 We have a very special guest made his way up to our our big luxurious studio here and that is uh the great paul o'neill i'll be doing the game with him tonight with david calling on pix 11 you're gonna have to put on the headphones to listen to peter he might he might ask you a question i know is that right oh yeah you never know paul i'm doing good yeah yeah now i know that you listened to uh the joe tori interview i was you could listen to him for hours tell these stories but you lived them and we've had on horre this week we've had on david wells as well i've talked to you a lot about it you played on five championship teams in your life is that the best team ever the 98 team oh by far i mean this on paper it was great and everybody had a great year so it's just uh in in my mind it was the closest to the perfect team that i was ever a part of did you know this in spring training did you know right away or did you only know when you started this is steamroll yeah you start to realize it when you start to steamroll because again a lot of teams are really good on paper and then you know injuries set in and guys don't have the years they're supposed to have but all of a sudden this uh this season started and then once we got going uh it was i've never seen a team will go into a city looking to to win two out of three or three out of three i mean it's just like you would win two out of three and then you would expect to sweep and you would go on to the next series it was really an amazing thing now john florida did the game with yesterday he told the story he said they came into a game and you guys were 11 and one against tampa bay that year he said they'd come into the game pedal to the metal they take a lead and then they kind of coast for an ending or two and then if you thought about coming back they would just destroy you did you feel that that's the way it played well we were so good at with the ability to come out get a lead you had a bullpen but you know i don't think that we ever just uh took an aim for granted you come out score a couple runs i think we were a great team it continued to attack on runs until teams were kind of defeated and you'd start looking through tomorrow everybody has talked about that i've spoken to the one and four start and and although joe said he wasn't sure i mean it seemed like his job was on the line and then you guys had a meeting and he said that you played a big role in the meeting you got up and talked what did you say what was that meeting about well i mean we had had some issues with seattle over the years and uh it just came about i think i got drilled the night before and nothing happened yeah yeah and nothing had happened and it's just those things kind of really uh they mean more when you're you're going through tough times i mean if the team's going well uh you know you just move on to the next day but it was kind of a you know kind of a wake-up call obviously to have a wake-up call early in the season like that it is strange but it seemed to bring things together and you know if you look at one day that our season kind of turned around that might have been it and you know andy i read a story in the post today by ken david often andy pettit said you know the team was kind of mad at me because i didn't retaliate that's kind of maybe not andy's way and then joe said it was an awkward meeting because i had to tell people you've got to protect paul you got to protect players that get hit and what's been going on the last couple of days how difficult is that to balance all right we've got to protect our guys but you don't want to head on either yeah i mean it it definitely a bigger part of the game years ago it is much different today andy pettit actually came up and apologized to me but you know he was a close friend of mine and i think you said it right i he wasn't comfortable pitching that way um also was very young then he was young and you know there are guys that use that uh you know roger clements was a better pitcher when he used intimidation it was a part of his game and um but you know what you you you talk about it you you know about it it it happens in the game but you know you hate to see for instance you know what has happened to the Yankees i mean they're a different team now erin judge was hit by a pitch was an intentional no but you know it changed the way this team is and that's what you want to get away from when you're trying to you know resaliate all right now let's just deviate a minute from the 98 team because i want to ask you what happened in miami where the kid from the kunya gets drilled i've always found it's so weird paul this is the one sport where somebody's doing well well let's hit him yeah instead of let's try to get him out what were your thoughts when you saw what that the pitcher did yeah i was never uh a big fan of of being hit because i'm doing well uh because there are times where i'm doing bad that you know that i can't walk out and punch the pitcher you know it's it's like all right so you're doing you're you're throwing a great game Pedro i'm going to come out and get you you know the it's so one-sided uh but it was there is a difference in trying to get somebody off the plate trying to let somebody realize hey you're not just going to sing a single handily kill us but just to go out and smoke somebody for no reason it just uh you know you're paid to hit homeruns you're paid to have good at bats and pitchers are paid to get you out get you out yeah it's almost like i hate i hate the the aspect of anybody getting hit but if i guess if a batter showed up a pitcher or style i i guess maybe that there's some kind of thought okay maybe that's the only way he could get back at him but because the kid keeps hitting homeruns yeah