Yankees Honor 1996 Championship Team at Old Timers’ Day

The New York Yankees celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 1996 World Series championship squad during Sunday’s Old Timers’ Day ceremonies.

The 70th annual Old Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium reunited 13 members of the 1996 team that ended an unprecedented 18 year championship drought in the Bronx. Closer John Wetteland and infielder Mariano Duncan were among the players making their Old Timers’ Day debut.

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One of the most memorable moments of the afternoon saw third baseman Charlie Hayes catching a fly ball in foul territory behind third base, evoking memories of the iconic play that clinched the World Series title that season. Afterwards, he told Chad Jennings of the Journal News, “I think I’ve had over four million people tell me that they were at the game. I think (1996) was the start of something great for the Yankees organization, but also the people hadn’t seen the team win — I guess it was 18 years or something like that.”

Hayes wasn’t the only player to recreate a recognizable play from that season on Sunday. Paul O’Neill showed off some impressive range for a 53-year-old, with an over the shoulder catch in right to rob Clipper leadoff hitter Mickey Rivers of extra bases. The catch was almost identical to the one that ended game five of the 1996 series, albeit slightly less dramatic and considerably slowed down.

Current Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who served as starting catcher on the ‘96 team, enjoyed reminiscing with his former teammates, telling Jennings after the event, “Time goes fast. It’s nice to see everyone come back. I saw Mariano Duncan today, and he coined that phrase, ‘We play today, we win today,’ and it really took off and registered with our club that day. To see guys like Wett come back, it’s special.”

On a personal note, the 1996 season was actually the first that I began watching baseball religiously as a nerdy 10-year-old. Getting to see many of my childhood idols all back on the field together is incredibly fun. Old Timers’ Day is one of the highlights of my year every season. There’s nothing quite like it. Seeing other members of the 90’s dynasty retake the field in the coming years, especially the Core Four, is sure to be very memorable.