1999 World Series: Game 4

[With the Yankees squaring off against the Braves this week, we thought it would be appropriate to take a look back at the two World Series during which they faced off in the late 90's]

At 2:30 in the morning on October 27th, not long after the dramatic conclusion of Game 3, Paul O'Neill got the kind of phone call that everyone dreads. When the phone rings at that hour, it rarely brings good news. When he answered, he found out that his father, Chick, who had watched his health decline over the previous months had passed away.

With Game 4 only 18 hours away, there wasn't much time to grieve. O'Neill decided to take the field and not to tell any of his teammates about his father until after the game. However, the organization was already aware of what had transpired and Joe Torre called to extend his condolences to his player. The time from when he received that call until it was time to play must have seemed like an eternity for Paulie.

When Whitey Ford finally threw out the first pitch, he set the stage for two other pitching titans to clash.

Roger Clemens first regular season after being acquired from Toronto proved to be a disappointing one. Coming off of back to back Cy Youngs and twenty win, 230+ inning, 270+ strikeout seasons north of the border, The Rocket turned in only the third best season of the Yankee starters. He had a 4.60 ERA, went 14-10 and actually had a WHIP higher than Hideki Irabu's. John Smoltz had fallen from his peak as well, heading to the DL twice in 1999, but still pitched effectively (3.19 ERA) when he was healthy. He was still regarded as a big game pitcher and the Braves could have done much worse than to have him on the mound.

Clemens and Smoltz matched scoreless frames in the first and second and Roger sat down the Braves in order in the top of the third.

Against Smoltz in the bottom half, Chuck Knoblauch led off with a single and Derek Jeter followed suit with one of his own, putting runners on the corners with no one out. Paul O'Neill struck out, then with Bernie Williams up, Jeter put himself into scoring position by stealing second. Smoltz then intentionally walked Bernie, to create the potential for a double play, a decision which came back to bite the Braves. Tino Martinez singled down the right field line, scoring Jeter and Knoblauch and moving Bernie to third. Darryl Strawberry went down on strikes for the second out of the inning, but Jorge Posada knocked a single to right to put the Yanks up 3-0.

That cushion would be all that Clemens needed. He cruised through the Braves line up, allowing only three baserunners over the next 4 2/3 innings. He retired the first two batters of the eighth inning, his 16th and 17th groundballs of the night, but hit a snag. He allowed two singles to Gerald Williams and Walt Weiss, which prompted Joe Torre to call to the bullpen. Clemens received a rousing ovation and doffed his cap, because barring a bullpen disaster, Clemens had just given the signature Fall Classic performance he had always yearned for. Jeff Nelson did allow one of Clemens' runners to score, but Rivera got Chipper Jones to ground out, lining up Clemens to be the winning pitcher in the clinching game of the World Series.

Jim Leyritz added a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to give Mo some breathing room, but it wasn't needed. The Braves went down 1-2-3, the final out coming on a fly ball to Chad Curtis in left field.

The Yankees became the first team to sweep back to back World Series since their 1938-39 counterparts and validated their torrid 1998 campaign with another division title and unstoppable postseason run. Joe Torre actually said that he thought the '99 Yanks were better than the '98 version because they had to walk in the shadow of a 114 win juggernaut. After the game, Sojo, O'Neill, Brosius and Clemens, who had lost his father at a young age gathered in a quiet room away from the celebration in a moment of both remembrance and camaraderie.

The Yankees didn't need the late 90's run to secure a place as the best team of the 1900's, but the three championships in 1996, 1998 and 1999 did bring their tally to an unmatched 25 titles.

1999 World Series: Game 3

[With the Yankees squaring off against the Braves this week, we thought it would be appropriate to take a look back at the two World Series during which they faced off in the late 90's]

Just before Game 3, Luis Sojo flew in from Venezuela to rejoin the Yankees. Just before the World series had begun, his father passed away unexpectedly. There was a tragic air around the 1999 Yankees and the World Series in particular. As Matt mentioned during the Game 1 recap, Darryl Strawberry was still recovering from cancer as the season began. Joe Torre was diagnosed with prostate cancer and Scott Brosius lost his father, Marty, after a long bout with colon cancer.

