MLB Monday and its second miniseries finds us amid one of the all-time great stretches of World Series history, as the New York Yankees won four straight Fall Classics from 1936-1939. The first two championships came against the New York Giants in a crosstown rivalry—including this season’s World Series matchup explored below. Remember, only the 1972-1974 Oakland Athletics have been able to win as many as three titles in a row, so the Yankees are … well, the Yankees.

1937 World Series MVP: Lefty Gomez, SP, New York (AL)

The Yankees jumped out to a 3-0 lead in this matchup against the New York Giants, limiting the Giants offense to just one run in each game. After that, it was simple for the Bronx Bombers to take the Series in five games. Second baseman Tony Lazzeri was the hitting star (.400 BA, 1.260 OPS), while starting pitcher Lefty Gomez (2-0, 1.50 ERA, 1.000 WHIP) was the most effective arm on the roster for the Yankees. Generally, though, this was a thorough team effort.

Overall, a lot of different hitters played well enough: six different players had at least 5 hits in the Series, and six different players scored at least 3 runs each. No one hit more than a single home run, and even Lazzeri only had 2 RBI in the 5 games. The team leader in RBI (6) posted just a .649 OPS, to boot. Therefore, we’re going with Gomez, as he doubled up the next guy in innings pitched, and his wins in Games 1 and 5 set the tone for the Fall Classic—and ended it, firmly.

1937 AL MOTY: Jimmy Dykes, Detroit

New York Manager Joe McCarthy guided his squad to a 13-game margin for the pennant, but the team actually underperformed (minus-1 PPP). The Detroit Tigers finished second behind three different managers. In third, Chicago White Sox Manager Jimmy Dykes (plus-4 PPP) kept his team 3 games back of the Tigers, and we award him our AL MOTY nod, mostly by default. The PPP mark was the best, singular effort by an AL manager in 1937, so this fits just fine.

1937 NL MOTY: Bill Terry, New York

The Giants won the pennant by 3 games over the Chicago Cubs, and Giants Manager Bill Terry also posted the highest PPP mark (plus-6) in the senior circuit. That seals the deal for his second NL MOTY trophy from us. New York posted the most wins at home (50) and the most wins in one-run games during the season (29), the latter of which decided the pennant, as the Cubs went just 20-20 in the close games.