Taylor Hawkins: In Your Honor

Like many of you, I woke up yesterday morning stunned and saddened to see the news of Taylor Hawkins’ passing at the age of 50.

Feeling grief and sadness over someone relatively famous that I’ve never met before and don’t know may seem a bit childish, but it is hard to swallow and accept no less.

I don’t know what happens next. It’s likely the Foo Fighters stop touring for a period and grieve the loss of their friend and bandmate. Maybe in due time, someone will try to fill in on drums. It’s too early to have to even fathom.

All I know is that Taylor Hawkins deserves massive credit for the Foo Fighters ascension from small demo project, to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

The sad irony is Dave Grohl has already done this before: overcome the untimely death of a bandmate after Kurt Cobain in 1994. The parallels are too eerily familiar already.

In the summer of 1995, I purchased the first Foo Fighters self-titled album along with ‘Frogstomp’ by Silverchair at Best Buy.

First listening to it then, I was immediately intrigued by the demo rock sound of Foo Fighters, specifically the tracks ‘For All The Cows’ and ‘Alone + Easy Target’. I still am intrigued to this day, 27 years later.

Dave Grohl recorded every instrument and sound on that album. I see this as evidence of a man that was looking to just create and move on following the death of Cobain. It is well documented that during this time of the many opportunities for Grohl to become a drummer in another band, notably to join Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

Fortunately he passed on those opportunities, forging the unlikely way for a mountain of beautiful music. Starting with the debut in ’95.

The Foo Fighters started as a one-man demo with no intentions of being what they have become. Dave Grohl has admitted this on record many times. But I’d be willing to bet that even he would admit that if Taylor Hawkins had not joined Foo Fighters in 1997, they may not be the rock & roll force of nature they have become.

The recent and beautiful Ringer film Jagged Little Pill chronicles where Taylor Hawkins got his break: as a touring drummer for Alanis Morissette. A young and fresh-faced Hawkins is seen throughout the film, ultimately making the decision to leave Morissette after Grohl reached out to him to inquire if he knew any drummers that would be interested in joining Foo Fighters.

His response:

“Uhhh, dude. How about me?”

He joined in 1997, right around the release of their 2nd album: ‘The Colour and the Shape’. This one I bought at K-Mart. The Colour and the Shape was a stark difference from the first album: this was polished and engineered to perfection, and one could argue it is the defining rock sound of 1997.

Grohl still wrote every song, but others recorded with him. It is documented that during the recording Grohl was not satisfied with the drumming sound of William Goldsmith, so he re-recorded the drum parts himself. This didn’t go over well with Goldsmith, and he left the band.

It couldn’t have been easy to play drums in a band with Dave Grohl. Anyone who has ever listened to Nevermind or In Utero by Nirvana knows why. Dave Grohl is an absolute animal behind a drumkit. Someone would need to be a great drummer, and not feel intimidated by another bandmate.

The Colour and the Shape was a massive success. Songs include Monkey Wrench, My Hero, February Stars, f*cking Everlong. On and on and on.

The next person to play drums on these songs would need to be someone ready to be part of a rocket ready for takeoff. Musically, technically, sonically: someone would need to be able to bring it.

Someone like Taylor Hawkins.

My first Foo Fighters show was in Minneapolis in 2000. The lineup that evening was Muse, Foo Fighters, and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Today, each of those bands sells out Wembley Stadium on their own.

During the Foo Fighters set, Dave Grohl announced to the audience that this was the first arena tour for them, and they were excited to have Hawkins’ drum set on risers for all to see.

This tour was in support of their October 1999 release ‘There is Nothing Left to Lose’. I bought this album at a place called On Cue. Rage Against the Machine’s ‘The Battle of Los Angeles’ came out the exact same day. I had about $15 to my name then, and could only afford one.

I chose Foo Fighters.

The Foo Fighters to me represent a coming of age young kid ready to make his own choices and create his own path in life. At the risk of getting too profound; let me say I’ve always taken great pride in being on board the Foo Fighters train from day 1.

Fast forward this entire life journey to now and many many shows later, I’m proud to say the Foo Fighters have been along with me everywhere I’ve been.

I’ve been lucky enough to see them perform all over the country, notably many great shows in Seattle over the years.

In my time spent living in Europe I can say with a straight face: that outside of meeting my wife Stephanie, the best moment of my time there was seeing the Foo Fighters on a July night in Berlin in 2011. There was an energy in that audience that I’ll never forget. “Holy sh*t, Germans LOVE the Foo Fighters” is what I yelled many times to myself from the pit in the front row.

In all those shows, the common denominator was the developed musical connection of Taylor Hawkins and Dave Grohl playing off of each other that stands out. Trading solos. Trading “Can you top this?!” riffs, going back and forth. Sometimes tongue-in-cheek, sometimes not.

If you’ve seen the Foo Fighters, it’s likely you know what I’m talking about: the improvised jam sessions between songs, each time leading into the next song in a way that builds and builds and then explodes. It’s a tightly-knitted sonic boom of electricity, with giant smiles on their faces the entire evening. I’m sad this piece with Taylor in it is now over.

I’m going to miss seeing Taylor Hawkins during those moments the most: his hair and arms and legs flying everywhere, looking like the golden rock god that he forever is.

Thank you for taking the sound of the Foo Fighters to the highest heights. You were the heartbeat behind it all.

75 Seasons turn 100: A Chicago Bears Healing Essay

Tonight, Da Bears and Packers begin the 100th Season in NFL history.

Rewind to last January, when one of the most exciting Bears seasons in over a decade came to a crashing (*or doinking) halt when you-know-who hit the you-know-what.

Twice.

This is a declaration that I’ve come to peace with it and am ready to move on.

Sort of.

Something I’ve been saying a lot lately to people is: “If the worst thing that has happened in my life in the last year is a Cody Parkey missed field goal? Then I’ve got a great life.”

I do have a great life. It feels great to type that.

But just to confirm: If the worst thing that happened this year is a missed kick that instantly snuffed out a 12-4 Bears season and gifted the Eagles and the city I live in a playoff win: If that’s the worst thing that happened in my life this year?

Then I really, truly have a great life. There’s no doubt.

But I’m ready to get a football season going again, for better of for worse.

This upcoming Bears season is as anticipated and as exciting as any in recent memory.

I’m ready to see if Akiem Hicks can blow up backfields again week after week. I’m ready to see if Khalil Mack can get to the quarterback and change the course of a season again. I’m ready to see if Eddie Jackson can make big plays and a few game-sealing pick-six returns again. I’m ready to see if Mitch Trubisky can throw for 6 TD’s in one game again. I’m ready to see if Tarik Cohen can get into space. I’m ready to see if David Montgomery can be an impact rookie. I’m ready to see if Da Bears can defend their NFC North crown. I’m ready to see if Matt Nagy can bring continued growth and stability in his second year to a city and a fan base starving for it. Absolutely starving for it.

Which also scares the hell out of me at the same time. In the NFL, not often does a season turn out the way you think it will unless you’re the New England Patriots. But for the rest of us football peasants, it’s true.

So ready or not: the 100th NFL Season begins tonight.

Like any relationship, it’s complicated and has taken growth.

Last February, the Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 in the Super Bowl.

