The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty

I recently made two joint resolutions, not New Year’s resolutions but just some general things I wished to work on in the future. The first was to read more and since I was on that trail I decided to work some baseball literature in with the more traditional literature. The first of these works I stumbled upon was The Last Night of the Yankees Dynasty by ESPN analyst Buster Olney. The last night of the dynasty is meant to be the night of November 4th, 2001, game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The book goes through the course of that game inning by inning, batter by batter, throughout the duration of the book. Breaking up the action of the game itself is Olney’s reflections of all the players who made this game what it was, players from both teams, but also highlighted most of the player’s that consisted of the core of the Yankees’ dynasty years from 1996-2001. Before I began reading this novel, I thought to myself, what is this book going to tell me that I already don’t know? I knew that Buster Olney was a well established journalist and author, but I had seen the dynasty years, as well as the fall in the 2001 World Series first hand so, logically, I thought that I pretty much knew everything that was going to be said in this novel. I was mistaken. Olney wrote about the kind of experiences and stories of the team that one can only have by following the team as a beat writer for four seasons and by speaking with many of the players themselves. Olney delved into the finer points of the match up between Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling in this game, specifically the way Schilling idolized Clemens, detailed the eccentricities of players like David Wells and El Duque, and highlighted the suffering many players had to deal with deaths and illnesses in their families and how it brought the team together. Virtually every important piece from those majestic years had at least a couple of paragraphs written about them to emphasize their importance to the team. By the time the story reached it’s climax with Mariano Rivera entering for the 9th inning trying to hold on to his precious one run lead, even the most casual of Yankees fans would now be completely acclimated with the team. The reader begrudgingly reads the account of this ninth inning that broke the hearts of Yankees fans across the country, knowing the outcome and yet hoping that this time it turns out differently. They read about Mark Grace’s bloop single, and then hope that this time Rivera’s throw to second base is not errant, but of course it still finds its way into short center field. Eventually we are forced again to wonder if Scott Brosious should have made the throw to first base to try to turn the double play after forcing David Delluci out at third. He still does not attempt it and Jay Bell is still there safely at first base to eventually score the run that wins the World Series on Luis Gonzalez’s bloop single. My re-visit to the dynasty years made me realize how different the Yankees teams of the past few season have been from those years. Only Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, and Mariano Rivera remain from those years. Most people would say that these teams lacked the heart of those teams, which may be true, but the real problem is probably that they just lacked the rock solid pitching of those teams. The new Yankees teams have been based on offense, as those old teams never had any of the sluggers that recent Yankees teams have bolstered. However, this may be changing. The offense is still there, but now with the young pitching Brian Cashman has built up the Yankees have a chance to see Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy become the new David Wells, David Cone, or El Duque for a new dynasty. Anyway, as for the book, The Last Night of the Yankees Dynasty is a thrilling ride through nostalgia for all those who still long for the days of the Yankees’ dynasty. I would recommend it to every and any Yankees fan. No matter how well you think you know those teams you will learn something new about the team and just flat out enjoy reading this novel.