When they meet the Astros on Saturday night, the Yankees will make their 17th appearance in the American League Championship Series, a tier added to MLB's playoff format in 1969.
Some of the most iconic moments in Yankees history happened in the ALCS. Here's a look at the top seven.
7. El Duque's Gem In 1998
What Orlando Hernandez did in Game 4 of the ALCS on Oct. 10, 1998, was as much about his timing as it was about his brilliance on the mound. Making his first career postseason start, El Duque allowed just three hits over seven shutout innings in a 4-0 win at Cleveland. His gem came after the Yankees had dropped the previous two games to fall behind the Indians 2-1 in the series and as some began to wonder if the Bombers' 114-win regular season might end up being all for naught. The Yankees, of course, went on to win their second World Series in three years.
6. Bernie's Blast Vs. Sox
Yankee Stadium was especially electric on Oct. 13, 1999, as the Bombers and rival Red Sox met for the first time ever in the postseason. El Duque was solid in his start and Scott Brosius delivered a two-run homer early. But it was Bernie Williams who put the exclamation point on the night when he led off the 10th inning with a walk-off home run off Rod Beck.
5. Justice Is Served In 2000
On Oct. 17, 2000, in Game 6 of the 2000 ALCS against Seattle, David Justice, who had been acquired in a deadline trade with Cleveland, belted a three-run homer off Arthur Rhodes into the upper deck at Yankee Stadium, giving the Bombers a 6-4 lead. The Yanks added three more runs in the inning and went on to win 9-7, clinching a meeting against the Mets in the Subway Series.
4. Rocket's Postseason Masterpiece
Unreal. There's no other way to describe how Roger Clemens pitched on Oct. 14, 2000, in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Mariners. Playing on the road, Clemens tossed a complete-game, one-hit shutout and struck out 15 batters. For any other franchise, what Clemens did would easily be considered the best pitching performance in team postseason history, but the Yankees aren't just any other franchise. (See: Don Larsen.)
3. The Jeffrey Maier Game
On Oct. 9, 1996, a 12-year-old boy etched his name in Yankees lore. With the Yanks trailing the Orioles 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Derek Jeter hit a deep fly ball to right field. A kid named Jeffrey Maier clearly reached over the fence and snagged the ball that likely would have landed in the waiting glove of Baltimore's Tony Tarasco. The umpire, however, ruled it a home run, not fan interference. The Yankees went on to win 5-4 on Bernie Williams' 11th-inning, walk-off homer.
2. Chambliss' Walk-Off
With the score tied at 6-6 entering the bottom of the ninth, Chris Chambliss hit the first pitch he saw from Mark Littell over the right-field wall at Yankee Stadium to propelled the Bombers to their first World Series in 12 years. Fans stormed the field and mobbed Chambliss as he rounded the bases.
1. Boone Becomes A Hero
Before he was the manager of the Yankees, Aaron Boone was a trade-deadline acquisition and unlikely playoff hero for the Bronx Bombers. In Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS against the Red Sox, Boone led off the bottom of the 11th inning and sent the first pitch Tim Wakefield threw soaring into the Bronx night for a walk-off homer that sent the Yankees to the World Series for the sixth time in eight years.
