The All-Time New York Yankees All-Star Team

They are the most loved and the most hated team in baseball. They have won a record 39 American League pennants and 26 World Series championships. They are everything that is great about, and perhaps wrong with, the National Pastime. Wherever they travel, the Yankees attract full stadia in every city of passionate fans and rabid enemies. They are the New York Yankees.

In the team's 105-year history, 32 players have made the Hall of Fame. Accordingly, it is not an easy task to whittle down all of those great players into a single All-Time Greatest Yankees team. However, after a lot of research and even more thoughtful deliberation, here are the best players by position in New York Yankees history.

Catcher: Yogi Berra (1946-1963)

Career Statistics: .285 Batting Average, 358 Home Runs, 1,430 RBI, 3-time MVP.

Berra is widely considered the best all-around catcher the game has ever seen. When he retired, he had more Home Runs and RBI than any catcher in baseball history. Berra was best known for his ability to hit even the worst pitches - over his head or in the dirt, even - if the Yankees needed a baserunner. During his 18-year career, the Yankees played in 14 World Series and won 10 of them. Berra finished in the Top 3 in MVP voting seven years in a row from 1950 through 1956. No one else has ever done that. Few have even come close.

First Base: Lou Gehrig (1923-1939)

Career Statistics: .340 Batting Average, 493 Home Runs, 1,995 RBI, 2-Time MVP.

Gehrig was the second greatest hitter ever. Only the Babe, who was his teammate from 1923 until 1934, put up better overall numbers during that time period. Gehrig's specialty was driving in runs. In 1927, he collected 175 RBI. In 1930, he drove in 174 runs. In 1931, he had an unthinkable 184 RBI and in 1934, he drove in 165 runs. All told, Columbia Lou, as he was known, had seven (7!) seasons with over 150 RBI. His career was cut short, however, when he developed a debilitating illness in 1939, which took his life at age 38 in 1941. The disease today is commonly known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." Had he lived and been able to play out his entire career, Gehrig would likely have surpassed Ruth in most offensive categories.

Second Base: Tony Lazzeri (1926-1939)

Career Statistics: .292 Batting Average, 178 Home Runs, 1,191 RBI.

Although he was overshadowed by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig for most of his career, Lazzeri was a great player in his own right. He hit .292 over his career, topped 100 RBI seven times, finished in the Top 10 in MVP voting five times and ultimately made the Hall of Fame in 1991.

Shortstop: Derek Jeter

Career Statistics: .318 Batting Average, 2,298 Hits, 191 Home Runs, 1,350 Runs scored (so far).

You can't say enough about Derek Jeter. Many believe that Jeter is the best all-around player of his generation. He hits the ball to all fields, has good power, is the best hitter in baseball in the clutch, and is one of the greatest postseason players in history. At age 32, Jeter is already the all-time postseason leader in hits (150!) and Runs scored (85).

Still in the middle of his career, Derek is poised to become the first New York Yankee in history to collect 3,000 hits. He should also top 300 homers, 400 steals, and 1,500 RBI. Finally, Derek has a good chance to break Rickey Henderson's all-time record of 2,295 Runs scored.

That's all he has done in the first half of his career. Let's see what the future brings.

Third Base: Alex Rodriguez (2004-Present)

Career Statistics: 500 Career Home Runs and Counting

Yes, there have been a few great third basemen who played a lot longer with the Yankees than Alex Rodriguez. Greg Nettles won two World Series, two Gold Gloves and hit 390 career homers. Red Rolfe won five World Series rings in the 1930s and '40s and also made four All-Star teams. Clete Boyer had a great glove and helped the Bronx Bombers win five straight American League pennants from 1960 to 1964.

But nobody even comes close to Alex Rodriguez. Sure, he's only played 3 1/2 years with the Yankees and has yet to help them win a World Series. But this is an All-Star team, and A-Rod is the biggest star -- and the best player -- to ever man third base in Yankee Stadium.

The guy is on pace to hit 800 home runs, collect 3,500 hits and drive in 2,500 runs. 'Nuff said.

