The New York Yankees have had a "dream infield" since they signed free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira to join second baseman Robinson Cano, shortstop Derek Jeter, and third baseman Alex Rodriguez before the 2009 season. All four Yankee infielders received some MVP votes in their first year together, when Teixeira was the runner-up MVP. Cano, Rodriguez, and Teixeira continued receiving MVP support in the two years that followed with Cano finishing third in 2010 and sixth in 2011. Jeter and Cano are likely to pick up some votes this year. 

The quartet has so far tallied a total WAR over those four seasons of 64.3. I’m using Baseball-Reference’s WAR, because of its ease of access. I certainly welcome any refinements to this method that anyone wishes to share. What I’m looking for is the current Yankee infield’s place in history. To do that, I look at all the infields that lasted at least four years intact and measured them at their four-year peak. 

It terms of years playing together as an infield unit, the present Yankee infield must double their years together before they can match the eight years of togetherness enjoyed by the ’74-’81 Dodgers infield of Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, and Ron Cey. The National League has had three other five-year infields: another Dodgers team (1948-1952) and two Cubs teams (1906-1910 and 1965-1969), but no four-year infields. (I’m not considering teams that played before 1900)

The American League has had two five-year infields: the 1933-1937 Detroit Tigers and the 1968-1972 Baltimore Orioles. The American League also had 4 four-year infields before the Yankees’ current quartet. 

Let’s compare all the "modern" four-year infields at their peak starting with the most recent foursomes.  I’ll be tackling these two at a time. <​/span>

These infields do not compare. It is the Empire State payroll budget vs. garbage bin pickers. In fact, these Twins were the weakest of all the four-year infields in this study. Corey Koskie provided more than half of their total WAR (55%) while Luis Rivas was a negative in each of his first three years with this infield. Rivas kept getting chances because he was a top prospect who broke into the majors at a young age. Rivas was a top 100 prospect (per Baseball America) from the age of 17 until he became the Twins starting second baseman in 2001 at age 21.

These Twins did manage to win their division three of these years 2002-2004. Just to remind you, these Yankees won the World Series their first year together, the Division Series in their second year, finished in first place in their third year, and are currently in first place by a game and a half with a week to go.

This Royals infield overlapped with the Dodgers’ eight year infield. The Royals made it all the way to the World Series in 1980. The Dodgers won the World Series the next year – their final year with their famous infield quartet – after losing the World Series in three earlier tries. When this Dodgers infield was at its peak, they lost back-to-back World Series against the Yankees. Those same two years and the year before, the Royals, featuring infielders George Brett and Frank White, lost to the Yankees in the ALCS.

Picking the best four consecutive years over the eight-year stretch, the Dodgers infielders still don’t quite match what the current Yankees did in their only four years together. Steve Garvey did win an MVP award and they all received some MVP votes and attended several all-star games, although Russell received significantly less recognition his three infield mates. Their peaks did not coincide, but neither has the Yankees’. Rodriguez and Jeter’s best years occurred before Rodriguez became a Yankee.

These two infields overlapped slightly and, like the Dodgers and Royals above, they shared a New York nemesis.​

The Orioles infield led Baltimore to the best record in baseball and the World Series three years in a row. However, they only came away with one World Championship. In terms of individual honors, this Orioles infield came very close to what the current Yankee infield has achieved. Boog Powell won an MVP award and was runner-up another year during this era. B. Robby also received MVP voting each year. He was an all-star for 15 straight seasons. Belanger and Johnson each had a season in which they received MVP votes in this four year run.

Ron Santo provided 57% of this Cubs’ WAR value alone – the highest percentage of any player in this study. Ernie Banks – a well deserving Hall of Famer for his years as a shortstop from 1954 to 1961—had a negative WAR value in 1969, as did Don Kessinger in 1965 and 1966.

This Cubs team did not win a league or division title. They finished in 10^th place in 1966. They were just above .500 in ’67 and ’68. They lost a commanding hold on first place in the newly formed National League East Division of 1969 to the same Mets team that shocked the F. Robby and B. Robby Orioles.

We have to go back to the newly integrated Brooklyn Dodgers to find a quartet of infielders that was more outstanding over a four-year run than the current Yankee infield. Indeed, Jackie Robinson, who contributed 33.8 WAR, was the single most outstanding infielder of any four-year run that made this study. Gil Hodges and Pee Wee Reese were formidable teammates, winning MVP votes each year. Robinson won the MVP award in 1949. Billy Cox added very little: 2.6 WAR. The peak stretch of this infield also lost two World Series to the Yankees, then lost another one in their fifth year together.

