2016 Article Revisit: Is This 1995 All Over Again? It May Be!

This article was written right at one year ago to the date asking the question of whether the 2016 version of the New York Yankees were like the 1995 Yankees who not only made the postseason as the Wild Card but also helped sparked a dynasty. As we sit here in 2017 asking the question of whether this version of the Yankees can be like the 1996 Yankees I thought now would be a good time to revisit this article and see just how much of a fortune teller I really am. Enjoy the article and what's left of this long weekend.

Saturday, September 3, 2016

Is This 1995 All Over Again? It May Be!

The New York Yankees just got done celebrating and honoring the 1996 edition of the Bronx Bombers that defied the odds all the way to the World Series last month and this month they could do some more honoring if the cards fall in the right place. See that 1996 team would have been nothing, strong words I know but they are my opinion only, without that 1995 season that scrapped and clawed its way to the first ever Wild Card spot in MLB and the American League. It was the push, the drive, the experience and some kid named Derek Jeter (Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera were on the Yankees in 1995) that led the 1996 Yankees to the World Series championship. It was youth, hunger and fire and we are seeing a lot of similarities in the team we see on the field today to that 1995 team. Could it be de ja vu all over again?


The 1995 Yankees were under the .500 mark at the All-Star break and many had suspicions of their first baseman Don Mattingly hanging it up at seasons end. Now while the Yankees were doing well heading into the break and hovering around the .500 mark the team was not meeting or exceeding expectations which led to a sell off of veterans and a youth movement in the Bronx. Mark Teixeira announced his retirement at season’s end and Alex Rodriguez rode off into the sunset as well but despite all the roster moves and “losses” the Yankees have continued to get better as the season has gone along. Just like the 1995 Yankees did.


The 1995 Yankees entered September five games out of the Wild Card with 32 games remaining but Buck Showalter and company were up to the task. The Yankees won 25 of their remaining 32 games that month and clinched the Wild Card with 24-year old Andy Pettitte leading the pitching staff along with key veterans and an absolute ton of youth.

The Yankees probability of making the postseason were low that season and the team simply refused to quit and refused to lie down without a fight. They slugged their way, clawed their way and pitched their way to the postseason much like these Yankees today led by Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius and so many others are doing today. I’m not saying they will run the gauntlet and come out on the other side again in 2016 much like they did in 1995 but I have a feeling manager Joe Girardi and his crew won’t go down without at least letting the other 19 teams (slight exaggeration) in the AL East and 2nd Wild Card hunts know that they’ve been in a fight.


Let’s go boys, let’s get this done.

Is This 1995 All Over Again? It May Be!

The New York Yankees just got done celebrating and honoring the 1996 edition of the Bronx Bombers that defied the odds all the way to the World Series last month and this month they could do some more honoring if the cards fall in the right place. See that 1996 team would have been nothing, strong words I know but they are my opinion only, without that 1995 season that scrapped and clawed its way to the first ever Wild Card spot in MLB and the American League. It was the push, the drive, the experience and some kid named Derek Jeter (Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera were on the Yankees in 1995) that led the 1996 Yankees to the World Series championship. It was youth, hunger and fire and we are seeing a lot of similarities in the team we see on the field today to that 1995 team. Could it be de ja vu all over again?

The 1995 Yankees were under the .500 mark at the All-Star break and many had suspicions of their first baseman Don Mattingly hanging it up at seasons end. Now while the Yankees were doing well heading into the break and hovering around the .500 mark the team was not meeting or exceeding expectations which led to a sell off of veterans and a youth movement in the Bronx. Mark Teixeira announced his retirement at season’s end and Alex Rodriguez rode off into the sunset as well but despite all the roster moves and “losses” the Yankees have continued to get better as the season has gone along. Just like the 1995 Yankees did.

The 1995 Yankees entered September five games out of the Wild Card with 32 games remaining but Buck Showalter and company were up to the task. The Yankees won 25 of their remaining 32 games that month and clinched the Wild Card with 24-year old Andy Pettitte leading the pitching staff along with key veterans and an absolute ton of youth.

The Yankees probability of making the postseason were low that season and the team simply refused to quit and refused to lie down without a fight. They slugged their way, clawed their way and pitched their way to the postseason much like these Yankees today led by Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius and so many others are doing today. I’m not saying they will run the gauntlet and come out on the other side again in 2016 much like they did in 1995 but I have a feeling manager Joe Girardi and his crew won’t go down without at least letting the other 19 teams (slight exaggeration) in the AL East and 2^nd Wild Card hunts know that they’ve been in a fight.

Let’s go boys, let’s get this done.

2016 the New 1996 for the New York Yankees?

