World Series we Wish Happened.

1998 Yankees vs. 1998 Braves

Yankees Record: 114-48

Braves Record:106-56

7-game series (probably)

Starting pitchers for Yankees- David Cone, David Wells, Andy Pettite, Orlando Hernandez, Hideki Irabu

Starting pitchers for Braves- John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Dennis Martinez, Kerry Ligtenburg


Synopsis-This matchup, had it occurred, would likely have been the biggest matchup of all time. One of the best NL teams in history by win percentage pitted against the best AL team in history by win percentage. The San Diego victory over the Braves should be the subject of a 48 Hours Mystery episode. No one, not even the Yankees, expected that they would be playing against San Diego and not Atlanta. One thing's for sure, the Yankees wouldn't have swept the 1998 Series against the murderous trio of John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, combined with the ace pitchers Dennis Martinez, still the only Latin-born player to toss a perfect game, and Kerry Lightenburg, the 1998 Atlanta Braves were still the only team to ever include 5 aces in a 5-man rotation. Combined with the hitting power of Chipper Jones, Mark DeRosa and various other hitters, they would have given the Yanks everything they had.

That's not to say that the Yankees had nothing to counter the Braves with, however. Their best hitters, Scott Brosius at third and Tino Martinez at first, as well as Jorge Posada, Andy Pettite, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter as their "Core Four," not to mention their fantastic starting rotation; David Wells pitched a perfect game that year and every pitcher posted double-digit wins, led by David Cone's 20. There wasn't a weakness on the Yankees team that year at all.

Alas, this "Baseball Armageddon" never happened, and the Yankees won their 24th championship that year. Oh, what a Series that would have been.