The Yankees were really a privileged franchise in the first half of the 20th century. In the 1920s and 1930s, they had Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, and in the 1930s and 1940s, they had Joe DiMaggio patrolling center field. When the latter retired in 1951, another franchise icon was ready to take over and start another run of greatness for the organization.
Mickey Mantle made his MLB debut in 1951, and the Yankees won the World Series in his first two professional seasons. In 1953, the team captured its fifth consecutive Fall Classic, an unprecedented feat to this day, and it would be the third in a row for a young Mantle.