OCTOBER 16, 2003 -- All that was on the line was a trip to the World Series. The starting pitchers? Merely two of the greats of their generation in Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez, who brought a combined nine Cy Young Awards into this epic showdown. The teams? Just the Red Sox and Yankees, epic rivals for decades upon decades. When they met for Game 7 of the American League Championship Series at a juiced-up Yankee Stadium, it seemed impossible that the Red Sox and Yankees could live up to a game that was hyped like few others. True enough, it didn't live up to the hype. Instead, it was even better than advertised.

OCTOBER 11, 2003 -- It was billed as a heavyweight bout: Roger Clemens vs. Pedro Martinez. Yankees vs. Red Sox. The game actually exceeded the hype, as New York prevailed, 4-3, at Fenway Park during an evening that included a benches-clearing incident. During the fracas, Martinez knocked down charging Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer.

JUNE 13, 2003 -- On this night of interleague play, where the Yankees met the Cardinals in a meaningful game for the first time since the 1964 World Series, Roger Clemens gained entrance into not one, but two of the most exclusive clubs in sports. The Rocket became the 21st pitcher in Major League history to win 300 games, and only the third to strike out 4,000 batters in a 5-2 victory in front of a sold-out crowd at Yankee Stadium.

NOVEMBER 4, 2001 -- A fitting finale to one of the BEST World Series ever. Surviving two stunning losses in Games 4 & 5, the Diamondbacks found their own late-inning magic in the person of Luis Gonzalez. It began with Hall-of-Fame-bound starters Roger Clemens & Curt Schilling trading zeros through six. Schilling was strong on only two days rest, but left trailing 2-1 in the 8th after an Alfonso Soriano solo HR. Out of the bullpen came Game 5 starter Miguel Batista to face one batter; then manager Bob Brenly made the gutsy call to Randy Johnson -- the Game 6 starter just the night before -- for his second-ever postseason relief appearance. The Big Unit was perfect for 1.1, but all seemed on track for NY as they summoned "automatic" closer Mariano Rivera to hold the one-run lead. Rivera was riding a string of 23 consecutive postseason saves and seemed as invincible as they come. Then, in events as almost as otherworldly as the rain that fell on them in the desert, Mo proved human... and the D-backs became the youngest franchise to win a title on Gonzalez' dramatic game-winning line drive.

OCTOBER 31, 2001 -- Under a full moon on Halloween night, the Yankees pulled off one of the most spectacular and dramatic comebacks in history. Arizona ace Curt Schilling -- starting on three days rest for the first time in his career -- was solid through seven innings, giving way to closer Byung-Hyun Kim in the 8th. Kim retired the next five batters, and the D-backs were just one out away from taking a commanding 3-1 Series lead. Cue Yankee magic: Tino Martinez, 0-for-9 to this point, clobbers the first pitch for a ninth-inning, two-out, two run blast to tie the game, 3-3. Mariano Rivera retired the side in the 10th, and neatly set the stage for Derek Jeter's dramatic walk-off home run in the bottom of the inning. The ball flew out of the park and into a jubilant Yankee Stadium crowd just as the clock crept past midnight, instantly earning Jeter the moniker "Mr. November."

OCTOBER 13, 2001 -- With their backs against the wall for the first time since 1997, the Yankees traveled to Oakland one loss away from elimination. A's starter Barry Zito stifled the Yanks through four innings, until Jorge Posada belted a solo homer in the fifth. Mike Mussina also pitched a gem, the key turning point coming on a bang-bang play in the bottom of the 7th, when Terrence Long drilled a ball into the right field corner. Yankee right fielder Shane Spencer fielded and threw toward the plate, where Jeremy Giambi was trying to score from first without sliding. Shortstop Derek Jeter, up the first base line, cut the throw off and executed a backhanded flip to Posada, who tagged Giambi out, 9-6-2. The eye-popping play preserved the lead, ended the inning, and turned the Series momentum the Yankees' way.