Here are the peak four-year infields since integration, as ranked by WAR:​

On April 29, 1936, famed Jewish star Hank Greenberg broke his wrist in a collision with Washington’s Jake Powell – who has gone down in history as a bigot for a remark he made during an interview that makes John Rocker sound saintly. Some thought Powell tried to injure Greenberg on purpose. Greenberg had a .348/.455/.630 BA/OBP/Slugging line at the time. He missed the rest of the season – and some feared his career was over. He came back with an OPS over 1.000 in each of the next four seasons.

That level of production might have continued for years, but he spent the following three-and-a-half seasons in the War effort. Just looking at Greenberg’s average WAR during the two years before 1936 and the two years after (6.9) and applying the difference (6.9 – 0.6 =  6.3) to Detroit’s ’34-’37 greatness as measured in WAR, their four-year infield peak would have been 61.6. That would move their infield up a couple of notches—almost even with the ’68-’71 Orioles. If you count the five-year totals of those two infields with Greenberg’s lost year, Detroit would be ahead of Baltimore, but still behind the ’48-’52 Dodgers.

This franchise—which moved from Washington to Minnesota in 1961—has the two worse infields that make this list. Chick Gandil – coincidently born in St. Paul, Minnesota—was probably the best player of this group and certainly the most famous – albeit for a bad reason. He was the player who led the 1919 Black Sox World Series fixing. Every picture I’ve seen of him - young or old - shows the same frown.

These Senators never won their league despite having the league’s best pitcher each year: Walter Johnson. However, they did finish second twice.

They almost completely overlap with another four year infield, but they do not deserve a direct comparison.

It may surprise you this infield ranks way ahead of the Yankees as the most valuable four-year infield ever. Eddie Collins is generally cited as the most outstanding second baseman of all-time. Frank "Home Run" Baker is a Hall of Famer whose peak years coincided exactly with these four years. The other two members of this infield also had their four best seasons during this streak. In fact, this is the only four-year infield in which all four infielders earned some MVP votes each year. Collins won the MVP award in 1914. They won two World Series and three League pennants.

Yet a third infield that tops the current Yankees. I don’t think the generous defensive Wins attributed to Tinker and Evers are unrealistic. Essentially, whoever pitched for them did extremely well no matter how few strikeouts they threw.

Before you read the following 1910 poem by Franklin Pierce Adams, let me point out to those unfamiliar with medieval Italian culture that a gonfalon is a type of flag or banner than hangs from a crossbar. I’m not sure when teams began to fly pennants instead of hanging gonfalons, if they ever did. Come to think of it, they often still do. The Giants and Pirates were the Cubs’ closest rivals during the eight years leading up to this poem, but the Giants hadn’t won the league since 1905.

Like the Athletics, in the four years tallied, these Cubs won two World Championships and three League gonfalons.

Baseball&rsquo​;s Sad Lexicon

These are the saddest of possible words:

"Tinker to Evers to Chance"

Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,

Tinker and Evers and Chance

Ruthlessly picking our gonfalon bubble

Making a Giant hit into a double

Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble

"Tinker to Evers to Chance"

 ​;

Finally, here is the complete list of 20^th or 21^st century infields that lasted at least four years together.

One final note: the data for the 19^th century teams is too spotty to compare. The Cubs – then called the White Stockings - did have a four-year infield from 1886 to 1889 that was managed by their first baseman and "Cap"tain Adrian Anson. 1886 was the last year Anson’s White Stockings dominated the National League. 

In 1882, the current Atlanta Braves franchise was known as the Boston Red Stockings; the next year they would be more commonly referred to as the Boston Beaneaters. Boston had two four-year infields – one from 1882 to 1885 and the next from 1897 to 1900. The first four-year infield won one League title and the next one earned two.

The Reds or Red Stockings of Cincinnati had a four-year infield from 1885 to 1888 that included Bid McPhee.  McPhee’s record of having the longest tenure as the starting second baseman with one club—18 years—was tied by the Tigers’ Lou Whitaker 100 years later. Cincinnati at that time was playing in the American Association. They had a strong team, but St. Louis finished in first place each year of that four-year run. Cincinnati moved to the National League in 1890 and St. Louis followed in 1892.