Twenty years ago marked a circle-worthy date in New York Yankees history, arguably one that birthed a dynasty that reigned for nearly five years until defeat in 2001.

The game we’re referring to featured one of the greatest comebacks in World Series history, one in which the Yankees rallied from six runs down after five innings to win Game 4 of the World Series in extra innings against the Atlanta Braves. The win evened a series that had been 2-0 in favor of the Braves at 2-2.

The rally

The play that began the rally came in the sixth inning, an innocent foul fly hit by Derek Jeter that Jermaine Dye was unable to catch, because umpire Tim Welke got in the way. At the time, Jeter’s subsequent hit wasn’t a big deal, but later developments made it so. The Yankees scored three times that inning (Dye had a rough go of it; his error later in the inning led to two unearned runs), but the Braves still led 6-3 after Mike Bielecki escaped trouble in the sixth and got through the seventh unscathed.

In the eighth inning, Braves manager Bobby Cox went to his closer, Mark Wohlers, who had pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings with two hits allowed and 11 strikeouts that postseason. Wohlers had not gotten a six-out save all season, a stat that remained true after what followed.

The Yankees put two men on base with one out for catcher Jim Leyritz. On 2-2, rather than go to his fastball, Wohlers threw a slider, and Leyritz hit it over the left-field fence for a game-tying home run.

The stunned Braves still had a chance to win in the bottom of the ninth, but after Mariano Rivera put two runners on base, Graeme Lloyd induced an inning-ending double play from Fred McGriff to send the game to extra innings.

The decision

It was in the 10th inning that something happened that we saw in 2016. Steve Avery got the first two Yankees out but walked Tim Raines and allowed an infield single to Jeter.

Cox would not let Bernie Williams beat him. He had Avery walk Williams intentionally to load the bases for pinch-hitter Wade Boggs, slightly similar to Dave Roberts’ ordering a walk with runners on first and second to bring up Miguel Montero.

Boggs’ eye never came in more handy. On Avery’s 3-2 pitch, he walked, bringing in the go-ahead run. A dropped popup made it 8-6, which was the final score.

The aftermath

The next day, the Yankees and Braves played a classic game, which the Yankees won 1-0 behind Andy Pettitte, who edged Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz in what Smoltz called the best game he ever pitched. The Braves nearly won the game in the bottom of the ninth, but Paul O’Neill, playing on an injured hamstring, made a game-saving catch for the final out.

Two days later, the Yankees finished the series with a win at Yankee Stadium. This was their first of four World Series titles in five years.

Wohlers was never the same after Leyritz's home run. Though he saved 33 games the next year, his ERA jumped to 3.50 and his walk rate doubled to 4.9 per nine innings (in 1998, he walked 33 in 20 1/3 innings). He recorded 15 saves after that and was done as a major leaguer after the 2002 season. The next-to-last team he pitched for: the 2001 Yankees, whose World Series loss to the Diamondbacks ended the Yankees' dynasty.

Leyritz played four more seasons, including against the Yankees in the 1998 World Series. He won another World Series with the Yankees in 1999.

Rivera, undaunted by being pulled for Lloyd, went on to become the all-time saves leader.

Boggs rode a police horse on the field during the Yankees' celebration of their series-clinching win. He played one more season with the Yankees and two more with the Rays, homering for his 3,000th hit in 1999. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.

Did you know?

The biggest comeback in a World Series game is the rally from eight runs down by the 1929 Athletics against the Cubs in Game 4. The Athletics won the series two days later.

Leyritz’s home run was the third game-tying home run with multiple men on base in the eighth inning or later of a World Series game. The others were hit by Elston Howard (1957 Yankees) and Bernie Carbo (1975 Red Sox). The latter occurred in the game best-known for Carlton Fisk's walk-off home run, which forced Game 7.

The last intentional walk in a World Series game with a runner on first or runners on first and second was in the 1952 World Series, when Eddie Lopat of the Yankees walked Billy Cox of the Dodgers with first and second and two out to bring up pitcher, Preacher Roe (who made an out). The only one since was in 2002 when Kevin Appier of the Angels walked Barry Bonds of the Giants with a man on first base in the first inning.

The 1996 Yankees are one of three teams to win a World Series after losing the first two games at home, along with the 1985 Royals and 1986 Mets.