Few pundits had expected the Yankees to make it back to the World Series as quickly as they did. Yet there they were before Game 1, with venerable Yankee Stadium hosting a Fall Classic for the first time in 15 years, the longest wait the Bronx had ever endured. It would have been a challenge securing the championship anyway, but the 1996 Yankees faced an incredibly dangerous foe.
The World Series opponent
The Atlanta Braves were unquestionably the team of the '90s up to that point. After failing to win a single playoff game during their first 25 years in Atlanta since moving from Milwaukee in 1966 and finishing dead last in 1990, the Braves had won four out of the previous five National League pennant.