During that Super Bowl, there was a commercial for the 100th Anniversary of the National Football League. That means one big thing to me: It means I consider my formative awareness and love affair for the NFL during the 1994/95 season. That season marked the 75th Anniversary of the National Football League. During that season, I hit record on every possible NFL Films release: notably The All-Time Team and 75 Seasons: The Story Of The NFL. Those were brilliant and inspiring television moments etched into my 14-year-old mind. 

My family brought home a VCR in late 1990. Learning how to record things off of the radio with a tape recorder blew my mind: but learning how to record shows off of TV really opened up my world to film/sports/etc.

But nothing was recorded more in those days than Steve Sabol and NFL Films.

I’d check TV listings in the Argus Leader to find when NFL Films shows were on, and set the VCR to record each and every episode. Morning, day, and night. I had dozens of tapes, most two-to-three hours long that were all loaded with NFL Films start to finish. I’d study each episode carefully.

I probably should’ve been studying Biology and Algebra instead, but it is what it is. All things considered, things turned out just fine.

But I’d study every single NFL Films frame, every sound byte, every line. I can still hear my favorite lines as I type this:

 

“…all those mornings on the mountain taught Payton if he honed his body like a tool, he could use it as a weapon..”

 

“…when you’re talking about Night Train Lane, you’re talking about in my book: the greatest defensive back that ever lived.”

 

“Give me 18 inches of daylight. That’s all I need.” 

 

“I told Coach Halas in my interview when he asked what was my football philosophy: ‘Coach, who’re you kidding? My philosophy is the same as yours: kick the other teams ass.”

 

Fast forward to last January, and unfortunately another memorable sound byte was added into recorded football lore:

 

“Oh my goodness. The Bears season is going to end on a double doink.”

 

So here’s to moving on, and here’s to starting new.

Here’s to a new NFL season, the 100th.

The NFL’s been complicated recently for many, many reasons. But the league did it right with this matchup tonight.

Here’s to the NFL’s Charter Franchise Chicago Bears kicking this thing off at Soldier Field.

Hope, healing, and redemption.

Bear Down, Chicago Bears.

Let’s do this one for Papa Bear Halas.

 

…and P.S. if you build me up and rip my heart out again this season, I’ll likely need a script for Xanax. The entire city of Chicago will as well.

 

GO BEARS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Insomnia and the 1999 Yankees

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I go to bed tired. Then I wake up at 1 am, then fell back asleep after.  Wake again at 3 am, then asleep. Then again at 3:45 am. 

What goes through my head at these times?

Specific dates, times. Things like: ‘what was I doing twenty years ago from right now?’

Sounds crazy, but it’s true.

To answer that specifically, in June of 1999 I spent two weeks selling books door-to-door in a Pittsburgh suburb.

Then went home to South Dakota and worked at a car wash in Sioux Falls before going back to college for my sophomore year. Lived rent free, I must note, out of the graciousness of my wonderful Aunt Kathy. **Ed’s note: Thanks Aunt Kathy!**

But lying half awake with insomnia on this night, what also came into my head was:  “write about this: write about the summer of 1999.”

I got up, went into the bathroom, and wrote in my notes: “Write about the summer of 1999.” If I don’t write it down, I’ll forget.

So I wrote it down, and here we are.

The summer of 1999: 20 years ago from right now. It’s currently 4:03 AM on my nightstand alarm clock, and I can’t sleep.

What else do I remember about the summer of ’99?

I saw a bunch of movies that summer: Summer of Sam, The Blair Witch Project, American Pie.

Saw Hootie and The Blowfish at Huset’s Speedway and Collective Soul at Washington Pavilion with Steve Blankenship. Collective Soul covered “Crazy Train”, and Oleander opened. Is there anything more 1999 than ‘Oleander’? Freak of the Week dropped by The Marvelous 3, man I still love that song.

But the biggest thing that sticks out to me about 1999? Besides starting year 2 of college and rooming with The Great Brian Dewald in 301 Binnewies Hall at South Dakota State? That certainly is up there.

What sticks out the most is the Yankees won the World Series again.

Last summer I put down 4,000+ words on the 20th Anniversary of the 125-50 Yankees. As it currently stands, the 1999 Yankees are the last team in baseball to repeat as champions. (They actually won a third straight in 2000, but I can save that for next summer and the 20th anniversary of the Subway Series).

It’s interesting to think: How did they repeat?

We now see Boston getting out of the gate slowly this season, after the best season they ever had. It brings to mind how the Yankees did out of the gate in 1999?

I get it, you don’t care. But I’ve covered that already so don’t need an explanation. But in case you do: Don Mattingly: The bricklayer of a baseball dynasty

Here’s a better thought: what happened the year after each current MLB team had their best regular season ever, regardless of if they won the World Series or not?

After all, this is my damn blog so we can look.

The first noted year below is best regular season record in team history, then their record the following year after:

Anaheim Angels, 2008: 100-62; then the next year in 2009: 97-65

Arizona Diamondbacks, 1999: 100-62; 2000: 85-77

Atlanta Braves, 1998: 106-56; 1999: 103-59

Baltimore Orioles, 1969: 109-53; 1970: 108-54* (won World Series)

Boston Red Sox, 1912: 105-47* (won World Series); 1913: 79-71

Chicago Cubs, 1906: 116-36; 1907: 107-45* (won World Series)

Chicago White Sox, 1917: 100-54* (won World Series); 1918: 57-67

Cleveland Indians, 1954: 111-43; 1955: 93-61

Cincinnati Reds, 1975: 108-54* (won World Series); 1976: 102-60**(won World Series)

Colorado Rockies, 2009: 92-70; 2010: 83-79

Detroit Tigers, 1984: 104-58* (won World Series); 1985: 84-77

Florida Marlins, 1997: 92-70* (won World Series); 1998: 54-108. Yikes.

Houston Astros, 1998: 102-60; 1999: 97-65

Kansas City Royals, 1977: 102-60; 1978: 92-70

Los Angeles Dodgers, 2017: 104-58; 2018: 92-71

Milwaukee Brewers, 2011: 96-60; 2012: 83-79

Minnesota Twins, 1965: 102-60; 1966: 89-73

New York Mets, 1986: 108-54* (won World Series); 1987: 92-70

New York Yankees, 1998: 114-48* (won World Series); 1999: 98-64** (won World Series)

Oakland Athletics, 1988: 104-58; 1989: 99-63* (won World Series)

Philadelphia Phillies, 2011: 102-60; 2012: 81-81

Pittsburgh Pirates, 1909: 110-42* (won World Series); 1910: 86-67

San Diego Padres, 1998: 98-64; 1999: 74-78

San Francisco Giants, 1993: 103-59; 1994: 55-60 (strike-shortened season)

Seattle Mariners, 2001: 116-46; 2002: 93-69

St. Louis Cardinals, 1942: 106-48*(won World Series); 1943: 105-49

Tampa Bay Rays, 2008: 97-65; 2009: 84-78

Texas Rangers, 2011: 96-66; 2012: 93-69

Toronto Blue Jays, 1985: 99-62; 1986: 86-76

Washington Nationals, 2012: 98-64; 2013: 86-76

That’s a lot to take in.

A few things stand out:

*Only 9 times has a team gone on to win the title after posting their most regular-season wins in franchise history: 1909 Pirates, 1912 Red Sox, 1917 White Sox, ’42 Cardinals, ’75 Reds, ’84 Tigers, ’86 Mets, ’97 Marlins, and ’98 Yankees.

