Yankees: 1927, 1961, 1998 keeping leads.

Best Yankee records sorted by winning "percentage":

	W	L	T
1927	110	44	1	.714
1998	114	48		.704
1939	106	45	1	.702
1932	107	47	2	.695
1961	109	53	1	.673

This post will contrast three that are separated by these number of years: 34 and 37. Two featured these dominant players:
1927: Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
1961: Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris.

1998 was a team of peers who set a new record for wins, soon broken by the Seattle Mariners.

Data below from baseball-reference.com: record when leading at the start of the inning:
1927 link
1961 link
1998 link

	1927	1927	1927		1961	1961	1961		1998	1998	1998
Inn	W	L	W/G	Inn	W	L	W/G	Inn	W	L	W/G
1	0	0		1	0	0		1	0	0			Inn	1927	1961	1998
2	43	7	.860	2	41	1	.976	2	39	10	.796		2	.860	.976	.796
3	58	9	.866	3	54	3	.947	3	55	7	.887		3	.866	.947	.887
4	72	8	.900	4	61	4	.938	4	70	11	.864		4	.900	.938	.864
5	71	10	.877	5	77	6	.928	5	75	11	.872		5	.877	.928	.872
6	75	8	.904	6	84	5	.944	6	85	9	.904		6	.904	.944	.904
7	84	7	.923	7	83	4	.954	7	91	7	.929		7	.923	.954	.929
8	89	4	.957	8	85	4	.955	8	93	1	.989		8	.957	.955	.989
9	99	1	.990	9	87	1	.989	9	102	1	.990		9	.990	.989	.990
	1927	1927	1927		1961	1961	1961		1998	1998	1998

Except for the 8th inning the 1961 Yankees dominate. But look specifically at the 9th inning. All three teams are almost dead even. Here are their best relief pitchers.

1927: Wilcy Moore 30 year old rookie:

I	Split	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	SO9	SO/W
	1927 Totals	19	7	.731	2.16	50	12	30	6	1	12	212.2	185	65	51	3	61	9	74	1	1	4	873	1.157	3.1	1.21

1961: Luis Arroyo 34 year old from National League:

I	Split	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	SO9	SO/W
	1961 Totals	15	5	.750	2.19	65	0	54	0	0	29	119.0	83	34	29	5	49	8	87	3	0	4	484	1.109	6.6	1.78

1998: Mariano Rivera 28 year old in his second season as closer:

Split	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	SO9	SO/W
1998 Totals	3	0	1.000	1.91	54	0	49	0	0	36	61.1	48	13	13	3	17	1	36	1	0	0	246	1.060	5.3	2.12

Rivera sustained his performance 15 more seasons. But ... the contrasts are stark for these three Yankee relief pitchers:

Innings: 212, 119, 61
Wins: 19, 15, 3  Moore 6-4 in 12 starts; 13-3 in relief.
Saves: 12, 29, 36

Wins + Saves: 31, 44, 39

Should Mariano Rivera be elected to the Hall of Fame? Tuesday, July 4, 2017

The Myth of the Closer
By David W. Smith
Presented July 29, 2016
SABR46, Miami, Florida

4. Performance of 9th inning pitchers is almost indistinguishable between closers and others.

5. Increased use 9th inning pitchers correlates with overall increase of relief pitchers.

6. Pitchers have had progressively shorter stints for over 100 years.

7. Current pattern of closer usage is not justified by their contributions to team wins.