When it comes to the great dynasties in sports history, often times the totality of dominance takes the focus from the specific installments that helped build a sustained winner.
The Big Red Machine on the diamond, the Brady/Belichick Patriots on the gridiron, the Islanders four-peat on the ice, all are often looked at in the scope of the total sum of accomplishment.
Of course, when one of those installments is the greatest team of all time, there becomes an exception.
The 1998 Yankees, the most successful team in baseball history, isn’t a story lacking in revisits. After all, the Yankees dynasty of the late 1990s is one of the most recent sports dynasties, meaning we have all the video highlights, archived stories, and memories from those who lived it, as they are still relatively young and have plenty of recall when it comes to the most memorable team in the history of a franchise full of such candidates.
But Jack Curry, in his new book to be released on May 2, shows why another visit, and a deeper look at the 1998 Yankees, is warranted.
Any casual Yankee fan knows the barebones of the story: a then-record 114 wins, a World Series sweep, a blossoming superstar at shortstop, and one day of perfection. But in Curry’s new book, ‘The 1998 Yankees: The Inside Story of the Greatest Team in Pinstripe History,’ we’re taken between the benchmark storylines, which only further drive home how historically great this team was.
Scott Brosius, the team’s new third baseman that season, has his trajectory covered in detail by Curry, from the initial reaction by fans to the trade that brought him in from Oakland, to the scout that saw something that would turn into a .300 hitter and a World Series MVP. The unbelievable story of “El Duque” is fully covered, including the struggles of pitching under the bright lights in New York while wondering when the next face-to-face visit with family will come.
The ’98 Yanks didn’t seem to face many obstacles, but there were indeed some to examine. Curry goes in depth on the David Wells/Joe Torre feud, and the role David Cone played in helping Wells settle into the season, and eventually pitch a perfect game (one that started with Wells struggling to see straight after a late night out). Shane Spencer, the feel-good story of that September when the division was already locked up, gets a look from a different lens as well, as Curry looks back on some resentment towards the organization that built up inside Spencer after nine years in the minor leagues.
All of the top contributors have their time to shine in this fun and breezy read, but the truly fulfilling pages are the stories of the role players that made the ’98 Yankees so relentlessly deep and special. Whether it was Homer Bush, Darryl Strawberry, or Ricky Ledee, the entire roster is covered, and fittingly so, as this Yankees team didn’t have a starter in the All-Star Game. They were historic thanks to the sum of their parts.
While that is often how dynasties are viewed, the 1998 Yankees requires more of an up-close look. Curry, 25 years after covering the team while history was unfolding, retold the story to a level worthy of the greatest team of all time.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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