After the 1956 series, the Yankees would return to the Series in ’57 and lose in 7 games to Hank Aaron’s Milwaukee Braves. Braves hurler Lew Burdette beat the Yanks in Games 1, 4 and 7. So, the Yanks returned to the series once again in ’58, and who should they find themselves facing? Why, Lew Burdette and the Milwaukee Braves….
6. 1958 NEW YORK YANKEES92-62
Defeated the Milwaukee Braves 4-3
Looks like he took a Hank Aaron liner right in the sweet-meats.
Game 1 of this remarkable series went to the Braves as Hall of Fame hurler Warren Spahn went 10 innings in a complete game effort, carrying the Braves to a 4-3 win. Whitey Ford matched Spahn through the first 8 innings before yielding to mercurial reliever Ryne Duren, who took the loss. Hank Bauer and Moose Skowron provided the offense, as Bauer went 2-5 with a HR, a run and 2 RBI, while Moose went 2-4 with a HR and an RBI. But the Braves kept up with them, as even Warren Spahn – a notoriously good hitting pitcher – got into the act, going 2-4 with an RBI on the day. In the 10th inning, Duren gives up a 1 out single to Joe Adcock. Then, with two outs, Del Crandell singles. With runners on 1st and 2nd, Bill Bruton pinch hits for light hitting center fielder Andy Pafko, and Bruton rips a game-winning RBI single, giving the Braves a 1-0 series lead.
In Game 2, Yankee-killer Lew Burdette was on the mound, and he killed the Yankees again, as he cruised to a complete game, 13-5 win. Burdette actually pitched much better than the final score would indicate, as the Braves destroyed Bob Turley in the 1st inning, and it was 8-1 after 2, and 13-2 going into the 9th inning. Game 1 hero Bill Bruton and Lew Burdette himself homered for the Braves. Hank Bauer homered for the Yanks, and The Mick actually hit two. In fact, Mantle was 2-3, with 2 HR, 3 RBI and 2 runs scored in the loss. But the story was the Braves top 5 hitters, who went 12-22 with aHR, 3 2B, 5 RBI and 9 runs scored. This gave the Braves a commanding 2-0 lead and total control of the Series. It would be a long climb back for the Yanks...
In Game 3, it was a familiar World Series hero that picked the Yankees up offthe mat, as Don Larson tossed 7 strong innings for the win and Ryne Duren notched the save, as the Yankees got back into the series, winning 4-0. Larsen scattered 6 hits and struck out 8 over his 7 frames. Hank Bauer went 3-4 with 4 RBI, a homer and a run scored. Bauer hit his two-run homer with 1 out in the 7th and drove in 2 in the 5th with a 2-out single, so he was essentially the entire Yankee offense in Game 3.
Game 4 was more of the same frustration for the Yanks as Warren Spahn returned to shut the Yankees down again. This time he was better than his Game 1 effort, as he tossed a complete game shutout, leading the Braves to a 3-0 win and a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Spahn allowed just 2 hits, and struck out seven for his 2nd win of the series. Whitey Ford took the tough loss.
So, the Yanks were trailing in the series 3 games to 1 and would need a monumental come back to take the ’58 series away from the powerful Brave team. They got it.
It started in Game 5, as Bob Turley did his best Warren Spahn imitation, shutting out the Braves, 7-0, with 10 strikeouts. A 6-run sixth inning sinks Burdette and the Braves in this one. Gil McDougald hit a homerun, going 2-4 with 2 runs, 3 RBI and a 2B as well. The win was huge for theYanks, as they finally beat nemesis Burdette, and their bats started to wake up. Turley shut down the Braves offense, and, trailed 3-2, the Yanks still had life.