i mean either you you pitch around you make better pitches uh or you know you you try to intimidate i'm just not a big fan of of intentionally hitting people because you see too many people get injured and also i mean let's be honest paul i know it's a sport supposed to be fun but it's a big business and that baseball thrown 99 miles an hour is a deadly weapon if it gets away if it gets up and in yeah and you know if you look at sports uh there's there is if you look at every sport i mean football there's an intimidation factor there's guys that you know that that hit harder than other guys hockey there's always a guy that will take care of somebody basketball you know there's the bill lamb ears there that's part of the sport but to intentionally injure somebody and again there are guys now that throw so hard that you know if you tell somebody to hit somebody in the hip it might hit them in the side of the neck and that's the the key is people aren't pinpoint control anymore so with paul o'neill here on the michael k show tomorrow the 98 team the 20th anniversary of that great team will be honored on the field uh one 25 and 50 was the final number after you won the 11 games in the postseason but it was 114 during the regular season and i was talking to tory about this in the middle of september you guys just hit the skids and i think on this date in 1998 you guys are on pace to win 121 games it's hard to regret a team where you want to championship but do you regret leaving those those wins in the middle of september well i mean not really because the the ultimate goal is to win the world series and you know that the world series was one so the accomplishment was there but when you look back if there was something to drive you towards a certain number or something it might have been different but again you're you're also looking for that postseason and trying to get everybody a perfect amount of playing time and that perfect amount of rest and we weren't at a point where we were being chased by anybody if we were a game up or a game back at that time with the same team at the with the same numbers we probably would have won a lot more games it's amazing when you look at that team there were guys on the bench that that knew their role and there were guys on the bench paul one of them went to the hall of fame tim reigns and and chili davis was hurt a lot of the year and then when darryl got sick at the end chili davis kind of just plugged and played and was unbelievable i mean that was a perfectly constructed team and it was because those guys at that point of their career didn't have the ego that you know i should be out there this or that or and it just uh it wasn't just the the perfect fit on the field it was a perfect fit in the clubhouse too i mean there there there were people that were uh you know intense and there were people that you know joked and there it just you you put the whole mix together and it was kind of like the perfect storm now there was one bit of sweat i thought in the postseason and that was when you guys were down two games to one to the indians did you feel it and did you feel that the only way to validate 114 was to win at all absolutely i think that you know if you do not win the world series then you know you had a good year but you didn't you didn't win the world series and that's the ultimate goal um yeah i do remember that game and i think that 97 put the fear of losing and how quick it can happen uh in everybody's mind so i i do remember that game and i remember it well and i remember doing an interview with you and then we wrote it all the way out so uh um you know not that i'm superstitious but it it it definitely was uh the the game that duke pitched in cleveland was kind of that do or die time now just to amplify what paul's thought you know paul has become a great broadcast i don't think at that point he ever thought he was going to be in the media did not like doing interviews and we did an interview before game four and they won and then paul every i did an interview for i was the radio broadcast yesterday i did a free game interview every game and he sought me out every single game and you guys know let's get this over with and the funny part was it so they won every single game after two one and then it's three oh against san diego game four is happening and i can't find you and then i i was going to interview somebody else and i went up to this and you want to do this and you want oh okay i mean you just knew that you had to so i was a big part of this you know that's a true story yeah i mean you were you the good luck charm it was your interview went for your looks brother that's true well that is a fact i was going to ask you paul how did how did the 98 team think of michael k do they care for him very much you know believe it or not players uh you know and there's not a lot said about michael that that's bad i i i gotta give you that there's there's a lot of joking all right you know you got that's why you got thick skin you can take it but you know you get around the club enough that they feel comfortable enough to to jab you a little bit um of all your championships the one with the reds the four with the angies is that the one that's the most special because it's historic or is it like picking a favorite child uh you know every single one of them has a different story but you know and looking back now being that was the best team uh yeah that that's probably as special as any of them no doubt about it you know the one with the mats obviously because it was new york in new york was really special to me but uh to look back and if you picked one you would pick that one because you think you could take that team and repeat with it because it was that good it's