The 1996 Yankees finished their season by dropping four of six games to the 1998 Yankees. The '96 Yankees finished with a 67-89 record while the '98 Yankees improved their record to 28-14, third place by percentage.
The '98 Yankees won a wild 13-10 slugfest in Game One. Tim Raines went 5-6 at the plate with a double, homerun, three runs scored and two RBI. Bernie Williams went 4-5 with a double, three runs scored and two RBI and Tino Martinez hit two doubles and drove in four. The game was a rout as the '98 Yankees held a 12-2 lead before the '96 Yankees rallied with eight runs in the 8th to make it a game. The '98 Yankees won Game Two 4-1; all of their runs were scored on solo homers by Derek Jeter, Paul O’Neill, Jorge Posada, and Chad Curtis. The '96 Yankees won Game Three 9-3, thanks to three errors by the '98 Yankees that led to six unearned runs. O’Neill, Mariano Duncan, and Joe Girardi all had three RBI; O’Neill hit two homers, Duncan was a single short of the cycle, and Girardi hit a Weaver (three-run homer). The '96 Yankees lost two of their final three games but ended with a 6-2 win in their finale.
The 1996 Yankees hit .245 as a team, 23rd best and scored 696 runs for an average of 4.46 runs per game. They hit 158 homeruns. Here are the final numbers for the starting lineup:
C: Joe Girardi: .237, 22 stolen bases, 61 RBI.
1B: Tino Martinez: .219, 19 homeruns, 74 RBI.
2B: Mariano Duncan: .298, 15 homeruns, 115 RBI, 58 doubles.
SS: Derek Jeter: .291, 16 homeruns, 72 RBI, 17 stolen bases.
3B: Wade Boggs: .268, 32 doubles, 60 runs scored.
LF: Darryl Strawberry: .220, 14 homeruns, 30 doubles.
CF: Bernie Williams: .232, 28 HRs, 78 RBI, 99 runs, 26 steals.
RF: Paul O’Neill: .236, 25 homeruns, 93 runs scored, 43 doubles.
DH Cecil Fielder: .201, 18 homeruns, 53 RBI.
The '96 Yankee pitching staff finished with a 4.99 team ERA, 25th best. Here are the final numbers for the top five starters and their closer:
Andy Pettite: 18-7, 2.94 ERA, seven complete games, 123 Ks.
Kenny Rogers: 9-12, 5.23 ERA
Jimmy Key: 9-16, 6.52 ERA
Dwight Gooden: 10-15, 3.77 ERA
David Cone: 4-4, 6.16 ERA
John Wetteland: 2-5, 34 saves, 2.23 ERA
Jeter raised his average for the '98 Yankees to .366 with 11 homeruns, 11 stolen bases, and a 1.032 OPS. Williams’s average dropped to .322 but hit his 13th homerun. David Wells and El Duque Hernandez won both of their starts to maintain almost identical spectacular numbers; Wells is 6-0 with a 2.03 ERA while Hernandez is 5-0 with a 2.05 ERA. Mariano Rivera picked up three saves to give him 12 for the season. The '98 Yankees will take on the 53-61 2009 Yankees in the next series.