Game 6 was a WILD game. The Yankees narrowly escaped with a 4-3 win in 10 innings, and it wasn’t easy. They took a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning thanks to a Hank Bauer homerun, but the Braves came back with 1 in the 1st and 1 in the 2nd to go up 2-1. And since the Yankees were facing Warren Spahn, that 2-1 lead seemed insurmountable. By the way, the Braves 2 runs came on RBI singles by Hank Aaron and…Warren Spahn. Told ya he could hit. In the top of the 6th the Yanks scratched out a run thanks to a Yogi Berra sac fly that scored Mantle. Tied 2-2 all the way to the 10th inning, the Yanks finally break through against Spahn thanks to a Gil McDougald solo homerun and later in the inning, and RBI single by Moose Skowron. In the bottom of the 10th, holding a 4-2 lead, Ryne Duren had all sorts of trouble after getting the first 2 men out. First he walks SS Johnny Logan, then Hank Aaron singles and Joe Adcock singles. With men on 1st and 3rd and the score now 4-3, Yankee manager Casey Stengel turns to Bob Turley and Turley gets Frank Torre to lineout to 2nd to end the game.Duren gets the win, Turley the huge save and Spahn goes down in defeat, setting the stage for a Game 7.
In Game 7, the Yankees had come all the way back and they weren’t going to be denied. Yankee killer Lew Burdette got easily out-dueled by Bob Turley, who had come in, in relief, of Don Larson in the 3rd inning. With the game tied 2-2 after 7, the Yankees erupt for 4 runs in the 8th, thanks in large part to a 3-run homerun by Moose Skowron. Ballgame over, World Series over, Yankees win 6-2.
For the Yankees, Hank Bauer had a helluva series, hitting .323 (10-31) with 6 runs, 4 HR and 8 RBI. Gil McDougald hit .321 with 5 runs, 2 HR and 4 RBI, while Moose Skowron hit just .259, but hit 2 HR and drove in 7. Ordinarily, this would have been Hank Bauer’s series, but the MVP has to go to Bob Turley.
Turley pitched in 4 games, 2 starts, compiling a 2.76 ERA. But the stats don’t really tell the entire story. With the Yanks trailed 3 games to 2 and on the brink of elimination, Turley tossed a complete game shutout to win game 5, came in, in relief, to get the last out with the tying run on, to save game 6, and comes in in relief in Game 7 in the third inning and tosses 6 2/3 shutout frames to earn the win – and the MVP.
For the Braves, Hank Aaron hit .333 (with no homers), Joe Adcock hit .308 and Bill Bruton hit .412. Warren Spahn, by the way, hit .333 with 4 RBI.
After taking 1959 off, the Yanks were back to lose a heart-breaking series in 1960, but returned to dominance in 1961, as the M&M boys – Mantle and Maris, led the way, hitting 115 homeruns during the regular season, and the Yankees easily dispatched of the Cincinnati Reds. In 1962, however, the Yankees had their hands full with Willie Mays San Francisco Giants. The Yanks would prevail, but this would be their last World Series win for 15 years, as they would not win again until 1977. But in ’62, they were kings….barely:
7. 1962 NEW YORK YANKEES96-66
Defeated the San Francisco Giants4-3
'62 was their last hurrah.
This was a back-and-forth series if ever there was one. In Game 1, Whitey Ford stepped up and pitched one of his last World Series gems, shutting down the Giants, and tossing a complete game, as the Yankees took Game 1, 6-2. Clete Boyer hit a homer in the win as the Yanks scored 4 runs over the last 3 innings, to seal the deal.
Game 2 saw the Giants return the favor, silencing the Yankee bats, behind hurler Jack Sanford, who spun a 3-hit shutout, as the Giants evened the series with a 2-0 win. Yankee started Ralph Terry goes 7 strong in a losing effort, his only real blemish, a homerun to Willie McCovey. But it was enough to lead the Giants to victory.
Game 3 again saw the pitchers rule – and duel – as Bill Stafford outpitched Billy Pierce – for a 3-2 win. Stafford tossed a complete game, throwing 8 shutout innings up there before being touched up for two runs in the 9th, coming off catcher Ed Bailey’s homer – a 2-run shot hit with two outs. Mays was on 2nd, having reached with a double. Roger Maris had a 2-RBI single as part of a 3 run 7th that was all the Yankee offense off of Piece. The Yanks held a 2-1 lead going into Game 4.
