For six days this October Frank Sinatra sang what seems to have become baseball's theme and it felt like the 1950's again. The first New York-New York World Series in 44 years wasn't all it was cracked up to be -- as the Yankees vanquished the Mets in five games -- but given the otherworldly media hype, how could it have been? Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens did his best to liven things up in Game 2, firing a bat shard in the direction of Mets catcher Mike Piazza (whom he had beaned in July), but in the end it was the Yankees' continued postseason dominance that wrote all the headlines. After a roller-coaster season that saw them post baseball's best record (44-22) from July 1 to Sept. 1 and then limp into the playoffs with a 3-15 finish, the Bombers became the first team since the 1974 Oakland A's to win three straight World Series. At age 26, shortstop Derek Jeter won his fourth ring and became the first player to claim World Series and All-Star Game MVP awards in the same season. Clemens seemed to thrive on his own mischief, going 8-2 in post-Piazza starts, pitching a 15-strikeout one-hitter after flooring the Mariners' Alex Rodriguez twice in Game 4 of the ALCS and allowing two hits in eight shutout innings in the bat-throwing game. Winning by any means necessary, Clemens finally earned his pinstripes.

--Jamal Greene