In the year 2000 (not the Conan song), the New York Yankees had plenty of motivation and celebration during the season. It was the 100th year of the Yankees existence (if their time in Baltimore was included), but the team was also defending their World Series titles from 1998 & 1999 and hoping for the three-peat. The team's effort during the regular season was spurred on offensively by their captain Derek Jeter, who led the team with a .339 batting average. Outfielder Bernie Williams had a .307 average with 30 home runs and 121 runs batted in, and catcher Jorge Posada chipped in 28 homers of his own. Pitching wise, Roger Clemens and Mariano Rivera were still…Roger Clemens and Mariano Rivera, and combined with Andy Pettite's 19 wins and a late season trade for Denny Neagle, the starting pitching was formidable.

While the team performed well, taking over first place on July 7 and not relinquishing it for the rest of the year, there was an occasional bump in the road. The Yankees were doing okay but not leading the American League East by leaps and bounds, and they lost 15 of their last 18 headed into the playoffs. In the AL Division Series, the Oakland A's had throttled the Yanks in Yankee Stadium 11-1 the game before the series-ending game. A game that it should be noted the Yankees won. The Yankees then defeated Seattle four games to two before playing the New York Mets in the World Series.

A Yankees-Mets Series has been romanticized by many through the years. It was something that occurred frequently before the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles and the Mets' appearances in the Series were fleeting and did not include the Yankees. The proximity of the two clubs made a series an attractive prospect in that regard, but in a game earlier in the year, Clemens hit Mets batter Mike Piazza in the head with a fastball, which only added fuel to the fire leading up to the Fall Classic.

As the Series played out, some fire was there, notably in Game 2 when a bat from Piazza shattered on contact, and Clemens hurled one of the pieces at (near?) Piazza as he headed to first base. Past that, the Yankees had won the first game and scored two runs moments after this incident to take a lead that they would not give up to take a two games to nothing lead in the Best of Seven game Series. The Mets won Game Three, which broke a streak of 14 consecutive World Series games won by the Yankees, but they started a new streak promptly in Game 4 and the Series was won in Shea Stadium by the Yankees in Game 5, their 26th such title.

The Yankees have since added another title in 2009 to their list, but this one, their third straight and fourth in five years may have some added value in that it was the last of their most recent dynasty. In viewing this now in the wake of the news of Jeter's pending retirement, the last such piece of a core of young, developed talent, his World Series MVP performance in the Series is worth a view or two regardless if you like the pinstripers or not.

Each of the discs presents the games in full frame, consistent with their original broadcast format. Going from past memory the image looks consistent with how it aired, any notable artifacts are inherent with the source material and are generally agreeable during viewing. The MLB watermark is present, even a little dominant in the upper right corner of the image so plan accordingly.

Dolby Digital stereo rules the day for all five discs, which considering the material and the age really should not be a surprise. Joe Buck and Tim McCarver sound clear in the front of the soundstage with little other than crowd noise to hear in the other channels. The discs come with an audio option to listen to the Yankees and Mets radio calls (depending on which game you watch) for those who wish to do so.

Nothing, though it should be noted all five discs are in one standard case (compared to one game per slim case in a boxed set) with the stats of each game are in a booklet. Kudos to the reduced space I guess.

A&E and MLB Video have put together a respectable set in this 2000 World Series Collector's Edition, with decent looking and sounding discs that look at the Series. While it would have been nice to have the Series film or even seeing more of the Yankees' march to the Series, it is a decent set for the Yankees fan in your life.