The see-saw battle continued as the Giants took Game 4, 7-3. It was a pitchers duel that never materialized as Juan Marichal and Whitey Ford – a matchup so enticing on paper – fizzled early as Marichal was gone after 4 innings, Ford after 6. However, both pitchers threw fairly well as the game was actually tied just 2-2 after 6. But Yankee reliever Jim Coates got torched for 4 runs in the 7th and old ex-Yankee Don Larsen came on in relief for the Giants in the 6th inning, and shut down his former mates to get the win for the Giants. Catcher Tom Haller and 2B Chuck Hiller both homered for the Giants – Hiller’s HR was a grandslam off Coates in the 7th – andthat was the difference.
Given how this Series went to this point, it was no surprise that the Yankees prevailed in Game 5, winning 5-3 thanks to a complete game from Ralph Terry and a 3 run homerun by Rookie of the Year, Tom Tresh. Jack Sanford took the loss for the Giants, as with the score tied at 2 in the 8th, Sanford allows the 3 run jack to Tresh.
Holding a 3-2 Series lead, the Yanks tried to close the Series out in 6 but were unable to as Billy Pierce rebounded to shut down the Yankees and pace the Giants to a 5-2 win. Whitey Ford started for New York but was unable to close the series out, getting knocked out in the 4th inning. Roger Maris hit a homer in the losing effort, while Orlando Cepeda went 3-4 with a run scored, 2 RBI and a double.
Now, if this were ‘modern times’ – like, post 1994 – and if the Yankees had their ace going in a deciding Game 6, and he lost…well the Press would have murdered them. The series would have been over. The Yanks would have had no chance in Game 7.But this was 1962, and I think everyone pretty much realized the Yankees would find a way to prevail in Game 7. And they did. But clearly, you could see age catching up to these old greats – Maris, Ford, Mantle, Richardson, Howard, Skowron…the Yankee dynasty was coming to a close. They did win a memorable Game 7 in ’62 however, 1-0, behind a 4 hit shutout by Ralph Terry. Jack Sanford took the tough loss. In the 5th inning, the Yankees scored when Moose Skowron singled, Clete Boyer singled, Terry walked, and, with no outs, 2B Tony Kubek (who was terrible, by the way), hit into a double-play, that scored the games only run.
’62 was a funny series in that no one really had that great a series – on either side. Clete Boyer did hit .318 with 4 RBI and a homer, while Tom Tresh hit .321, and also had a homer and 4 RBI. But the big bats were silenced as Mantle hit just .120, Howardhit .143, Maris .174 and Bobby Richardson .148. For the Giants, Willie Mays hit a quiet .250, Willie McCovey hit a meager .200. Only light hitting OF Jose Pagan hit .368 with 2 runs, a homer and 2 RBI.Jack Sanford had a 1.93 ERA in 3 starts, but went 1-2 because he faced series MVP Ralph Terry 3 times. Terry went 2-1 with a 1.80 ERA, 2 complete game wins – including a 1-0 Game 7 – and in 25 innings, allowed just 17 hits, only 2 BBs and struckout 16.
The Yanks would get dismantled in the ’63 series by the Dodgers robotic pitching machines, Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, and they’d lose a tight 7-game series to the Cardinals in ’64, and that would be that. For 15 long years…until 1977:
8. 1977 NEW YORK YANKEES100-62
Defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers4-2
And it's narrated by Phil Rizzuto? God I wish I owned this. I think I did once...on Betamax.
The Yankees finally returned to the Series after an eleven year hiatus. All the old guard was gone and a new crew of Yankee heroes had taken over. Thurman Munson, Sparky Lyle, Dick Tidrow, Catfish Hunter, Graig Nettles, Willie Randolph, Dock Ellis and Mickey Rivers were the new guard. Sadly, the new guard didn’t quite measure up to the Big Red Machine in 1976, so the new Boss, George Steinbrenner, made some changes before the ’77 season. Mike Torrez was brought in to replace the departed Dock Ellis and Don Gullet was poached from the Reds (He did go 14-4), and Mr. October, Reggie Jackson was signed to a then-lucrative free agent deal.Add to that the emergence of young lefty Ron “Louisiana Lightening” Guidry, who went 16-7 that year, and it’s easy to see that the ’77 Yankees were, in a word, stacked.
