October 26, 1996. Yankee Stadium. One week after the Atlanta Braves had shown up and beaten the New York Yankees 12-1 and 4-0 in back-to-back games at home, a 38-year-old third baseman named Wade Boggs climbed onto the back of an NYPD officer's horse and rode around the field with his finger pointed at the sky. He'd been afraid of horses his whole life -- bitten as a kid. Didn't matter.
That's what 18 years of nothing feels like when it ends.
| Series Result | Yankees 4, Braves 2 |
| Series MVP | John Wetteland (4 saves) |
| Derek Jeter -- Series AVG | .361 (AL Rookie of the Year) |
| Bernie Williams -- Series AVG | .345 |
| Jim Leyritz -- Game 4 HR | 8th inning, 3-run, off Wohlers |
| Pettitte -- Game 5 Line | 8⅓ IP, 5 H, 0 R vs. Smoltz |
| Yankees' Last Title | 1978 (18-year drought ended) |
| Joe Torre's Wait | 4,110 games as player/manager |
The Obstacle
The 1996 Atlanta Braves weren't just good. They were one of the great rotations in baseball history -- Smoltz (24 wins, NL Cy Young), Maddux (four consecutive Cy Youngs), Glavine (15 wins, future 305-game winner). This was a pitching staff that didn't beat you. It dismantled you.
Games 1 and 2 were played at Yankee Stadium, and the Braves made themselves at home. Smoltz beat Andy Pettitte 12-1 -- a 19-year-old Andruw Jones, making his first World Series appearance, hit home runs in his first two at-bats off Pettitte, becoming the youngest player in World Series history to homer (19 years, 180 days, breaking Mickey Mantle's record). Maddux followed with a clinical 4-0 shutout. The Yankees were down two games at home, heading to Atlanta facing that same rotation.
The newspapers started writing the obituary.
The Pivot
David Cone won Game 3 in Atlanta with six gutty innings. Yankees 5, Braves 2. (The 1996 Yankees hadn't won a World Series championship since 1978. That drought was ending.) The series was alive.
Game 4 was different. The kind of at-bat that changes a franchise.
The Yankees trailed 6-3 going into the eighth. Mark Wohlers -- who'd been throwing 100 mph all night -- came in to close it. Before Jim Leyritz stepped in, he asked bench coach Don Zimmer what he needed to know. Zimmer's scouting report was brief: "Jimmy, this guy throws 100 miles an hour. Just get ready."
Wohlers worked the count to 2-2 on fastballs -- 98, 99 mph heat. Then he hung a slider.
Leyritz turned on it and hit it to left field. Three-run home run. Game tied 6-6. The Yankees won in the 10th, 8-6.
The series -- and the freakin' franchise -- turned on one hanging slider.
The Gems
Game 5 was Andy Pettitte against John Smoltz, which is a sentence that doesn't fully convey what you were watching. Pettitte, who'd been shelled for seven runs in 2⅔ innings in Game 1, came back in Atlanta and threw 8⅓ innings of shutout baseball. Smoltz struck out 10 and gave up nothing -- except an unearned run in the fourth that scored on a Cecil Fielder double. (Fielder was the guy GM Bob Watson acquired at the trade deadline for basically a bag of baseballs -- Ruben Sierra and a minor leaguer -- because Watson was very good at his job.) Paul O'Neill ended the game by robbing Luis Polonia of an extra-base hit. Yankees 1, Braves 0.
One win needed.
The Night
Game 6. Yankee Stadium. Jimmy Key against Maddux. The Yankees scored three runs in the third on a Grissom misplay in center and singles by Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams. Three runs was enough.
John Wetteland saved all four Yankees wins. Every single one. He was named series MVP, and it wasn't close.
Joe Torre had managed all six games knowing his brother Frank was in New York Presbyterian Hospital waiting for a heart transplant (performed by Dr. Mehmet Oz -- yes, that Dr. Oz, the TV guy -- the morning after Game 5). After the final out, Torre left the celebration and went to the hospital. Frank was barely conscious. Joe took his hand and kissed it. Neither of them said a word.
