We get closer to the turn of the century today on MLB Monday with this look at a postseason where the New York Yankees asserted themselves once again atop the sport as the “Evil Empire” to rule over all. Alas, though, too, we start to end the PED Era of the sport, which makes some of these award analyses difficult. This technically started a few entries ago, but it’s going to be picking up steam every year now, sadly. Boo!

1998 World Series MVP: Scott Brosius, 3B, New York (AL) (original); Mariano Rivera, RP, New York (AL) (revised)

The Yankees beat the San Diego Padres (making their first World Series appearance since 1984) in an easy 4-game sweep, outscoring the opponent by a 26-13 margin. New York third baseman Scott Brosius (.471 BA, 2 HRs, 6 RBI, 1.294 OPS) was voted the MVP at the time, yet a lot of Yankees hitters cleaned up on San Diego pitching: 3 regulars had OPS marks over 1.000, for example, so why Brosius specifically? We don’t know.

Four different pitchers won games in this Fall Classic, and no pitcher managed a complete game. The team ERA was 2.75 as well, so the best pitching candidate here is reliever Mariano Rivera, who saved 3 of the games without giving up a run or a walk. The fact he had 3 save chances is odd here, considering that scoring margin noted above. This was the beginning of Rivera’s overrated legacy, so maybe that was a thing.

Brosius was a good story at the time: the year before, he’d hit just .203 with the Oakland Athletics, but New York traded for him; he hit .300 with the Yankees; and then he had this great week in October. But we don’t see much difference between him and other N.Y. hitters here. We do see more value in what Rivera did here, though, even if he tossed just 4 1/3 innings in the World Series: overrated, for sure, yet still an all-time stud.

1998 ALCS MVP: David Wells, SP, New York (original, confirmed)

The Yankees topped Cleveland in 6 games to win their second pennant in 3 years, while denying the Indians 2 straight AL flags. In winning Games 1 and 5, New York starting pitcher David Wells (2-0, 2.87 ERA, .894 WHIP, 18 Ks in 15 2/3 IP) took home the MVP hardware. He certainly was the best pitcher in a matchup where 47 total runs were plated—including 27 by the Yankees. But what about the hitters for New York?

The offensive standout was centerfielder Bernie Williams (5 RBI, 7 BBs, .381 BA, .964 OPS), who won this award in 1996. But sabermetrically, he doesn’t separate himself enough from the other star hitters in the matchup. And Wells’ Game 5 effort was huge: on the road in a series tied at 2 wins apiece. He came through with 11 Ks in 7 1/3 IP, and the Yankees never looked back on their way to the World Series title. We confirm.

1998 NLCS MVP: Sterling Hitchcock, SP, San Diego (original, confirmed)

San Diego upset Atlanta in this matchup, denying the Braves a fifth pennant of the decade. The Padres eliminated the favorites in 6 games, thanks to voted MVP Sterling Hitchcock (2-0, 0.90 ERA, 14 Ks in 10 IP), who won Games 2 and 6 for San Diego. But he went the minimum innings in each start, and he also walked 8 batters in those 10 innings. He got lucky, basically, no matter what the final stat line suggests.

Overall, the Padres outscored the Braves, 24-18, in the matchup, so who are the other candidates? Well, 3B Ken Caminiti (2 HRs, 4 RBI, 5 BBs, .953 OPS) is out, since we know he was on PEDs. We would consider CD Steve Finley (2 RBI, 6 BBs, 1 SB, .862 OPS), too, although his career patterns strongly suggest PED use, too, right next to Caminiti’s strange journey. See the issue when we have to parse a roster cheatingly managed?

We could go with SP Andy Ashby (2.08 ERA, 13 IP), but he gave up more hits than IP and actually didn’t win either start in the series. Two different relievers posted saves, leaving us with quite the quandary here for an MVP pick: no cheaters, for sure. In the absence of any obvious displacement candidates, we will just confirm Hitchcock’s vote win; even if he was lucky, it is what it is—you’d rather be lucky than good here.

1998 AL MOTY: Joe Torre, New York (original); Terry Collins, Anaheim (revised)

The Yankees dominated with an AL-record 114 wins during the season, winning the AL East by 22 games over Boston. New York Manager Joe Torre (plus-6 PPP) won the MOTY vote. Are there other candidates? Clearly the Yankees were going to win no matter what in this season, so how much did Torre really matter? His PPP mark was second best in the league overall, although it was highest among winning teams’ PPPs.

Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove (plus-2) helped his team win the AL Central by 9 games over the Chicago White Sox, who didn’t even finish over .500 for the year. Texas Rangers Manager Johnny Oates—who shared this vote win with Torre in 1996—led his team to a 3-game victory in the AL West over the Anaheim Angels. But Oates posted a mere plus-1 PPP, topping Angels Manager Terry Collins (plus-4).

The key here is that Collins came close to pulling off an upset in the division, and a blind squirrel could have managed those Yankees to a playoff spot. There is the record win total to consider, but it was one of those meaningless stats with an extension to a 162-game season—as the 1954 Indians had won 111 games in a 152-game season. So it really wasn’t all that. We will give this nod to Collins for pushing hard on Texas to the end.

1998 NL MOTY: Larry Dierker, Houston (original); Jim Riggleman, Chicago (revised)

Despite posting a minus-4 PPP, Houston Astros Manager Larry Dierker—a former TV analyst—won the NL MOTY vote, probably because the writers dreamed they, too, could make the transition from the press box to the field dugout. This is one of the worst votes we’ve seen, of course, and we will have to re-assign the award. Alas, there are some complication and realities here that will make this task very difficult to finish.

Let’s start with the complication: Padres Manager Bruce Bochy (plus-5) might have been the best skipper, but we know he was enabling cheating—and probably not just via Caminiti. We can’t choose him, clearly. Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox (even-0 PPP) guided his team to an 18-game edge in the NL East; he’s not it. We see Chicago Cubs Manager Jim Riggleman (plus-5), though, as the winner of this award, and rightfully so.

His PPP mark tied Bochy for the best in the league, and his team claimed the wild-card spot after beating the San Francisco Giants in a one-game playoff for the final postseason berth. Giants Manager Dusty Baker (minus-2) actually cost his team the wild card outright with his bad managing, while Riggleman clearly helped his Cubs steal it from these Giants. Baker won this award last year, of course, so that’s odd.