*Only ’76 Reds, and ’99 Yankees repeated as champs after posting franchise record wins + a title.

*Four teams had their all-time high water win mark in 1998: Braves, Padres, Yankees, and Astros. Which means there were teams that took some serious L’s that year: Marlin’s 108 losses, Rays 99, Montreal Expos 97, Arizona Diamondbacks 97.

*Only one team in the AL Central had winning record in ’98: Cleveland. The White Sox finished in second place with a losing record, 80-82.

 

So how are the ’99 Yankees the last to repeat? What has happened in the last 20 years?

A bunch of things could factor into this.

One was they returned nearly their entire roster from 1998. Give or take a few guys that didn’t return: David Wells, Homer Bush, Graeme Lloyd, Tim Raines; having the majority of their roster return the following year was a major positive.

Another could be the Wild Card inception in 1995: more teams make the postseason than ever before. Now with the Wild Card and play-in games: could that be why it’s harder to repeat? Could it be more teams, more parity, and more competitive balance then ever?

Before you throw “Payroll/big market vs. small market” at me, just remember this:

Kansas City, Houston, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Chicago have all won championships in recent years with great player development without being a top-10 payroll team. To further prove that point, let’s look at another list: here’s every championship team in the last 20 seasons, and where they ranked in MLB Payroll that season:

1999: Yankees #1

2000: Yankees #1

2001: Diamondbacks: #8

2002: Anaheim Angels: #15

2003: Florida Marlins #25

2004: Red Sox #2

2005: White Sox #13

2006: St. Louis Cardinals #11

2007: Boston Red Sox #2

2008: Philadelphia Phillies #12

2009: New York Yankees #1

2010: San Francisco Giants #10

2011: St. Louis Cardinals #11

2012: San Francisco Giants #8

2013: Boston Red Sox #4

2014: San Francisco Giants #7

2015: Kansas City Royals #15

2016: Chicago Cubs #14

2017: Houston Astros #18

2018: Boston Red Sox #1

So what does this all mean?

It means big spending doesn’t always mean a championship.

In fact, only 4 times in the last 20 seasons has the team with the biggest payroll won the title (3x the Yankees, 1x Boston).

What I do know is the Yankees followed up their historic ’98 campaign with another championship in 1999.

It was fun to research the storylines from that ’99 season:

  1. David Cone’s Perfect Game on Yoga Berra Day at Yankee Stadium
  2. Jeter .349, 219 hits/Bernie .342
  3. Mariano Rivera didn’t allow a run after July 21.
  4. Roger Clemens traded to Yankees in February 1999
  5. 11-1 Postseason

Back to my previous question about how they started out of the gate. Let’s look at their chronological season record:

May 1st: 15-7

June 1st: 30-20

July 1st 47-29

August 1st: 62-41

September 1st: 81-51.

So how is this team the last to win consecutive titles?

Let’s start with the guys in the clubhouse, Jeter and Rivera first.

Eventually both will be first ballot Hall Of Famers, and by 1999 each were full budded young superstars: Jeter was 25, and Rivera was 29.

 

Jeter:

Statistically, one could argue that 1999 was the best year he had in his career.

He posted career highs that season in hits (219), batting average (.349), home runs (24), RBI’s (102), and WAR (8.0).

“Within the long list of Jeter’s exceptional stats in 1999, there are two that also stand out: He hit a mind-boggling .371 on 0-2 pitches and hit .455 when facing an opposing pitcher for the third time in a game.” –excerpt from “Derek Jeter’s Forgotten MVP Season,” by Lyndsay Berra. 

Jeter also went into the All Star break hitting .371, an astounding first half.

He was 25: an elastic, flexible, and explosive shortstop with lightening-quick hands. It’s crazy to now think he’d go on to play 15 more seasons after ’99.

 

Rivera:

The only point that needs to be said about Rivera in 1999: He did not give up a run after July 21.

Let me type that again.

He did not give up a run in 1999 after July 21.

That means after July 21st he entered a game and pitched 28 times to finish the regular season, and 8 postseason appearances did not give up a run in any of those times.

*Maybe that’s how you repeat: when your closer doesn’t give up a run for 36 straight appearances*

It’s not easy to do. He’s a unanimous first ballot Hall Of Fame inductee for a reason.

 

Coney Perfect:

The difference in parody from one season to the next can be staggering. In my piece last summer, I delved into the David Wells perfect game on May 17th and how that seemed to galvanize the 1998 club.

And unbelievably enough: David Cone did the same thing and threw a perfect game one year later at Yankee Stadium on July 18th, 1999.

The previous perfect game before David Wells in ’98 was by Don Larsen all the way back on October 8, 1956. Yogi Berra was the catcher, and after the last out created the memorable scene by jumping into Larsen’s arms.

By early 1999, the relationship between the Yankees and Berra can be called rocky at best, after Berra was canned by George Steinbrenner less than 20 games into the season in 1985. Berra vowed to cut ties, and didn’t have anything to do with the club for 14 years.

But before the ’99 season started, Berra and the club were able to mend as he worked with Jorge Posada in spring training before the year started.

The Yankees went even further, and named July 18 ‘Yogi Berra Day’ at the stadium and honored him before the game. Don Larsen was also there and took part in the festivities.

So what happened next?

David Cone threw a perfect game that day, with Larsen and Berra in attendance. You couldn’t make this up.

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Bern Baby Bern:

Lost in the Core Fore lore is Bernie Williams, who for all practical purposes one could argue was probably the best all-around player in baseball in 1999. He arrived a few years before Jeter, Posada, Pettitte, Rivera and in his early years principal owner George Steinbrenner spent several offseason’s trying to get rid of him.

Good thing that didn’t happen.

From ’97-’01 Williams was at the peak of his prime, earning a spot on the American League All-Star team for 5 straight years. He was consistently impressive in those years batting cleanup, and helped catapult the Yankees to a World Series three-peat from 1998 to 2000. He won 4 straight Gold Gloves from 1997-’00, and a batting title in ’98.

As for 1999:

.342, 202 hits, 100 walks, 25 HR, 115 RBI’s, .971 OPS. Another Gold Glove in center field.

His signature patient, low-crouching, switch-hitting stance was a prelude to many big moments.

Perhaps none bigger than his heroics in game 1 of the ALCS vs. Boston with a walk-off home run vs. Rod Beck that set the tone for an AL Pennant.  At the time he became the first player in baseball history to his two postseason walk-off home runs, his other previous in the ’96 ALCS vs. Baltimore.

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Speaking of Wells…

In February 1999 the Yankees traded Boomer to Toronto along with Graeme Lloyd and Homer Bush for Roger Clemens.

Wells was heartbroken, and said at the time: “It’s tough. Give me a couple days.”

Yankees manager Joe Torre said the day of the trade to the media, as quoted in the Washington Post: “There’s some shock in that room right now. It’s something you have to get used to. That is what the game is all about. There are going to be changes. . . . Roger Clemens is a nonstop Hall of Famer.”

Well, that’s not exactly how it’s played out.

In 1999 Clemens didn’t have his best season, going 14-10 and posting a career high ERA of 4.36 in his first season in the Bronx.

But he won the ALDS clincher vs. Texas, throwing 7 shutout innings to clinch the sweep vs. the Rangers.

