Righting Wrongs - 1999 Yankees and Athletics

 

The 1999 Yankees were your champions, so it stands that not many of their cards need improving. Here, Martinez is an example of a better card. His 97 season featured MVP caliber numbers at the plate, and his chart reflects that. Hard to pass on any player with 16+ homer potential.

1997 Brosius was abysmal, making him an easy player to shed for the A's. Unfortunately, that gave the 98 Yankees their World Series MVP and Brosius his lone All Star year. His 98 card is covered earlier here, but it's worth noting how good his 96 season was with Oakland, with the better than perfect +4 defense at third base and some 1B eligibility.

Davis called it a career after his 99 efforts, so his Showdown card is yet another example of a player who wasn't done justice because of the time he played in. Turn back the clock to the early 90s and you'll see the true force this DH really was.

Knoblauch was a 9 On-Base in 99, which was fine for a leadoff hitter, but there was a time where he brought the full 10 On-base to the party, and could actually defend his position. His defense with the Yankees only got worse and worse until they stuck him in Leftfield, a trend that continued in his subsequent Showdown cards, but back in Minnesota, he could be justified in manning 2nd.

Becker was such an anonymously bad outfielder, I almost forgot his 2000 Showdown card existed. Here, he brings a much more respectable card to the table in what will end our mini-theme of players who were better in Minnesota. Still nothing special, but at least it's not as forgettable.

Back before he was turning a blind eye to cheating in Houston, Hinch was once a pretty sub-par Catcher. His Showdown card was high on power and speed, where here they take a cut in the name of a slightly higher On-base and defense. He's still pretty fleet footed for a Catcher, but ultimately an easy avoid for a real team.