“Kings Of The Hill…” – The 1998 New York Yankees
ARTIST WEEKS By TSSCrew on August 9, 2008 at 2:22 pmWords By D. Chanda
The Yanks weren’t always the Evil Empire—that was post-2000. A carefully-constructed team—not store-bought talent—was the reason for the four World Series titles in the late ‘90s, with 1998 seeing the Pinstripes at their pinnacle. One hundred twenty-five wins (including the postseason) is a record, and a glowing example of why the ‘98 squad is always mentioned in the same breath as the ‘27 team. Another reason? The spirit of the yesteryear Yanks was the hefty, ball-battering, booze-swindling Babe while the team ten years ago had their own Ruth reborn: David “Boomer” Wells. ALCS MVP and pitcher of a perfect game… while hungover.
Not to be outdone in the pitching staff was the dependable David Cone and Pettite, enigmatic Irabu and the unorthodox Cuban exile El Duque. Props to pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, whose absence is still felt. Closing the show was, and still is, the lights-out Mo Rivera.
Derek Jeter may have been dating half of Hollywood, but the real stars who were money at the plate were Tino Martinez (Tinoooo!) and the old, but evergreen Paul O’Neill in right field. Power wasn’t really their thing—and neither the rest of the lineup—but their patience at the plate powered their RBI factory. The precocious Shane Spencer was the wildcard off the bench who managed to send one to the Bleacher Creatures whenever we needed it. Two new faces that season who were especially important was World Series MVP Scotty Brosius at 3B and my favorite, Chucky Knoblauch, then a solid second basemen when he could still throw a ball 45 feet to first (as opposed to 45 miles in the wrong direction).
The Yankees steamrolled through the Texas Rangers in the first round of the playoffs (which happened basically every year) and then eliminated the Indians, the best lineup in baseball on paper, in 6. Then came the Padres in the Series, led by the towering Kevin Brown on the mound, the record-tying Trevor Hoffman in the bullpen, steroid-pumped Ken Caminiti and the hit-machine Tony Gwynn. Swept in 4 games.
I was a fortunate nine-year-old who luckily attended Game 1, back when ticket prices at the Stadium to sit 20 rows from the field were still $100 for the World Series. They won that game 9-6 but my memory of the game is a bit soured. As I walked to the stadium, my uncle reached into his jacket breast pocket to retrieve our tickets. Next, a shook ass cop has a gun pointed at my fam. That’s New York for ya. What’s also New York though is the Yankees winning and the Chairman over the loud speaker saying he’s “top of the heap.”
So too were the Bombers in ‘98.
Posted in ARTIST WEEKS, GENERAL, REVIEWS, SMOKE BREAK, VIDEO — Tags: 1998, Andy Pettite, Championship Teams, Chuck Knoblauch, David Cone, David Wells, Derek Jeter, George Steinbrenner, Ken Caminiti, Major League Baseball, New York Yankees, Paul O'Neil, Tony Gywnn
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19 Comments
‘98 was sick… one of the best teams ever, we could use Tino and O’Neill right now, O’Neill’s last game in Yankee stadium was insane, I was at the ALCS game 7 in 2003 when Aaron Boone hit the walk off in the 11th, I never seen the stadium like that before or after…
You can’t possibly keep these bangin posts going; I am actually going to catch a yankee game next weekend!
we’ve got about roughly 11 hrs left hehe
‘98 – oh boy.
Chad Curtis doing flip-throws from left.
Straw still daring pitchers to throw to him (probably about a 100 games played and 25 homers) – he was a beast forever.
Raines and Chili Davis with the OG factor.
Sojo, Bush – bench was great.
Mike Lowell played a couple games that season before being traded in the off-season for Ed Yarnell or somebody.
Rotation, yeah, but the Bully in front of Mo, Stanton and Nelson + Mendoza and the big Aussie, Graeme Lloyd.
Great, great times.
Yanks Schmanks, blah blah blah. yeah i’m a hater i said it lol.
on a totally unrelated note, who’s digging the new (but not really) Camp Lo joint “Lumdi”?
@ Jaycee, word to mutha, I’m listening to that song right fuckin now.
Lumdi-laaa-aa
Lumdi been out for a few months now. I like it though.
Word. Its far from new. I just stumbled on it while reorganizing my music.
can someone post the Camp Lo song; also does anyone have the 12 inch for Pace Won I declare War
Yeah, im a Sox fan, one of those pre-2004 Sox fans
And even i cant help but recognize the controbutions that this ‘98 ballclub has to history, they were fun to watch
Camp Lo “Lumdi”
http://www.zshare.net/audio/7780405e4fc850/
Pacewon “I Declare War”
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=79D61TPR
@ Jaycee – i hear you my ninja…i’mma just say it, fuck the yankees…cheering for the yanks is like cheering for goliath to beat david…unless you’re from the BX, shut the fuck up
good look!!!!
@Jaycee
I dig anything Camp Lo or Ski Beatz related. I’ve had that Lumdi song for a minute. Did you check out Black Hollywood?
yea, i have Black Hollywood. it was str8, it ain’t fuckin with “Uptown” but it was str8 nonetheless. i’ve had “Lumdi” since like April and initially it didn’t grab me so i let it gather a little dust. upon revisiting it, it wasn’t half bad. they need to keep Ski on the production team that’s for sure…
Total myth that this team was “homegrown.” They were also a bunch of cheaters.
2004 Red Sox>98 Yankees.
before “Babies Making Babies”, there was “Kissin’ In The Crates”, a 4 volume set of soulful gems compiled by my homeskillet Apple Jac. these compilations were recorded between 2001 & 2002 and for those of you who may be like “where have i heard the name Apple Jac before?”, i posted a dope mix of his entitled “Obscurely Familiar” around these parts earlier this year.
some of these joints may be familiar to us because they’ve been sampled by some of our faves recently, and some haven’t but all and all, this is good quality music that we can all get down with point blank period.
Vol. 1 http://www.zshare.net/download/16790325f02e0f83/
Vol. 2 http://www.zshare.net/download/167914996ea1f67d/
Vol. 3 http://www.zshare.net/download/1678630284f4e2d9/
Vol. 4 http://www.zshare.net/download/16786376d427a334/
and here’s the director’s cut, which is basically songs that didn’t make the transfer from 90min cassette to 74 minute cd’s.
Director’s Cut http://www.zshare.net/download/167926974e361765/
give the homie a holla at myspace.com/applejac, let him know what you think. more heat on deck, we got crates mane…
^ I’m so on that shit. Good looks.