An emotional Clemens was then shelled by his former team at Boston during game 3 of the ALCS in his Fenway Park return. He started the Yankees only loss of the playoffs, lasting only two innings in a 13-1 rout.

The starting pitcher Clemens was against? He was up against an absolutely-out-of-his-mind Pedro Martinez who beat Clemens and the Yankees in game 2.

In ’99 Pedro had one of the greatest pitching seasons in baseball history: winning the Cy Young by going 23-4 in 29 starts. He threw 213 innings and had 313 strikeouts.

Wow.

Fortunately, the Yankees only had to face Pedro once that series, and they disposed Boston in 5 games to set up a rematch of the ’96 World Series vs. the Atlanta Braves.

The anticipated rematch didn’t live up to much hype, as the World Series ended in a Yankees sweep. The sweep gave them 8 straight wins vs. Atlanta in the World Series dating back to ’96, and 12 straight World Series wins overall at the time.

As for Clemens? He redeemed himself in a big way in game 4 of the World Series, going 7.2 innings and getting the win in a 4-1 World Series clinching victory.

It would be an understatement to say that Clemens’ baseball legacy not only in New York, but in all of baseball is….complicated.

But of the three Playoff series victories in ’99, he was lights-out and won two of the clinchers and certainly remains a major piece of how the team was able to repeat.

“The Yankees were awesome,” Smoltz said. “I felt in 1996 that we should have won. I can’t say that this time. I feel like the better team won. We had a chance to win every one of these games, but the Yankees had an answer for everything we tried.” -Washington Post, October 28, 1999 following game 4. 

Legacy:

I believe it’s ultimately about players, and those players year after year playing their best baseball. The Yankees from 1996-2001 had more players do that than any team in the last 30 years. The other part is luck: staying healthy, staying together.

I don’t know how the summer and baseball season of 2019 will play out. What I do know is that 20 years ago from right now, the Yankees followed up their greatest season ever in 1998 with another dominant season and a World Series championship.

They were last to win consecutive titles because because David Cone was perfect. They were the last to win consecutive titles because Jeter, Rivera, and Williams were pretty damn close to perfect. They won because Roger Clemens wasn’t perfect in 1999 regular season, but had big playoff moments and righted the ship at just the right time.

Winning the 1999 World Series, their third in four years, defined the club as a dynasty.

20 years ago was a great summer, and that’s something I can rest easy about.

So now the next time I have insomnia, I’ll write about who had the better rock show: Collective Soul or Hootie?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Journey through Cooperstown

In the 2011 film ‘Moneyball’, the movie begins with the following Mickey Mantle quote:

“It’s unbelievable what you don’t know about a game you’ve played all your life”

It’s with that in mind that my comrade Brett Guido and I recently journeyed to Cooperstown, NY. Our agenda was to visit the ghosts of baseball and take in the game’s cherished history: a history that is safely kept inside the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

When we arrived from Philadelphia after a few hours in the car, we were surprised by how small Cooperstown was. It’s a small lake town loaded with Americana charm and a sprawling number of colonial style homes.

With a population of 1,800 it’s basically the size of Parkston, Freeman, or Canton, South Dakota.

As we made our initial drive down main street, we found the Baseball Hall of Fame on our right, directly across the street from the Cooperstown Post Office:

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There are no chain Applebees in the Cooperstown city limits. There’s no Target, no Outback Steakhouse, and unfortunately for us: no Metropolitan Grill (we tried to get reservations and looked up the location–it doesn’t exist). Cooperstown is just good ‘ol locally-owned mom and pop hospitality.

After checking into our hotel–which was literally one block away from the Museum, we didn’t waste much time heading over.  We may have drank a Coors Light first.

We purchased tickets and entered. From there our baseball journey began as we were greeted by statues of Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, and Roberto Clemente:

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Next to them is an inscription titled ‘Character and Courage’:

“Becoming a Hall of Famer takes more than just a great baseball career. Off-the-field challenges–and how those challenges are met–reveal an inner character that serves men and women throughout their lives. The life experiences of Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, and Roberto Clemente stand out above all. Each faced personal and social obstacles with strength and dignity that set an example of character and courage for all others to follow.”

They all started off playing a boys game: not only unbelievably skilled enough to make it to the big leagues, but skilled enough to flourish. The grit to play through pain. Play through mental aches.

Or in the case of Robinson: play through racial turmoil and hatred and bigotry beyond our comprehension. But instead of spitting and fighting back, Jackie Robinson used the hatred and bigotry as a fuel for his game. And with that fuel, lit a fire in his play that no one in the history of baseball has played with before or since. At least not in our modern age, and certainly not anyone who is white. A competitive rage that is far beyond that of the possessed and controlled rage of a Jordan or Jeter or Brady. And it’s safe to say they would likely admit that as well.

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I’d always heard that Pee Wee Reese played a vital role in leading and voicing his acceptance for Robinson to the league and to his Dodger teammates. He was brave enough to stand up and make his acceptance of Robinson known.

It’s wonderful that the Hall notes their character strengths on their plaques in Cooperstown.

It’s 2019, and we still need more guys like Pee Wee Reese:

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Basically any moment you can think of, dating back to the inception of baseball: has been saved, recorded, framed, labeled, noted, verified, stamped, certified, and illuminated forever under spotlights.

You name it:

Lou Gehrig’s personal keychain complete with his house keys, Babe Ruth hand-written postcards, Babe Ruth bats, Pee Wee Reese’s game-worn cleats, Stan Musial’s locker, Hank Aaron’s locker, Joe DiMaggio’s jersey, George Brett’s pine-tar bat, the hats Nolan Ryan wore for all seven of his no-hitters. Floors and floors of every artifact you can think of. It’s truly remarkable and overwhelming at the same time.

Barry Bond’s record-setting 756th home run ball?

That’s there, complete with a branded asterisk courtesy of owner Marc Ecko. Ecko purchased the ball and cut out the asterisk to emphasize “this unforgettable moment in sports history in popular culture”:

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There’s a great photograph of Christy Mathewson that captures what he really looked like in 1910. Staring at this face, I couldn’t help but think of the great moment in the film Dead Poets Society where Robin Williams’ character has his students stop to admire old photographs they have passed thousands of times without stopping to take notice:

“Seize the day! Seize the day, boys!”

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Another photograph that stood out to me was this one of a young Frank Robinson, which defines the sheer strength and physicality of him in uniform. Frank truly must’ve been an intimidating and imposing presence:

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Another highlight for me was seeing the details of the uniforms. More specifically, the labels and tags. This one is hard to see, but it’s easy to note the jersey size:

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What these uniforms did more than anything was bring to life and personify the person who wore it. The names of baseball lore are now seemingly mythical figures in the minds of anyone that loves the game. But seeing these uniforms behind glass allowed one to visualize the person that wore it.

For example: Joe Dimaggio’s jersey was broad from shoulder to shoulder when seeing it up close:

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You can sit in Hank Aarons locker, as well as view each of his home run baseballs leading up to and breaking Babe Ruth’s career home run record.

His game-worn uniform from his historic record breaking home run on April 8, 1974 was upright and stunning:

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When you enter the great hall that bares the plaques of the Lords of Baseball is an essay that includes the question:

Why Cooperstown?

