NFT: Why this ‘98 Yankees SI cover is relevant now

Must have been an offseason photo shoot

and do not have Mariano, but the '98 Yanks did not have Judge and Stanton.

IIRC, Bernie lead the Yanks with 28 HRs. Judge may have that by the All Star break.

However, that team may have been the best team the Yankees ever fielded, at worst 2nd to '27 team.

This current team, while firing on all cylinders seemingly now, have the potential for issues moving forward. Chapman, to me, is at the very top. Getting nothing or next to nothing out of catcher, cf, and lf is getting covered up now by the rest of the lineup. Gil hurt his elbow in AAA. He's a big part of SP depth should an injury or 2 rear it's head down the line. All that aside, a week out from Memorial Day, you have to be happy where the team is.

I went to 8 or 9 Yankee home games in 1998.

The Yankees won every single one of those games.

In comment 15713374 Greg from LI said:

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Must have been an offseason photo shoot

Looks like the beard Freddy Mercury sported in like 1990 to cover his AIDS blemishes on his face.

Looking at it...I feel old. Haha.

In comment 15713386 The_Boss said:

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This current team, while firing on all cylinders seemingly now, have the potential for issues moving forward. Chapman, to me, is at the very top. Getting nothing or next to nothing out of catcher, cf, and lf is getting covered up now by the rest of the lineup. Gil hurt his elbow in AAA. He's a big part of SP depth should an injury or 2 rear it's head down the line. All that aside, a week out from Memorial Day, you have to be happy where the team is.

Agree on Chapman - but they have King and Holmes. If Chappy was 7th or 8th inning guy nobody would really care.
CF - just consider that Judge. LF, ok maybe Marwin out there(?). Stanton in RF 1/3 to 1/2 the games.
I do not think this is a finished product and if Gallo doesn't improve, I expect Cash will do something about it.

Trevino is a plus C defensively. Think they can flip a coin on he and Higgy, but I think Trevino is better.

In comment 15713420 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:

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Looking at it...I feel old. Haha.

Yeah. I'd always look forward to see what was on the cover. I remember getting pissed at my friend for reading out loud the cover title of the SI cover after Tyson/ Holyfield ear incident. I wanted to soak that in myself!

In comment 15713386 The_Boss said:

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This current team, while firing on all cylinders seemingly now, have the potential for issues moving forward. Chapman, to me, is at the very top. Getting nothing or next to nothing out of catcher, cf, and lf is getting covered up now by the rest of the lineup. Gil hurt his elbow in AAA. He's a big part of SP depth should an injury or 2 rear it's head down the line. All that aside, a week out from Memorial Day, you have to be happy where the team is.

"No weaknesses." I distinctly remember reading the SI baseball preview that year, it was Friday night after dinner, looking up and down the batting order and wondering out loud where the outs were. It was just .300+ hitters top to bottom.
Tino
Jeter
Knoblauch
Brosius
Posada
Bernie
ONeil
Slugger's Choice in LF/DH

The entire order was uncomfortable for a pitcher. They looked like they could bat around forever.

maybe this is the game thread too ...

In comment 15713387 Route 9 said:

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I went to 8 or 9 Yankee home games in 1998. The Yankees won every single one of those games.

They virtually never lost. I liken that 98 season to winning 75 games in the NBA or going 16-0 in the NFL like the Pats did, but yea, we know how that turned out. The 98 Yanks did in fact close things out in October while the 07 Pats just couldn't block the NYG legendary defensive front.

98 team was perfect. My god even Shane Spencer went bananas in September and didn't exactly suck in the postseason. So you had this insanely good and deep team, hitting on every cylinder, pitching as well as any team could ever pitch....all that... and oh yea you had this kid from nowhere hitting HRs like 10 games in a row. Yea that team.

It got to the point that you assumed a win every time they took the field. After that 1-5 start, they didn't lose more than two games in a row until late August. They had FOUR winning streaks of eight or more games.

.

David Wells 1998 Perfect game is one of my favorite sports moments

Went to the game 2 or 3 games after that

In comment 15713557 Greg from LI said:

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It got to the point that you assumed a win every time they took the field. After that 1-5 start, they didn't lose more than two games in a row until late August. They had FOUR winning streaks of eight or more games.

They actually had a relatively cool September if memory serves.

In many ways the 99 team was even more dominant, but not until the postseason. The 98 Yanks were scared by Cleveland. Legit scared...down 2-1 in the series before taking off. The 99 team was really never threatened at all. They killed everyone in October and only the Sox really had even a shred of success, winning game 3 after the Yanks jumped out to the 2-0 series lead (they crushed Clemens in that game) ---game 4 comes around and the Yanks destroyed Boston 9-2 and won game five 6-1.

The ATL-Yanks 99 world series had to be most boring series ever. Other than game 3 (yanks won in the 10th) that series was a complete blowout. I honestly don't remember one single moment (maybe Chad Curtis talking shit to that asshole reporter?)

99 Yanks were never threatened.

I think they had a 15-18 stretch until the last ten days of the season, when they promptly ripped off a seven game winning streak. They had like a 35 game lead at the time so it was understandable.

In comment 15713679 Greg from LI said:

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I think they had a 15-18 stretch until the last ten days of the season, when they promptly ripped off a seven game winning streak. They had like a 35 game lead at the time so it was understandable.

Yep completely agree. The 2000 team faded too but that fade out seemed more genuine. To be fair they still got it done in September…

In comment 15713577 Route 9 said:

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David Wells 1998 Perfect game is one of my favorite sports moments Went to the game 2 or 3 games after that

Had that game on in the car on the ride home up the NJ turnpike from college graduation..

I remember that 99 ALCS vs Boston. I no-showed "The Pinelands Experience" in 7th grade just so I could watch that series. Some program where kids sit out in the woods with high schoolers as their team leader/camp counselor for a few days. No red flags at all.

I think they disbanded the whole thing. Nothing to do with hazing rituals or whatever the hell it was back in dem days.

What a title!!

Look at those 3 legends ....goosebumps. What a team/era that was. Amazing.

and 11-1 in ‘99 for a 22-3 combined record. Juggernaut.

They also won 14 straight World Series games from Game 3 in 1996 to Game 3 in 2000.

Those were the days.

This year's team is puzzling to watch sometimes, until one recalls that we haved entered a new "dead ball era." Imo, players like Jeter and Martinez, as talented as they were, would have had a tough time handling the dead ball, like much of the league is right now. The Yankees have a number of players, starting with Judge and Stanton, who can muscle the dead ball through the ionosphere. On base average against is running an awful median of about .236.

One other difference, of course, is that there were no teams in that era that had the kind of reliever depth the Yanks currently have. Starters never have to get worn out with that much talent behind them. In the playoffs, expect a number of Yankee games to start with "openers."