Four consecutive pennants: Yankees 1998,1999,2000,2001.

These are the only four consecutive pennants after division play started in 1969, introducing a series to qualify for the World Series. So by 1998 the championship team was actually playing in a tournament and the old World Series (WS) had become the MLB finals. More on winning consecutive pennants and World Series in a future post.

1998 World Series	4-0	New York Yankees (114-48, AL) vs. San Diego Padres (98-64, NL)
1998 ALCS	4-2	New York Yankees (114-48, AL) vs. Cleveland Indians (89-73, AL)
1998 ALDS2	3-0	New York Yankees (114-48, AL) vs. Texas Rangers (88-74, AL)

1999 World Series	4-0	New York Yankees (98-64, AL) vs. Atlanta Braves (103-59, NL)
1999 ALCS	4-1	New York Yankees (98-64, AL) vs. Boston Red Sox* (94-68, AL)
1999 ALDS2	3-0	New York Yankees (98-64, AL) vs. Texas Rangers (95-67, AL)

2000 World Series	4-1	New York Yankees (87-74, AL) vs. New York Mets* (94-68, NL)
2000 ALCS	4-2	New York Yankees (87-74, AL) vs. Seattle Mariners* (91-71, AL)
2000 NLCS	4-1	New York Mets* (94-68, NL) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (95-67, NL)
2000 ALDS1	3-2	New York Yankees (87-74, AL) vs. Oakland Athletics (91-70, AL)

2001 World Series	4-3	Arizona Diamondbacks (92-70, NL) vs. New York Yankees (95-65, AL)
2001 ALCS	4-1	New York Yankees (95-65, AL) vs. Seattle Mariners (116-46, AL)
2001 ALDS2	3-2	New York Yankees (95-65, AL) vs. Oakland Athletics* (102-60, AL)

The 1998 Yankees won 114 games. The 2001 Seattle Mariners won 116 games but lost to the Yankees in the semi final series.

2001  (95-65, 18.3 oWAR)	Posada (3.0)	Martinez (2.3)	Soriano (0.0)	Brosius (2.1)	Jeter (5.2)	Knoblauch (1.0)	Williams (5.2)	O'Neill (0.5)	Justice (0.5)
Year (Bold=Pennant)	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	LF	CF	RF	DH
2000  (87-74, 21.5 oWAR)	Posada (5.5)	Martinez (0.3)	Knoblauch (0.3)	Brosius (-0.3)	Jeter (4.6)	Ledee (0.3)	Williams (5.2)	O'Neill (1.3)	Spencer (0.6)
1999  (98-64, 27.0 oWAR)	Posada (1.1)	Martinez (2.2)	Knoblauch (3.5)	Brosius (1.2)	Jeter (8.0)	Curtis (0.7)	Williams (5.4)	O'Neill (2.8)	Davis (1.2)
1998  (114-48, 39.4 oWAR)	Posada (2.9)	Martinez (3.2)	Knoblauch (2.8)	Brosius (5.3)	Jeter (7.5)	Curtis (2.4)	Williams (5.3)	O'Neill (5.8)	Strawberry (1.5)

2001 (95-65)	Mussina	Clemens	Pettitte	Lilly	Hernandez	Rivera	Stanton	Choate	Mendoza
2000 (87-74)	Cone	Clemens	Pettitte	Neagle	Hernandez	Rivera	Stanton	Nelson	Grimsley
1999 (98-64)	Cone	Clemens	Pettitte	Irabu	Hernandez	Rivera	Stanton	Mendoza	Grimsley
1998 (114-48)	Cone	Wells	Pettitte	Irabu	Hernandez	Rivera	Stanton	Lloyd	Nelson

The starting lineup was pretty consistent. In 2001 Knoblauch moved from second to left, replaced by Soriano. DH changed every year.

In 1999 Clemens replaced Wells in the starting rotation and in 2001 Mussina replaced Cone.

Yanks went the maximum five games in the first round in 2000 and 2001, both against the Oakland As. Clemens lost both games (1 and 4) in 2000; Pettitte, Hernandez, Stanton won:

Playoff Series Stats																Regular Season Stats
Name	G	GS	ERA	W	L	SV	CG	IP	H	R ▼	ER	BB	SO	WHIP	WPA	cWPA	G	GS	ERA	W	L	SV	IP	H	BB	SO	WHIP
Roger Clemens	2	2	8.18	0	2	0	0	11.0	13	10	10	8	10	1.909	-0.38	-4.32%	32	32	3.70	13	8	0	204.1	184	84	188	1.312

Clemens in 2001 lost game 1 again, bailed out of game 5; Mussina, Hernandez, Stanton won:

Playoff Series Stats																Regular Season Stats
Name	G	GS	ERA	W	L	SV	CG	IP	H	R ▼	ER	BB	SO	WHIP	WPA	cWPA	G	GS	ERA	W	L	SV	IP	H	BB	SO	WHIP
Roger Clemens	2	2	5.40	0	1	0	0	8.1	9	5	5	4	6	1.560	-0.06	-1.28%	33	33	3.51	20	3	0	220.1	205	72	213	1.25

Flip play in game 3, 2001 division series, Oakland up in games 2-0:

Saturday, October 13, 2001

Attendance: 55,861

Venue: Network Associates Coliseum

Game Duration: 2:42

Night Game, on grass

Yankees 1, Oakland 0

HR: Jorge Posada (1, off Barry Zito, 5th inn, 0 on, 1 out to LF).