“In 1908, sporting goods magnate A.G. Spalding announced the verdict of a special historical commission that has been formed to determine the origins of baseball: “the first scheme for playing (the game) according to the best evidence obtainable to date, was devised by Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown, NY, in 1839.” In 1935, local philanthropist Stephen C. Clark sought to capitalize in the commission’s findings by building a baseball museum in the games alleged birthplace. With the help of Ford Frick, President of the National League, Clark succeeded. Today, historians agree that Doubleday had nothing to do with baseball’s beginnings, but Cooperstown remains the spiritual home of the National Pastime.”

The overwhelming gratitude of the voices in a :15 minute film available at the beginning of a Hall Of Fame visit sets the tone for an emotional experience. Clips of past and recent Hall Of Fame inductees, including a memorable one from Greg Maddux saying he’s been retired for nearly twenty years, but still thinks about the game in almost every instance of his life. It gave a Field Of Dreams-like feeling, and was at the beginning of the tour.

The game today may not be to our country what it was in, say, 1955. But as I’ve grown older it’s become nothing short of a poetic art form to me. That’s what the Cooperstown visit helped solidify.

Baseball is the closest thing to a time machine we have in our lives, and I’m glad I was finally able to enter it. The ghosts of baseballs past exist: and are all alive and well in Cooperstown, NY.

Enshrined in the Hall Of Fame are the heroes of our fathers fathers fathers. Heroes like Stan Musial: who was the favorite player of a great family friend, the late Bill VanLeur.

 

 

This one’s for Bill:

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What Tiger did today

“It’s just a guy that’s been through a lot.”

-Scott Van Pelt, with the understatement of the year, on April 14th 2019 at 3:05 pm EST.

What Tiger Woods did today was win his 5th Masters Championship to earn another green jacket.

I’m not an expert on golf. I don’t watch or play enough to pretend I know about clubs and approaches, and how fast greens are running, or the condition of fairways.

But I do know that I never in a gazillion years thought Tiger Woods would return to the mountaintop and win The Masters ever again. And you didn’t either.

But I hoped he would.

This is a guy who was at a mountaintop to which no one not named Ali, Jordan, Brady, or Gretzky has ever been. These are the names that dominated their sport in the modern era, and no one dominated golf like Tiger did from the time he turned pro until the time he crashed his Escalade into a tree that infamous night.

His crashing halt was nobody’s fault but his own.

It’s been well documented the self-mutilating and shocking/cringe-worthy number of short comings and faults: the unbelievable amount of affairs, the aforementioned Escalade crash, the divorce, the pain meds, the embarrassment, the shame. The scripted apology press conference. The night he was found sleeping in his car, and later to an addiction to pills. On and on and on and on, including an admission to being a sex addict.

More skeletons in a closet than any modern iconic name sports has ever had.

After his recent DUI arrest where he was found asleep at the wheel on May 30, 2017 I couldn’t help but think: ‘Never mind golf, I just hope this dude is okay and can live a normal life and get the help that he needs.’ Maybe you said this too, or maybe you didn’t.

But it was just another embarrassing narrative to add to Tiger’s downfall.

Golf, like life, is a game you play on your own. So it was on him, and only him, to pick himself up and get back on the course and play again. But it was evident in recent years that he would never win another major again.

That’s what we thought. That’s what I thought.

Until today.

What Tiger did today was the most astonishing ascension back on top that I have ever seen watching sports.

Seeing he was tied for the lead on the back nine on Sunday started a frenzy that I don’t remember ever seeing watching golf. I love watching The Masters, and look forward to the final Sunday every year. But Tiger in the lead on the back 9 was unbelievable enough, whether he would end up winning or not.

I texted friends: “Holy sh*t is he gonna win?”

Not really truly believing, but hoping he would.

What Tiger did with his Iron to tee off the 16th hole threw me from my chair, like I was being ejected from an F-14 Tomcat on Top Gun, and vaulted me screaming with my fists in the air. My Dog Baxter barked. I yell-cheered again as the ball rolled within two feet of the pin, and if you were watching you did this too.

He then putted for birdie, giving him a two-shot lead with two holes left on Masters Sunday.

He ended up needing just a 5 on the 18th hole to win, and he got it.

I don’t know Tiger Woods any more than you do. But like SVP said, I do know he’s been through a lot.

What Tiger did is hit rock bottom. Then go down further. Then further, then further and further yet until he hit the point of being so far at the bottom that it was only him that could ever pick himself up again and climb out.

What Tiger did was complete the climb from a dark abyss. He pulled himself out of his own unbelievably self-induced rock bottom, and climbed back to the mountaintop.

He won The 2019 Masters and put on another green jacket. What Tiger did was win the Super Bowl of golf for the 5th time.

Love him or hate him, you gotta hand it to him.

What Tiger did today is something that nobody in the world thought was possible.

 

 

Except him.

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The 1998 Yankees and the quiet legacy of 125-50: Twenty Years Later

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Has it really been 20 years since the summer of 1998?

That was a great summer: I had just graduated from high school, had a full 3 months of summer working at the local swimming pool before moving into a dorm to start my freshman year of college. It was a magical summer, not just magical for me but for Major League Baseball.

This was the summer of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and their chase for Roger Maris and his immortal 60 home runs. At that time, it was truly a home run chase for the ages. Whatever your opinion of it now, the McGwire/Sosa chase for breaking the Roger Maris record of 60 home runs in 1998 was the biggest story the entire summer.

It was also the summer of the New York Yankees, and as close to perfection that a baseball team can achieve.

The 1998 Yankees dominated an entire baseball season from start to finish in a way that had never been done before, and probably won’t be again. They played 175 total games (postseason included), and won 125 of them. Their record when it was all said and done was 125-50.

125-50!! 

Just think about that for a moment.

That means they were seventy-five games over .500.

Hell, they were 61-20 at the All Star Break. It is a ridiculous number of victories, and was a team that nearly had no weakness at any position.

They had Tino Martinez at first, who came to the Bronx from Seattle in 1996 with the giant task replacing the Iconic Don Mattingly who retired at the end of the 1995 season. Tino responded by being a key piece in a 1996 World Series Championship. He then ended up driving in 144 runs, hitting 44 bombs, and batting .296 in 1997. Yankee fans were suddenly feeling like Tino was a huge upgrade to an aging Mattingly. I don’t think there were many Yankee fans out there who loved Donnie more than me, but Tino’s monster years helped ease the transition. Driving in 144 runs eases just about any transition.

Derek Jeter started at SS, and by 1998 was already the Crown Prince of the city following his 1996 Rookie of The Year campaign and helping end the World Series drought. In 1998 Jeter was already an exceptional leader by age 24, and many veterans had turned to in any large moment. This was before Jeter became “DJ3K” and all that stuff. He was a dynamic and explosive ballplayer that season, with incredible bat speed and lengthy range at short. The biggest thing I remember about ’98 Jeter is that he had a lightning quick bat, and made contact all the time. Heading into year three he was primed to take another step towards reaching peak potential.

Paul O’Neill returned to the Yankees in ’98 as the veteran right fielder who was as pissed off as anyone when things didn’t go well. In Yankee manager Joe Torre’s exceptional memoir  “The Yankee Years” he described his right fielder: ‘Paul O’Neill had a desperation to win’. It was that characteristic that set the tone for this team. No one cared about who got the credit, but nobody wanted to be the guy to make the final out, and not do his job to help the team. O’Neill personified that for this ball club.