Babe Ruth (1914-1935)

Career Statistics: .342 Batting Average, 714 Home Runs, 2,214 RBI.

By any available measure, Ruth was the greatest hitter who ever lived. But you wouldn't have known that if you only tracked his career from 1914 until 1918. During those five years, Ruth was the best left-handed pitcher in baseball. He played for the Boston Red Sox. In 1919, Ruth also began to play right field and it was quickly discovered that he was a great hitter as well as a superior pitcher.

Then, after the 1919 season, he was traded to the New York Yankees for $150,000 in cash. Ruth gave up pitching when he came to the Yankees and proceeded to break the existing single season home run record, which was 29, by hitting 54 dingers for the Yankees in 1920. The next year he hit 59, and in 1927, he hit 60. This is still the most homers ever hit in a 154-game season.

When Ruth finished his career in 1935, he was the all-time leader in Home Runs, Runs Scored, RBI, Walks, Total Bases, and Slugging Percentage. He is still considered by most fans and baseball experts to be the greatest player who ever lived.

Joe DiMaggio (1936-1951)

Career Statistics: .325 Batting Average, 361 Home Runs, 1,537 RBI, 3-Time MVP.

Jolitn' Joe was one of the best all-around players the game has ever seen. He could hit, hit for power, run the bases, field and throw. He was really amazing with the bat. DiMaggio hit 361 Home Runs, but would have hit a lot more had he not lost three years of playing time to World War II. Joe D. also had to contend with the 475-foot fence in left-center field. Had hae not missed those seasons, and had he played in a park that was friendlier to right-handed hitters, The Yankee Clipper would have approached 500 round-trippers for his career.

DiMaggio is most famous for one amazing streak that he had during one of basbeall's greatest summers. In 1941, DiMaggio put together the hottest hot streak in history by getting at least one hit in 56 straight games. Although he failed to collect a base hit in game 57, he then started a new 17-game streak immediately thereafter, and therefore hit safely in 73 of 74 games.

Until the day he died, Di Maggio was referred to as "The Greatest Living Ballplayer." At the time, he certainly was.

Mickey Charles Mantle (1951-1968)

Career Statistics: .298 Batting Average, 536 Home Runs, 1,509 RBI, 3-Time MVP.

For sheer power, there has never been anyone like Mickey Mantle. In 1953, he hit the longest home run ever measured, an alleged 562-foot blast off Chuck Stobbs from the Washington Senators. In his career, Mantle hit twenty home runs that traveled over 500 feet. As great as Mickey was, though, he could have been better. He was plagued by injuries for his whole career, which often limited his playing time, and also took away his blinding speed. Even with the injuries, however, Mantle was still one of the 10 to 15 best players the game has ever seen, and will always be remembered as a Yankee legend.

Starting Pitcher: Whitey Ford (1950-1967)

Career Statistics: 236-106, 2.75 ERA, 1961 Cy Young Award winner.

The Chairman of the Board, as Ford was known, was one of the three best World Series pitchers in history. He has the most World Series wins, with 10, and the most strikeouts in Fall Classic History. In 22 World Series games, Ford posted a 2.71 ERA, and at one point, he pitched 33 2/3 consecutive innings without giving up an earned run. That is the best ever.

Combine that with the second highest winning percentage for a pitcher with 200 decisions (.690), the 1961 Cy Young Award, six World Series rings, and a Baseball Hall of Fame induction, and Whitey is easily the best Yankee starting pitcher of all time.

Relief Pitcher: Mariano Rivera (1995-Present)

Unless you live under a rock, you already know that Mariano Rivera is the greatest closer in baseball history. He has already collected 413 saves and has a career ERA of 2.29 over his 12-year career. He has been runner-up for the Cy Young Award three times. He made the All-Star Team nine of the last ten years.

What separates Rivera from the rest is his post-season record. In 73 Playoff and World Series games, Rivera has a 17-8 record, with 34 saves and an insanely low 0.80 ERA in 113 innings. Amazing. The best the game has ever seen.

That's it. That's the team. The greatest New York Yankees of all time.