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In a sport that has watched its traditions erode away into an anabolic, sabermetric universe of brawn and disaffectedness, it was the just-green 1996 Yankees who donned the throwback uniform of old-fashioned purity. With baseball still reeling from the 1994 strike, enter Derek Jeter, Joe Torre and the upstart Yanks. These were the loveable guys who - for a season - gained national popularity while surreptitiously hammering the first keystone in a dynasty.

The Yankees had become relatively dormant as a franchise for over a decade. Gone were the days of annual celebrations and perennial contention. There were some respectable years in the 80's, certainly, but the team failed to qualify for the postseason, starting with the disastrous 1982 campaign. The aforementioned strike in 1994 wrecked a first-place run, and in 1995, the Bombers took advantage of the just-expanded playoff system, only to blow a 2-0 series lead to the Mariners in heartbreaking fashion.

All would be different in 1996, however, when these juvenile knights from New York would outlast Ted Turner's America's-team Braves, and America rooted - not for Atlanta - but for the oft-hated Yanks with exuberance.

• No. 10: 1977   • No. 9: 2009   • No. 8: 1956   • No. 7: 1996   • No. 6: 1941   • No. 5: 1932   • No. 4: 1961   • No. 3: 1939   • No. 2: 1998   • No. 1: 1927

Regular-Season Record: 92-70 (AL East champions)
The Yankees were not all that dominant in the regular season, although any first place finish deserves a few morsels of recognition. By championship standards, they were one of the lesser teams, and the statistical data supports that contention in nearly every area. Since it was the postseason where they made their mark, we should view the regular season as merely a dress rehearsal for a transcending final act, where it all came together in ways prophetically beyond the box score.

Offense: 871 runs scored (ninth in the league)
Offensively, the Yankees were just about at the league average. They were third-to-last in home runs and near the middle of the pack in doubles, hits, walks and stolen bases. Their strength was putting the ball in play, striking out seldomly (second best in the AL) and batting .288 (also second best). Perhaps the most telling statistic is that they led the league in sacrifice flies, which speaks volumes about the character of the squad. This was a team of selfless winners: not algorithmic Captain Ahabs.

Pitching and Defense: 787 runs allowed (third in the league)
Pitching is what carried this team, both in the rotation and at the back end. The Yanks were second in strikeouts and forfeited the fewest home runs. What makes this all the more remarkable is that they accomplished this without David Cone - the team's most effective starter - for most of the season. Andy Pettitte was a 21-game winner in his second year, and Kenny Rogers and Jimmy Key were fine contributors as well.

As good as the rotation was, it was the bullpen that really sparkled. Few teams in history could ever boast a tag-team setup-closer duo of Mariano Rivera in the eighth (and sometimes earlier) and John Wetteland in the ninth. The sixth and seventh were also in good hands, once Jeff Nelson found his stride and Ramiro Mendoza discovered his calling as a reliever in the playoffs. The Bombers became a team you simply had to beat in six innings, and that worked brilliantly with their manufacture-runs offense. Defense was not the team's specialty, but they made key plays when it mattered.

The Postseason:
ALDS: 3-1 over Texas
ALCS: 4-1 over Baltimore
World Series: 4-2 over Atlanta
The Rangers were not the most intimidating opponent for an ALDS matchup, but at 90 wins and with league MVP Juan Gonzalez powering their offense, they were still a dangerous threat. Texas got to David Cone in Game 1, but it was the Yankees who flexed their patented score-late, airtight pen strategy for victories in Games 2, 3 and 4. Despite having 15 innings of opportunity (Game 2 went extra innings), the Rangers were unable to eek out even a single run beyond the sixth inning. That is a universally dominant recipe for winning championships.

The ALCS scrum with the Orioles is often remembered for the famous Jeffrey Maier incident, when the opportunistic youngster reached over the wall and gave Jeter a free home run. Orioles fans will still grit their teeth about it to this day, but the real story of the series was much the same as in the ALDS. With the exception of a lapse in Game 2, the Yankees bullpen was again very stingy, keeping the games close and protecting leads. Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams both endeared themselves to fans by batting over .400 for the series, but the Bombers also got help from leviathan pickup Cecil Fielder and the mercurial Darryl Strawberry.

The regular season, ALDS and ALCS were just opening acts for the Fall Classic, which truly defined this team. The Braves were a monstrous opponent, flaunting a legendary pitching staff and championship rings from 1995. Atlanta was heavily favored in the series, especially after strutting out to a commanding 2-0 lead at Yankee Stadium, two rain-delayed games in which the Yankees were absolutely obliterated (outscored 16-1).

Facing three out of five on the road and needing to win four, the Yanks stunned even the most diehard fans by sweeping all three games in Atlanta and closing out the series at home in Game 6. Game 4 was the most astonishing: New York battled from six runs down, fueled by an unforgettable three-run homer from Jim Leyritz, to eventually take it, 8-6, in 10 innings. In Game 5, John Smoltz and Andy Pettitte dueled to near perfection, the Yankees scoring the only run (unearned) when Cecil Fielder doubled in Charlie Hayes in the fourth inning. John Wetteland recorded a save in all four wins, which was good enough to land him the coveted MVP award.

Overall:
On paper, the 1996 Yankees fall well short of the No. 7 accolade we're awarding them, but that gritty group of pioneers performed with a Pavarotti-esque sense of occasion, a purpose grander and more winsome than teams of better statistical measure. Joe Torre climbed aboard and steered what would become one of the great dynasties in baseball, featuring Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and others who aspired to uninhibited greatness. This team has to be judged not only on what they accomplished in 1996, but also on what they established. 1996 was the stirring prelude to a tyrannical reign on baseball, and it was one that would have made even Chopin proud.