<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=44RJTg_0wOLASJE00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=44RJTg_0wOLASJE00" width="1210" height="806" ></figure>New York entered Game 4 of the World Series 27 outs from their second consecutive championship, and third in four years. One more win and reasonable people could start throwing the word “dynasty” around all willy-nilly. Nearly 57,000 fans packed Yankee Stadium to see if their Bronx Bombers could compete the sweep, win another title, and prompt another trip through the Canyon of Heroes. The Yanks hung a crooked number on future Hall of Famer John Smoltz early. Thanks to a dominant start from Roger Clemens that was more than enough. And then the GOAT came in to close the game, eviscerating the Braves en route to being named World Series MVP. The Yankees would finish the playoffs with a Wild Card Era-best 11-1 record — better than even the ‘98 team and matched by only the 2005 White Sox.October 27: Yankees 4, Braves 1 (box score)World Series: Yankees win in 4 games (109-65 overall)567.That’s the amount of career regular season wins that Clemens and John Smoltz, Game 4’s starters, combined for during their illustrious careers. That’s a big number. Clemens struggled in the ‘99 regular season and Smoltz was shaky in the playoffs that year. Nonetheless, both clubs handed the ball to accomplished, veteran superstars for Game 4.Smoltz matched Clemens for the first two innings as the two hurlers kept the game knotted at zero. But after Clemens retired the Braves in order in the third, the Yankee bats finally broke through in the home half. Tino Martinez strode to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. His single to the right side plated two runs. Jorge Posada later drove in a third run with a single of his own and the Yankees had the early 3-0 lead. That was all Clemens needed on the night.From there, no Atlanta hitter reached second base until the top of the eighth inning, at which point skipper Joe Torre came to collect Clemens after his brilliant outing. The Rocket fell covering first base on the previous play and Torre felt it was time. Clemens could not have enjoyed being a league average starter during the season, and Boston absolutely shelled him in his lone ALCS start. But I suspect that was all ancient history after his Game 4 performance had the Yankees on the precipice of another World Series title and Clemens on the verge of his long-elusive first ring. His final line: 7.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4K.Jeff Nelson replaced Clemens but, after surrendering a run-scoring single that put Atlanta on the board and brought the winning run to the plate in the form of future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones, Torre called for Mariano. The best to ever do it induced a groundball to second from Jones and the Yankees were three outs away.In the home half of the eighth, Jim Leyritz pinch hit for Darryl Strawberry to face Terry Mulholland. Torre was pressing all the correct buttons on this night, evidently. Leyritz restored the three-run Yankee lead with one swing of the bat, hitting the final home run of the twentieth century in the process.Off to the ninth inning. Three outs from another championship. Rivera immediately retired Brian Jordan to lead off the frame. Next up, Ryan Klesko. He never stood a chance. Rivera’s vaunted, nigh-unhittable cutter bore in on the lefty Klesko, breaking his bat three times in an at-bat that seemed to symbolize the Braves’ chances against the greatest closer to ever take the mound.The last man standing, Keith Lockhart, fared no better. Rivera recorded the 27th and final out, locking up another Yankee World Series. As Lockhart’s harmless fly ball descended into left field, the Yankees prepared for pandemonium.Buster Olney described the moment:<blockquote>“Catcher Jorge Posada began running toward the mound, where Rivera stood and stared, emotionless, watching left fielder Chad Curtis settle under the ball and make the catch. And then they went crazy. Rivera raised his arms, turned and embraced Posada, and third baseman Scott Brosius joined them. They all gathered in a circle behind the mound, while security officials and mounted police officers began rushing onto the field.”</blockquote>The 1999 Yankees were not the unstoppable juggernaut of the previous season. This was not a 114-win team that bludgeoned every opponent it faced. The ‘99 Bronx Bombers had to overcome constant adversity, on and off the field. In March, Yankee legend Joe DiMaggio died and later in the season so did Hall of Fame hurler Catfish Hunter, a ‘70s icon who passed away from the same affliction as Lou Gehrig: ALS. Scott Brosius’ father died. So too Luis Sojo’s father, just before the start of the Fall Classic. Torre missed the beginning of the season fighting prostate cancer. And even in the hours before Game 4, the hammer kept falling. An early-morning phone call revealed to Paul O’Neill that his father had died.In the moments after the game came to a close, their tribulations were not lost on the Yankees. Nor, obviously, did it escape Clemens’ attention that he finally had the World Series championship that had long escaped him. For the Yankees, they had their 25th World Series title. The “team of the decade” in the words of Bob Costas now had to turn its attention to a new millennium in pursuit of baseball’s first three-peat since the Oakland Athletics did it from 1972-74. The Yankees hadn’t done it since the club won five straight from 1949-53.But all that could wait until after the parade.<img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=27dDao_0wOLASJE00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=27dDao_0wOLASJE00" width="1920" height="1443" >As an aside, thank you for following along with us this entire year as we ran through the highs and lows of the 1999 Yankees. They’re an overlooked bunch who had many of the same characters from the more legendary ‘98 team, but absolutely deserved their own time in the sun. The storylines were different, the emotions were higher, and they were a helluva team. Cheers to the 25th anniversary!Read the full 1999 Yankees Diary series here.</div></body>

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1999 Yankees Diary, October 27: Braves swept away in 25th World Series title

New York entered Game 4 of the World Series 27 outs from their second consecutive championship, and third in four years. One more win and reasonable people could start throwing the word “dynasty” around all willy-nilly. Nearly 57,000 fans packed Yankee Stadium to see if their Bronx Bombers...