OCTOBER 26, 2000 -- Game Five of the 2000 World Series saw the Mets, down 3-1, hoping to stave off elimination. Al Leiter, one of the best big-game pitchers the Mets had during their playoff runs of the late '90s and 2000, started against Andy Pettitte. The Mets would take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first, but Derek Jeter, the eventual Series MVP, would homer to tie the game in the top of the sixth. The game would stay tied into the ninth, when the Yanks would stage a two-out rally against Leiter. Luis Sojo would be the hero slapping a single up the middle to drive in two and clinch the Subway Series for the Yanks.

October 22, 2000 - Although Roger Clemens dominated the game with eight two-hit innings, it wasn't his pitching that garnered the postgame headlines. The Yankees seized control of the first Subway Series in 44 years with a 6-5 victory, but the buzz of the game was the "Clemens vs. Piazza Incident." Shattering Mike Piazza's bat with a first-inning fastball, Clemens bounded off the mound, fielded the bat, and oddly flung the broken piece in Piazza's direction. Both benches cleared, and after some tense moments, order was restored and Piazza grounded out on the next pitch to end the inning. Postgame, Clemens insisted his actions were unintentional and instinctive, while Piazza was simply shocked and confused by the bizarre incident. As for the game, the Yankees built a 6-0 lead before withstanding a ninth-inning Mets rally to earn a 6-5 win for their record 14th straight World Series victory.

OCTOBER 14, 2000 -- The 2000 postseason hadn't been very kind to Roger Clemens, who lost both of his starts against the Oakland A's in the AL Division Series. Those two losses caused many people to question the ability of the five-time Cy Young winner to get it done in the playoffs. Clemens would silence all of the naysayers by limiting the Mariners to one hit and striking out 15 batters to set a new ALCS record for a nine-inning game.

OCTOBER 27, 1999 -- The Yankees became the first team to sweep consecutive World Series in 60 years -- since the DiMaggio Yankees did it to the Cubs and Reds in 1938-39 - when they beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1 in Yankee Stadium. After a regular season filled with personal tragedies and illnesses, the final game of the decade saw 56,752 fans cheer on Roger Clemens for seven-plus innings as the future Hall of Famer allowed just one run, then sat back and watched as Mariano Rivera finished-off Atlanta and helped the Rocket earn his first World Series title.

JULY 18, 1999 -- Before the game, the Yankees honored Yogi Berra, who caught the first pitch from Don Larsen. Almost 43 years earlier, with Berra behind the plate, Larsen pitched a perfect game in the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers at the stadium. Fast-forward to that July day and it was -- as Berra might put it -- "deja vu all over again."

OCTOBER 16, 1998 -- After ending the regular season with an AL-record 114 wins, the inevitable happened when the Yankees finished off the Padres, beating them 3-0 at Jack Murphy Stadium. Padres' starter Kevin Brown kept the Yanks off the board until the sixth, but Andy Pettitte was strong into the eighth, eventually getting extra support in the form of an RBI single from series MVP Scott Brosius. Mariano Rivera quashed a mild San Diego threat, completed the game and the 24th New York Yankees World Championship.

MAY 17, 1998 - The season, up to this point, had not been an easy one for David Wells. Being yanked from his previous start in the third inning, despite a 9-0 Yankee lead, had Boomer openly contemplating retirement. Not an irrational thought for someone two weeks shy of his 35th birthday. But he didn't, of course, and on May 17 dragged his 5.23 ERA out to the Yankee Stadium mound to face the Minnesota Twins. 27 batters later, as Paul O'Neill squeezed the last out in right field, Boomer would drop to his knees, elated and overwhelmed... a member of baseball's immortal pantheon.

OCTOBER 26, 1996 -- Having blown a two-games-to-none lead in the series, the Braves needed a win to stay alive. But the Yanks broke through early, scoring three runs in the third inning off ace Greg Maddux. After a Joe Girardi triple got things rolling, Bernie Williams provided a single that scored Derek Jeter with the winning run in the Series' decisive contest. Jimmy Key and a strong Yankee bullpen held off Atlanta, closing things out when Charlie Hayes squeezed Mark Lemke's foul pop for the final out and the end of a dramatic series.

OCTOBER 23, 1996 -- Up two games to one and leading 6-0 in the sixth inning of Game 4, the defending champion Braves have the Yankees against the wall. But New York scores three runs in the sixth to cut the lead in half. Then in the eighth, with Mark Wohlers on the hill, Jim Leyritz belts a clutch, three-run homer to tie the game and keep the Yankees' World Series hopes alive. The Yanks go ahead in the 10th on an RBI walk from Wade Boggs and never look back.

