But the full appreciation of what this team has done in 1998 belongs mainly to the dyed in the wool baseball fan. The guy who's been following baseball as a religion , collecting cards , reading box scores and fantasying about being a big league hero long before his puberty began. It is among this elite group where now, in the afterglow of the success and celebration , that the endless debate over whether this is the greatest team of all time will rage in every locker room, bar room and office for most of this offseason.

Many of the self proclaimed baseball gurus from all of the radio and TV ta

I agree that the debate over the "greatest" in most arenas is hopelessly subjective. Who was a greater president , Lincoln or Roosevelt? If you ask who was the sexiest female screen star ever , depending on who you talk to and what their tastes were , you'd be as likely to hear Jean Harlow or Lana Turner as Sharon Stone.

My arguments about evolution of game and athlete would be flawed if I didn't think this will eventually happen as well. But the evolution of baseball has slowed considerably in recent years. For something to continue to evolve it has to start at its lowest level , in baseball's case , children.

lk shows and web sites have decided to take the politically correct approach and say that you cant really compare this team with the great ones of eras past. They say it's an "apples and oranges" comparison. I say this is a load ! You can , and if you're a true fan , should compare them. And you can draw definitive conclusions.

Additionally , thanks to increased family capital and modern technology , there are a lot more non athletic diversions like VCRs , cable TV, mountain bikes and video games that seem more appealing. It seems that the sport of baseball has lost much of the link to "americana" that it had enjoyed for many generations. This all has served to drive down participation in little league and school league baseball over recent years. In the '60s a schoolboy would collect baseball cards and fantasize about being Mickey Mantle. Now he is more likely to collect beanie babies and fantasize about banging one of the spice girls.

So will a team attain a higher status that our current Yankees ? Probably but don't start to hold your breath. What the Yankees did this season will be the benchmark and will be a source of pride and satisfaction for New Yorkers and baseball fans for many years.

There has been a notable reduction in interest of baseball for children in past years due to the alternate options for grabbing their interest. In the '20's through as recently as the '70s a schoolboy not interested in watching , talking about or playing the game was considered by his peers to be somewhat of a freak. Frankly, come springtime , baseball was by far the primary diversion for school age boys. Recently other warm weather organized sports , perhaps a bit more "chic" or "'90s" such as organized soccer have cropped up and taken some kids off the diamond.

This team was the true definition of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Their tenacity , persistence and intensity created an aura which served to intimidate their opposition not only in their home temple of Yankee stadium , but as most unwelcome guests in the visitors ballpark as well.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Yankees Consider, World Series, World Champions, Maddux Belle, Pakistani Korean, Combs Meusel, Sharon Stone, Hideki Irabu, Ali Tyson, World War, modern day, game baseball, baseball game, yankees team, '98 yankees, 1927 yankees, '76 reds, 1998 yankees, world series, start playing,
Approximate Word count = 3147
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)