Changes

The year was 1998 and the month was April. It sounds like the opening of an old Frank Sinatra song, but it was even better, if that is possible, because in April, 1998, the New York Yankees began one of the greatest seasons in baseball history. They would win 114 regular season games, sweep the Texas Rangers in the Division Series, come back after trailing Cleveland 2 games to 1 to win the American League Championship Series, and then sweep the San Diego Padres in the World Series.

Three short seasons and two World Championships later, the team has undergone an astonishing transformation. The only position players remaining are Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, and Shane Spencer, and only Jeter and Williams were regulars in 1998. Posada shared the catching duties with Joe Girardi and Spencer appeared in only 27 games, which means that seven of the nine starters from 1998 have been replaced.

Gone are starting first baseman Tino Martinez, second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, third baseman Scott Brosius, outfielders Chad Curtis, Ricky Ledee, Paul O'Neill, Tim Raines, Darryl Strawberry, utility players Homer Bush and Luis Sojo, as well as designated hitter Chili Davis and catcher Joe Girardi. Brosius, O'Neill, Strawberry, Sojo, and Davis have retired, while Martinez is a Cardinal, Curtis Raines and Ledee are presently free agents, Bush is a Blue Jay, and Girardi is a Cub. Amazing.

But that is not all. The pitching staff has also undergone a radical transformation. Only Ramiro Mendoza, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Mike Stanton, and Orlando Hernandez "El Duque" remain. Ace David Wells was traded for Roger Clemens (and has just returned,after being "exiled" for three seasons), David Cone is once again a free agent, Hideki Irabu has signed with the Texas Rangers, Graeme Lloyd is a Montreal Expo, and Jeff Nelson is a Mariner.

While the changes have been extreme, it must be recognized that the Yankees' makeover is symptomatic of modern baseball since the basic structure of the game has changed. Free agency, ridiculous player salaries, changes in ownership, and the willingness and ability of a few teams to pay the best players has had enormous consequences, not the least of which is that there is almost no team roster stability. You really CAN'T tell the players without a scorecard.

Still, the 1998 Yankees won a World Championship and the team appeared poised to win more. More were won, but the team went through major changes in the next three years until almost all of the players who helped win in 1998 are gone.

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