1998 Yankees

The 1998 New York Yankees won 114 games. I need you to sit with that number for a second. One hundred and fourteen. They lost 48 times in six months -- which means they lost, on average, about once every three and a half days. And when they did lose, it felt weird. Like a glitch in the simulation. This wasn't a team that was "really good" or "historically great" or whatever hedge you want to throw at it. This was the greatest baseball team I've ever watched, and I don't think it's particularly close.

The Machine

Here's what made the '98 Yankees different from every other dominant team: they didn't have a weakness. Not one. Derek Jeter hit .324 with 19 homers from the shortstop position. Bernie Williams won the AL batting title at .339 and added 26 bombs. Paul O'Neill hit .317 with 24 homers and 116 RBI while running through brick walls in right field (emotionally and sometimes literally -- water coolers feared this man). Tino Martinez drove in 123 runs. Scott Brosius, the guy they stuck at the bottom of the order, hit .300 with 19 homers and 98 RBI. The bottom of the order.

Chuck Knoblauch gave them speed at the top (30 steals) and pop (17 HR). Jorge Posada -- splitting time behind the plate with Girardi -- clubbed 17 homers out of the bottom of the order. Darryl Strawberry -- in the twilight of one of the most complicated careers in baseball history -- mashed 24 homers in just 295 at-bats before everything changed.

The lineup hit .288 as a team and scored 965 runs. The rotation had David Wells (18-4), David Cone (20-7), Andy Pettitte (16-11), a Cuban defector who threw from about forty-seven different arm angles, and Hideki Irabu rounding it out at 13-9. The bullpen ended with Mariano Rivera -- 36 saves, 1.91 ERA -- slamming the door like it owed him money. They won the AL East by 22 games over Boston. Twenty-two. That's not a division race. That's a restraining order.

Boomer's Perfect Day

May 17, 1998. David Wells vs. the Minnesota Twins. Twenty-seven up, twenty-seven down. Eleven strikeouts. A perfect game.

Wells later claimed he was "half-drunk" from a party the night before (because of course he did). Posada caught every pitch. The beauty of Boomer's perfecto is that it made total sense and no sense at the same time. This was a man who looked like he ate a pre-game hoagie between innings and threw with the precision of a brain surgeon. He went 18-4 that year with a sub-4.00 ERA, and somehow the most surprising thing about his season was that he showed up sober enough to throw about 120 pitches without a hitch. (Or maybe he didn't. We'll never know. That's part of the charm.)

El Duque

Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez didn't just join the Yankees. He escaped to them. In late December 1997, he defected from Cuba on a small raft, drifting through the Caribbean with a handful of companions and no guarantee of reaching shore. He eventually made his way to Costa Rica, signed a four-year deal worth $6.6 million, and made his major league debut on June 3, 1998.

He went 12-4 with a 3.13 ERA. He threw from sidearm, three-quarter, over-the-top -- whatever he felt like, honestly -- and had this ridiculous high leg kick that made hitters look like they'd never seen a baseball before. But the real El Duque magic showed up in October. This was a man who'd risked his life on open water to play this game. A packed stadium in the Bronx wasn't going to rattle him.

The Gut Punch

No season this good comes without a cost. In September, Strawberry was diagnosed with colon cancer. Surgery followed on October 3 -- the same day the postseason started. The team that had steamrolled the American League suddenly had a reminder that baseball, even at its most dominant, doesn't exist in a vacuum. The clubhouse felt it. Everybody felt it.

And then Cleveland pushed them in the ALCS. The Indians won Games 2 and 3, and for a brief, uncomfortable stretch, the 114-win juggernaut looked human. But that's when this team showed you what it really was. They won three straight and closed the series in six. The machine didn't panic. The machine just recalibrated and kept going.

October

The postseason was 11-2. Read that again. Eleven and two. They swept Texas in the ALDS like it was a formality (it was). They survived Cleveland in six. And then they swept San Diego in the World Series because the Padres showed up to a knife fight with a pool noodle.

Game 1: Down 5-2, Knoblauch ripped a three-run homer to tie it, and Tino crushed a grand slam in the seventh. Final: 9-6. Game 2: El Duque was freakin' dominant. 9-3. Game 3 is the one I'll never forget. Bottom of the eighth, Padres leading 3-2, Trevor Hoffman on the mound -- the most unhittable closer in the National League. Brosius turned on a breaking ball and drove it into the seats. Three-run homer. Yankees up 5-3. The Padres scratched back to make it 5-4, but the damage was done -- the series was over in everything but name. Game 4 was a Pettitte masterpiece (7.1 innings) and Mo closing it out. 3-0. Championship. The greatest season in modern baseball history ended exactly the way it was supposed to -- with no drama, no doubt, and no freakin' question about who the best team was.

Scott Brosius took home World Series MVP honors, hitting .471 with 2 homers and 6 RBI. The guy hit at the bottom of the regular-season lineup.

Key Moments

This is the best team I've ever seen.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many games did the 1998 Yankees win?

The 1998 Yankees went 114-48 (.704) in the regular season -- the most wins in American League history at the time. Including the postseason, they finished 125-50 overall, going 11-2 in October with sweeps of Texas in the ALDS and San Diego in the World Series.

Are the 1998 Yankees the best team ever?

They're the strongest candidate. 114 regular-season wins, 22 games up in the AL East, an 11-2 postseason record, and no weak spots in the lineup, rotation, or bullpen. The 1927 Yankees are the traditional answer, but the '98 team did it in an era with three rounds of playoffs, deeper talent pools, and a 162-game schedule.

Who was on the 1998 Yankees roster?

The lineup featured Derek Jeter (.324), Bernie Williams (.339 -- AL batting champ), Paul O'Neill (.317, 116 RBI), Tino Martinez (28 HR, 123 RBI), Scott Brosius (.300, 98 RBI), Chuck Knoblauch (30 SB), Jorge Posada, and Darryl Strawberry (24 HR). The rotation included David Wells (18-4, perfect game), David Cone (20-7), Andy Pettitte (16-11), Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez (12-4), and Hideki Irabu (13-9). Mariano Rivera closed with 36 saves and a 1.91 ERA. Joe Torre managed. Brian Cashman served his first full year as GM.

Who won the 1998 World Series MVP?

Scott Brosius won World Series MVP after hitting .471 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI in the four-game sweep of San Diego. His three-run homer off Trevor Hoffman in Game 3 was the defining moment of the Series.

One hundred and fourteen wins. Eleven and two in October. And honestly? I'm not sure we'll ever see anything like it again. That's not nostalgia talking. That's the box score.