OCTOBER 9, 1996 -- Home-field advantage took on new meaning in Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS as the Yankees earned the upper hand in the series. With the Orioles holding a 4-3 lead going to the bottom of the eighth, fate - in the form of 12-year-old Yankee fan Jeffrey Maier - intervened. Yankee rookie Derek Jeter led off the inning with a fly ball to right field, and Orioles rightfielder Tony Tarasco appeared to have it measured for the catch, but Maier reached out and snatched it away and over the fence. Bernie Williams led off the bottom of the 11th with a homer off Orioles closer Randy Myers to lift the Yankees to the win.

OCTOBER 2, 1996 -- The Yankees and Rangers hooked up for a true classic in game two of the AL Division Series. Juan Gonzalez almost beat the Bronx Bombers single-handedly, belting two homers and driving in all four Texas runs, but the teams ended the ninth tied at four apiece. The game went into the twelfth before Dean Palmer's error on an attempted sac bunt by Charlie Hayes allowed rookie Derek Jeter to cross the plate with the game's winning run.

OCTOBER 8, 1995 -- The Mariners come back from a 0-2 deficit to force a deciding Game 5. David Cone takes a 4-2 lead into the eighth but allows two runs, including Ken Griffey Jr.'s fifth homer of the series. With the score tied in the ninth, both Game 3 starters -- Randy Johnson for the M's and Jack McDowell for the Yanks -- come on in relief. Johnson allows a run in the 11th, but Edgar Martinez doubles home two runs to give the Mariners the series.

OCTOBER 4, 1995 -- This dramatic five-game Division Series was, in hindsight, an October stage that played host a "changing of the guard" for the New York Yankees. Don Mattingly, in the midst of playing in his first postseason, was also, ironically, making his last appearance in pinstripes. "Donnie Baseball's" home run electrified the Yankee Stadium crowd, as much as Seattle's dynamic Ken Griffey Jr's dampened it, but in the end, it would be part-timer Jim Leyritz' game-winning home run (the first in a string of clutch postseason blasts for Leyritz) in the rain-misted bottom of the 15th that sent the confident Yanks to Seattle up 2-0.

JULY 24, 1983 -- When the Royals visited Yankee Stadium in late July of 1983, everyone assumed that the Independence Day celebrations were over. However, George Brett provided some fireworks of his own with a controversial game-winning home run off of Yankee closer Goose Gossage. When home plate umpire Tim McClelland declared Brett out due to an excessive amount of pine tar on his bat, the Royals superstar flipped his lid and ignited a brouhaha that took nearly a month to settle. When the dust cleared, Brett's home run was allowed, although it wasn't until August that the two teams could finally complete the contest and make the "Pine Tar Game" part of history.

OCTOBER 23, 1981 -- The Dodgers and Yankees were meeting for the 11th time in the World Series, with the Yankees having won nine of those series and already holding a two-games-to-none lead as the series headed to Dodger Stadium. But Ron Cey's first-inning homer jump-started the Dodgers, and Rookie of the Year Fernando Valenzuela outdueled fellow rookie Dave Righetti as L.A. took Game 3, 5-4. Valenzuela survived allowing nine hits and seven walks, but held the Yankees scoreless after the third inning to help the Dodgers get back into the Series.

OCTOBER 2, 1978 -- Never again to be known as just another light-hitting shortstop, Bucky Dent homers his way forever into Yankees lore. After mounting one of the most memorable comebacks in baseball history, the Yankees squared off against the Red Sox in a one-game playoff for the division title. Though surrounded by stars like Reggie Jackson and Ron Guidry, Dent's seventh-inning homer shines brightest in this unforgettable classic.

OCTOBER 18, 1977 -- In a performance as legendary as any Yankee great before him, Reggie Jackson blasted three consecutive home runs on three pitches against three different Dodger hurlers (Burt Hooton, Elias Sosa and Charlie Hough) into the frenzied Stadium throng. It was his defining moment in pinstripes; a dramatic performance that won over the fans, his teammates, (including captain Thurman Munson, with whom he'd had a tumultuous relationship since Reggie claimed he was "the straw that stirred the drink" even before he arrived in New York) and helped justify his self-styled nickname, "Mr. October." His three home runs in one game -- accomplished twice by Babe Ruth -- and five overall were both World Series records.

