There were very few moments in the 1998 season where the Yankees were truly up against it. Sure, they started the season a little slowly, going 1-4 in their first couple games. However, while an April losing streak isn’t what you want, there’s still plenty of time to turn things around. There was also a bit of a late August swoon, but by then it’s not like a losing streak had any actual effect on their playoff position.
The only real time you could say the 1998 Yankees had their backs against the wall came when they dropped Game 3 of the ALCS, to fall behind in a series for the first time all playoffs.