That's not a baseball story. That's just what 1996 was.
What It Started
Jeter was 22. Mariano Rivera -- who'd been the setup man all season with a 2.09 ERA -- was 26. Pettitte was 24. Three more championships in the next four years. The dynasty that everyone says can't happen anymore started right here, in a series the Yankees had no business winning.
But the thing I keep coming back to isn't the dynasty. It's Wade Boggs on that horse.
He'd spent 11 seasons trying to win a ring in Boston and never got there. He signed with the Yankees in 1993 and waited three more years. And when it finally happened, the way it happened -- riding a police horse he was terrified of, pointing at the sky in front of 56,375 fans -- it was exactly as ridiculous and perfect as it should've been.
The drought was over.
Game 1: Braves 12, Yankees 1
Andruw Jones hits two HRs in his first two WS at-bats off Pettitte, becoming the youngest player in World Series history to homer. Yankees lose badly at home.
Game 2: Braves 4, Yankees 0
Maddux shuts out the Yankees on six hits. The Yankees are down 0-2 at home, heading to Atlanta facing the same three starters.
Game 3: Yankees 5, Braves 2
David Cone throws six innings in Atlanta. Williams homers in the 8th. Yankees survive and the series is alive.
Game 4: Yankees 8, Braves 6 (10 inn)
Jim Leyritz hits a 3-run HR off Mark Wohlers in the 8th inning to tie the game 6-6. Yankees win in extra innings. Series turns.
Game 5: Yankees 1, Braves 0
Pettitte throws 8⅓ shutout innings against Smoltz. Cecil Fielder's double is the only run. Yankees take a 3-2 series lead.
Game 6: Yankees 3, Braves 2 -- Championship
Yankees score three in the third at Yankee Stadium. Wetteland earns his 4th save. The 18-year drought ends. Wade Boggs rides a police horse across the outfield.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the 1996 World Series?
The New York Yankees defeated the Atlanta Braves four games to two in the 1996 World Series. It was the Yankees' first World Series championship since 1978 -- an 18-year drought -- and their 23rd title overall. John Wetteland, who saved all four Yankees wins, was named the series MVP.
Did the Yankees come back from 0-2 down in the 1996 World Series?
Yes. The Braves won the first two games at Yankee Stadium -- 12-1 and 4-0 -- and the Yankees headed to Atlanta in an 0-2 hole. They won four straight, three in Atlanta and Game 6 back in New York. The turning point was Jim Leyritz's 3-run HR in the 8th inning of Game 4 off Mark Wohlers.
What was Jim Leyritz's home run in the 1996 World Series?
In the 8th inning of Game 4 with the Yankees trailing 6-3, Leyritz hit a 3-run homer off Mark Wohlers on a 2-2 hanging slider, tying the game 6-6. The Yankees won in extra innings 8-6. It's one of the most consequential hits in franchise history -- the moment the series and the dynasty began.
Who was the 1996 World Series MVP?
Closer John Wetteland won the World Series MVP award after saving all four of the Yankees' victories in the series. Across five appearances, he allowed just 1 earned run and struck out six. The Yankees didn't win a single game without him closing it out.
What happened with Wade Boggs and the horse after the 1996 World Series?
After the Yankees clinched in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium, Wade Boggs jumped onto the back of a mounted NYPD officer's horse and rode around the field, pointing one finger skyward. Boggs had been afraid of horses his entire life after being bitten as a child. It became one of the most iconic images in Yankees championship history -- Boggs, 38 years old, finally getting the ring he'd never won in Boston.
Who managed the Yankees in the 1996 World Series?
Joe Torre managed the Yankees to the 1996 championship in his first season as manager. Torre had spent 4,110 games combined as a player and manager without reaching a World Series. During the series, his brother Frank received a heart transplant at New York Presbyterian Hospital. After winning Game 6, Torre went straight to the hospital.