As we inch closer towards the 2016 season and Opening Day optimism is running high on most every Major League team right now. That’s the greatest part of it being a whole new season, nobody knows what to expect and not many teams and their fan bases are down right now. This is especially true for the New York Yankees specifically because with all the new faces in the Bronx, whether acquired elsewhere or coming up through the farm system, and the question marks surrounding the starting rotation no one really knows what to expect. We have mentioned this a few times last season and already once or twice this season but the comparisons and parallels are just too much to ignore. If the Yankees stay healthy and if the Yankees can gel together like they presumably did in 2015 could this team defy the odds and shock the world in 2016 much like they did in 1996? 

Both teams were not expected to make the postseason in both 2015 and 1995 and both teams won the Wild Card before losing in the Wild Card Round. Things were a little different back then obviously as the Yankees lost technically in the ALDS to the Seattle Mariners in an epic five-game series while the Yankees lost a one-game playoff to the Houston Astros last season but the basic premises are the same. That’s just the beginning though, keep reading. 

In the early to mid-90’s the Toronto Blue Jays were at the top of the division and the top of the American League as their fans watched Joe Carter walk off a World Series like most of us have only dreamed about as a child and once again the Yankees seem to be looking up at the Blue Jays once again. In fact the last time the Blue Jays made the postseason before last season was during this dominant time with Carter in the middle of that lineup. To counteract the Blue Jays then the team acquired a National League player who had struggled and fallen out of favor with the team that drafted him, that NL player’s name was Paul O’Neill. This may be a stretch and I am in no way comparing the two but does this not sound a lot like the Starlin Castro acquisition for 2016? 

The 1995 Yankees had a staple of a first baseman entering presumably his last season with the club in Don Mattingly and had a struggling veteran with a ton of question marks in Mike Stanley also looking to hang on while this season boasts possibly the final years for Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran. The Core Four was just beginning to make some noise with short cameos from Andy Pettite (Luis Severino in 2016) and eventually Derek Jeter (Jorge Mateo, Didi Gregorius… take your pick), Jorge Posada (hello Gary Sanchez), Mariano Rivera (Dellin Betances and/or Jacob Lindgren) while Bernie Williams (Slade Heathcott, Mason Williams, Ben Gamel) was just beginning to establish himself. 

The team was young at the core and filled in where it needed to offensively while shutting down teams with a strong bullpen late. Sounds pretty familiar doesn’t it? I just hope the statistics and the end results are the same.

If 2015 Was Another 1995 Then Is 2016 Another 1996?

If 1995 had Don Mattingly did 2015 have Alex Rodriguez? If 1995 benched Derek Jeter for much of the September Wild Card push does that mean Robert Refsnyder is destined to be the next Yankees captain? If 1995 had Randy Johnson did 2015 have Dallas Keuchel? If 1995 had Alex Rodriguez, the Mariners edition, then did 2015 have Carlos Correa? I'm not comparing the players, not at all, but I am more comparing the situations. Both the 1995 and 2015 seasons came attached to moderate expectations and teams that were led by hungry veterans and young positional players that were finally starting to come through the farm system again. Both teams seasons ended with a Wild Card berth and a first round loss, albeit in five games to the Seattle Mariners in 1995 and in one game to the Houston Astros in 2015, but should we expect the same World Series in 2016 that the highly unlikely 1996 Yankees delivered?

The Yankees are already "leaning towards" having Dustin Ackley and Robert Refsnyder spend the 2016 season as the starting second baseman while the 1996 Yankees gave some kid named Derek Jeter a chance reluctantly. Again, not comparing the players merely comparing the situations. New York already has that young nucleus of homegrown talent including Dellin Betances, Adam Warren, Luis Severino, Greg Bird, Refsnyder, John Ryan Murphy, Brett Gardner and a slew of bench pieces and relievers that may start the 2016 season in Triple-A. The team also has a core group of veteran free agency and trade additions, and believe it or not both aspects are important to winning a World Series, in Brian McCann, Andrew Miller, Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, Mark Teixeira, Chase Headley, Didi Gregorius, Carlos Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury.

The 2015 team never showed the heart that the 1995 team did, again merely comparing the situations and not the teams or the players, but with the finances the team has, the young core of prospects and the team already in place this team could win a World Series in 2016. I know Bryan Van Dusen wrote earlier in the week that he had a bad feeling about 2016, and if you ask me today I may have to agree with him, but if the team can make those key additions like the 1996 team did, the Cecil Fielders, the Darryl Strawberry's and others, then the 2016 team can be special as well. The team just has to believe it and the team just has to prove it.

My, oh my the Houston Astros win it?