History of the World Series – 1996

History of the World Series – 1996

By Steve Marantz
For The Sportng News

The city that never sleeps is going on a winter-long bender, celebrating as only it can, clutching the Bombers to its bosom with pent-up love and affection, 10 years the barren gap in time since a baseball trophy was brought home by the Mets.

When the drought ended, when third baseman Charlie Hayes squeezed his glove around Mark Lemke’s foul pop to end Game 6 and defeat the defending champion Braves, baseball had a new champion. Make that a new old champion, possessor of the game’s proudest tradition, resident of an early 20th-century shrine witness to 22 titles, inheritor of a name once connoting glamour and success.

You want baseball heroes — the ’96 Yankees have plenty. No shortage of heroes between the chalk lines. Not to mention a manager who qualifies as a hero in life. “There are so many stories in this clubhouse, I wouldn’t know where to begin,” pitcher David Cone gushes.

So many stories, and so many tabloid columnists to write them floridly. Cone, battling back from a circulation blockage in his right shoulder threatening his life as well as career. Darryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden — flotsam and jetsam from the drug nether world. Tino Martinez, who had the temerity to replace Donnie Baseball Mattingly at first base. Cecil Fielder, rescued from the Siberia of Detroit. Wade Boggs, with failing body and perfect eye, exorcising the Red Sox demon of 1986. Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter, two youngsters so blue chip they deserve a parade on Wall Street. Andy Pettitte, the likely Cy Young winner and 1-0 winner of Game 5, overcoming a slump during which he became known as Sigh Young. Bernie Williams emerging as the best baseball player in the world of classical guitar. Jimmy Key, winner of Game 6, battling back from rotator-cuff surgery. Jim Leyritz, a scrap-iron catcher with steel in his postseason bat, banging The Home Run in Game 4. Graeme Lloyd, the Aussie lefthander who was so bad before he became good that Bronx cheers kept him awake nights. Charlie Hayes, a nimble wide-body third baseman who started the season in Pittsburgh. John Wetteland, team weirdo, in-line skater and bulldog closer.

Stories in New York? How about The Boss, George Steinbrenner, a k a Phineas T. Bluster, publicly feuding with his first-year general manager, Bob Watson? Steinbrenner ripped Watson for late-season deals involving Lloyd and David Weathers, then tried to have Lloyd’s acquisition from the Brewers invalidated on grounds the Brewers concealed an injury. But when Lloyd became a key cog in the postseason bullpen and Fred McGriff’s personal nemesis, was Watson thanked for making a smart move? Was Watson thanked when Weathers turned into a dependable middle reliever?

No and no.

“Watson takes credit for the Lloyd trade, does he?” Steinbrenner sneered. “I’d rather talk about how good Lloyd is.” Yet, Steinbrenner has a heart, and he proved it by giving Strawberry and Gooden chances to revive their careers.

And then there is Joe Torre — one of baseball’s most beloved figures, winning a ring in his 36th year of pro ball. Torre grew up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn and made his name as an All-Star catcher and infielder for the Cardinals and Braves. His brains and character made him a natural for managing, and he has been a good one, for the Mets, Braves and Cardinals. But his clubs never could go all the way, and after being fired three times — the last by the Cardinals early in the strike-delayed ’95 season — Torre was about to hang it up. Then Steinbrenner offered him a job, and against the advice of friends who didn’t want to see him humiliated, Torre accepted.

Managing proved to be the easiest part of Torre’s summer. One of his older brothers, Rocco, died of a heart attack. Another, Frank, a first baseman on the 1957 Milwaukee Braves World Series champions, lay on life support in a New York hospital awaiting a heart transplant. As the playoffs wore on, and Frank’s condition deteriorated, Joe tried to cheer him up, visiting his bedside, consulting him on baseball decisions.

Frank Torre’s battle, documented breath-by-wheezing-breath in the city’s tabloids, became an inspiration for his brother, the Yankees and the entire city. Marguerite Torre, a nun who is Joe and Frank’s sister, asked the city to pray for Frank. Somebody up there must have been listening, because just four hours after Game 5, after the Yankees’ stomach-clutching 1-0 victory, a heart became available for Frank. On the travel day before Game 6, Joe flew home in time to give doctors a message for Frank before he went into the operating room: “Tell him I said I’ll be there when he wakes up to put a ball in his hand.”

Frank Torre got his new heart, and he was awake the next day to watch TV as the Yankees clinched. He watched his grateful brother tell a national audience how he, Frank, helped him manage “right up to the time he went under the knife.” Then tears welled in Joe’s eyes recalling his brother Rocco. “He was with me the whole Series — I know that, I felt him,” Joe Torre said.

Only in New York. The city’s warm embrace of Torre is equaled by that of his players. Man for man, they credit Torre for even-handedness, honesty and consistency. It was not necessarily an easy team to handle — several front-line players had to accept platoon roles. Torre’s genius was in getting them to accept their roles without complaint. The acquisition of Hayes late in August cut into Boggs’ playing time. Fielder’s arrival meant less action for Martinez. Tim Raines, Paul O’Neill and Strawberry shared outfield time. In the end, it was the Yankees’ depth that beat the Braves, but to reach that point, Torre had to meld the pieces.

“The reason this team plays well is that when guys come to the ballpark they leave their egos outside,” Hayes says. “When I came here Joe told me I wasn’t going to play a whole lot. I was going to play against lefties and pinch-hit late in games. That’s exactly what happened. What really sets this team apart is that we’re all together. It’s been great.”

