The Yankees finally ended their 14-year championship drought by beating the Dodgers in the 1977 World Series. It was by far the longest the club had gone without a title since Babe Ruth joined the team in 1920. With virtually all of their biggest stars returning, the Bombers appeared well-positioned to repeat.
The ‘78 campaign did not start well, however. New York lost four of its first five games, and stood at only 10-9 at the end of April. The Yankees resided in third place in the AL East race, 3.5 games off the pace.