But so too were the ’77 Dodgers, who boasted four players with 30 or more HR – and in 1977 that was pretty astounding – as they had Reggie Smith, Dusty Baker, Ron Cey and Steve Garvey. Add speedster Davy Lopes and FIVE starters with double-digit wins – led by Burt Hooton, Don Sutton and Tommy John (not to mention Rick Rhoden), and the ’77 Dodgers were no pushover. But really, the ’77 series would end up belonging to one man.
Game 1 went to the Yankees in a thrilling extra inning affair, as they won 4-3. Don Gullet went 8 innings before tiring and Cy Young winner Sparky Lyle finished it off. Rick Rhoden took the loss in relief for Tommy Lasorda’s Dodgers. LA led 2-0 in the first, but the Yanks tied it in the 6th and thanks to a Willie Randolph homer, took a 3-2 lead into the 9th. However, Yankee Manager Billy Martin perhaps stuck with Gullet a little too long, as he opened the 9th and was greeting by a single from Dusty Baker. After retiring pinch hitter Manny Mota, Gullet walked light hitting catcher Steve Yeager, and he was done. Sparkly Lyle came in, but allows a game tying single to pinch hitter Lee Lacy. However, Lyle bared down after that, and Willie Randolph came through again for the Yanks, with a game winning double off Rhoden in the 12th. Willie was 2-5 with a double, homer, RBI and 3 runs scored.
In Game 2, Burt Hooton tossed a 5-hitter, complete game, striking out 8 along the way, as the Dodgers evened the series with a crisp 6-1 win. Catfish Hunter was mauled for 5 runs in the 1st 3 innings, thanks to homers by Ron Cey, Reggie Smith and Steve Yeager. The Dodgers hit 4 homers in all, as Steve Garvey homered off Lyle in the 9th for no apparent reason. Damn Dodgers.
In Game 3, the Yanks scored quickly, with 3 runs in the first off Tommy John, however, Mike Torrez makes a mistake pitch to Dusty Baker, and he parks it into the stands – a 3-run bomb – to tie the game at 3. However, Torrez shut the Dodgers down the rest of the way and the Yanks scratched runs in the 4th and 5th, to take a 5-3 lead. Torrez struck out 9 along the way, tossing a complete game, and putting the Yanks up, 2 games to 1. Mickey Rivers was the star of the game, going 3-5 with a run scored, an RBI, 2 2Bs and a stolen base.
Game 4 was a quick peek at what lie in store for the Yankees in 1978 – well, at least as far as Ron Guidry was concerned. Guidry was 16-7 in ’77, but in ’78 he would have one of the greatest seasons ever for a left-handed pitcher – or any pitcher – as he would go 25-3 with a microscopic 1.74 ERA. In the ’77 series, Guidry displayed some of that dominant form as he tossed a complete game win, striking out seven Dodgers en route to a 4-2 win. His only blemish was a 2-run homer given up to Davy Lopes. The Yanks scored 3 in the 2nd thanks mainly to Reggie Jackson who went 2-4 with a 2B and 2 runs scored. Reggie added a solo homerun in the 6th to put the game out of reach behind Guidry’s dominant pitching.
The Dodgers avoided elimination in Game 5 by pounding the living crap out of Don Gullet – as well as Ken Clay and Dick Tidrow, to roll to a 10-4 win. Don Sutton pitched an easy CG win, while Reggie Jackson and Thurman Munson both homered for the Yanks. It didn’t matter as Gullet had nothing – and neither did the ‘pen. Reggie Smith and Steve Yeager (again!) had homers for the Dodgers in the rout.