Center fielder Bernie Williams would go on to hit .339 and win a batting title in 1998. He won a Gold Glove with his long legs and tremendous outfield range. Yet his batting title was really the lone significant league leader they had on that team. A major narrative with Bernie throughout the season, and especially following the World Series, is that ’98 would be his last season with the Yankees. He was set to be a free agent, and all signs pointed to him testing the market and likely landing in Boston.

Fortunately, he didn’t end up in Boston. Or 2004 may have happened for the Red Sox earlier than 2004.

Chad Curtis started 100 games in left field with Hall of Famer Tim Raines also seeing starts there, as did rookie Ricky Ledee when he was called up later in the season. You can Google search Chad Curtis if you are interested to see the details of why he is currently serving a prison sentence. Unfortunately his name can’t be erased from the roster. You won’t read any of his accolades here.

Chuck Knoblauch, a guy my dad referred to as a “pest” while with the Minnesota Twins, was the 2nd baseman. Knoblauch was really, really good and was a huge piece for the ’91 champion Twins. He had tremendous speed, and throughout his entire career was a really tough out. Unfortunately in years following ’98 he became plagued by what is called the “yips” at 2nd base. Basically when a player struggles to do something routine, like field an easy grounder at second and throw to first base. This turned difficult for Chuck in coming seasons, and Yankee fans held their collective breath every time a ball was hit to him.

Even more unfortunate is when the Minnesota Twins cancelled their planned induction of Knoblauch into the Twins Hall Of Fame in 2014. Let’s just say Knoblauch and Curtis won’t be invited to Old Timers Day any time soon. Or probably ever.

Jorge Posada and Joe Girardi were the catchers, with the up-and-coming Jorge being the primary battery mate with the pitching staff. Both were tremendous competitors and complemented each other and each pitcher they worked with.

Before Girardi was the Yankees manager, and a damn fine one at that, he was a key contributor to the ’96 championship. His triple early in the clinching game 6 of the ’96 World Series made him a Bronx hero and vaulted the Yankees to the win at home.

Mariano Rivera was entering his second season as closer in 1998. He would go on to have the role for the Yankees for 17 consecutive seasons, an absolutely absurd number of seasons in the position. Rivera was a key piece of the ’96 Championship as he had the 8th inning role setting up then-closer John Wetteland.

He ended up notching 36 saves in ’98, and 6 saves in the postseason. Rivera finished with 0.00 ERA in the ’98 postseason.

Rivera would finish his career with a postseason ERA of 0.70 in 141.0 innings. Against the best of the best hitters. That is not a typo.

They had budding young superstars approaching peak potential (Jeter, Rivera, Posada, Andy Pettitte, Williams), aging stars still performing at a high level (Darryl Strawberry, Tim Raines, Chili Davis, David Cone, Paul O’Neill), flash in the pan one-hit wonders that delivered in big moments down the stretch (Ricky Ledee, Shane Spencer), New York party animals delivering historic outings (David Wells), and a Cuban defector with a great nickname (El Duque) pitching the biggest games of the season just months after arriving on a makeshift raft out of Cuba.

Nearly every button Joe Torre pushed that summer worked. Everything fell into place at the perfect time for this perfect team. That’s how you win 125 games.

They went 24 consecutive series in the regular season without losing a series.  They clinched a playoff birth in August. The Red Sox won 92 games, and finished 22 games behind the Yankees in the AL East at seasons end. Twenty-two. Just think, 92 wins is a damn nice season.

They didn’t have a 30 HR hitter, but they led all of baseball in runs scored. They also had ten different players hit 10 or more that season. I’ll get to that in a minute.

Their starting rotation was so good that Andy Pettitte was designated the 4th starter in the World Series. And Orlando ‘El Duque’ Hernandez was so good so fast that Joe Torre trusted him in the postseason rotation to win arguably the most important game that season: game 4 of the ALCS vs. Cleveland. The Yankees had dropped 2 straight in that series after winning the opener. This was an Indian lineup that featured the lethal power combination of Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez.  For my money, Thome/Manny were the scariest combination I can remember for a Yankee opponent in any year. El Duque then pitched his best outing of the season in game 4 and the Yankees tied the series. Everything they did worked. Every move. Every damn thing.

Tom Verducci, SI Sr. Writer, Nov. 2nd 1998:

“This year the Yankees led the majors in wins, runs, RBI’s, and on-base percentage. They also finished among the top five in batting average, hits, steals, walks, slugging percentage, fewest errors, complete games, shutouts, and saves. They scored more runs than any other team in the majors. They allowed fewer runs than any other team in the majors.” 

They scored the most runs, and gave up the fewest runs. 

The purpose of this piece is to truly break down and dig into why and how they were able to do this. They dominated the regular season, and the season was validated by the fact that they won the World Series. It was even more validated when they won the World Series in 1999 and 2000 as well. But the point of this isn’t to get into those years. This is all about 1998, and as we are in the middle of the 20th anniversary of that special summer it’s the perfect time to dig into it.

Let’s start from the beginning, which for the 1998 Yankees starts at the end of ’97, with Paul O’Neill desperately trying to lead a 9th-inning comeback in the deciding game of the ALDS vs. Cleveland. O’Neill stretched out a double in the 9th with the Yankees trailing 4-3, giving them a tying run in scoring position. This ended on a sour note when the next batter, Bernie Williams, flew out to center to end the season. This sour note lasted the entire offseason, and was especially sour after the high of the dramatic 1996 triumph over the Atlanta Braves in the World Series after dropping the first two games at home.

Also at the end of ’97 came the acquisition of an average player. Perhaps in 1997, a very dismal player might’ve been a better description of Scott Brosius.

*The acquisition of Scott Brosius*

In 1997 Scott Brosius hit .203 in 129 games for Oakland. So why was he so appealing to Yankees GM Bryan Cashman? Well for starters, they needed a third baseman. Wade Boggs and Charlie Hayes were the everyday third baseman in ’97, and neither would be returning for the ’98 campaign. They needed to fill a position, and Brosius was also thought to be a viable utility option if nothing else.

So the team acted and pitcher Kenny Rogers was traded from the Yankees to the A’s for Brosius. As a safety net they also signed free agent 3rd baseman Dale Sveum from Pittsburgh, who would be valuable as it was unlikely that Brosius would provide big production at 3rd base.  The organization also thought very highly of Mike Lowell, who was a prospect in their farm system. Yes, that Mike Lowell of Boston lore.

Brosius arrived and made an immediate impact in spring training, and won the starting job at 3rd by opening day. In an October 22, 1998 New York times story by then-Yankees beat writer Buster Olney, Joe Torre stated in spring training that year that “Brosius was the best I had ever seen at charging in and barehanding grounders and throwing to first.”

The Yankees at that point already had big-name players that were already well established and many owned a championship ring from ’96. They obviously needed those big names to be successful in 1998. But you also need a veteran like Scott Brosius to come in and have an impact. Which is exactly what he did as he had a scorching start to 1998, catapulted by a 5 RBI/3 hit outing vs. Toronto’s Roger Clemens in an early April game. This game served as a prelude to him hitting big-time throwers that season, and in seasons to come.

Brosius then went on to hit nearly .400 (.396) in the month of May, not bad for the number nine hitter in the lineup. Now let’s apply that and think about how a team can win 125 games, and start 61-20 by the break. It happens when your #9 hitter put together months where he hits .396.

