![\"\"](\"http:\/\/danwashburn.com\/bernie.jpg\")
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October 23, 1999 \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Enough already with this tired Team of the Decade debate.<\/p>\n
So the Atlanta Braves have made it to the National League Championship Series eight years in a row, and the New York Yankees are trying for their third World Series championship in four years.<\/p>\n
Who cares?<\/p>\n
After this World Series, the Yankees will forever be known as the Team of 1999, and that’s all that really matters.<\/p>\n
Winning championships is what cements a team’s place in baseball history, not meaningless labels like Team of the Decade.<\/p>\n
I understand, however, why Atlanta fans would want to lay claim to such a title. While the Braves have undoubtedly been one of the decade’s most dominant teams, they have only one World Series championship to show for it \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the same number as the Cincinnati Reds, the Minnesota Twins and the Florida Marlins.<\/p>\n
Atlanta General Manager John Schuerholz already has “Team of the 90s” engraved on his ring, and that’s fine. But it’s not going to stop history from lumping the Braves together with the Reds, Twins and Marlins. And it’s not going to stop Atlanta from becoming the first team since the 1918 Giants to lose four World Series in a decade.<\/p>\n
The Yankees are going to win the World Series. They are just simply the better baseball team.<\/p>\n
Lest we forget that the 1999 version of the Bronx Bombers is virtually the same group that just one year ago won 125 games and was dubbed by many the best baseball team ever.<\/p>\n
New York, playing for its remarkable 25th world championship, has won 14 of its last 15 postseason contests and has won eight straight World Series games after sweeping the San Diego Padres last season and winning four in a row against Atlanta in 1996.<\/p>\n
If the Braves play in the World Series the same way they did in the NLCS, look for the Yankees’ streak to continue.<\/p>\n
Atlanta batted .223 in its six games against the Mets. The Braves scored just six runs in 33 innings at Shea Stadium, and in the 15-inning marathon that was Game 5 they left an NLCS-record 19 runners on base.<\/p>\n
You can only rely on Eddie Perez for your clutch hits for so long.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/danwashburn.com\/elduque.jpg\")
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And all of this was against a not-so-great Mets pitching staff. What happens when Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez and his lifetime 4-0 postseason record and 0.97 ERA takes the mound? What happens when he is followed by David Cone, Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens? Not bad when your rotation’s weak link is a five-time Cy Young Award winner.<\/p>\n
If New York takes a lead late into the game, fuhgedaboudit. Set-up man Ramiro Mendoza, who could start for most teams, retired all seven batters he faced in the Yankees’ five-game American League Championship Series win over the Boston Red Sox. Closer Mariano Rivera hasn’t allowed a run since July 21. That’s right, July 21.<\/p>\n
Atlanta barely escaped going to a Game 7 in the NLCS, thanks in large part to some shoddy play by the Mets, shoddy play they won’t see from the Yankees.<\/p>\n
The Yankees will not repeatedly screw up sacrifice bunt attempts. The Yankees will not allow 11 stolen bases. The Yankees will not have three multi-error games … unless Chuck Knoblauch has something to say about it.<\/p>\n
And the Braves are tired, physically and emotionally. Games 5 and 6 of the NLCS lasted 26 innings, a combined 10 hours 11 minutes. Atlanta used 12 pitchers in those two games, including starter John Smoltz in his second relief appearance of the series, and closer John Rocker, who appeared in all six games of the NLCS.<\/p>\n
The three days off the team had before tonight’s Game 1 will help, but now the Braves must go up against one of baseball’s most patient and disciplined offenses, one that features four 100-RBI producers and two AL MVP candidates, Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams, who both hit better than .340 this season.<\/p>\n
Stake your claim to Team of the Decade, Braves fans. It’s the only title your team has a chance at this year.<\/p>\n
The World Series trophy is staying in the Bronx, home of the undisputed Team of the Century.<\/p>\n
Yankees in five.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
October 23, 1999 \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Enough already with this tired Team of the Decade debate. So the Atlanta Braves have made it to the National League Championship Series eight years in a row, and the New York Yankees are trying for their third World Series championship in four years. Who cares? …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,9,32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/danwashburn.com\/sportinglife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/danwashburn.com\/sportinglife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/danwashburn.com\/sportinglife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danwashburn.com\/sportinglife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danwashburn.com\/sportinglife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/danwashburn.com\/sportinglife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":355,"href":"http:\/\/danwashburn.com\/sportinglife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352\/revisions\/355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/danwashburn.com\/sportinglife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danwashburn.com\/sportinglife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/danwashburn.com\/sportinglife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}