A Band Of Brothers

The Four Core have experienced many
highs and lows together over the
years.

The most decorated franchise in professional sports had not made a postseason appearance since 1981 until four young men came along in 1995, paving the way for the next New York Yankees dynasty. Little did we know it would begin a run that will be never matched again in professional sports. Know as the Core Four Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, and Jorge Posada all made their major league debuts under manager Buck Showalter in '95. Sixteen years later three of the four are still in tact and viable parts to the Yankees winning another World Series title.

    2011 marked truly an historic year in the teams already long history. Rivera, Jeter, and Posada are the first trio of teammates in any professional sport to spend seventeen straight seasons together, a feat that might never be eclipsed.

    Jeter's good looks, charisma, desire to win, and ability to perform at this best in October has made him the face of the Yankees franchise the last seventeen seasons. Jeter is a .313 life time career hitter in the majors and will become the first Yankee in history to reach 3,000 for a career later this year. The eleven-time All-Star has won five Gold Gloves and was named in the '96 Rookie of the Year in his first full season in the big leagues under first year manger Joe Torre.

    Jeter has followed in the foot steps of Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Berra, Mantle, and Mattingly as one of the greatest players to ever dawn the pinstripes, but the critics have been out early in '11. After coming off a subpar season a year ago, batting a career low .270, 2011 has not been any different for Jeter, who is currently batting .268 in 34 games. We may be witnessing the inevitable decline of one the most iconic Yankees in history.

     No matter how the captain finishes his career, his place in Yankee lure is secure.

    Posada has been the man calling pitches for New York since '98 and been one of the greatest offensive catchers in the history of the sport. A former infielder Posada learned the tricks of the trade in the minor leagues and has put himself in the discussion with Berra, Dickey, Howard, and Munson as the greatest Yankee backstop of all-time. Posada is one of only five catchers in history to record 1,000 hits, 350 doubles, 200 home runs, and drive in 1,000 runs during their career. One of those also includes Berra.

    Even though Posada was removed from his full time catching duties this season and slotted into the designated hitter spot in the lineup, he has found his power stroke early. Posada has blasted six home runs to start the year, but finds his average on the Interstates batting .165. The thirty-nine-year old is in his final year of his current contract and could be the last in a brilliant career.

They have captured five titles together in
seven World Series appearances.

As for Rivera well he is still Rivera. At 41, he still seems to be the eighth wonder of the world dominating hitters with one pitch. His velocity has diminished since he was young man out of Panama, touching the surface of a big league mound but nonetheless the results are the same. Rivera with his consistency and impeccable control has climbed to second on the all-time list in saves and leads the majors in '11 with 13 in 15 chances. 

    There is not even an argument that Rivera has cemented his legacy as the greatest relief pitcher in baseball history, even more so with his unbelievable postseason numbers. His 0.71 earned run average is the lowest in postseason history along with accumulating an unreachable 42 saves in fifteen trips to the postseason.

    The seventeen years these three have spent together has been special and can not be put into words what it means to baseball. In a generation where free agency dictates the market, too have three Hall-of- Fame caliber players stay in the same place for that long is remarkable and almost unheard of. It demonstrates the longevity and productivity throughout their respective careers. Especially in a place that demands immediate results every year.  

    Pettitte would have been apart of this historic group if he did not chose to sign with his hometown Houston Astros prior to the '04 season and call it a career after New York's '10 postseason series loss to the Texas Rangers. The southpaw helped Houston make the postseason twice, including pitching them into the 2005 World Series for the first time in franchise history. After a three-year absence from the Bronx, he returned to 161st Street River Ave. to pitch his final seasons where it all began.

    Their success goes beyond the five World Series titles they brought to the Big Apple, but more of the example they set for future players. Detriot Tigers manager Jim Leyland said it best when he said, "You will never see something like this again." He is right.

     They closed the greatest sporting venue in the world together in '08 and opened a palace the following season, christening it with their 27th World Series title in the history of the franchise. With only three of the Core Four still playing and all thirty-seven years old or older, this era is coming to a close. They will not soon be forgotten as their plaques in Monument Park are waiting along with the retirement of their numbers, to stand with the most immortal Yankees. 

    Revel in the moment while you still can because what this group of guys has done shall never be repeated.