For the last three months, we’ve honored the 1996 Yankees with endless interviews, anecdotes, and memories, a 90-day preamble to the real thing at Yankee Stadium this weekend.
But perhaps the most endearing part of that ball club doesn’t fit within the four walls of a page.
That championship season was as unexpected as it was endearing, as diverse as the city it represented, a gift basket of baseball misfits, retreads, and blooming stars.
The best part of the 1996 club was there was something for everyone, from the kid who needed a reason to root for the Yanks to those of us who suffered those solemn summers between 1979 and 1994, only to have our hearts broken by labor strife and then by Ken Griffey Jr.