October 23, 1996: The Jim Leyritz Game II

October 23, 1996: Game 4 of the World Series, at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Atlanta Braves rock New York Yankees starter Kenny Rogers, and lead 6-0. The Yankees close to within 6-3, but in the top of the 8th, they are 4 outs away from being down 3 games to 1 in the Series, their great season coming to a very disappointing close.

But they get 2 runners on, and backup catcher Jim Leyritz comes to bat against Braves closer Mark Wohlers. After throwing 98- and 99-mile-per-hour fastballs that Leyritz can only foul off, Wohlers hangs an 86-mile-per-hour slider. Leyritz, a postseason hero for the Yankees a year earlier with his 15th-inning walkoff homer in the Division Series against Seattle, knocks it over the left-field fence to tie the game.

The Yankees load the bases in the 10th, and Hall of Fame 3rd baseman Wade Boggs, whom Torre had benched in favor of Charlie Hayes due to his usual magnificent hitting having failed him, is sent up to pinch-hit. Boggs draws one of the most important walks in baseball history, and it's 7-6 Yanks. An error makes the final score 8-6 Yanks.

Not since the 1929 Cubs, going from 8-0 up to 10-8 down in the 7th inning of Game 4, had a team blown a 6-run lead in a Series game. The Yankees were in serious trouble, but now the Series is tied, and anything can happen. In this 1996 season, lots of "anythings" have already happened for the Yankees.

The next night, Game 5 was, regardless of result, the last event at Fulton County Stadium, as the Braves were moving into the next-door Turner Field the next season. The Yankees won, 1-0. Two nights later, they won Game 6 at Yankee Stadium, 3-2, completing their remarkable comeback, and winning their 23rd World Series.

The Yankees traded Leyritz in 1997. He helped the San Diego Padres reach the World Series in 1998 -- against the Yankees. In 1999, the Yankees reacquired him, and he helped them with another World Series, hitting what turned out to be the last home run of the 20th Century in Game 4. This led NBC's Bob Costas to say, "You could send this guy to a resort in the spring and summer, as long as he comes back for October." His career ended in 2000 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Leyritz has had his ups and downs since. In 2006, he admitted that he'd used amphetamines while playing -- legal at the time, and not nearly as performance-enhancing as steroids. (So if you want to invalidate the Yankees' 1996 and 1999 World Championships because of this, you shouldn't.) In 2007, he killed another driver in a drunken crash. He ended up serving 10 days in jail and a year's probation. In 2009, he was charged with domestic violence for hitting his wife, although she later dropped the charges (but also dropped him through divorce -- they had 4 children).

In 2011, he was a coach for the Newark Bears of the Atlantic League. In 2012, he worked for the Yankee front office. He lives in the Orange County suburbs of Los Angeles, with his new wife, Michelle, his 3 kids and her 2. He co-hosts a radio show in Los Angeles for SB Nation Radio.

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October 23, 1996 was a Wednesday. Football was in midweek. The NBA season started 9 days later. There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-2 at the Miami Arena.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Dallas Stars, 4-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* And the Colorado Avalanche beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-1 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.