WHY WE'LL ALWAYS LOVE BROSIUS

When I think about the 1998 season, so many great memories come to mind. And, of course, it all concluded with our dominant performance in the World Series where we swept the San Diego Padres. But there is one player that always comes to my mind first when I think of that unbelievable season, and that player is Scott David Brosius, or better known around Yankeeland as Scotty Bro.

Brosius is one of those Yankee players where you can just throw his overall, career stats out the window. He was more to this team than statistics. He became a big time, big game player, and that’s why he is so loved by the fans. I specifically remember when Brosius was in Oakland and he batted .304 with 22 home runs in 1996. I remember saying to my brother after we won the World Series in 1996 how it would be great to get that guy Scott Brosius for 3rd base. Wade Boggs and Charlie Hayes definitely did an amazing job for us at 3rd before him, but I was thinking big picture. So when the Yankees did not get him in 1997, I thought they made a big mistake.

Well, at the time, the Yankees brass must have had a crystal ball or something because in 1997 Brosius not only had his worse career season, but had one of the worst career seasons EVER, by a major league hitter.

In 1997, Brosius finished last in the majors in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. So, I know I wasn’t the only Yankee fan who screamed “WTF” when the Yankees traded for Brosius after that dreadful year. Granted, we were dumping Kenny Rogers who was a disaster with us, but Scott Brosius? Now? After his nightmare of a season? Well, I guess there is a reason I was never asked to be the Yankees General Manager. What do I know? I just blog.

I would never have imagined the incredible memories Brosius would give us once he put on the pinstripes. Scotty Bro took his opportunity to be a New York Yankee, ran and never looked back, and it all began in 1998.

Brosius finished 1998 regular season with a .300 batting average, 19 HR’s, and 98 RBI’s. and played an awesome 3rd base. But it was the 1998 post season when Brosius officially entered Yankee lore. Scotty Bro hit .390 throughout the 1998 playoffs and had 4 home runs, including two in Game 3 of the World Series, that all but sealed the deal against the Padres. Remember that homer he hit against Trevor Hoffman in Game 3? What a shot! Man, I remember that like it was yesterday.
Scotty Bro hit .471 and had almost a .500 on-base percentage in the 1998 World Series and walked away with the World Series MVP. Tremendous.

With Scotty Bro at 3rd base, the Yankees continued to kick ass. They went on to win the World Series in 1999 and 2000 and went for the 4-peat in 2001. Now trying to sum up what the 2001 World Series meant, not just for baseball, but for our country in a few sentences would be a sin. Casey touched on it in WHY JUSTICE WAS SERVED after bin Laden was killed and believe me, we'll be sure to be more in depth around the anniversary of September 11th, but for now, let me just say this: That World Series was probably the only time in my life as a fan of a team when winning or losing really wasn't important. I was just so proud of the way the Yankees and Diamondbacks played and how they carried themselves throughout that Series. Sure, it would have been great to win, but I was just so proud to be an American and proud of my Yankees!

MLB could not have scripted a more dramatic World Series in 2001. It was just filled with amazing baseball by both teams and total class by the Yankee and Arizona fans, as well as fans around the country. Who can forget the dramatic home runs by Tino Martinez in Game 4 and Scotty Brosius in Game 5? With two outs in the ninth, Brosius hit a 1–0 pitch over the left field wall to tie Game 5 at two. God, remember how Yankee Stadium erupted after he hit that home run! Brosius' homer sent the game into extra innings and the Yankees won it in the twelfth when Alfonso Soriano knocked in Chuck Knoblauch with a base hit. Scotty Bro’s shot was just so clutch. Fans might forget that up until Brosius hit that dinger, he was having a pretty awful series at the plate. I had to look it up, but Brosius only hit only .167 in that 7 game classic. But when you hit home runs like he hit, who cares, right? That’s what I meant when I said that there are certain players who’s stats don't matter. When players are as clutch as Scott Brosius, their career stats are meaningless.

Scotty was just class all the way. He knew what it meant to be a Yankee and made fans like me proud! You know, Scott Brosius will never make it into the Hall of Fame. He wont have his number #18 retired by the Yankees or he won't ever get a monument in Monument park. But what he will always have is the thanks from us New York Yankee fans for one of the greatest runs in the history of this franchise. Including 1998, the greatest single season domination by any team in history!So thank you Scot Brosius for all the great memories.

By the way, you want goosebumps? Watch this clip from the 2001 World Series. If you didn't bleed Yankee blue before, you will after it plays:



Here are some facts about Scott Brosius:

• Brosius hit a homerun in his first MLB game (Aug. 7, 1991)
• He was drafted by the A’s in the 20th round in 1987
• The Yankees won the AL pennant every year with Brosius from 1998-2001 (2001 was the only year they did not win the WS)
• Brosius won the Gold Glove at 3rd base in 1999
• Brosius was an All-Star selection in 1998 (only year he ever made it)
• Brosius retired right after the 2001 WS, on November 4th.
  

--Mikey Blue, BYB Senior Writer
Twitter @MikeyBlu23


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