so funny uh everybody takes ownership of the team that they were on we had willy randolph on yesterday he said i think the 77 78 yankies were better we've had strawberry on and he played for the 86 mats and the 98 yankies and he said the 86 mats would have beaten them wow but i mean you were on that team and i've never seen a better team in 32 years of covering sports well i was on the 90 reds and we were we had a good bullpen but that we were better than the 98 yankies i'll tell you that i just like i said it's just in that time it was like that one time that one instant that where everybody played well and you stayed away from injuries other i think marianne started the season on the dl but you know he had a fabulous year as usual but seldom do you have that many good players have great years and that's just what made that year special i mean walls had a great year yeah uh duke when he came up cony had a great you had a great i think at 317 yeah it was just like i said i mean you go up and down the lineup and everybody on the back of their cars had good years all right now what was more pressure though because i remember you saying you told me in 2000 you had to win the series against the mats there was no joy there but in 98 you almost had to win that one to validate 114 so where did you feel more pressure well i think that again every year brings on its own special thing uh i think we felt pressure uh in game one because we were losing you know and you always want to get off to a good start and kevin brown was pitching they they pulled him out we end up winning once you saw that series turn after game one you almost figured what was going to happen we we kind of steamrolled after that but you know you get to 2000 and again you're losing game one and you're just like there's so much you really have everything to lose and nothing to gain we're supposed to win we are the Yankees mr steinbrenner expects us to win but in my mind i truly felt like we're a better team and not always in short series to the best team win but you know when you feel like you're a better team chances are you going to win now you know fans are going to be pumped up to see this team on the field again i wonder is it just a fan thing are you excited to see your teammates oh absolutely because uh there'll be somebody you're like wow i forgot he was on the 98 team and but yeah there'll be stories and immediately it brings back all the memories of uh and that's what we got left like well it's not like you can go out and do it anymore so you you have great memories and that's what you live for you like i said you had that one moment and that one moment as that group where it all came together and it just the people in new york are so good at not forgetting and not getting rid of championships and i can almost imagine i mean there's a roster of 25 and there are guys that come and go so and maybe about this 31 32 guys that's what you guys have in common and nobody could ever take that they can't take that title away from you yeah that's uh the one cool thing about finishing off with a world series is uh you know it you can't take it away and and that's the thing now where you know it is boston the greatest team machine that are the yankees earlier in the year until this season is over and until you see who wins the world series you can't even compare any of the current teams to the teams that have won in the past all right now let's shift it to the to this year or this this team right now we're doing the game together with with kony so obviously been watching these games and then we also did a lot of the games when they were 17 or two and we looked at each other wow what's different paul i mean this team i can't say they look lackluster because when you don't score you always look lackluster what's going on in your opinion well i think that your true team leader is out of the lineup right now i think you're a judge uh everybody walks kind of a straight line and he doesn't have to say anything but he being part of the lineup is a huge part i think that sanchez obviously he's one of those guys that's a good player that's not having a good year uh the pitching numbers have been not really good as of late and um to me you get to the playoffs it's a different season now you win the wildcard you're in the same boat and then the pressure goes to boston can they validate their season but uh you know you you you you can't judge a team when they're i've always said and always heard you know you're never as good as they say you are you're really never as bad right now they don't look good but you know if the playoffs started tomorrow and everybody was healthy and judge was back in the lineup i still think that this team has an opportunity to win the added danger though is that you you put yourself in a one game situation a starter is a bad game and your season's over they could win 101 games and go home after one day yeah but you you know you don't look at that way you look at it as a postseason and uh there are times whether it's in a short series or one game series you have must win and obviously going into that that one game thing is a must win but it it also gives you confidence going into the next round that you're you're on your way now you say you know you have the title you you don't play anymore so you can't do it again but i know gene michael tried to pull you out of retirement they need outfielders right now paul can you give them a couple of games i can't see anymore man i might be on a rudder sway i just can't see can't sir even glasses wouldn't help no no i know you got to get upstairs and prepare so i'll let you go thanks for coming by all right man all right the three and a half hours with you later i know walley dave it'll be a buffer