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1939 New York Yankees (#5) 4, 1998 New York Yankees (#4) 0
MVP: Joe DiMaggio (NYY 1939) .588/.667/.941, 2 HR, 5 RBI
This series was all about offense; double digits were reached 4 times, and one other time a team got 9 runs. The 1939 Yankees had a big 2nd inning in Game 1, scoring 5 runs. 1998 also scored a run that inning, but 1939 came back with 1 and 2 in the next 2 innings, respectively. The '98s kept clawing away at the deficit, but never got close. Game 2 was a wild one. The '98s scored 2 in the 2nd, only to have the '39s match them in the 3rd. Then both teams scored a run in the 5th. The '39 Yankees scored another 2 in the top of the 6th, only to see the '98 Yankees score 4 in the bottom, for a 7-5 1998 lead. It stayed that way until the top of the 9th, with started with a single by Joe DiMaggio followed by a 2-run homer by George Selkirk, both off of Mariano Rivera, who was promptly removed. The '39s added 3 more runs before it was over, giving themselves a 10-7 lead. But that's not all. The 1998 Yankees put the first 2 batters on base and then, after a Paul O'Neill flyout, Tino Martinez hit a 340 foot 3-run homer to tie the game again. It stayed that way until the 11th, when the '39s got rolling again, scoring 3. Marius Russo took the '98 Yankees down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning to win again. The 1939 Yankees took a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning of Game 3, and a 3-0 lead after 4. By the 6th inning, however, it was tied at 3. But the '39s couldn't be held down, and they scored 2 more in both 7th and 8th innings, going up 3-0 in the series. Game 4 was another close slugfest. The '39s took a 2-1 lead into the 4th inning, which saw the '98s break out for 3 runs, all on a Scott Brosius home run. But the bottom of the inning saw the 1939 Yankee Joe DiMaggio hit a 2-run shot of his own, only after his team scored 3 other runs, and the '39s took a 7-4 lead. Then the 1998 Yankees took the lead back with a 4-run 6th, only to have the '39s tie it at 8 in the bottom of the inning, then take a 1-run lead in the 7th, which the '98s erased with one of their own in the 8th. Finally, in the bottom of the 8th, George Selkirk scored when Joe Gordon was walked with the bases loaded. That was the last run scored in the series, which ended in a sweep.
Scores:
NYY39 10 NYY98 5
NYY39 13 NYY98 10 (11)
NYY39 7 NYY98 3
NYY39 10 NYY98 9
The 1939 Yankees' semi-final opponent will be the 1948 Indians, who swept the 1968 Tigers in 4 games.
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