They clinched a playoff spot in August!!!! That's crazy talk!!! The guys who came in second in the division, the Red Sox, were not slouches that year (they were 92-70. Oh and they almost drafted/signed Mark Teixeira), so it's not like they had no competition in the division.
I love it when Boston fans/the media (cough ESPN) try to tell me what the Red Sox did in 2004-2008 was somehow more impressive than what the Yankees of 1996-2001 did. Don't get me wrong, they had a very strong run and coming back from an 0-3 hole from 2004 was definitely an accomplishment, as was coming back from a 1-3 hole in 2007. If they completed their comeback in 2008 and won the World Series, they'd be the team of the decade without a doubt, as much as it makes me puke to admit that. However, in between 2004 and 2007, they got swept out of the first round in 2005 and didn't make the playoffs in 2006. In 2008, they made their way back from a 1-3 deficit in the ALCS to force a Game 7, including a game that could have decided the series for the Rays where the Red Sox were trailing 7-0 in the seventh or something ridiculous like that. Thanks for leaving your obviously tiring relievers in too long, Joe Maddon! However, they didn't win the ALCS, so... yeah. Basically, it was the runs of 2004 and 2007, not 2004 through 2007.
The 1996 Yankees totally overperformed and beat the defending champion Braves with a rotation that boasted Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz, as well as Danny Neagle as the fourth starter. They are one of only three teams in history to drop the first two games at home, only to win the Series (the '85 Royals and '86 Mets are the others if you particularly care. Wow, the Red Sox really screwed the pooch in that 1986 World Series. But whatevs.). The 1996 World Series was like a miracle victory, though it more than likely had to do with the bullpen; we had John Wetteland getting over that unfortunate suckinginthepostseasonitis he came down with in 1995, some guy named Mariano Rivera working as his setup guy, and other really solid pieces like Jeff Nelson and Graeme Lloyd, while the Braves had stuff like Mark Wohlers and his hideous mullet thoroughly blowing saves in epic fashion (hope everything turns out okay for you, Jimmy :( ). The Yankees lost in 1997 but as I think I said before, it was one of the better losses in Yankee history because it made those guys hate to lose.
The 1998 and 1999 Yankees were ridiculous; they went 22-3 over the two postseasons. The 1999 Yankees had an 11-1 record in the playoffs, the best ever, only matched by, of all teams, the 2005 White Sox (and their insane pitching staff). The Yankees of those two years were so much better than everyone else, and frankly, they knew it. In 1998, they owned the Texas Rangers to the tune of the pitching staff holding that very powerful team to one run over three games. Then, they went down 1-2 in the ALCS to the Cleveland Indians - including a humiliating extra-innings loss at Yankee Stadium, thank you Chuck Knoblauch, and Andy getting absolutely ripped apart - who'd beaten them the year before, and then they remembered that THEY HATED TO LOSE and absolutely came roaring back and didn't lose a game the rest of the postseason and, seemingly enough, the 1999 postseason too. The Padres definitely put up more fight than the 4-0 Series final would suggest, but the Yankees of that year were just too good. Heck, when Scott Brosius ties/sets a team record for RBIs in one postseason, you know you're just blessed by the baseball gods, frankly.
The 1999 Yankees beat the Rangers really thoroughly again; in fact, IIRC, they once again held them to one run in three games. That Yankees' team's one loss was a beating at Fenway after winning the first two games of the ALCS against Boston, but the Yankees rebounded really nicely the next two games, still took that ALCS in five, and celebrated their trip to the World Series at Fenway. Sweeeeet. They swept the Braves in the World Series - and yes, the Braves still had Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine, plus an awesome year by Kevin Millwood. The Yankees beat all four of those guys. If not for a crappy start by Pettitte in Game 3 that led to a great Yankee comeback and a walk-off home run, there honestly wouldn't have been a single exciting game in the four-game series. That's how good the Yankees were. That 22-3 record over two years - that's .880 baseball against the best teams - is something that probably won't be done again for a verrrrry long time, if ever, in the contemporary baseball era with its multiple rounds of postseason play and free agency going on.
2000 was just weird. If you look at the OPS+ of the lineup the team normally used, they had literally only three guys that were above league average - Jeter, Jorge, and Bernie. David Justice was a huge addition, though. Scott Brosius's OPS+ was 70, lol. I am very fond of Tino Martinez, but he was just not that great for what you generally expect from first base offense that year. The top three guys in their rotation - Clemens, Pettitte, and El Duque - were great, but Cone completely fell off a cliff and Neagle wasn't very good either. The bullpen was still solid, but I bet everyone was freaking out that Mariano Rivera's ERA was 2.85, over a point higher than it had been in 1999, when he was almost laughably untouchable the entire second half of the season. Still, considering 2000 was probably the peak in the steroid years... anyway, yeah, the Yankees still won that year. But the 2001, 2002, and 2003 Yankees... all probably better than the 2000 version.
In 1998, 1999, and 2000, the Yankees went a ludicrous 12-1 in the World Series. Heck, throw in 2001 when they lost, and it's 15-5. Again, ridiculous. Five World Series appearances in six years? Six in eight? RIDICULOUS. (Oh, and I just remembered how Bob Brenly was hailed as a GENIUS! GENIUS! for throwing Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson as many times as possible at the Yankees in 2001, or how it was so very admirable for the Twins' pitchers such as Carl Pavano were OMG so selfless and put the team ahead of themselves by going on short rest the last few days of the season, but when the Yankees of 2009 did it with their best pitchers in the World Series, it was OMG THREE DAYS REST THEIR ARMS ARE ALL GOING TO FALL OFF!!!!!! Aaagh. You put your best pitchers out there to give yourself the best chance at winning possible, especially when the other guy people were talking about starting, Chad Gaudin, has beyond horrible numbers against lefties. Utley, Howard, and Ibanez would have MURDERED him. AJ Burnett got murdered in Game 5, but that was just Bad AJ. Yes, I realize 2009 AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte are not exactly 2001 Schilling and Johnson, but you know what I mean.)
In conclusion, another Yankee dynasty would be pretty thoroughly awesome. I'd love it if the 2010 and 2011 Yankees did even better than that 22-3 record the 1998 and 1999 Yankees posted over two postseasons. ;)
Also, unrelated, but Troy Tulowitzki so cute <3333 I do love all these white-boy baseball players who look kinda like doofuses.