The Yankees led the Dodgers 3 games to 2 heading into Game 6, and in Game 6 both teams would bear witness to baseball history and immortality. The game started off well enough for the Dodgers as they touched up Mike Torrez for three runs early. In fact, the Dodgers held leads of both 2-0 and 3-2 before Mr. October – Reggie Jackson – decided it was time to take over the game himself. With the Dodgers clinging to a 3-2 lead in the 3rd, Thurman Munson laces a base hit, and is on first when Reggie steps to the plate. Jackson crushed Burt Hooton’s first offering deep into the right field seats, giving the Yankees a 4-3 lead and turning the game completely around. Mike Torrez bared down and the Yanks led 5-3 when Jackson came to bat again in the 5th with a man on, this time, with Elias Sosa on the mound. This time, Jackson crushed Sosa’s first offering, again, deep into the right field stands, giving the Yanks a now commanding 7-3 lead. With the score still 7-3 in the 8th inning Jackson came to bat against knuckle-baller Charlie Hough, and with the crowd on their feet, screaming “Reggie” deliriously, Jackson deposited Hough’s first pitch deep into the Centerfield stands. That was the final, as Torrez tossed his 2nd complete game of the Series, and the Yankees won, 8-3. For the game, Jackson was 3-3 with 4 runs scored, 5 RBI, a BB and the 3 homeruns. Chris Chambliss also had a 2-run shot in the 2nd for the Yankees, while Reggie Smith went deep for the Dodgers.
For the Dodgers, in a losing cause, Steve Garvey hit .375 with a homer and 3 RBI, while pesky Steve Yeager hit .316 with 2 homers and 5 RBIs.
Meanwhile, Mike Torrez tossed 2 complete game wins for the Yanks, while Thurman Munson hit .320 with 2 2B, a homer and 3 RBI. But the star of the series and the MVP was, of course, Reggie Jackson, who hit an astounding .450 for the series, going 9-20 with 10 runs scored, a 2B, 5 HR and 8 RBIs.
This Yankee squad would win the World Series again in 1978, but would lose their heart and soul in 1979 when catcher and captain Thurman Munson died in a tragic plane crash near Canton, Ohio. The Yanks made the playoffs in 1980 but were unceremoniously swept by the Kansas City Royals. In the strike shortened season of 1981 the Yankees would win the ‘first half’ crown, and soldier through abizarre (at the time) two round playoff series to earn a birth in the 1981 World Series, where they would lose in 6 games to the Dodgers. That would mark the End of the Yankee Empire as they would flounder about the AL East standing from 1982 until the strike year of 1994 (where they held the best record in the AL until the strike derailed the season). In 1995, the Yanks made it back to the playoffs but were eliminated in the new, Wild Card round, by Ken Griffey Jr and his Seattle Mariners.
The "lean years" from '82 to '95 were filled with tons of mistakes. Like this guy.
Steinbrenner once again cleaned house and brought in a whole new group of heroes. This was the first year for “The NEW Four Horsemen” – Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte and Posada, though Posada barely contributed – he did get a ring, but did not play in the World Series, as Joe Girardi and Jim Leyritz handled the catching duties. Derek Jeter was the AL Rookie of the Year, Andy Pettitte was in his 2nd season and it was perhaps one of his finest as he went 21-8 for the Yanks in ’96, while Mariano Rivera could have been Rookie of the Year if not for Jeter, as Mariano pitched as closer John Wetteland’s set up man, and went 8-3 with a 2.09 ERA and 130 strikeouts in 107 innings.
However, as great as these young Yankees were, and even though they were flanked by a great veteran group of talent like CF Bernie Williams, RF Paul O’Neill, 1B Tino Martinez and Hall of Fame 3B Wade Boggs, the Yankees were HEAVY underdogs heading into a World Series against the powerful, defending Champion Atlanta Braves, who were looking to start their own Southern Dynasty. The Braves had gone to the Series in 91 and lost to the Twins. They’d gone back to the series in ’92, only to lose to the Blue Jays. But in 1995, the Braves had finally gotten their rings, beating the Indians in that series. Now, they looked unstoppable as an undermanned Joe Torre squad was about to find out:
9. 1996 NEW YORK YANKEES92-70
Defeated the Atlanta Braves4-2
They're baaaaaaaack!
