NEW YORK — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…August 29, 1998, 25 years ago today:
The New York Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners 11-6 for their 98th win in 134 tries, clinching a post-season spot the earliest in the team’s storied history. The Yankees would win 114 regular season games in 1998, the most in American League history until the M’s eclipsed that in 2001. The Yanks finished 22 games ahead of second-place Boston in the AL East. They would add another 11 in the post-season for a total of 125—a major league record.
In the playoffs, they swept Texas in the Divisional Series before beating Cleveland four games to two in the ALCS. Then the Yankees swept San Diego for the first of their three straight World Series championships under manager Joe Torre. Some call the 1998 Yankees the best team in big league history—if only because they won the Series and the 2001 Mariners did not. Derek Jeter had a breakout season, Bernie Williams won the AL batting title, and three Yankees hit at least 24 home runs: Tino Martinez, Williams, Paul O’Neill and Daryl Strawberry (who hit two pinch-hit grand slams).
Jeter was still young—in his third full season with the Yankees. But he had one of the best seasons of his career, establishing himself as a budding superstar. Jeter batted .324 and collected 203 hits while finishing third in voting for the AL Most Valuable Player Award. On the night the Yanks clinched the postseason against the M’s, Jeter clubbed his 17th home run of the season and broke the Yankees team record for most homers by a shortstop.
Contrast that 1998 team with the one today. The Yankees are 63-68 after a 4-1 win in Detroit Monday night—they’re buried in last place in the AL East. They’ve lost eight consecutive road series for the first time since 1908, when they were known as the Highlanders. Though they’re still mathematically alive, the Yanks have virtually no shot at the playoffs. They were built to win the World Series this year, but as soon as Aaron Judge broke his toe crashing into the wall at Dodger Stadium in June, the downward spiral began.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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