Underdog 1996 Yankee Champs Unite Tonight at Chelsea Piers

'They were disliked, but not nearly as much as they are despised now.

• Really? Says who, Mr. Smug NY Times? It's YOU WHO HATE, YOU SELL IT EVERY DAY. sm

"Of all the teams we've had over the last 11 years, it'’s the only team that has been an underdog,"” Torre said.

• About 16 of those long-ago underdogs are expected to gather at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan tonight for Torre'’s Safe at Home Foundation'’s charity dinner. Everyone from Jeter to Mariano Duncan, the second baseman who coined the mantra of '“We play today, we win today,' to John Wetteland, the walk-on-the-wild-side closer, are scheduled to be there. With all due respect to Mariah Carey, who is performing at the event, the players want to hear from one another.

Joe Girardi, who debuted with the Yankees a decade ago, sounded like a 7-year-old on his birthday as he described how anxious he was to hang out with his former teammates. After the hugs and high-fives, Girardi wants to talk and talk. There is a lot to discuss about a team that started a run of four titles in five years.

• Torre said perhaps the most pivotal developments of the season occurred after the Yankees deduced in late April that Mariano Rivera could be a dynamic setup man to Wetteland. With the Rivera-Wetteland tandem, Torre said, "We felt if we played hard for six innings, no one was going to beat us."

In the end, no one did beat the Yankees, but several teams came close.'

(Following information on the late-inning duo showing Rivera's dominance, not included in the NY Times article) sm

• 1996 Reg. Season IP: Wetteland: 63.2....Rivera: 107.2
• 1996 Post Season IP: Wetteland: 12.1....Rivera: 14.1
• Rivera got the Win in the 5-4 Game 1 of the ALCS. He pitched 3 Days in a row in the World Series (1.0, 1.1, 1.1IP); in the final 3-2 game (10/26), Rivera pitched 2 scoreless innings. Wetteland gave up a run in the bottom of the 9th.

'The Yankees watched a 12-game cushion in the American League East in late July shrink to two and a half over the Baltimore Orioles in September. At one point, General Manager Bob Watson said he and Torre should be dismissed if the Yankees botched the lead.'

From NY Times article by Jack Curry, (Mr. Smug and Superior, except when he's talking about the Red Sox, then he sounds like a human being). 11/10/06

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