Snakebite not fatal to Yankee dynasty

The king is dead, or so some would have you believe. The king was bitten by a wiley rattler on a warm desert evening in early November. The bite might have been unexpected and incapacitating, but was it truly deadly?

Yes, the New York Yankees lost a thrilling World Series to the very deserving Arizona Diamondbacks, but that is no reason for Yankee fans to get the blues, or for others to prematurely announce the end of an era. Since 1996 the Bronx Bombers have been the undisputed kings of the baseball world, notwithstanding a hiccup against the Cleveland Indians in 1997.

This most recent stumble does nothing to negate what has come before, nor does it preclude more pennants and World Series titles in the immediate future. The king is battered and on the run, perhaps, but certainly not dead. Not yet anyway.

The supremacy of these Yankees is being tested and challenged as never before, but only another baseball season will tell us whether the Diamondbacks have dealt the dynasty a fatal blow, or simply a temporary setback.

The 2001 World Series will no doubt go down in history as one of the truly great series ever. In time, it will take it's rightful place among the handful of most exciting and compelling World Series ever contested.

Our grandkids' grandkids will be talking about this one. It will rank right up there with the 1975 World Series (Cincinnati over. Boston), the 1960 World Series (Pittsburgh over the Yankees ), the 1986 World Series (Mets over Boston), the 1991 World Series (Minnesota over Atlanta) and the 1912 World Series (New York Giants over the Boston Redsox).

The 2001 Fall Classic had it all: classic pitching matchups, improbable comebacks, a record-setting offensive explosion, and an absolutely nail-biting conclusion. There was no shame in coming in second this year.

Whoever lost this series was going to feel robbed, and rightly so. It was that close, but in the end someone had to win. No cheap victory for the Diamondbacks here. If you beat Mariano Rivera, the greatest post-season closer the game has ever known with the title on the line, there is no question you deserve to be called champion.

Nothing that happened over the nine days of the 2001 Series can in any way diminish what the Yankees of recent vintage have accomplished since 1996. Five pennants and four World Series titles in six years. No team since the Yankees of the early 1960s had won as many as four straight pennants until this year.

Hopes of five straight Series titles have been dashed, but the opportunity remains to be only the third squad in history to win five straight pennants. (The Yankees from 1949-1953 and from 1960-1964 are the others. No franchise other than the Yankees has won more than four consecutive pennants since the founding of the American League in 1901. The New York Giants from 1921-1924 won four straight National League pennants. Of course, the 1936-1939 Yankees also won four straight league titles).The current Yankees will, like the great Yankee dynasties that came before, accept the challenge.

A change in personnel is surely coming for next season. At times, it seems many watchers of the game mistakenly view the past six years as a seamless period, during which the same 25 Yankees battled for and won the title. David Cone, David Wells, Wade Boggs, Chad Curtis, Jim Leyritz, John Wetteland, Chili Davis, Cecil Fielder, Joe Girardi, Jimmy Key and Jeff Nelson are among the players that were with the Yankees for part of the championship run, but have since moved on. Some to supposed greener pastures, others just out to pasture.

Paul O'Neill has made it official. He too is hanging up his pinstripes for good. (I don't see a Lemieux or Jordan-like return in Paul's future). He will be missed, no doubt about it, but re-tooling is part of what it takes to keep winning pennants. These Yankees have been doing it since 1996, and the great Yankee teams of the past were famous for finding just the right new part to help perpetuate their dynasty. Does anyone out there remember Johnny Mize? (I don't. Just curious).

There is no reason to believe the 2002 Yankees won't be as strong or stronger than the 2001 edition, which despite its obvious weaknesses came within two outs of capturing a fourth World Series title in a row.

Whether the new pieces to the puzzle will include Jason Giambi, Moises Alou, Roger Cedeno, or David Wells, only time will tell. What is certain is that the New York Yankees will still be chasing history when the 2002 season launches.

The Diamondbacks proved the Yankees human. They proved Rivera human. But it will take more than one loss in the World Series to end this dynasty.

If I played for anyone except the Yankees next year, I'd be very wary of the Bombers. They have been so dominant for so long, rarely being tested. The Series title has been ripped from them and they want it back.

The bite still stings. They are angry now, and still as hungry as ever. An angry rattler may be scary, but an angry, pinstripe-clad ball club in the Bronx is even scarier. God help the rest of baseball.