter needs a game saving catch and that goes to former Mets outfielder Mike Baxter who violently crashed into the wall to make the catch to preserve the no-no for “No-han”.
The game took place at Citi Field in Queens, New York. The Mets won the game 8-0 over the St. Louis Cardinals. Johan Santana finished with a career high 134 pitches. The no hitter was not without controversy however, with former Met Carlos Beltran fouling a ball down the 3rd base line that hit the line but umpire Adrian Johnson called the ball foul, which replays showed was the wrong call, before a groundout by Beltran.
After the no hitter, the wear and tear on Johan Santana’s arm continued to show, and he is now a costless agent, after continuing to have shoulder problems.
The 5 that just missed the cut:
New York Knicks win 2013 first round vs. Celtics
Derek Jeter walkoff’s his final game at Yankee Stadium
Mariano Rivera taken out by Andy Pettitte and Derek Jeter
Yankees and Mets close the old Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium
Brooklyn Nets open the Barclays Center