Passion In Pinstripes A Look Back At The Last 16 Years Of Yankees Baseball Part 2 By Matthew Orso

CHAPTER 4 A CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE BRONX? The Yankees lost the first two games of the 1996 World Series and things seemed in doubt. Joe Torre was going to Atlanta knowing they had to win game three, otherwise there was no hope. The Yankees would capture game 3 but still doubt remained. The fans turned to game 4 of the series to see if the Yankees could come back. Game 4 would forever become the game to look for if you were in doubt as a fan. The Yankees sent lefty Kenny Rodgers to the hill in game 4. He was quickly hit hard by Atlanta bats giving up six runs in less than 4 innings. The Yankees were down 6-0 and were in danger of going down 3 games to 1 in the series. Joe Torre was preaching to his players to take off one run at a time. He didn’t want them to go for the “six run homerun”. The Yankees followed their manager’s advice and started to chip of one run at a time. This led to a 6-3 score with two runners on and Jim Leyritz stepping up to the plate. It was a great battle between Leyritz and the Braves pitcher. Leyritz fouled off the tough pitches until he got the right one. He hit the ball in the air to deep left and it just cleared over the wall for a three run homerun. The Yankees came all the way back to tie the game. With the score 6-6, the Yankees felt they had all the momentum and used that momentum to take the lead and win game 4. Game 5 was a pitching duel between John Smoltz and Andy Pettitte. Smoltz would go on to win the CY Young in 1996 and Pettitte had won over 20 games that season. It was truly a great matchup on paper and even a greater matchup when the game was played. The Braves couldn’t score anything off of Pettitte and the Yankees couldn’t score off of Smoltz. Both pitchers went over seven innings and the Yankees had a slim lead in the ninth innings. Thanks to an outfield shift by Paul O’Neill (which gave him to range to catch the final out), the Yankees won the game. After being down 2 games to none in the series, they had come all the way back and were on the verge of winning the World Series. They just needed to win game 6. Game 6 of the World Series featured a lot of heart on the part of the Yankees. The heart would come from catcher Joe Girardi. Girardi was the starting catcher for the Yankees during the 1996 season. In game 6 he played the role of a sprinter. He hit a baseball into the alley of Yankee stadium and ran all the way to third base for a triple. Since catchers don’t hit that many triples, this was an astounding bit of magic that went the Yankees way. That triple gave the Yankees the lead and they never looked back. The final inning of the World Series was the top of the ninth. The final out was a pop up to third base. Third basemen Charlie Hayes caught the baseball for the final out. The Yankees for the first time in 18 years reached the top of baseball’s highest mountain. They could finally say that they were world champions. Joe Torre won a World Series for the first time in his career. His brother Frank received a heart transplant that his life depended on. Derek Jeter wins a World Series title in his rookie year. The Yankees win for the first time in eighteen years against a team that seemed unbeatable. This was a storybook ending to a magical season. There was a question that remained. Could the Yankees repeat this championship magic? Can they become champions again? CHAPTER 5 DISSAPOINTMENT ` At last the Yankees were champions. The 1997 season started with a bang by first baseman Tino Martinez. He had a career high in homeruns with over 40 and drove in over 120 RBIS. Martinez became the offense that the Yankees were looking for. The Yankees also had a change in the bullpen. Closer and 1996 World Series MVP John Wetteland left the club and the new closer of the Yankees was a young man by the name of Mariano Rivera. Rivera started his career the Yankees in 1995 and was originally a starter. He once pitched an 8 inning game while striking out over 12 batters. After 1995 he was put into the bullpen to become the setup man to John Wetteland. Rivera was lights out as that type of player. He put fear in the hearts of batters with his fastball and he put pressure on managers. The managers knew that if the Yankees were winning after six innings, the game was over. Rivera would pitch two great innings and Wetteland would save it in the ninth. Rivera had a great season as the Yankees closer. He went 6-4 with a 1.88 ERA. He also saved 43 games for the Yankees. However that was the regular season. The playoffs were a completely different story. The Yankees would win another division title in 1997. They were playing with passion and the will to win. They had the momentum to go to another World Series and defend their title. That would all change. One play, One pitch, One homerun would change the 1997 season for the Yankees. It was the final game of the ALCS for the Yankees. Mariano Rivera was pitching to get the save and light