A year ago the Yankees were sunk in deep gloom after a stunning five-game playoff loss to the Mariners, a division series they had led 2-0. For a while it appeared the club’s organizational wheels were spinning madly out of control. Steinbrenner forced out manager Buck Showalter and demoted G.M. Gene Michael to head scout. Scouting director Bill Livesey and farm director Mitch Lukevics — two men responsible for a system that produced Jeter, Rivera, Bernie Williams and Pettitte — were forced out.

Torre and Watson, a former Astros G.M., were hired. They surveyed the wreckage and saw a club in flux. Mattingly retired, leaving a hole at first. Randy Velarde, a key utility infielder, went to California. Starter Jack McDowell left for Cleveland. Strawberry was released. Catcher Mike Stanley left for Boston. Key was a question mark coming off surgery. Boggs and Wetteland were unsigned.

Their first big move was re-signing Cone, who almost went with the Orioles when Steinbrenner monkeyed around with his offer. Cone was to be the staff anchor, but nobody counted on a potentiallly deadly aneurysm, possibly the result of throwing too many pitches in the series finale against the Mariners. The aneurysm made his arm numb after several April starts. On May 10 Cone had a vein grafted from his left thigh to his shoulder. His doctors doubted he could play again this season, but Cone wouldn’t listen. He exercised through the pain, until he was able to soft toss 12 pitches at Yankee Stadium June 26. His strength returned gradually, and in late August Cone made two rehab starts at Class AA Norwich.

On September 2 Cone made his first big-league start since the surgery, and threw seven hitless innings against the A’s. What did Cone mean to the Yankees? When they went down 2-0 to the Braves, Cone turned the Series around by outdueling Tom Glavine in Game 3.

With Cone signed, pieces fell into place. Boggs and Wetteland were signed. Torre and Watson traded with the Rockies for catcher Joe Girardi — one of the Game 6 heroes with his third-inning triple. They found Mariano Duncan to play second, and somehow Duncan led the team in hitting during the regular season at .340, well above his career average of .262.

Martinez and reliever Jeff Nelson came from the Mariners for Sterling Hitchcock and Russ Davis. Veteran outfielder Tim Raines came from the White Sox in a trade. Lefty Kenny Rogers was signed to a four-year, $20-million deal — perhaps the organization’s biggest mistake.

Key decisions were made in the spring. Jeter, the probable Rookie of the Year, won the shortstop job ahead of veteran Tony Fernandez. Gooden, signed before Torre’s arrival, won a spot in the rotation. Although Gooden’s arm fatigued in September, and he was not on the postseason roster, he authored one of the season’s most dramatic moments — a no-hitter against the Mariners on May 14. Gooden was the club’s most effective starter in May and June.

The club jelled in the early weeks, taking over first place April 30 and holding it the rest of the season. Its forte — a scorched-earth bullpen — quickly became apparent. With Rivera as the 95-mph set-up man, and Wetteland the 95-mph closer, the Yanks could assure victory by carrying a lead into the seventh inning.

The Yankees led by as much as 12 games at the end of July, but Torre and Watson were not comfortable standing pat. They sent Ruben Sierra to Detroit for Fielder, a move that paid huge postseason dividends. Fielder, distraught at languishing for too long with a losing team, was hungry to be with a contender. During postseason play he surprised observers with his versatility at the plate. One theory is that in his boredom and frustration in Detroit, Fielder became a one-dimensional pull hitter; with the Yankees he regained his patience and willingness to go with the pitch.

“This is my rejuvenation,” Fielder says gratefully. “The Yankees gave me a chance to go out and play with something on the line. I’ve been in a dead end for so many years.”

In August, with Wetteland shelved, the Yankees slipped while the Orioles charged. By September 11 the Yankees led by only 2 1/2 games. But they dug in and held on, taking two of three in a crucial set with the Orioles, and splitting four with the Red Sox. Both series featured extra-inning comeback victories. This was a critical point in their maturation. They became the late-inning demons that characterized their postseason against Texas, Baltimore and Atlanta.

“For me that was the turning point because we weren’t a comeback team,” third-base coach Willie Randolph says. “That’s when we learned to capitalize and really fight through nine innings. I think we got a little bit lazy with our relief pitching. We scored early and sat back. Wetteland’s injury may have been a blessing in disguise. We found a way to keep playing, stay in it, pick up little hits here and there. That took us to another level.”

Randolph was a regular on the last Yankees champion, the tumultuous World Series clubs of 1977 and 1978. They were known as the Bronx Zoo because of the daily media chaos emanating from Steinbrenner, manager Billy Martin, and a group of churlish players including Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Graig Nettles, Sparky Lyle and Goose Gossage. Today, Randolph looks around and sees a club bearing little resemblance to the Bronx Zoo.

“We stay more focused — those players didn’t mind publicity and controversy,” Randolph says. “These players almost shy away from media because they know what the pitfalls are. When I played we had characters who were a lot more boisterous. They talked the talk and also walked the walk.”

Even The Boss has changed. He spends less time picking on his manager and players and more criticizing his general manager.

“George hasn’t been around that much,” Randolph says. “It’s different than when he used to walk through the clubhouse a lot more often and was a lot more vocal. He used to say things, but players were a little more thick-skinned, and could take it more. George has probably learned that players are different now. You can’t always say things publicly because they don’t react the way we did.”

The ’96 Yankees are personified by Martinez, who quietly put up 25 home runs and 117 RBIs. Martinez didn’t blink when Torre sat him down in Game 5 against righthander John Smoltz and was among the happiest of the happy in the champagne-drenched clubhouse.

“New York is the greatest place in the world to win — it’s the greatest place to play,” Martinez says. “They talk about losing here, how low it can be. But playing here is worth the risk. It’s worth taking the risk to go out there and win a championship.”