Many experts believe the 1998 New York Yankees were the very best team — not just in the Modern Era (1961 to the present), but throughout baseball’s history.
Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci hails them as “the greatest team in the history of integrated baseball.” ESPN’s Buster Olney contends that the ’98 Yanks put together “the greatest season in the history of baseball.”
The players themselves agreed. Their 1998 World Series rings carried an immodest two-word engraving: “Best Ever.” It was a bold declaration, given that 23 Yankee squads had won world championships before them.
My formula disagrees with the consensus, putting the 1984 Detroit Tigers ahead of the 1998 Yankees in terms of team score. Those Tigers finished with a TS of 97.109, the best performance by any Modern Era squad on my 100-point scale.
The ’98 Yankees racked up a score of 96.123 points, second-best among the 1,656 clubs that played between 1961 and 2022 — and easily the best in the period from 1996 to 2000, the half-decade that’s the focus of today’s story.
The Yanks posted 114 wins in 1998, outscoring their opponents by 1.91 runs per game. No other club in the 15 seasons from 1986 to 2000 registered more than 108 victories or outpaced their opponents by more than 1.62 runs per game.
Second place in the 1996-2000 standings goes to the subsequent New York roster, the 1999 Yankees. Three versions of the Atlanta Braves round out the top five — 1996, 1999, and 1997, respectively.
Today’s rankings are part of a continuing series that will eventually encompass baseball’s Modern Era. Follow these links to read previous installments:
Look below for a rundown of the 10 highest-rated ballclubs from 1996 to 2000. Each is shown with its win-loss record and its Modern Era percentile, which is the share of all teams that played between 1961 and 2022 that a given club outperformed.
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1. New York Yankees (1998)
Record: 114-48
Team score: 96.123 points
Modern Era percentile: 99.9%
Manager: Joe Torre
Stars: The 1998 Yankees possessed a remarkable array of weapons. Center fielder Bernie Williams (.339 batting average), shortstop Derek Jeter (.324, 30 stolen bases), and first baseman Tino Martinez (28 homers, 123 runs batted in) powered the attack. David Wells (18-4 win-loss record) and David Cone (20-7) anchored the rotation. Closer Mariano Rivera locked down 36 saves.
Bottom line: The title never seemed in doubt. The Yankees outpaced the runners-up in the American League East, the Boston Red Sox, by 22 games. New York then breezed through the postseason with an 11-2 record, culminating in a World Series sweep of the San Diego Padres.
2. New York Yankees (1999)
Record: 98-64
Team score: 83.564 points
Modern Era percentile: 98.4%
Manager: Joe Torre
Stars: The names were familiar. Derek Jeter rapped a league-leading 219 hits en route to a .349 batting average. Bernie Williams was close behind at .342. Mariano Rivera secured 45 saves, the most for any reliever in the majors.
Bottom line: The regular-season road was a bit bumpier in 1999 than in 1998, though the destination was the same. The Yankees won the AL East by just four games (with the Red Sox again in second place). But the playoffs were easy. New York went 11-1 and swept Atlanta in the World Series.
3. Atlanta Braves (1996)
Record: 96-66
Team score: 83.372 points
Modern Era percentile: 98.4%
Manager: Bobby Cox
Stars: Pitching was the strength of Atlanta’s great clubs throughout the 1990s. John Smoltz fashioned a 24-8 record with a 2.94 ERA in 1996. He worked 253.2 innings, topping all pitchers in both leagues. Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine won 30 games between them, both with ERAs below 3.00.
Bottom line: The Braves had claimed the world championship in 1995, and a repeat was predicted in 1996. Atlanta won the National League East by eight games over the Montreal Expos, but the playoffs were unexpectedly challenging. The Braves barely edged the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Championship Series, then fell to the Yankees in the World Series.
4. Atlanta Braves (1999)
Record: 103-59
Team score: 78.705 points
Modern Era percentile: 96.7%
Manager: Bobby Cox
Stars: Third baseman Chipper Jones won the NL’s Most Valuable Player Award. He batted .319 with 45 home runs and 110 runs batted in. Greg Maddux led the pitching staff with a 19-9 record.
Bottom line: The Braves won another division title in 1999 — their fifth in a row (a streak that would eventually reach 11). They subdued the Mets in the NL Championship Series, only to fall to New York’s other team, the Yankees, in a four-game World Series.
5. Atlanta Braves (1997)
Record: 101-61
Team score: 78.525 points
Modern Era percentile: 96.6%
Manager: Bobby Cox
Stars: Center fielder Kenny Lofton batted a solid .333 and stole 27 bases. Chipper Jones drove home 111 runs. Starting pitcher Denny Neagle finished with a 20-5 record and a 2.97 ERA. Greg Maddux went 19-4.
Bottom line: The Braves outdistanced the Florida Marlins by nine full games in the National League East. So it came as a true surprise when Florida bounced Atlanta, four games to two, in the NL Championship Series.
Next five
6. Atlanta Braves (1998), 106-56, 95.9%
7. New York Yankees (1997), 96-66, 94.1%
8. New York Yankees (1996), 92-70, 93.5%
9. Florida Marlins (1997), 92-70, 93.4%
10. Houston Astros (1998), 102-60, 92.7%