01:00 AM EST on Sunday, February 13, 2005

1921-64 YANKEES

YEARS: 45.

WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIPS: 20.

WORLD SERIES APPEARANCES: 29.

In 1921, radio was in its infancy and movies had no sound. By 1964, TV was king and America had put astronauts into space. Through all that -- not to mention eight presidents, a depression and two wars (and the start of a third) -- the Yankees kept on winning.

They did it with a series of mini-dynasties, one as strong as the other, with no gap between any of them. It started with what we might call the Babe Ruth era. Then it was the Ruth/Lou Gehrig era. Then Gehrig/Joe DiMaggio. Then just DiMaggio. Then Mickey Mantle. Through it all, the Yankees had one losing season -- that's one, O-N-E -- and never went longer than three years between World Series appearances. An amazing run of athletic excellence, and one that we'll probably never see again.

Honorable mention: The only other team in the same time zone as the Yankees in terms of sustained success is the 1941-66 Dodgers, who won 11 pennants with four different groups of players over two cities. Their legacy, however, is tarnished by their paucity of World Series titles (only four, in 1955, '59, '63 and '65). Similarly, the contemporary Braves have begun stretching into dynasty territory with 13 first-place finishes in the last 14 years despite numerous roster changes, but since they've won only five penannts and one World Series, they don't get a call in this discussion.

-- ART MARTONE