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Friday, March 29, 2019

My favorite team that didn't win the World Series

The 2003 World Series will forever be the one that got away.

I wanted to go a few ways with this for the contest over at Collecting Cutch.

At first, I wanted to choose 1994. The Yankees were looking primed to come out of the AL in a World Series showdown versus the Expos. I have no doubt that Don Mattingly would have hit .800 in that World Series.

Then I wanted to choose 1995. But I feel like the Yankees needed that crushing 1995 loss to set the stage for 1996. Similar story for 1997 leading into the threepeat 1998-2000 Yanks.

I wanted to choose 2001 because of the epic World Series and what it would have meant to NYC.

I wanted to choose 2010 because the Yankees should have gotten Clif Lee and beat Texas in the ALCS.

I wanted to choose 2017 because the Yankees weren't supposed to contend just yet, but then ended up one game short of going to the World Series.

I wanted to choose 2018, mostly because that means the Red Sox wouldn't have won.

But to me, the ultimate letdown is still 2003. Aaron Boone hit the epic Game 7, extra-inning HR of Tim Wakefield.

That Yankees team was better than the Marlins. They were. But the game isn't played on paper, and the Marlins showed up to play and the Yankees didn't. After the epic series with Boston, it just felt like the Yankees couldn't match that intensity again. Whether they were worn out or expected to win or whatever it might have been, they didn't play well and lost 4 games to 2 in a series that wasn't very close.

What is most disappointing is that guys like Mike Mussina and Jason Giambi had their shots at rings, and the team didn't come through. By no means was this my favorite Yankees team, but I would have loved to see those guys - along with Alfonso Soriano - finally get their rings. Those three never did.

My favorite Yankees team? Hardly. But one I wish would have win? Definitely.

5 comments:

  1. So many "if only's". It's quite impressive. I'd nominate 2004 too, though I guess it's not the biggest priority because we (as a collective society) all decided that the 2004 postseason never happened because of a strike or something.

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  2. I'm not participating in the context but I would say my favorite is 1993. It was the first real ray of hope for a Yankee fan who started following the team in '86 and watched them get worse and worse each year.

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  3. I like the thought that the Yankees lost because the Red Sox wore them out! ;)

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  4. Holy crap. Whenever I start thinking... why do I dislike the Yankees so much... I need to click on this post. I tip my cap to them for all of these close calls plus the 5 World Series titles they won in the past three decades... but jeez... safe some for us A's and Padres fans ;)

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  5. So many great teams. Hardly seems fair.

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