(I tried to fix the spacing issues, but it does not seem to help.)
These teams met in the real 1996 Series, but in our re-enactment, Cleveland represented the AL and beat the Braves, even winning three in a row in Atlanta just as the Yankees did. They met again in ’99 and have two other meetings coming up.
This series figures to be an even better matchup, even though the 1998 Yankees have been acclaimed as one of the great teams of all time. They won 114 games in the regular season and went 11-2 in the playoffs, including a sweep of the Padres in the series. While the Padres won 98 and the Astros won 102, the Braves won 106, the most in the NL since the 1986 Mets.
The Braves’ cast was slightly different than in ’97 with McGriff, Lofton and Mark Wohlers gone. In their places were Andres Galarraga at first, with 44 homers; an outfield featuring Andruw Jones as the regular center fielder and Walt Weiss in place of Jeff Blauser at short. The starters did not change – Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz and Neagle. Kerry Ligtenberg was the new closer.
The Yankees appear for the first time in the ’90s in our alternate Series, but obviously we’ll be seeing them again and again. As noted above, this was considered an all-time great team, but there really weren’t any epic performances. Derek Jeter was a distant third in the MVP voting and Bernie Williams was seventh. David Wells was third in the Cy Young, well behind Roger Clemens; the two would switch teams in the off-season with a disappointed Wells returning to Toronto. Mariano Rivera had established himself as closer, a role he still holds today.
The rosters are what they were, with one exception. I made a mistake on the Yankees, as I left Darryl Strawberry on the 25-man list; Ricky Ledee replaced Straw, who was diagnosed with colon cancer but fortunately recovered and even played in the ’99 Series. I think it’s OK, though, as Ledee was just a replacement with 75 at-bats (though he did have a great World Series). The Braves’ roster was the same as they used in the NLCS loss to the Padres. We’ll stick with the rotations as they actually were for the playoffs, guessing at what the Yankees would have done in the Series had they needed more than four games.
So these Yankees remain one of the greats, but this was probably the best Atlanta Braves team ever, maybe the best in franchise history. So it should be a good battle. And it was.
GAME 1 at New York
Atlanta ……. 100 001 000 00 – 2 8 1
New York … 000 002 000 01 – 3 11 1
W: Stanton L: Perez HR: Galarraga
Paul O’Neill’s RBI single in the 11th won it for the Yankees in a hard-fought game. Andres Galarraga drove in the two Braves runs, with a single in the first and a solo shot in the sixth off David Wells. The Yankees couldn’t solve John Smoltz until the sixth. Jeter singled and stole second, and continued to third on Javy Lopez’s error. Bernie Williams lined a hit to make it 2-1 and Darryl Strawberry and Chad Curtis walked to load the bases. Jorge Posada singled to tie it up.
In the 11th, Posada led off with a base hit against Odalis Perez. Scott Brosius sacrificed and Kerry Ligtenberg entered for the Braves. Chuck Knoblauch walked and Jeter struck out. But O’Neill singled and pinch runner Homer Bush scored easily. Mike Stanton, the fifth Yankee pitcher, pitched one inning for the win.
GAME 2 at New YorkAtlanta ……. 004 003 000 00 – 7 12 0
New York … 000 052 000 01 – 8 18 2
W: Lloyd L: Ligtenberg HR: C. Jones, Davis, Brosius
The Yankees won in 11 again, this time on Jorge Posada’s RBI single. They overcame a 4-0 deficit with a 5-run sixth, then after the Braves went back up 7-5 in the sixth, the Yankees tied it again in their half.
O’Neill dropped a fly ball in the third, leading to Chipper Jones’ three-run homer off Orlando Hernandez. Javy Lopez singled in a run later in the inning. But the Yankees, again baffled by a Braves starter in the early innings, got to Tom Glavine in the fifth. Brosius doubled and Jeter singled to make it 4-1. Williams walked and Tino Martinez singled to make it 4-2. Then Chili Davis hit a three-run homer to give New York the lead.
El Duque departed after Keith Lockhart led off the sixth with a double. Ramiro Mendoza hit Weiss with a pitch, and Chipper Jones’ single loaded the bases with one out. Galarraga struck out for the second out, but Mendoza fumbled Ryan Klesko’s grounder, allowing Lockhart to score with the tying run. (All the runs off Hernandez were unearned.) Lopez followed with a two-run single to put Atlanta ahead 7-5.
But Brosius greeted Dennis Martinez with a homer in the New York sixth. Jeter and O’Neill singled with one out and Williams’ fly tied it up. The Braves managed just one hit in the last five innings against Stanton, Rivera and eventual winner Graeme Lloyd. The Yankees put a couple of threats together but couldn’t deliver the big hit until the 11th. Martinez’s single started the inning against Kerry Ligtenberg, in for his third inning. Strawberry batted for Davis and singled, and scheduled Game 4 starter Denny Neagle, the seventh Braves pitcher, came in and walked Chad Curtis. Posada followed with the winning hit.
GAME 3 at Atlanta
Yankees … 001 000 100 – 3 10 1
Braves …… 050 011 10x – 8 9 1
W: Maddux L: Cone HR: Strawberry, Galarraga, Tucker
The Braves made their big inning stand up this time as Greg Maddux pitched into the seventh and cut the Yankees’ Series lead to 2-1.