Game 1 started out just about how most sports experts predicted it would, with the Braves annihilating a cadre of Yankee pitchers, starting with starter, Andy Pettitte and then the rest of the ‘pen. Brave ace John Smoltz was on his game, shutting the Yankees down completely. However, this game was over early as the Braves rolled behind young rookie OF Andruw Jones, who hit 2 homeruns, and Fred “The Crime Dog” McGriff added another, in leading the Braves to a 12-1 walloping of the Yankees.
Game 2 actually felt worse than the 12-1 drubbing from Game 1, as the Yanks got beat 4-0 by Greg Maddux. But it might as well have been 40-0. The Yankees had no shot against Maddux this night. He scattered 6 hits and only struck out 2, but in his 8 innings of work, Maddux only threw 82 pitches, 62 (SIXTY TWO!) of them for strikes. It was straight up domination. Jimmy Key pitched ok, but really, one run was too many, so he never really had a chance. Fred McGriff went 2-3 with 3 of the Braves 4 RBIs.
Down 2 games to none, the Yankees had to travel to Atlanta. That’s right, they lost the first two games AT HOME! Many Atlanta papers proclaimed that the series was over. That these ’96 Braves were playing against the ghosts of past great teams. That the ’96 Yankees were over-matched and didn’t even belong on the same field as this great Brave team. One paper even stated that these Braves would beat the 1927 Yankees! How sweet. I guess that’s why they play the games on the field and not in the Press. Game 3 would see the Yankees climb back into the Series, as David Cone pitched the Yanks to a 5-2 win. Joe Torre used his superb bullpen to end this game early, going to Mariano Rivera in the 7th, Graeme Lloyd in the 8th and then John Wetteland to save it in the 9th. Bernie Williams went 2-5 with a homerun, 2 runs scored and 3 RBI – his homer was a 2-run shot in the 8th that extended the Yankee lead to 5-2 and gave the ‘pen some breathing room. Tom Glavine took the loss for the Braves.
Now we come to Game 4, where this series takes an Epic turn. Having burned his best pitchers already – using Pettitte, Key and Cone – Joe Torre was left with no choice but to go to New York’s favorite pariah, the loathsome, gutless Kenny Rogers. Rogers pitched about how you’d expect him to, giving up 4 runs in a few typically cowardly innings. Brian Boehringer did little better and the Braves held a commanding 6-0 lead after 5 innings and were poised to take a devastating 3-1 lead in the Series. But Joe Torre’s Yankees didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘quit’, and they found away to strike back against a previously cruising Denny Neagle for 3 runs in the 6th. Derek Jeter singles and Bernie Williams walks. Cecil Fielder rips a base hit which actually scored both Jeter and Williams thanks to a fielding error by Jermaine Dye. Charlie Hayes plated Fielder with a base-hit later in the inning. So, leading 6-3, Bobby Cox tried to drop the hammer on the Yankees by bringing in his closer, Mark Wohlers to start the 8th inning. Charlie “Purple” Hayes greeted Wohlers with a base hit, and Darryl Strawberry followed with another. After a Mariano Duncan force out put runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out, up to the plate stepped spare part, Jim Leyritz. Leyritz was never a full-time player, but he was a vital and solid bat off the bench. Here, Leyritz forever etched his name into the annals of Yankee history as he blasted a slider off Wohlers into the bleachers in left-center, a 3-run shot that tied the game at 6. The Yanks would score two more runs in the 10th and John Wetteland would nail down the win with his 2nd save of the series.
Game 4 had created a huge shift in momentum and the Yankees kept it rolling in Game 5 by winning another epic 1-0 affair as Andy Pettitte, Game 1’s loser, stepped up and matched John Smoltz pitch for pitch, out-dueling the Brave ace to nail down the win. Pettitte would go 8 1/3 innings before yielding to Wetteland who performed a magic act to get his 3rd save of the series. Chipper Jones led off the 9th of the 1-0 game with a double off Pettitte. Andy induces a ground out from left handed hitting 1B Fred McGriff, which sends Chipper to third base with the tying run. In comes Wetteland, 1 out, tying run 90 feet away. All the Braves need is a sac fly. Wetteland gets catcher Javy Lopez to ground weakly to Charlie Hayes at 3rd, forcing Chipper to stay put. Ryan Klesko pinch hits for Andruw Jones, and Wetteland intentionally walks Klesko, in order to pitch to another pinch hitter, Luis Polina, who rips a liner that finds Paul O’Neil’s glove in right. Fat Cecil Fielder went 3-4 with the lone RBI of the day, an RBI-double.
