A story about the 1998 New York Yankees | Lucas

I am going to tell you about the winningest season in the history of Major League Baseball: that of the 1998 New York Yankees. That team won 114 games in the regular season, third most overall, and most by a team that went on to win the World Series. Including its postseason victories, the team claimed 125 in total….

I am going to tell you about the winningest season in the history of Major League Baseball: that of the 1998 New York Yankees.

That team won 114 games in the regular season, third most overall, and most by a team that went on to win the World Series. Including its postseason victories, the team claimed 125 in total. The Yankees countered, rather than mimicked, the absurd (and sometimes artificial) contemporary power numbers of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Rather, this team lived on small ball. Despite having at least two future Hall of Famers, they did not have any 30-home-run hitters. Only two of their starters would eclipse 300 career home runs. Their 3.82 team ERA was the best in baseball. Their No. 5 starter won 12 games and posted a 3.13 ERA. Men and women have told, and will continue to tell, their children about this team.

After ending an 18-year championship drought in 1996, the Yankees entered the 1997 postseason as a Wild Card, and were within a few outs of going back to the American League Championship Series until Mariano Rivera surrendered a game-tying home run to Cleveland’s Sandy Alomar, Jr. The Indians would walk off in the ninth, and survive a 4-3 win the next night on their way to the American League Pennant. Despite not winning the division or the World Series, this Yankees team won four more games than it had the year before, and some of its players have said it was better than the last.

In 1998, Yankees general management transitioned when Bob Watson stepped down and handed operations to a young man named Brian Cashman, one of the few links between the generations. The offseason resulted in a few key veteran signings, including Luis Sojo and Chili Davis, as well as lopsided trades that added Scott Brosius and Chuck Knoblauch, solidifying an infield already led by Derek Jeter (one of the at least two heading to Cooperstown) and Tino Martinez.

Contrary to their 114-win total, the Yankees lost four of their first five games of the season on a West Coast swing. The team then went 16-2 over the rest of April, and took the lead in the American League East on the month’s last day against the same Mariners team that had earlier handed them their fourth loss. The Yankees would not relinquish that division lead for the rest of the season.

In a regular season where the Bombers won their division by 22 games, the month of May actually provided the most drama. On May 17, a capacity crowd witnessed David Wells become the first Yankee in 42 years to retire all 27 batters he faced. Wells’ 11-strikeout perfect game against the Minnesota Twins was the highlight of his career, and captured the essence of his 18-win, 200+ inning campaign in 1998. As a side note, on Monday, Wells, Bernie Williams, and, of course, David Cone brought a lot of life, generosity, and music (in Bernie’s case) to the David Cone Celebrity Golf Tournament to benefit the Ed Lucas Foundation, and the foundation would like to thank all of them.

The next game was much more of a slug fest, but brought even greater intensity. In a game against the division rival Orioles, the Yankees came back from down 5-1 in the seventh to take a 7-5 lead in the eighth on Williams’ home run off Armando Benitez. Benitez’s next pitch landed in the middle of Tino Martinez’s back. Graeme Lloyd, Jeff Nelson, and especially Darryl Strawberry got their shots in at an ejected Benitez during a bench-clearing brawl. The team solidified even further, and Tim Raines hit a home run on the first pitch after the brawl to cap a 9-5 win.

The team cruised through the American League Division Series with a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers, and then looked to avenge their previous season against the team that ended it. The Yankees fell in a two games to one hole, thanks in part to Knoblauch arguing a call while the winning run scored in Game 2. The aforementioned No. 5 starter, Orlando Hernandez, made the most of his postseason debut by throwing seven shutout innings on the road to tie the series. The Yankees would win the next night, and won Game 6 in New York to exercise their demons and win the pennant.

Even for a sweep, the 1998 World Series provided enough drama for a 7-game series. The San Diego Padres surprised many by taking a 5-2 lead into the seventh inning of Game 1, but Knoblauch’s line-hugging three-run shot would tie the game before Martinez’s famous grand slam gave the Yankees the lead, and momentum, they would not relinquish. The Padres still held hope in Game 3, despite trailing two games to none in the series, and Brosius grabbed that hope in devastating fashion. He tagged Trevor Hoffman for his second dinger of the evening, an eighth inning, go-ahead three-run blast that opened the door for Andy Pettitte to bring out the broom the next night, which he did with over seven shutout innings.

The 1998 New York Yankees stood across the street from their old stomping grounds on Saturday, and took in the sights and sounds of fans longing for those days to return. A group of young men stood by in their dugout, donning the uniforms the men on field once had. They looked at their past, and envisioned what can be if they bring similar magic this October.