Lupica Jr. Tries to Sell a Book

Every now and then, when Giambi has a great game, I am reminded of Buster Olney who claimed that Giambi had the worst contract in baseball history. Olney may have even claimed that it was the worst contract in sports history. I don't recall precisely, but it was a dumb thing to say and Olney has been proven wrong.


Now, Olney wrote a book about the '96 - '00 Yankee Dynasty and, unfortunately, he was proven correct in this case. 2001 really was the end of the Yankee Dynasty, though they came close a couple of times.

In 2008, Olney is actually still talking abut the 2001 World Series:

"In Game 4 of the 2001 World Series, Tino Martinez accomplished something no player had done in a World Series game in 72 years -- a game-tying, ninth-inning two-run homer. The next afternoon, I loitered outside the Yankees' clubhouse at Yankee Stadium, and Scott Brosius turned the corner, with a grin that seemingly extended from one side of the Bronx to the other. Even if he hadn't said a word, you would've known the source of his smile: He was still overwhelmed by what he had seen the night before."

This is an article with a dateline of July 2, 2008.

Basically, Olney actually dissected -- I'm not making this up -- two recent losses by the Yankees to the Rangers and contrasted them to the back-to-back comeback wins vs. the Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series.

His conclusion is that the current 2008 Yankees don't have the aura and mystique of the dynastic Yankees.


"This week, HarperCollins re-released 'The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty,' with a 50-page addendum, so that team is at the front of my brain these days. And the differences between the Martinez-Paul O'Neill years and the current Yankees are apparent."

Wouldn't you know it? Buster Olney wrote "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty." What a happy coincidence that columnist Buster Olney has an opportunity to advertise a book by author Buster Olney.


"In the dynasty years, they would have taken the field with an enormous mental advantage: They would have been convinced they would win, and even if they had lost, they would have been convinced that the matter of success or failure was something firmly within their control."

The.

Diamondbacks.

Won.

The.

World.

Series.


I mean, I get the observation: Good teams are confident and confident teams are good.

You just realized this now, seven years later, and it was these two games vs. the Rangers that convinced you?

Seems more likely that you're finding any excuse to shill your book.


"The Yankees of 2008 are really no different than the Rangers or the Athletics or the Brewers or many other teams in the majors; they're just another team of talent trying to find a way to win more games."

Of course.


"There is no edge, no more mystique and aura, to borrow a phrase."

That's not why they won in the first place. Their #5 starter was Orlando Hernandez. That is why they won.