Game 6 saw both teams return to Yankee stadium, where a shell-shocked Brave squad tried to figure out how in the hell they were down 3 games to 2 to these Yankees. In fact, except for an 8-run outburst in game 4, the Yankees really hadn’t hit a lick this series. Yet, somehow, they’d won all three games in Atlanta. In Game 6, they faced Brave wunderkind Greg Maddux who had dominated them in Game 2. Maddux pitched almost as well in Game 6 but a 2 run triple by Joe Girardi sparked a 3-run inning, and Joe Torre used David Weathers, Graeme Lloyd, Mariano Rivera and finally John Wetteland in relief of Jimmy Key, to nail down the 3-2 victory and the World Series.
In his first World Series, Derek Jeter hit just .250 (5-20) with 5 runs and 1 RBI – he would get better. Much better. Meanwhile, Fat Daddy Cecil Fielder went 9-23 with 2 2Bs, 2 RBI and 1 run scored, hitting .391 for the series. Mariano Rivera, in his first series, pitched in 4 games, 5.2 innings, striking out 4 and amassing a 1.59 ERA – shockingly, he too would get better. Much better. But the MVP in ’96 was John Wetteland who appeared in 5 games, saved all four Yankee wins, and struck out 6 in 4.1 innings, notching a 2.08 ERA to go with his World Series record 4 saves.
The Braves hit the piss out of the ball in a losing effort, as Marquis Grissom practically never made an out, going 12-27, good for .444 with 4 runs, 2 2B, a 3B and 5 RBI. Fred McGriff hit .300 with 4 runs, 2 HR and 6 RBI and Andruw Jones went 8-20, .400 ,with a 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI and 4 runs scored.
With a World Title in 1996, we now entered the Era of the “Joe Torre” Yankees, as Manager Torre would lead Derek Jeter and company to the World Series again in 1998, 1999 and 2000, winning 3 World Series in a row, and 4 in his first 5 years. The first of the “Three-in-a-row” was in 1998 and that Yankee team is considered to be one of the greatest – if not the greatest – TEAM of the modern era:
10. 1998 NEW YORK YANKEES114-48
Defeated the Padres 4-0
The Best Ever? Maybe. 125 wins is tough to argue with.
For the 1998 Yankees, greatness was simply an inevitability. They would win an astounding 114 games during the regular season, and after an 11-2 playoff run, would go an amazing 125-50 for the year.
The Padres were a good team, not a great team, but were completely over-matched by a far superior Yankee squad. As I’ve said before, you play the games on the field, not in the stat book, but in this case, the outcome was never truly in doubt. No one was beating this Yankee team.
Game 1 started out well enough for the Padres, as they jumped out to a 5-2 lead on the strength of two Greg Vaughn homeruns. Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn added another homer in his first World Series since he was a pup in 1984. In ’84 Gwynn hit .351. In ’98 Gwynn hit .321. The man was a machine. But David Wells hung in there, despite allowing 5 runs, and he kept the Yankees in the game. That was all they needed, as they exploded in the 7th inning off of relievers Mark Langston and Donnie Wall. First, the Yankees got 2 on vs. Kevin Brown, prompting Manager Bruce Bochy to bring in Donnie Wall to face Chuck Knoblauch. Knoblauch greeted Wall with a 3-run bomb to tie the game. The Yankees then loaded the bases off lefty Mark Langston, who was allowed to stay in to face lefty 1B Tino Martinez, which was a HUGE mistake, as Martinez drilled a Langston slop-ball deep into right field for a grandslam. The Yankees would win the game 9-6 and Mariano Rivera would get the save.