David Cone was hit hard in the second, allowing five hits and five runs. Walt Weiss doubled in two runs in the inning. Cone was lifted for a pinch hitter in the fifth and Ramiro Mendoza gave up homers to Galarraga and Tucker.
Maddux was good enough, allowing an RBI hit to Chuck Knoblauch in the third. Strawberry’s pinch homer in the seventh made it 7-3 and John Rocker eventually got out of the inning. Galarraga added a sacrifice fly off Graeme Lloyd in the eighth, and Dennis Martinez finished up for the winners.
GAME 4 at Atlanta
Yankees … 001 002 000 01 – 4 8 2
Braves …… 100 000 101 00 – 3 8 1
W: Mendoza L: Ligtenberg HR: Williams
Like Spinal Tap, the Yankees seem to need to go to 11. This time, it was Bernie Williams’ homer with two outs off Kerry Ligtenberg that gave them their third win in the series – all in 11.
Tino Martinez’s two-run single in the sixth chased Denny Neagle and gave New York a 3-1 lead. Andy Pettitte went six for New York, holding the Braves to just four hits and a run, and came out for a pinch hitter in the seventh. Jeff Nelson came in and gave up a single to pinch hitter Keith Lockhart. Mike Stanton relieved and walked Ryan Klesko, also pinch hitting. A sacrifice and Gerald Williams’ infield out made it 3-2.
Mariano Rivera came in to pitch the ninth, but the Braves tied it up. Lockhart doubled, Michael Tucker singled and Williams singled with two outs. With runners at second and third, Rivera got Chipper Jones to ground out and turned it over to Ramiro Mendoza, who went two hitless innings for the victory.
GAME 5 at Atlanta
Yankees … 000 010 000 – 1 5 0
Braves …… 300 011 20x – 7 12 0
W: Smoltz L: Wells HR: Brosius, Galarraga, Graffanino
John Smoltz kept the Braves alive, pitching a five-hitter and sending the series back to New York.
Atlanta took the lead for the fifth straight game as Galarraga hit a three-run homer in the first off David Wells. Smoltz’s squeeze bunt added to the lead in the fifth and Ryan Klesko drove in a run in the sixth to knock out the big lefty. Tony Graffanino added a home run in the seventh against Mike Stanton.
Smoltz gave up just a Scott Brosius homer in the fifth, and no other extra-base hits. He walked two and struck out three in a 126-pitch effort.
GAME 6 at New York
Braves …… 010 001 000 – 2 5 0
Yankees … 000 003 00x – 3 6 0
W: Hernandez L: Glavine S: Rivera HR: Lockhart
The Yankees finally won a game in regulation, though it was their fourth one-run victory, to clinch the series in six. As in every other game, Atlanta scored first, but again New York came back.
Tom Glavine was working on a shutout in the sixth when Scott Brosius was hit by a pitch. Derek Jeter walked and Paul O’Neill doubled to cut the Atlanta lead to 2-1. Bernie Williams’ sacrifice fly tied it and Tino Martinez knocked in O’Neill for the final run of the series.
Orlando Hernandez pitched into the seventh, giving up just five hits including a Keith Lockhart homer. He was pulled after walking Javy Lopez with one out in the seventh. Graeme Lloyd came in to get the next five outs and Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect ninth to finish it off. It was Rivera’s first save as the Yankees won twice at home in extras, and on the road in 11 innings in Game 4 after Rivera failed to close it out in the ninth.
WRAPUPI think I’ll have to go against the projected Series MVP. The award points leader is Andres Galarraga, who had a fine series, with three homers, seven RBI and a .318 average. I don’t think that’s really enough for a guy on the losing side to get it. How about Keith Lockhart of the Braves? He was amazing. He was 9 for 13, that’s a .692 batting average which I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen before. He had a homer and drove in two runs, but he only played in four games as part of a platoon with Tony Graffanino (who also had a homer).
No, I have to stick with the winners. The top “vote-getter” among Yankees was Scott Brosius, coincidentally the actual ’98 Series MVP. But in this series, he had two solo homers and batted .286. Nothing really special there either. There really isn’t anyone who stands out except for Derek Jeter, who hit .407 (11 for 27). He only drove in one run, but he scored five. And besides, he’s Derek Jeter. So that’s who wins the MVP. I can’t blame the computer for not picking him out – he rated third, followed by Chipper Jones and Bernie Williams. Bernie had a game-winning homer and tied for the team-high with 4 RBI but only batted .217. John Smoltz was the top pitcher, with a 1.69 ERA in 16 innings, but his team couldn’t hold the lead in Game 1.
Because of the Yankees’ success in one-run games, they were outscored 29-22 by the Braves. If the Braves could have won just one of those extra-inning games, they would have sent Maddux to the mound in Game 7. But just as in the real thing, it wasn’t to be for the Braves against the Yankees. They’ll get more chances later on. It was a great Series, as I thought it might be.
Next, as the Yankees’ sweep of the Braves in 1999 “stands,” it’s the rather unlikely matchup of 2000, with the White Sox and Giants facing off for the first time in 83 years.
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