OCTOBER 14, 1976 -- The first series in this budding postseason rivalry culminates in a see-saw affair that returns the Yankees to league preeminence. With the Royals trailing by three, George Brett blasts a clutch homer in the eighth to tie the game at six apiece. But Chris Chambliss leads off the bottom of the ninth with a dramatic solo shot that vaults the Yankees back in the World Series for the first time since 1964.

OCTOBER 15, 1964 -- They don't make pitchers like this anymore (ok, well maybe Curt & Roger). Bob Gibson, who, only three days before, turned in a two-run, 13K, 10-inning performance in game five, follows it up with another stellar complete game. He survived three home runs -- by Mickey Mantle, Clete Boyer and Phil Linz -- and outlasted Yankee ace Mel Stottlemyre to lead the Cards to their first World Championship since 1946.

OCTOBER 16, 1962 -- Ralph Terry, who led the Yankees' staff that season with a 23-12 mark, had already gone 1-1 in the series, losing Game 2 and winning Game 5. Terry, who just two years earlier had served up Bill Mazeroski's title-clinching homer, came back to start Game 7. Terry was one inning away from exorcising his World Series demons, having held San Francisco to just two hits over the first eight innings. The Yankees had their own troubles with Giants starter Jack Sanford, who had won Game 1 and lost to Terry in Game 5. Sanford and Billy O'Dell held the Yankees to a single run over nine innings, leaving the Giants just three outs to work with to scratch out a run.

OCTOBER 1, 1961 -- Both Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris spent the summer of 1961 chasing the ghost of Babe Ruth through the record books and American League ballparks. The mighty Yankees' three and four hitters -- known as the "M&M Boys" -- kept pace through the dog days, but as an injury sidelined Mantle (he finished with 54), Maris continued the pressure-filled chase through autumn. On the last day of the season, facing Boston's Tracy Stallard & and an asterisk (since Commissioner Ford Frick decided that the 161-game schedule required notation, as compared to Ruth's 154 in 1927) Rog finally launched the bomb that put him in the record books. An aside: listen for a rookie named Carl Yastrzemski starting in left field for the Red Sox.

OCTOBER 13, 1960 -- Before Bucky Dent, the most famous homer by a light-hitting infielder was Bill Mazeroski's walk-off shot to propel the underdog Pirates past the mighty Yankees, despite being outscored 55-27 in the Series. Game 7 was a see-saw battle to the end, with Pittsburgh taking advantage of a freak hop taken by Bill Virdon's 8th-inning double-play-worthy grounder at Tony Kubek. The ball hit a pebble and nailed the shortstop right in the throat, and instead of two outs with no runners on, the Bucs had two runners on with nobody out. Five runs followed (on Dick Groat and Roberto Clemente RBI singles & defensive replacement Hal Smith's three-run HR) and the inning ended with the Pirates leading 9-7. True to form, NY rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the 9th, tying the game 9-9. But Maz led off the home half and promptly launched a 1-0 Bill Terry slider over the left field wall, giving his team its first title in 35 years. And Maz's shot still marks the only time a 7th game of the World Series ended on a home run. Simply classic.

OCTOBER 8, 1956 -- It just goes to show: on any given day, any given man can achieve perfection. It's safe to say that Don Larsen was not the best starting pitcher on the 1956 Yankees. Whitey Ford, who won 19 games, had that distinction. But don't tell that to the Brooklyn Dodgers, who saw Larsen become the first -- and still only -- pitcher in World Series history to pitch a perfect game. Offensively, a solo home run by Mickey Mantle and RBI single from Hank Bauer was all Larsen needed. Defensively, a 3rd inning Andy Carey-to-Gil McDougald ricochet play off a Jackie Robinson liner, a just-foul Sandy Amoros home-run shot, and a Mantle backhand stab of a Gil Hodges drive all conspired to keep the day perfect. Pinch-hitter Dale Mitchell was called out on strikes for the final out, and history was written.