Game 2 was more of the same by the Yankee bats, plus a dominating performance by Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, who was floating on a boat out of Cuba at one point, yet ended up in the Yankees rotation by mid-season. The Yanks led 7-0 after 3 innings and 9-1 after 5. El Duque would cruise, allowing just the one run over 8 innings. The Padres would tack on two meaningless runs in their 9th, but the Yanks would win easy, 9-3. Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams homered, while Tino Martinez and Scott Brosius both went 3-5.
Game 3 was the Padres last attempt to make this a series, while it also showed off the terrible and ferocious Yankee resiliency. They simply refused to lose. David Cone pitched a fairly mediocre game, and the Padres saw themselves leading 3-0 after 6 innings, and with “Hell’s Bells” reliever Trevor Hoffman ready in the bullpen to shut the door on the Yanks, all the Pads had to do, was get into the 8th inning with a lead. In the 7th inning, however, 3B Scott Brosius would ignite the slumbering Yankee offense with a solo homerun. They would tack on one more run, to head into the eighth inning trailed by just one run, 3-2. Ramiro Mendoza pitched well in relief of Cone to keep it a 3-2 game, and that set the stage for the 8th inning and Trevor Hoffman. After lefty Randy Myers walked lefty Paul O’Neill, Bochy went to his best, Hoffman. Queue the Hell’s Bells music. Hoffman stalks in, nasty changeup and all, and promptly walks Tino Martinez to put two on for….Scott Brosius. Brosius had homered already in the 7th , and now, he had a chance to do some damage in the 8th. And boy did he ever, crushing a Hoffman offering into the seats for a game-changing 3-run homerun. Leading 5-3 now, the Yankees would turn it over to their bullpen and Mariano Rivera would nail down the save, 5-4. Brosius for the game was 3-4 with 2 runs scored, 2 HR and 4 RBI.
The ’98 Series was really a case of a best-of-seven series ending in 3 games instead of 4, as the Padres had nothing left. Game 3 killed them, mentally and physically. The Yanks had beaten their best – repeatedly. So the Padres showed up for an obligatory Game 4, but you could tell they weren’t into it as the Yankees won easily, 3-0. Andy Pettitte went 7 strong shut-out innings for the win and Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless 9th for his 3rd save of the series.
For the Padres, only Tony Gwynn really stood out in this series, as he went 8-16, batting .500 for the series, with 2 runs, a homer and 3 RBI.
For the Yanks, Derek Jeter went 6-17, hitting .353 with 4 runs scored and an RBI. Chuck Knoblauch would hit .375 going 6-16, with 3 runs, a homer and 3 RBI and Tino Martinez would hit .385 (5-13) with 4 runs scored, a homer and 4 RBI. The MVP, however, was 3B Scott Brosius, who would go 8-17, batting .471 with 3 runs scored, 2 homers and 6 RBIs.
As a side note, little used OF Ricky Ledee would actually go 6-10 with a 3 2B, 4 RBI, a run scored, to hit a whopping .600 for the Series, while Bernie Williams, the Yankees star CF ,would have the worst World Series of his career, going 1-16, for an .063 average, with a homer and 3 RBI.
Joe Torre’s Yankees would go to the World Series in 2001 and again in 2003, but they would lose both ofthose series, to the Diamondbacks in ’01 and the Marlins in ’03. Still, from 1996 to 2003, the Yankees made the playoffs every year, went to six World Series and won four of them. Good enough to take their place in the Yankee Pantheon of Greats. Torre and the Yanks would stumble, getting shocked by the Red Sox in the infamous 2004 ALCS, and losing in the first round of the playoffs in 2005, ’06 and again in ’07. Torre left for the greener pastures of Los Angeles, where he would continue to specialize in first round exits, while the Yankees would turn the reins over to former catcher, Joe Girardi. Girardi would struggle in his first season with the Yanks, 2008, as they’d fail to make the playoffs for the first time since the ’94 strike. But now, here, in 2009, Girardi’s Yankees have once again made it back to the promised land – led by the aging Four Horsemen, but still stacked with talent, can this Yankee squad rattle off another string of dynasty building championships? Only time will tell. For now, I’ll just enjoy the sweetness of this one, in 2009.