Bottom of the 7th, Athletics Batting, Behind 0-1, Yankees' Mike Mussina facing 4-5-6

Two out, Jeremy Giambi singles off Mussina.

Terrence Long Double to RF (Short RF); Giambi out at Hm/RF-SS-C

The only other series in those four years to go the distance was the 2001 World Series against Arizona. Clemens pitched well in both games 3 (win) and 7 (no decision).

Yanks beat Mets in the 2000 World Series 4-1. In the 2001 World Series the Yankees were overmatched by Arizona led by pitchers Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Arizona outscored the Yankees 37-14. Yet with the 9/11 emotion behind the home team the Yankees won games 4 and 5 in Yankee Stadium in legendary fashion.

Wednesday, October 31, 2001 Game 4, down 3-1:

HR: Tino Martinez (3, off Byung-Hyun Kim, 9th inn, 1 on, 2 outs to CF-RF); Derek Jeter (1, off Byung-Hyun Kim, 10th inn, 0 on, 2 outs to RF). Yankees win 4-3 in 10. The game ends after midnight and Jeter is Mr. November.

Thursday, November 1, 2001 Game 5, down 2-0:

HR: Scott Brosius (1, off Byung-Hyun Kim, 9th inn, 1 on, 2 outs to LF). Yankees win 3-2 in 12 on Soriano's single.

However, Arizona won games 6 and 7 at home.

Yankees Core Four: Jeter, Posada, Pettitte, Rivera - in that order. Thursday, August 25, 2011

Four players from the Yankee WS winners of 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009 have been dubbed the core four: Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera. Recently some pundits have taken to ranking them. I rate them in the order listed...

Pitchers are part time players. A closer is a part time pitcher. Pitching collectively dominates baseball but individual pitchers do not...

Jeter is clearly number one...

Posada's OPS+ is a shade behind Dickey and Berra. The primary reason that Posada will not be elected to the Hall of Fame is that he did not hit in the playoffs.

Pettitte comes before Rivera. So: Jeter, Posada, Pettitte, Rivera.

___________________

Pitching duel or slugfest? Sunday, July 28, 2013

... game seven of ... World Series ...

Sunday, November 4, 2001, Bank One Ballpark
Attendance: 49,589, Time of Game: 3:20 (200 minutes)
Arizona 3, Yankees 2. Neither team led by more than one...

The 2001 game ended when Mariano Rivera was asked to pitch a second inning, having already pitched the 8th. Rivera retired only one batter in the 9th and that was on an unsuccessful attempt at a sacrifice bunt. In the 8th and 9th innings Rivera wound up throwing a whopping 28 pitches! No wonder he got tired. The winning hit was a bloop single by Luis Gonzalez (57 homers in 609 at bats that season) over the drawn in infield. Shortstop Derek Jeter was the closest fielder as the ball floated into very short center field. It was the 15th hit of the game.

Rivera blew both the save and the game in the same inning. That may be the only time that ever happened in a World Series game seven. It's certainly the biggest blown save in baseball history. You live by the 9th inning, you die by the 9th inning.

___________________

Derek Jeter is not a great hitter or fielder. So, how can he be a great player? Friday, February 14, 2014

Of all the nonsense I heard Wednesday on D-Day (Derek Day retirement announcement) the silliest was to say that Jeter is for his era what Ruth, DiMaggio and Mantle were for theirs. Somehow Gehrig was omitted. Say what? Jeter as a batter was below two catchers, Dickey and Berra, and we all know the physical toll that catching takes...

Let's see how Jeter compares to his teammates...

Rk	Player	OPS+	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Bernie Williams	160	1998	29	NYY	AL	128	578	499	101	169	30	5	26	97	74	9	81	1	0	4	19	15	9	.339	.422	.575	.997	*8/D
2	Paul O'Neill	130	1998	35	NYY	AL	152	672	602	95	191	40	2	24	116	57	2	103	2	0	11	22	15	1	.317	.372	.510	.882	*9/HD
3	Derek Jeter	127	1998	24	NYY	AL	149	694	626	127	203	25	8	19	84	57	1	119	5	3	3	13	30	6	.324	.384	.481	.864	*6/H
4	Tino Martinez	124	1998	30	NYY	AL	142	608	531	92	149	33	1	28	123	61	3	83	6	0	10	18	2	1	.281	.355	.505	.860	*3/H
5	Scott Brosius	121	1998	31	NYY	AL	152	603	530	86	159	34	0	19	98	52	1	97	10	8	3	4	11	8	.300	.371	.472	.843	*5/3H9
6	Chuck Knoblauch	102	1998	29	NYY	AL	150	706	603	117	160	25	4	17	64	76	1	70	18	2	7	13	31	12	.265	.361	.405	.765	*4/D
7	Chad Curtis	90	1998	29	NYY	AL	151	545	456	79	111	21	1	10	56	75	3	80	7	1	6	11	21	5	.243	.355	.360	.714	*78H/9D

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/13/2014.