What is most unique (and also very hard) about winning baseball games is that you need so many pieces to be successful. You can’t just sign the Lebron James in baseball or one player and expect that to mean automatic success. Think about it. Would Tampa Bay suddenly be a contender in the American League if they signed Mike Trout today? Sure it would help their lineup, but it’s unlikely they would win the Pennant. You need so many more positions to be set, and you need team chemistry.

What the hell is team chemistry? Well, a great strength of the 1998 Yankees was chemistry. Guys didn’t care who got the credit, they just didn’t want to be the one to make the out. They used that chemistry to relentlessly wreck pitching staffs. They wore out pitchers, and famously became known for having at-bats where they routinely fouled off pitches to wear out pitchers. They walked. A lot.

In the great Tom Verducci’s August 17th 1998 SI piece said  about the Yankees “A methodical, unspectacular offensive team whose signature weapon is the base on balls.”

Walks will kill a pitcher. Remember, this was also the year of the Home Run. The Yankees home run leader that year was Tino with 28. Thirteen players in baseball hit 40 or more home runs that year, and four hit 50.

Even though no Yankee hit 30, they had ten different players hit double-digit home runs in ’98:

Tino Martinez 28, Bernie Williams 26, Paul O’Neill 24, Darryl Strawberry 24,  Jeter 19, Brosius 19, Jorge Posada 17, Chuck Knoblauch 17, Chad Curtis 10, and Shane Spencer 10.

When you look at it that way, that’s a lot of home runs from a lot of different players.

Strawberry especially stands out that season, as it seemed to me the majority of his 24 home runs came with him as a pinch hitter. Again, this team won 125 games. How? Have Darryl Strawberry hit 24 home runs in 101 games.

*May 17, 1998*

I know that I have gotten older based on how grainy the footage of the famous David Wells game looks. Jimmy Fallon recently confirmed on Late Night With Seth Myers that he was out with David Wells the Saturday before at a Saturday Night Live after party until after 5am the previous night. Turns out that wasn’t exactly the case. In Rob Neyer’s May 17th 2017 Complex Magazine piece, SNL producer Marci Kline claims it couldn’t have been after the show. According to her, season 23 had wrapped up May 9th, so there wasn’t an after party the night/morning before Wells took the mound on the 17th. But in any event he was out with cast members the night before, and got home at 5:30 am.

In Joe Torre’s book “The Yankee Years”, he described David ‘Boomer’ Wells that he “had an arm like Sandy Koufax”, unbelievably high praise for a guy that spent time that year on Joe Torre’s shit list. Not hard to understand why I guess, he did go out all night the night before a Sunday afternoon game where he was slated as the starter.

So when May 17th, 1998 happened I spent the first part of the afternoon receiving my high school diploma as I graduated that day from Emery High School in Emery, South Dakota.

When I arrived home from the ceremony and was changing out of my cap and gown, I heard my Dad yell to me:

“JOE! DAVID WELLS THREW A PERFECT GAME!!!”

Wells went 27 up and 27 down on an afternoon game, and at that time became the first Yankee since Don Larson’s 1956 World Series game to be perfect. There was also a beanie baby giveaway at Yankee Stadium that day. Remember those?

In any event, the fact that Wells threw a perfect game on the day I graduated high school has always been really special to me. It was a historic baseball outing and at that time was only the 15th perfect game in MLB history. It occurred on a day that was up to that point: the most significant day in my young life. There isn’t a May 17th that comes by that it’s not the first thing I think of.

From a baseball standpoint in 1998, what the perfect game seemed to do for David Wells is gave him supreme confidence for the remainder of the season. After the perfect game, he cruised to a 17-4 record for the remainder of the year. Boomer was even better in the postseason as he went 4-0 combined vs. the Rangers, Indians, and Padres en route to the ’98 Title.

How do you win 125 games? You have an out of shape dude with an arm like Sandy Koufax go out until 5:30 am on a Saturday before a start, then throw a perfect game a few hours later.

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*El Duque*

Probably the most significant example of every single thing falling into place for the New York Yankees in 1998 was how great El Duque pitched from the first time he stepped on the rubber at Yankee Stadium.

The story of Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez is a story that is beyond baseball.

Let’s start with the fact that El Duque was banned for life from playing baseball in Cuba. El Duque had been a baseball superstar for the Industriales in the Cuban professional league. His ban came to him after his brother Livan defected in 1995 to Miami, and the Cuban government feared Orlando would be next to leave. Livan went on to be spectacular for the Florida Marlins, becoming the MVP of the 1997 World Series. So El Duque essentially paid for his brother leaving Cuba, as they feared that El Duque would be next to leave.

They were right.

In the fantastic ESPN Film “Brothers In Exile” it states that on the morning of December 26th in 1997, El Duque and 8 others defected Cuba in a small fishing boat. According to the film their first destination was the Anguilla Cay, and uninhabited area in the Bahamas and from there they would be picked up by another boat and taken into Costa Rica. But no one came by boat to pick them up when they arrived. 4 days then passed. They were stranded, without food on a tiny island for 4 days. Finally, the US Coast Guard discovered them and took them to safety in the Bahamas. Only, the Bahamas weren’t the safest place for them either as it was operated by Cuba at the time. Fortunately after several days, they were granted visas and were able to fly to Costa Rica.

The film goes on to say that in February of 1998 El Duque held a workout in front of Major League scouts. His workout, according to some scouts, was subpar. His fastball was only reaching upper 80’s. But Yankees scout Gordon Blakely had scouted El Duque for years and believed he was capable of big things. He convinced Brian Cashman, and a deal was done. El Duque was a Yankee just a few short months removed from literally being stranded on a deserted island.

On June 3, 1998 El Duque made his pitching debut in Yankee Stadium. He won his first start, going 8 innings in a 7-1 victory. The win pushed the Yankees record to 40-13.

Hold on, it gets better.

El Duque finished the regular season 12-4, and made his postseason debut at the one and only critical time of the ’98 playoff run that the team was in serious trouble.

Buster Olney: “They had lost the first three games of the regular season, and after that, they were never really vulnerable again until one 48-hour period in the American League Championship Series, until Orlando Hernandez struck out Jim Thome on a 3-2 changeup with the bases loaded — a pitch El Duque had learned only weeks before — to end a sixth-inning rally in Game 4.”

The Yankees were down 2-1 in the series to Cleveland. El Duque took the ball for game 4 at Cleveland and threw brilliantly: 7 innings, 0 runs, 6 strikeouts. The Yankees won 4-0 to tie the series. They would go on to win every game for the rest of the postseason.

Remember, this team finished the year at 125-50. How do you go 125-50? You have a guy flee his country and risk his life, make his Major League debut just a few months later and throw lights-out in the biggest moments the game of baseball has to offer. That’s exactly what El Duque Hernandez did in 1998.

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*Jeter or Nomar?*

It’s difficult to remember Derek Jeter as not an iconic player. But in 1998, he was still the budding crown prince of New York. He was an elastic and explosive shortstop, and led the league with 127 runs scored that season. 1998 also brought his first 200 hit season, and he hit a then career high of .324 while finishing third in the MVP voting behind Juan Gonzalez and Nomar Garciapara.

Or as the Red Sox faithful referred to him then: “Nomah!!”

