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The 1996 World Series was one filled with some of the game's greatest postseason pitchers, rising superstars and the pitfalls that have Braves fans still wondering how everything could go so wrong, so quick.

LINESCORE		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
	Braves	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	8	0
	Yankees	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	X	3	8	1

Watch the TV broadcast Starters: Greg Maddux vs. Jimmy Key WP: Jimmy Key   LP: Greg Maddux SV: John Wetteland

At the same time, it's a series Yankees fans will always remember as the one that began their latest splendid run. It all became a reality on Oct. 26, 1996, when the Yankees claimed a 3-2 Game 6 win that ended a dramatic World Series.

When Charlie Hayes grabbed Mark Lemke's foul pop for the final out in Game 6, the Yankees had completed an improbable comeback and captured a World Series that at first seemed destined to conclude with an Atlanta celebration.

After taking the first two games at Yankee Stadium, the Braves appeared in control to win a second consecutive world championship. But when the Series shifted south to Atlanta, so too did Atlanta's fortunes.

Backed by strong pitching performances from Andy Pettitte, David Cone and Jimmy Key, the Yankees swept the next four games and won their first of four World Series titles over the course of five seasons.

"That was ultimately the worst year you can ever imagine," said Braves veteran hurler John Smoltz. "We should have repeated. We're up 2-0 and then the floor gave out."

After dropping three straight games in Atlanta, the Braves still headed back to New York with some hope. They had Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine set to start the Series' final two games. But Key and a strong Yankees bullpen were just a little better than Maddux, meaning there would be no Game 7 and no chance for Glavine to provide the clinching masterpiece that he had a year before.

Maddux, who tossed eight shutout innings in a Game 2 victory, was touched for three runs in the third inning of the 3-2, Game 6 loss. After a Joe Girardi triple got things rolling, Bernie Williams provided a single that scored Derek Jeter with the winning run in the Series' decisive contest.

Since that 1996 season, the Yankees have returned to the World Series five times. Meanwhile, the Braves' lone trip back came in 1999, when they were swept by the Yankees and saw their Fall Classic losing streak extended to eight games.

Copyright 1996 by the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball