ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — This was late in the collapse, late in September of 2000, when the two-time defending champions Yankees of Joe Torre were playing a brand of baseball that could easily have been confused with the Johnny Keane Yankees of the mid-’60s, or the Stump Merrill Yankees of the early ’90s.
Every day, something went wrong. Every day, they staggered and stumbled home. They had a nine-game lead on Sept. 13 with a mediocre band of rivals in pursuit, so as the losing started — two in a row at first, which became eight out of nine, which became 15 out of 18 to close the season — there was a greater-than-usual panic surrounding the team.