The Best Ever?

1998 New York YankeesHome Field: Yankee Stadium
World ChampionsHit: #1 R, #2 BA
W - 114 L - 48Pitch: #1 OR, ERA
Manager: Joe Torre

On paper, this roster doesn't compare with the greatest ever. The 1927 Yankees had Ruth and Gehrig. The 1906 Cubs had Tinker to Evers to Chance. Cincinnati's Big Red Machine was an all star team in itself. With this team, there is no clear superstar, no obvious future Hall of Famer. Here is a team, however, in which everyone contributed. There were no weak links. The 1998 Yankees were truly a team effort.

These Bronx Bombers set an American League record for victories with 114. Only the 1906 Cubs won more regular season contests. Unlike that Cubs team, however, the Yankees won the World Series. In a convincing display, they swept the Padres and staked their claim as one of the best teams ever. Post season included, no team has ever won more than the 125 contests the '98 edition.

So who were these guys? Bernie Williams won the batting title, hitting at a .339 clip. Shortstop Derek Jeter hit .324 and led the league with 127 runs scored. Tino Martinez and Paul O'Neill drove in 123 and 116 runs respectively. The pitching staff was led by two Davids - Cone and Wells. Cone was 20-7 while Wells went 18-4 including a perfect game. An excellent bullpen was led by Mariano Rivera who saved 36 games.

Simply put, this was perhaps the greatest team effort in baseball history. There was always someone to get that big hit, or a pitcher to get that big out. It was fitting that Scott Brosius, barely a .200 hitter on a last place Oakland team just a year earlier, won World Series MVP honors.


Pos Player Bats AB H R HR RBI BA    AL Rank
C Jorge Posada B 358 96 56 17 63 .268  
1B Tino Martinez L 531 149 92 28 123 .281  
2B Chuck Knoblauch R 603 160 117 17 64 .265    #5 R
SS Derek Jeter R 626 203 127 19 84 .324    #1 R; #5 BA
3B Scott Brosius R 530 159 86 19 98 .300  
LF Chad Curtis R 456 111 79 10 56 .243  
CF Bernie Williams B 499 169 101 26 97 .339    #1 BA
RF Paul O'Neill L 602 191 95 24 116 .317  
DH Darryl Strawberry L 295 73 44 24 57 .247  
                 
OF Tim Raines B 321 93 53 5 47 .290  
C Joe Girardi R 254 70 31 3 31 .276  
1B-SS Luis Sojo R 147 34 16 0 14 .231  
DH Chili Davis B 103 30 11 3 9 .291  
2B Homer Bush R 71 27 17 1 5 .380  
OF Ricky Ledee L 79 19 13 1 12 .241  
OF Shane Spencer R 67 25 18 10 27 .373  
                   
TOTAL: Team   5643 1625 965 207 907 .288  
  League Average   78417 21276 11365 2499 10767 .271  

Pitcher Throw G IP W L ERA PCT    AL Rank
  David Cone R 31 208 20 7 3.55 .741    #1t W; #5 K
  David Wells L 30 214 18 4 3.49 .818    #5 ERA
  Andy Pettite L 33 216 16 11 4.24 .593  
  Hideki Irabu R 29 173 13 9 4.06 .591  
  Orlando Hernandez R 21 141 12 4 3.13 .750  
  Ramiro Mendoza R 41 130 10 2 3.25 .833  
  Mike Stanton L 67 79 4 1 5.47 .800  
  Mariano Rivera R 54 61 3 0 1.91 1.000  
                   
TOTAL: Team       114 48 3.82    
  League Average           4.66    

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