1999 World Series
The 1999 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1999 season. The 95th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the defending American League (AL) and World Series champion New York Yankees and the National League (NL) champion Atlanta Braves in a rematch of the 1996 World Series, in which the Yankees prevailed. The Yankees swept the 1999 Series in four games for their second consecutive title, third in four years, and 25th overall. It was the Yankees' third straight defeat of the Braves franchise in the Fall Classic (having beaten the Milwaukee Braves in the 1958 World Series in addition to their 1996 victory over the Atlanta Braves). Yankees closer Mariano Rivera was named the World Series Most Valuable Player. This was the first World Series to feature both #1 seeds from the AL and NL, a phenomenon that has only occurred twice since, in 2013 and 2020.
1999 World Series
October 23–27
Turner Field (Atlanta)
Yankee Stadium (New York)
Mariano Rivera (New York)
Randy Marsh (NL, crew chief), Rocky Roe (AL), Steve Rippley (NL), Derryl Cousins (AL), Gerry Davis (NL), Jim Joyce (AL)
Yankees:
Derek Jeter
Mariano Rivera
Joe Torre (manager)
Braves:
Bobby Cox (manager)
John Schuerholz (GM)
Tom Glavine
Chipper Jones
Greg Maddux
John Smoltz
NBC (United States)
MLB International (International)
Bob Costas and Joe Morgan (NBC)
Gary Thorne and Ken Singleton (MLB International)
Jon Miller and Rick Sutcliffe (ESPN)
John Sterling and Michael Kay (WABC)
Skip Caray, Pete Van Wieren, Don Sutton and Joe Simpson (WSB)
New York Yankees over Boston Red Sox (4–1)
Atlanta Braves over New York Mets (4–2)
The Yankees advanced to the World Series by defeating the Texas Rangers in the AL Division Series, three games to zero, and then the Boston Red Sox in the AL Championship Series, four games to one. The Braves advanced to the series by defeating the Houston Astros in the NL Division Series, three games to one, and then the New York Mets in the NL Championship Series, four games to two. The 1999 Series is remembered for Chad Curtis's walk-off home run in Game 3, which gave the Yankees a 6–5 victory, and Game 2's infamous interview of Pete Rose by Jim Gray on NBC. This was the first World Series since the advent of the three-division era in 1994 to feature both number-one seeds from the AL and NL, which did not occur again until 2013. The next time the Braves would make the World Series would be in 2021.
Aftermath[edit]
In comparing the success of teams in the five major North American sports leagues, this series win brought the Yankees' World Series total to 25, putting them two titles ahead of the NHL Montreal Canadiens' 23 Stanley Cup victories for most championships (Montreal also won the Stanley Cup in 1916 as part of the National Hockey Association for a total of 24).
This was the fifth and final World Series appearance in the 1990s for Atlanta, but the new decade would not be as favorable to them, the closest they got to returning to the World Series in the Bobby Cox era was in the 2001 NLCS where they lost to the eventual world champion Diamondbacks in five games (Cox stepped down as manager after the 2010 season). In total, the Braves went to the World Series five times under Cox in a nine season span and won the World Series once. Atlanta would reach the NLCS again in 2020 where they fell to eventual world champion Los Angeles Dodgers in 7 games after leading the series 3-1. The Braves would get their revenge on the Dodgers the next year by beating them in 6 games. 1999 World Series was the Braves' last Fall Classic until 2021, where they won in 6 games over the Houston Astros. Game 2 also marks the second and final time that Turner Field hosted a World Series game.
The Yankees would continue their dynasty by defeating the New York Mets in the next year's World Series. They won a fourth straight pennant in 2001, but they lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks in that season's World Series. They would reach the World Series again in 2003 (losing to the Florida Marlins) and 2009 (defeating the defending champions, the Philadelphia Phillies).
On October 11, 2005, A&E Home Video released the New York Yankees Fall Classic Collectors Edition (1996–2001) DVD set. Game 3 of the 1999 World Series is included in the set.
Media coverage[edit]
This was NBC's 39th and final World Series telecast to date, as Fox aired the next World Series as part of the contract in place, and acquired the exclusive broadcast rights of Major League Baseball beginning in 2001. Bob Costas provided play-by-play while Joe Morgan served as analyst for the series. Hannah Storm served as pre-game host with then Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin serving as the analyst. The field reporters were Jim Gray (Yankees dugout) and Craig Sager (Braves dugout) on loan from Turner Sports.
With the Knicks having played in the NBA Finals in June, this was the second championship series in 1999 that NBC broadcast involving teams from New York City. Bob Costas, Jim Gray, and Hannah Storm were involved both times: Costas with play-by-play, Gray as a reporter, and Storm as pre-game host. This was the most recent year that a city hosted both the NBA Finals and the World Series in the same year, until Cleveland did so in 2016.
Once again, ESPN Radio provided coverage of the World Series. Play-by-play man Jon Miller was joined in the booth by Rick Sutcliffe, who substituted for the unavailable Joe Morgan.