When the Yankees chopped Atlanta
New York sports teams know a thing or two about beating Atlanta teams in the playoffs. The Knicks defeated the Hawks in the 1971 and 1999 Eastern Conference Semifinals. In 2007, the Rangers swept the Thrashers in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Back in 2012, the Giants defeated the Falcons in the Wild Card round. Heck, even the Mets beat the Braves in the 1969 NLCS, before Kenny Rogers walked them into the 1999 World Series. When it comes to stopping the chop and putting the brakes on a dynasty, no one knows better than the New York Yankees. Facing the defending World Series champions in 1996, the Yankees recovered from a 2-0 series deficit, rallying to win four straight in capturing the flag. Manager Joe Torre all but guaranteed owner George Steinbrenner his Yankees would come back in his town, and Mr. T was right. Game 3 saw a gutsy bulldog effort by David Cone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA7uyT7DDeE In Game 4, the Yankees stormed back from a 6-0 deficit, with a Jim Leyritz game-tying home run ultimately swinging the momentum of the series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VogFY9L4I78 Andy Pettitte pitched his heart out in Game 5 and Paul O'Neill's catch preserved a 1-0 victory and closed out Fulton County Stadium. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0XcIgwcOAc Returning home, New York finished off the Braves, catapulted by a big triple by Joe Girardi in a 3-2 victory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCSnK_ctjdk Fast forward to the 1999 Fall Classic and the Yankees placed the final nail in the Braves' coffin. The series would cement the Yankees as the undisputed dynasty of the 1990s and the Braves haven't made it back to the World Series ever since. The Yankees stormed out early, winning the first and last World Series games played at Turner Field by final counts of 4-1 and 7-2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB0JEVtX59k In the most competitive game, the Bronx Bombers demoralized the Bravos on a 6-5 walk-off home run by Chad Curtis in Game 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzETeEBiJOk Roger Clemens and Mariano Rivera closed out the Braves in Game 4 and Leyritz smacked a home run for good measure, in a 4-1 win and a series sweep. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI70rDsTUrA We're not taking anything away from the New England Patriots comeback victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51 but... https://twitter.com/ScottReinen/status/828446712842899457