hitting catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. was at the plate. He hit a pitch that cleared the fence at the Cleveland Indians ballpark. This gave the Indians the lead in the game and the Indians would go to win in the series. This devastated the team. They knew that it should’ve been the Yankees in the World Series against the Marlins. Nothing gave that ballclub any satisfaction. Most teams would say making the playoffs and a win from the World Series was a great year. The Yankees are a different case. If you don’t win a World Series while wearing the pinstripes, then you’ve failed in the season. The Marlins would go on to beat the Indians in the World Series. The Yankees had the taste of a championship in 1996 and just missed another one 1997. What would 1998 bring? To make it simple, 1998 brought the greatest season in Yankees history since 1961. CHAPTER 6 THE GREATEST SHOW IN NEW YORK CITY The Yankees were hungry for another World Series title. 1997’s offseason brought a team of reflecting for the players. They wanted to bounce back and win a title. However the season didn’t start out so great. The Yankees lost their first four games and Joe Torre’s job was in doubt. He called a team meeting and with some inspiring words said the Yankees bounced back. The team turned around completely. David Cone lead the pitching staff with 20 wins, but no win was more astounding for the Yankees then in May. David Wells took the mound against the Minnesota Twins. He dominated the Twins in every way. Even the Twins players were starting to take notice. One of them said (in the middle of the game) that Wells was pitching a no-hitter. His teammate came up to him and said that Wells was pitching a perfect game. The fact of the matter was that Wells was pitching a perfect game. It stayed a perfect game thanks to some great plays in the field by the Yankees. The 27th out was made on a fly ball to Paul O’Neill in right field. David Wells pumped his fist on the mound and showed his excitement to the fans when he screamed in pure joy. That was the major pitching milestone of the season and it was the first perfect game for the Yankees since Don Larsen pitched his in the 1956 World Series. That was the highlight of the 1998 for the pitching staff. Offensively, the Yankees were clicking on all cylinders. No player had over 30 homeruns, yet there were productive hits at key times in every game. Bernie Williams won the AL batting title, but the offensive highlight of the season was in September when a young player was called up to the big leagues name Shane Spencer. Spencer was rookie and he made his mark on the team by hitting 10 homeruns in the month and three of them were grand slams. He provided the jolt the Yankees needed to go to the playoffs. The Yankees finished the season with a record 114 wins. They headed into the playoffs with confidence and pride knowing that they could win. They beat the Texas Rangers in the ALDS and faced the Cleveland Indians in the ALCS. The Yankees were determined to get revenge on the Indians for beating them in 1997 playoffs. It would be that easy because thanks to a boneheaded play by the Yankees second basemen, they would go down 2 games to one. This was the first time in a while the Yankees were trailing. However the magic of the Bronx would prevail. The Yankees came back to win the Series and advanced to the World Series against the San Diego Padres. The Padres were a great team in 1998. Lead by future hall of famer Tony Gwynn, they were ready for the Yankees. The Yankees knew the Padres would be a tough opponent, but kept their faith in themselves and each other. Game one was very dramatic. It took a grand slam by Tino Martinez for the Yankees to win. The Yankees took game two and the drama was set in game three. The Yankees were down in the ninth inning against Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman at the time was one of the most dominating closers in baseball and wasn’t about to give up easily. The Yankees sent up Scott Brosius to the plate. Brosius in 1997 batted just over.200 and could hit the baseball with much power. In 1998 when he joined the Yankees, he seemed to change as well. He hit .298 that season and had 19 homeruns. Scott would be named the comeback player of the year award winner in the American League. At the plate, Brosius saw the pitch come out of Hoffman’s hand and the rest is history. He gave the Yankees the lead with his homerun. The Yankees took game three and won game four thanks to another Scott Brosius homerun. The Yankees won the 1998 World Series. There were so many stories that contributed to the Yankees winning it all. You had David Wells’ perfect game, Tino Martinez’s grand slam and the timely hitting of Shane Spencer. That and so many more gave the Yankees a record 125 wins. (Counting the playoffs) The 1999 season was coming and the Yankees wanted the chance to repeat as champions. They hadn’t won back to back titles since the 1977-1978 seasons. Little did they know that there was more winning in their future!