JULY 10, 1956 -- 1956 proved to be one of baseball's most memorable years. Mickey Mantle won the triple crown, Don Larsen pitched a World Series perfect game, and the Midsummer Classic was about as star-studded as you can get. Virtually every player in the starting lineup was to ultimately be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, including the four who went yard: Mantle, Stan Musial, Willie Mays and Ted Willams. Other stars included Duke Snider, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Warren Spahn, but MVP honors went to Cardinals' third baseman Ken Boyer, who went 3-for-5 and and made some sparkling defensive plays at the hot corner.

OCTOBER 7, 1952 -- Gene Woodling and Mickey Mantle homered, and Billy Martin made a game-saving grab of an infield pop-up gone awry, as the Yankees recovered from a three game to two deficit to win their fourth of five straight World Series, in seven games over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Mantle's homer in the sixth gave the Yankees the lead for good, and an insurance run in the seventh made it 4-2. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the inning, Jackie Robinson hit a high pop up that Yankees first baseman Joe Collins appeared to lose it in the sun. But Martin charged in from second base to snatch the ball at his shoetops to end the inning and snuff out the Dodgers' last threat as the Yankees secured the championship.

OCTOBER 6, 1952 -- A classic "Subway Series," old-school style. Leading the Series 3-2, Brooklyn rookie Billy Loes battled Yankee veteran Vic Raschi zero for zero for five complete innings. Duke Snider and Yogi Berra exchanged solo shots in the sixth, and young slugger Mickey Mantle's first career World Series home run extended the lead to 3-1. Snider's second HR of the game drew the Dodgers within a run, but Yankees ace Allie Reynolds relieved Raschi and finished off the 3-2 win to send the Series to a seventh game. The Yankees would win that game the following day, leaving the Dodger faithful to, once again, "Wait 'til next year!"

October 5, 1949 -- When the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers met up to battle for NYC bragging rights in the 1949 World Series, it was apparent that the tough pennant races each team had to go through to reach the Fall Classic had molded them into fierce competitors. Indeed, with pitchers Don Newcombe and Allie Reynolds giving the performances of their careers in Game 1, it seemed like winter would arrive before anybody managed to score a run. Finally, the Yankees struck the first blow of the Series when "Old Reliable" Tommy Henrich blasted Newcombe's third pitch of the ninth inning for the game-winning home run, further validating Henrich's other nickname: "Five O'Clock Lightning."

OCTOBER 22, 1938 -- The '38 World Series saw the Chicago Cubs, then searching for their first title in 30 years, facing the New York Yankees, looking for their third consecutive World Championship. Though the didn't know it at the time, the mighty Yanks were in the midst of a torch-passing: Lou Gehrig was at the end of what would be his last full season of baseball. Leading the Series 1-0, the Bombers sent staff strikeout leader Lefty Gomez (18-12) out against former St. Louis great Dizzy Dean (7-1). Dean held NY to two runs through seven innings, but a pair of late two-run homers -- by Frankie Crosetti in the 8th and the 23-year-old superstar, Joe DiMaggio, in the 9th -- blew the game open. The Yankees would go on to sweep the Cubs, completing the "Three-Peat" years before it was coined. And, as of this writing, the Cubs are still searching for that title.

OCTOBER 3, 1936 -- In the oldest broadcast in the Baseball's Best collection, the 1936 Fall Classic marks the fourth New York Series between the early-century power Giants and mighty Yankees of the 1920s. With the Series tied 1-1, the Giants sent "Fat" Freddie Fitzsimmons (10-7) to the hill; the Yankees countered with hurler Bump Hadley (14-4). Though the Yanks no longer featured a recently-retired Babe Ruth, they were still a potent force propelled by Lou Gehrig and a talented rookie named Joe DiMaggio; the N.L. Champ Giants were spearheaded by slugger Mel Ott. On this day at the ballyard in the Bronx, Fitzsimmons surrendered only four hits, but two of them ended up making the difference in the game: Gehrig's homer in the second, and an RBI-single by Frankie Crosetti in the eighth. The Yankees held on to win the game, 2-1, and ultimately claimed city bragging rights by winning the '36 Series in six games.