Rk	Player	OPS+	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Derek Jeter	153	1999	25	NYY	AL	158	739	627	134	219	37	9	24	102	91	5	116	12	3	6	12	19	8	.349	.438	.552	.989	*6
2	Bernie Williams	149	1999	30	NYY	AL	158	697	591	116	202	28	6	25	115	100	17	95	1	0	5	11	9	10	.342	.435	.536	.971	*8/HD
3	Chuck Knoblauch	118	1999	30	NYY	AL	150	715	603	120	176	36	4	18	68	83	0	57	21	3	5	7	28	9	.292	.393	.454	.848	*4
4	Chili Davis	108	1999	39	NYY	AL	146	554	476	59	128	25	1	19	78	73	7	100	2	0	3	12	4	1	.269	.366	.445	.812	*DH
5	Paul O'Neill	107	1999	36	NYY	AL	153	675	597	70	170	39	4	19	110	66	1	89	2	0	10	24	11	9	.285	.353	.459	.812	*9/H
6	Tino Martinez	104	1999	31	NYY	AL	159	665	589	95	155	27	2	28	105	69	7	86	3	0	4	14	3	4	.263	.341	.458	.800	*3/H
7	Scott Brosius	84	1999	32	NYY	AL	133	529	473	64	117	26	1	17	71	39	2	74	6	2	9	13	9	3	.247	.307	.414	.722	*5/HD

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/13/2014.

Rk	Player	OPS+	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Bernie Williams	140	2000	31	NYY	AL	141	616	537	108	165	37	6	30	121	71	11	84	5	0	3	15	13	5	.307	.391	.566	.957	*8/DH
2	Jorge Posada	139	2000	28	NYY	AL	151	624	505	92	145	35	1	28	86	107	10	151	8	0	4	11	2	2	.287	.417	.527	.943	*23/HD
3	Derek Jeter	128	2000	26	NYY	AL	148	679	593	119	201	31	4	15	73	68	4	99	12	3	3	14	22	4	.339	.416	.481	.896	*6
4	Paul O'Neill	92	2000	37	NYY	AL	142	628	566	79	160	26	0	18	100	51	2	90	0	0	11	17	14	9	.283	.336	.424	.760	*9/DH
5	Tino Martinez	89	2000	32	NYY	AL	155	632	569	69	147	37	4	16	91	52	9	74	8	0	3	16	4	1	.258	.328	.422	.749	*3/H
6	Scott Brosius	70	2000	33	NYY	AL	135	519	470	57	108	20	0	16	64	45	1	73	2	0	2	17	0	3	.230	.299	.374	.673	*5/3HD79

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/13/2014.

Rk	Player	OPS+	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Bernie Williams	139	2001	32	NYY	AL	146	633	540	102	166	38	0	26	94	78	11	67	6	0	9	15	11	5	.307	.395	.522	.917	*8/HD
2	Derek Jeter	124	2001	27	NYY	AL	150	686	614	110	191	35	3	21	74	56	3	99	10	5	1	13	27	3	.311	.377	.480	.858	*6
3	Jorge Posada	118	2001	29	NYY	AL	138	557	484	59	134	28	1	22	95	62	10	132	6	0	5	10	2	6	.277	.363	.475	.838	*2/DH3
4	Tino Martinez	114	2001	33	NYY	AL	154	635	589	89	165	24	2	34	113	42	2	89	2	0	2	12	1	2	.280	.329	.501	.830	*3/HD
5	Paul O'Neill	105	2001	38	NYY	AL	137	563	510	77	136	33	1	21	70	48	4	59	2	0	3	20	22	3	.267	.330	.459	.789	*9/DH

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/13/2014...

In 18 seasons Jeter was the best Yankee hitter once. ONCE! I find that shocking. During his own era Jeter was not the best hitter on his own team. Generally, Jeter was number four ... on his own team. How much could Jeter have possibly been needed?

___________________

60 years since 61 in 61: second of five consecutive pennants; end of the old Yankee dynasty. Saturday, January 2, 2021

Three consecutive pennants 1903-2020. Four. FIVE! Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Four consecutive World Series championships: Yankees 1936,1937,1938,1939. Sunday, January 10, 2021

Five consecutive World Series championships: Yankees 1949,1950,1951,1952,1953. Sunday, January 24, 2021

Four consecutive pennants: Yankees 1955,1956,1957,1958. Monday, January 25, 2021

Five consecutive pennants: Yankees 1960,1961,1962,1963,1964. Tuesday, January 26, 2021