As someone who also loves the history of the game, I have to admit to a certain twinge of nostalgia for the New York Yankees of old. And when I say "old," I mean the late 1990s dynasty. Not that I ever did or ever would have rooted for them, because as a Sox fan you simply cannot do that.
But I did stand in amazement at some of their accomplishments, and at the guys who oftentimes came up the biggest for the team: Paul O'Neill, Scott Brosius, Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams. But not Aaron Boone. That one in 2003 hurt too much. It definitely was a changing of the guard when O'Neill retired after the 2001 World Series to become a broadcaster, and Brosius retired in 2001 to go back to his native Oregon.
And Bernie Williams. I remember being so disappointed when he opted, obviously, to return to the Yankees after the '98 season, taking a 7-year, $85M deal over whatever the Sox were salivating to give him. Of all the Yankees players of that era, Williams was the only one I liked. He was the only one that Sox fans probably could be given a pass to like. He always seemed to have clutch hits, but he also seemed to never fully live up to his potential.
This year, Bernie Williams was not on the Yankees' roster, ending a 15-year tenure with the club. That felt strange. Instead, the Yankees basically had to roll Johnny Damon and his $52M, 4-year deal out to center field on a wheelchair and put in Melky Cabrera when Damon couldn't do the job.
One more link to the Yankees' last dynasty was gone.
And this postseason saw the Yankees dismiss with another link to their most recent glory days:
manager Joe Torre left the club, rejecting a one-year, incentives-laden deal, which he deemed "insulting." He took the club to 12 consecutive postseasons, winning the World Series in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000, narrowly losing it in 2001 (the subject of ESPN's Buster Olney's fantastic book, "The Last Night of the Yankees Dynasty"), and getting outplayed in 2003. Another Yankee era gets closer to its end.
The only everyday players on the club from their recent dynasty are Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, and closer Mariano Rivera. Interestingly, the last three guys are all free agents this year. Catcher Posada will likely return, as there is such a small market for catchers. He'll probably get a 2- or 3-year deal for about $14M a year, because there are few alternatives.
Yes, Mo is old, but he is still a tough closer. Plus, keeping Rivera for another year allows the Yankees to develop a late-innings strategy for 2008 and beyond, figuring out whether to keep high-heat throwing Joba Chamberlain in late-innings relief and edge him to succeed Rivera, or put Chamberlain in the starting rotation, which they really don't need to do.
Pettitte has said he'll either play only for the Yankees or retire. Simply put, the Yankees need him. He's a lefty pitcher in a rotation that desperately needs a southpaw with his experience.
I well remember this intimidating gaze from under Pettitte's low bill from the postseasons of 1998 through 2000. It was a staple image for whatever network was broadcasting the playoffs, a hallmark of the Yankees' dominance and swagger of that time.
As for Jeter, he'll be collecting $20M each year from 2008 through 2010. Jeter, one of the most, if not the most, overrated shortstops of all time, inked a whopping 10-year, $189M deal just two months after his former best friend, Alex Rodriguez, signed a 10-year, $252M deal with the Texas Rangers. Jeter isn't going anywhere, ever. He'll be a Yankee for life, and he'll be the last link to the times when October lights shined brightest in Yankee Stadium...
...which, in line with O'Neill, Brosius, Williams, Martinez, Clemens, Torre, A-Rod, and others, will soon bid adieu to what once was--a team that simply dominated and held court over the Majors for almost 6 straight years.
2008 marks the last season in the old/re-outfitted Yankee Stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment