[EmpireWF]

The NY Post's Joel Sherman recently released a book, titled, "Birth of a Dynasty: Behind the Pinstripes with the 1996 Yankees." Sherman has covered the Yanks for the Post since 1995 so he's as close to the franchise as anyone else. It looks like a hell of an interesting book.

He was on the wfan sports radio station talking about it, brought up a lot of interesting points/tidbits.

For example...

-What if Buck Showalter had followed his eyes w/ Mariano Rivera in 1995? He was very good in that post season but Buck didn't keep him in in key spots. Obviously this was before Mo became a great closer. But he brings up the point that if Mo was let to pitch in those spots and the Yankees beat the Mariners...they probably beat the Indians (Yanks were the only road team in the AL to have a winning record at Jacobs Field in 1995) and play the Braves in the Series. However, Showalter clashed widely with management and likely would've been gone barring a WS win.

-The Yanks saw the Mets bringing up of Generation-K and wanted to match so they decided to bring up Derek Jeter in 1996 to the big leagues. Jeter had been a very good minor-leaguer but politics within the Yanks had their doubts on the kid. A week or so before the season began, top Yankee officials along with the coaches met in Torre's office. That's when Jeter received a vote of confidence from guys like Torree, Randolph, Michaels, etc. However, the Yanks were pondering a trade offer from Seattle...a no-name veteran SS (forgot his name, not Sojo) for RP Mariano Rivera and sending Jeter back to the minor leagues. LMAO...imagine that one.

-Overall though, that 1996 Yanks team was lucky. They got a lot of breaks and nobody expected them to win against the mighty Braves. Still, the season launched the dynasty that would run until 2001...and continues in some fashion today.

Interesting book about 1996...it was a special season...no doubt about that.

[legend]

So often the deals that don't get done, and the ones we never know about, change the face of a franchise. Buck deserved the door, and he will deserve it every place he goes because of his controlling personality. He couldn't possibly have lasted in NY. Hey, at one point, Tom Yawkey and the Yankee owner had traded Williams for DiMaggio after a night of drinking. In the morning, they changed thier minds!

[MJHMarc]

Who could forget Derek Jeter's rookie season? According to MLB.Com, he was actually brought up in 1995 but he didn't make an impact until 1996. That was ten years ago and it seems like only a few years ago!

Jeter has not only evolved in the league's top shortstop but also contact hitter. He has maintained a .315 career average including this year's statistics. He batted for the top in 1999 when he went long for 24-homers, 102 RBIs and achieved a .349 average. He definitely has franchise-player written all over him.

[Trashed]

Theres no doubt that the 96 Yanks got lucky A LOT! However sometimes its better to be lucky than to be good. Aside from the breaks though they never quit against the Braves and that shocked the National League champs as they expected the Yanks to fold after falling behind 0-2. They didnt. They had some of the greatest clutch hits, strikeouts, plays in baseball history in that series and the Braves were just demoralized that no matter what they did the 1996 Yankees kept coming back. Not nearly as good as the 1998 Yankee team but the 1996 team always puts a smile on peoples faces.