1998 is when the Jeter vs. Nomar rivalry got rolling, as to who was better. It’s nice how that heavily played out in Jeter’s favor by the end of their careers.

“But that year, the Yankees didn’t really care about just making the playoffs, or reaching the World Series. The players had felt like they had blown a great chance in the ’97 playoffs against the Indians, and the Yankees went into 1998 on a mission to win the championship. Or bust.” -Buster Olney, New York Times, 1998

The early season success of this current 2018 Yankee team has drawn comparisons to 1998.  Hold. On. A Damn Minute Now!! It’s nearly impossible to duplicate when you consider:

Everything clicked! Everything! Pinch hitters, bench guys, bullpen: hell they had two starters not even make the starting rotation in the postseason that were outstanding the majority of their starts during the season. Hideki Arabu went 13-9 in 1998, and Ramiro Mendoza went 10-1. Neither made a postseason start in 1998. There were probably some teams that year where either one would’ve been the #1 or #2 starter in their rotation.

I understand it’s a no brainer to have the postseason rotation Wells, Cone, El Duque, and Pettitte but the point is that Mendoza and Arabu had dynamite starting outings in 1998.

One narrative that occurred throughout the season, and started in about early June, was that if the Yankees did not win the World Series the season would be a failure. This is an incredibly difficult scenario to play baseball in on a daily basis. Just look at other respective leagues when teams chase historic records. More on that in a moment.

The way the game is now, rarely does the team that finishes with the best regular-season record celebrate on their infield with a trophy at the end of the season.

Here’s proof: in the last ten seasons only two teams: the 2016 Cubs and the 2009 Yankees held the sole best record in baseball at seasons end and won the World Series. That’s only 2 of the last 10 championship teams. The 2013 Red Sox tied for the best record with St. Louis and won the World Series. So it doesn’t happen as often as you’d think.

But in 1998, this was the daily discussion: World Series or bust for the Yankees. It is so difficult to play under that pressure. But they not only succeeded with that pressure, they flourished.

When the regular season was all said and done, the team finished with a record of 114-48. At that time 114 wins became the regular season record for wins in the history of baseball. Three years later the 2001 Seattle Mariners broke this record and finished 116-46. They faced relatively the same core of the ’98 Yankees in the ALCS in 2001 and were dispatched in 5 games.

The ’98 Yankees was truly the apex of their 4 title run, and even in 2001 were still playing a high level of baseball.

In the ’98 American League Division Series, the Yankees swept the Texas Rangers and MVP Juan Gonzalez. Wells won game 1, Pettitte won game 2, and David Cone won game 3. Yankee pitching gave up just one total run in the three games.

After downing Cleveland 4 games to 2 in the ALCS, they faced the San Diego Padres in the World Series. The creme de la creme victory of the series was the Yankees coming to bat in the 8th inning of game 3 with the Padres leading the game 3-2. Trevor Hoffman was pitching. The Padres were 58-0 that season with Hoffman pitching with a lead.

They would finish 58-1.

Scott Brosius, remember a .203 hitter in 1997, hit a three-run homer off of Hoffman in the 8th to help the Yankees escape with a 5-4 victory in a critical game 3.

By the time the Yankees completed the 4 game sweep, it was at that time the lowest rated World Series in TV viewing history.

Tom Verducci, SI, November 2nd 1998:

“Before Game 4 Paul Molitor, one of the game’s aficionados, was
sitting near some Fox TV executives who were bemoaning the
possibility of a sweep and lamenting the shortfall of drama, ad
revenue and, no doubt, opportunities to shamelessly plug the
network’s B-list actors. “I was saying, ‘I totally disagree,'”
Molitor says. “Rather than having a tight World Series, it’s
perfect to have it end with this great Yankee team sweeping.
What better exclamation point could you have to this season?”

Amen.

It’s been funny that the legacy of this Yankee team hasn’t been spoken of too much so far this summer. I did hear early season comparisons of this years 2018 Yankees club with its 1998 predecessor and it’s not even fair to do that. As I type this on June 20th 2018 the current Yankees are 48-22, which is certainly a remarkable record 70 games in. The ’98 Yankees were 51-19, so they are 3 only three games behind.

I guess if they would’ve been 61-20 at the break I’d be ready to entertain comparisons, so let’s hold off on saying this years club is like the ’98 team.

Because it’s not fair to think they can stay on this pace, and ultimately with how loaded the AL currently is (Houston and Boston especially) it seems unlikely that this season would finish with any team eclipsing 125 total wins.

Maybe I’ll turn out wrong. Maybe not this season but somewhere in the future a team will surpass 125. But it really seems impossible when you consider everything that happened that season to the Yankees. It felt like everything went their way for an entire season, and it did.

What makes the ’98 season even more remarkable is when you consider other leagues and teams that have broken the best all-time records but fell short of the prize at the end.

The 2007 New England Patriots went 16-0 in the regular season but lost the Super Bowl. The 2016 Golden State Warriors went 73-9 but lost in the NBA Finals in seven games. I mentioned the 2001 Mariners above, breaking the ’98 Yanks 114 regular season win mark but failing to win the World Series. Chasing the best record all-time obviously does something to a team in the long run.

But the 1998 Yankees finished 125-50 and included in that was a sweep on the biggest stage in a season that was looked at as a failure if they would not win a championship.

It’s incredibly difficult to win under those circumstances, and it’s truly remarkable to look back 20 years later.

If nothing else, there’s 125 reasons why the 1998 Yankees have been the greatest team in the history of baseball since the final out on an October night in San Diego.

Cue John Sterling 125 times.

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The Town Mile Podcast #15

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-town-mile-podcast-15/id1384916613?i=1000413346350&mt=2

Happy Weekend! This one is fresh out of the oven! The Town Mile links up to discuss the strange case of Bryan Colangelo, as Matt explains to Joe what a burner account is. Got coffee brewing?? Bringing the kids to the big little league tournament today?! Fire it up!

Have a great weekend!!

The Town Mile Podcast #14 w/ Justin Ross of Knocean Life

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It’s Memorial Day Weekend!! Before heading to the beach, our main man Justin Ross joined us via satellite to drop some knowledge of ocean sustainability. He is the founder of KnOcean Life, a dedicated cause to help protect mother earth’s beautiful ocean waters. It’s the first ever episode we’ve done via phone, so it took us a few seconds to get it rolling at the beginning. Stoked for Justin to take the time with us today, big thank you to him for joining us. Have a great weekend!

The Town Mile Podcast #13: This Naked Life w/ Jen Mercuri

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Happy weekend! Last night we sat down and discussed the creative process with Jen Mercuri. Jen has spent the last several years writing great pieces for her blog ‘This Naked Life.’ She is a great writer with a great style, and we really appreciated sharing the mic’s with her last night. Was great to get real with her on several topics: from writing, to iPhone addiction,  to haunted hospital rooms.

Grab a coffee and fire it up, have a great weekend!

The Town Mile Podcast #12

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Good morning! Time to fire up a coffee, a heater, and the Town Mile Podcast and get your weekend rolling! We laid down our 12th episode last night and discussed a local New Jersey story that has received national headlines, as well as round two of the NBA Playoffs. Then we discussed a way too early April MLB recap on the first month of the season. It’s all here! Doing Broad Street tomorrow?! Need something to put in your ears while you stretch and prepare today?! Hey we gotchu!