During the turn of the century, the Yankees were the premier team in major league baseball, with players who knew how to play, and contribute positively for Joe Torre, as they won four World Series between 1997-2000.
But in 2001, the end of the dynasty became apparent, as key players Scott Brosius, Tino Martinez, Chuck Knoblauch, and Paul O'Neill all either retired or moved onto different teams.
And this begun the era for the New York Yankees where they became really big spenders who didn't know how or when to win important games, and this is what happened after 2001 and got us to the situation that we are in today.
So with these key losses, the Yankees signed players such as Jason Giambi to fill the players who departed, but the chemistry became broken on the team without these important players, and that caused them to lose to the Anaheim Angels, who went on to win their first ever World Series.
In 2003, the Yankees picked up Hideki Matsui, who was another superstar, but he was a winner with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan.
The Yankees won a dramatic ALCS with a walk-off home run from Aaron Boone, but they lost to a Florida Marlins team in that World Series that was extremely young, and had enough players who knew what they were doing, which led them to the World Championship.
In the winter of 2004, Roger Clemens retired, then joined his hometown Houston Astros, after former Yankee teammate Andy Pettitte (who was a key pitcher for the championship teams left).
Also in the winter of 2004, Boone played a game of pick-up basketball with some friends when he tore his ACL, which caused him to miss the entire baseball season.
So, the Yankees decided to trade star second baseman Alfonso Soriano and player to be named later Joaquín Árias to the Texas Rangers for superstar shortstop Alex Rodriguez, who immediately moved to third base.
According to Joe Torre's book, The Yankee Years, A-Rod never was concerned with his chemistry with the team, just how good of a player he is, and how his stats were.
Despite this, the Yankees went again to the ALCS against the arch-rival Boston Red Sox, and were up three games to zero, when Dave Roberts stole second base, and was driven in by Bill Mueller, which tied the game.
After two straight games with walk-off hits by David Ortiz, and two wins at Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox went on to win the 2004 World Series, which ended the Curse of the Bambino, and mainly did it because they had a team filled with role players, something the Yankees had during their dynasty at the turn of the century.
In 2005, the Yankees thought that pitching would become their major problem, so they picked up future Yankee busts Jaret Wright, Randy Johnson, and Carl Pavano.
Throughout the season, all the pitchers were inconsistent, which led to the team losing in the first round of the postseason, again to the Angels. Many blamed this loss on A-Rod, who won the American League MVP that year, but couldn't produce anything at all in the playoffs.
In 2006, the rift became bigger with the team, as Alex Rodriguez and his teammates started to get into the press, as the New York tabloids went all over him, making up creative names such as K-Rod, E-Rod, etc.
In Sports Illustrated, his teammates talked about how bad of a teammate he was, and how he hurt the team in the clubhouse.
Despite all of this, the Yankees still won their division again, but A-Rod didn't contribute in October again, and the Yankees lost in four games to the American League Champion Detroit Tigers, who had 119 losses just four years earlier.
In 2007, Bernie Williams didn't come back to the Yankees, which caused another important member of the championship teams to leave. Also, Randy Johnson left the team, as did Gary Sheffield, and Cory Lidle tragically died in a plane crash when he crashed into a building in Manhattan.
The Yankees had another great season from Rodriguez, as he won MVP again, with Andy Pettitte back from Houston, and "superstar" Kei Igawa coming over from Japan (mainly because Boston picked up Japanese superstar Daisuke Matsuzaka), the Yankees thought that they could win their tenth straight division title.
Also, Roger Clemens again announced that he was coming out of retirement again to play for the Yankees, as he signed a one year contract worth 28 Million Dollars to play with them.
But they only captured the wild card and lost to the Cleveland Indians in the Division Series, Joe Torre left the team to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and A-Rod left the team during the World Series (which the rival Red Sox won), but he returned with a 10-year, $275 million contract, which made it even more apparent that he was only their for the money.
And the Mitchell Report came out, telling information about major league player who took steroids, and Clemens and Pettitte both were in it. Pettitte apologized for taking the substances, while Clemens denied it, and still does to this day, which has ruined his reputation, and his chance to be in Cooperstown.
In 2008, the Yankees were in their final season at Yankee Stadium, and it finally appeared that they were going to close out the stadium with yet another World Championship.
Joe Girardi took over as manager from Torre, and they emphasised a youth movement with their pitching with Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, and Philip Hughes becoming the core of the rotation.
They were terrible for the Yankees, and injuries plagued the team in their final season at Yankee Stadium, as they missed the playoffs for the first time since 1994, and the first time in a full season (because the 1994 season ended in a strike).
Also, Rodriguez got a divorce with his wife, and reportedly was in a relationship with Madonna, even though he denies that to this day.
Hal and Hank Steinbrenner officially took over for their father George Steinbrenner before the 2009 season, and brought in free agents CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, and Mark Teixeira to become the players that will bring a championship to the Yankees in the new Yankee Stadium this year, but again A-Rod caused controversy.
This time, Sports Illustrated reported that A-Rod tested positive for steroids during the 2003 season with the Rangers.
A-Rod admitted that he took them because of the pressure he was under to perform in Texas, and after he said that with his interview with Peter Gammons, he told the press in Spring Training with his teammates present, though it was criticized because of A-Rod's relationship with his teammates.
Later on in the month, A-Rod found out that he had torn cartilage in the hip, which would cause him to miss at least a month of the season.
The start of the new season also hasn't been good to the Yankees, as they lost their series in Baltimore, and against the Rays in Tampa, Outfielder/First Baseman Nick Swisher was forced to pitch for the Yankees for an inning.
To open up their $1.5 billion stadium (which was used with the public's tax dollars), the Yankees lost 10-2 to the Indians, and lost 22-4 several days later to the Indians again, as they had a 14 run second inning to take over the game.
Finally, the New York Yankees have the highest payroll in baseball year in and year out, but they can't win because there is no chemistry with the stars on the team, which causes the team to not be as good as they could be.
Also, other teams have won the World Series in recent years with role players becoming huge members of the team, and contribute in big situations in the World Series. Finally, until the Yankees get players who are hungry to win a World Championship, they won't be able to succeed because there is no desire to accomplish it.
- Login to post comments