Yankee Dynasty's solution to the Selig juiced ball era, per Joel Sherman

• In Joel Sherman's 2006 book he notes how the "Yankee Dynasty" handled the juiced ball era (with a slender relief pitcher) (From "Birth of a Dynasty" pp 67-68)

"The ball flew in April of 1996. Conspiracy theorists suspected baseballs were wound tighter than ever to promote run scoring in general and home runs in particular.

• In the aftermath of the labor war that led to the cancellation of the 1994 World Series and a shortened 1995 season, the conjecture went that the Office of the Commissioner was looking to invigorate apathetic fans. And nothing quite captivates like the long ball.

In 1996, the 40-year old record for homers per game in April was smashed and the 10.58 runs averaged per game were the fourth highest in the month in history. Three players--Brady Anderson, Barry Bonds, and Gary Sheffield--hit 11 homers in April after just 3 players had ever done so before.

• If it was not simply a livelier ball, then there was a collaboration of factors that helped explain the phenomenon, including smaller ballparks and tiny strike zones.

• The players were bigger, and more substantive discussions were ongoing about the use of illegal performance enhancers such as steroids.

• It all created a run-scoring orgy that made it open season on pitchers, which influenced how the games were being played.

• Starting pitchers were more averse to throwing strikes and having muscular hitters have their way. So, they nibbled around the plate, swelled their pitch counts, and were relieved earlier than usual.

• That exposed the soft underbelly of every team, so pitchers not good enough either for the rotation or to close were being called upon sooner and more frequently with pinball-like results.

Middle relievers on every club were feeling the remorseless onslaught of offense. Every team, that is, except Joe Torre's Yankees.

• In April of 1996, Torre trusted his eyes in a way Buck Showalter had not just a half a year earlier. As the month went on, Mariano Rivera corroborated that his performance the previous October against the Mariners was no fluke. And Torre kept defining a more and more vital function for Rivera, from mop-up man when the season began to a hybrid role that united middle and setup relief.

Rivera was asked to get as many as 9 outs to bail out a rotation that was proving far more unreliable than Torre had forecast.

• "It was like a gift to us," Joe Girardi remembers. "Mo was our righty setup man, lefty setup man, long man, middle man and setup man all in one. And no one could hit him.""

From Joel Sherman's book, "Birth of a Dynasty, Behind the Pinstripes with the 1996 Yankees," published in 2006 by Rodale. Quotes here from pages 67 and 68.

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