The Yanks and Continuity

Although I had planned a very different article for today, I had read this morning that Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter and Andy Pettite were the sole remaining vestiges of those Yankees teams of the 1996-2000 era, that team that won 4 out of 5 World Series. That prompted my curiosity about what those teams had that was so special. So I did a little checking.

What they really had a lot of was continuity, in the starting rosters for most years and in the bullpen for other years. The real run to me, and the greatest team, wasn't really that 1996-1997 team; it was that 1998-2000 team that won three straight.

Going back to 1994, the strike year, when the entire season and World Series was cancelled, the Yankees were very good. They were leading the AL East in 1994 under Bucky Showalter and finished the season at 70-43. That team had Mike Stanley catching, Don Mattingly at first base and Pat Kelly at second. Wade Boggs played third and the shortstop was Mike Gallego. Luis Polonia manned one of the OF positions, but Bernie Williams and Paul O'Neill did play the other two spots.

In 1995, Tony Fernandez replaced Gallego at short and Gerald Williams replaced Polonia. Otherwise, that team was much the same but lost the ALDS to Seattle. Interestingly enough, Andy Pettite pitched 175 innings and went 12-9 that year. David Cone went 9-2 that year in 99 innings. Mariano Rivera was a starter and went 5-3 in 67 innings. Bernie Williams and Paul O'Neill were the nucleus of that team and many of the teams to follow, both batting over .300 and leading the team in rbi's.

In 1996, Joe Torre's first year, the biggest changes besides Torre were a young fella named Derek Jeter as shortstop and a fiery first baseman named Tino Martinez. Jeter batted .314 in his rookie year and Tino knocked in 117. Bernie was magnificent and O'Neill was solid. Pettite won 21 games. Joe Girardi , the Yanks current manager, had taken over the catcher's position.

In 1997, that team lost Wade Boggs And Mariano Duncan. They were replaced by Luis Sojo and a journeyman named Charlie Hayes. Tim Raines spelled Gerald Williams in the outfield. David Wells took a pitching spot. The Yanks went down to Cleveland in the Division Series.

In '98, Posada replaced Girardi and hit 17 home runs in just 358 at bats. Chuck Knoblauch took over at second base and scored 117 runs. Another nice player, Chad Curtis, took over for Raines in left field. Orlando Hernandez, El Duque, was 12-4. The pitching staff was great, with David Cone going 20-7, Wells went 18-4, Pettite was 16-11 and another Hideki named Irabu went 13-9. The Yanks swept the Padres in the World Series.

In '99, it was the same guys coming at the league again. Clemens replaced Wells. The relief corps was remarkably stable since 1997, when Rivera took over from John Wetteland as the closer and Mike Stanton, Jason Grimsley, Graeme Lloyd, Jeff Nelson, and Ramiro Mendoza were the stalwarts at middle relief. The Yanks again swept a World Series, this time against the Braves.

In 2000, here they came again. Ricky Ledee played some for Curtis and David Justice joined the gang. Pettite and Clemens went 19-9 and 13-8 and both pitched over 200 innings. Cone began a decline though. And El Duque was just mediocre. A lot of people pitched a lot of innings, Ramiro Mendoza, Dwight Gooden.. ..but the Yanks still managed to win the Subway Series in 5 games against the Mets.

2001 wasn’t quite the same though, nor were the results. Knoblauch moved to left field while a fella named Alfonso Soriano played second. David Justice played a role. Cone was missed though, and Hideki Irabu was replaced by Ted Lilly. That team eventually lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks behind Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling and Luis Gonzalez. And, sadly, if anyone lost that World Series, it had to be Mariano Rivera who took the loss in Game 7.

The Yanks haven’t been the same since that game really. In 2002, Tino Martinez was replaced by Jason Giambi, who, in retrospect, never really made the grade. And, nearly as significant, Scott Brosius, a big-time Series performer and clutch player at third base, was replaced by Robin Ventura. Paul O’Neill retired, a kind of death knell to that era in my mind.

The Bombers have never really recovered. They did make strong bids in 2003 and 2004 but never really had that magic of the late Nineties. The Marlins took them out in six games in the 2003 Series, and, in a paralyzing series of games in 2004, the Red Sox came back to whip the Yanks in seven after Mariano Rivera blew the save in Game 4.

After 2003, of course, the Yanks were vastly different. The pitchers in 2004 were Vasquez, Lieber, Mussina, Kevin Brown, El Duque and Esteban Loaiza. Arod and Matsui had strengthened the team but they seemed lost at both the right-side infield spots, with Tony Clark at first base in 2004, Miguel Cairo at second.

There is hope though, Yankees fans. There has been increasing continuity in this team since 2006. The infield and outfield have been stable, although first base has been a huge problem. Although Robinson Cano eventually took over at the keystone bag, first base continues to be a wasteland, much as left field had been earlier. Pitching too has seen a remarkable lack of continuity, with a fill-in approach, but now there are Hughes and Kennedy.

Yes, 2008 has promise. The holdovers from the great Yankees teams of the past, though, will have to perform. That means Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Pettite. Abreu and Damon have been in place for some time now, as has Matsui. And, of course, Arod. LaTroy Hawkins strengthens the bullpen. Chamberlain strengthens any rotation he wishes to join.

Watch out for these 2008 Yankees.