Further adding to the general gloom, on the travel day between Games 2 & 3, golfer Payne Stewart's death made national headlines. On the morning of October 25th, Stewart boarded a private plane flight out of Orlando, bound for Dallas and the season-ending PGA Tour Championship. While en route, the cabin lost pressure and everyone on board was killed almost immediately. The Learjet, presumably still on autopilot, continued it's journey, flanked by F-16's until it crashed in an unpopulated area in South Dakota. Just a month removed from the American's dramatic Ryder Cup victory at Brookline, and four months past Stewart's U.S. Open victory at Pinehurst (the first of Phil Mickelson's many seconds), the American sporting landscape had lost one of it's more iconic characters.

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The temperature at game time was an unseasonably warm 62 degrees with a steady breeze blowing out to right field. Lefties Tom Glavine and Andy Pettitte took the hill for the pivotal Game 3. Both had turned into two excellent starts thus far in the '99 postseason, but each stumbled out of the gate.

To begin the top of the first, Pettitte gave up a single to Gerald Williams and a double to Bret Boone. Williams was driven in on a groundout by Chipper Jones, but Pettitte avoided further damage. Chuck Knoblauch reached on an E9 and was advanced to third on a fly ball by Derek Jeter. A single by Paul O'Neill evened the score at 1.

After a scoreless second inning for both hurlers, Pettitte ran into trouble in the third. He gave up a single, two doubles and another single, and by the time he had recorded three outs, the Braves were up 4-1.

Already facing the top of the order for the third time in the fourth inning, Pettitte gave up a triple to Williams and a double to Boone, making the 1-2 hitters for the Braves 5 for 6 against Pettitte with three runs scored. The next batter, Chipper Jones, finally chased Pettitte with a single. Andy had put up another poor performance in the Fall Classic, getting tagged for 10 hits and 5 runs in 3 2/3 IP. Jason Grimsley mopped up nicely however, keeping the Yanks in the game with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Meanwhile, Glavine rolled along up until the 5th inning, when he allowed a solo shot to Chad Curtis. He didn't allow another hit until he gave up another homer to Tino Martinez in the 7th. 5-3 Braves.

Jeff Nelson came on after Grimsley and also did his part admirably, pitching perfect 7th and 8th innings. The Yankees had clawed back to within two runs when Joe Girardi led off the bottom of the 8th. He singled to center, bringing up Chuck Knoblauch, owner of exactly one home run in 160 postseason at bats. He lofted one just over the short porch in right, tying the game at 5. Bobby Cox decided he had seen enough and brought in his closer, John Rocker to close out the frame. Despite the 5 runs, (4 earned) Glavine pitched pretty well, but like Pettitte, he would not factor into the decision.

With the Yanks having pulled even, Torre brought in his closer to try to keep it that way. Mo faced the minimum three batters in the top of the 9th, but Rocker sat down the side in order in the bottom half to take the game into extra innings.

Bobby Cox burned through three pinch hitters in the top of the tenth, but all he got in return was a two out single by Ryan Klesko, who never made it past first.

Since Rocker had already pitched two innings, Cox called on Mike Remlinger to extend the game. He did not. Chad Curtis hit his second home run of the game, brought the house down and gave the Yankees a seemingly insurmountable lead of three games to none in the series.

During his postgame interview with Jim Gray, Curtis informed Gray on live television that the Yankees were upset with his treatment of Pete Rose two days earlier and that they refused to speak with him. When asked by the media after the game, Joe Torre said that there had been no meeting. There in fact had been an agreement between the players only to which Torre was not privy and Tino Martinez informed the manager that was the case. Curtis, asked Torre to set the record straight since the mix up had shown Curtis in a bad light, but Torre never did. Curtis remained bitter about the incident and was traded to Texas during the ensuing offseason for Brandon Knight and Sam Marsonek.

Sitting on the verge of yet another World Series sweep, the Yankees would still have to traverse another loss, but not on the field.

1996 World Series: Game 4

[With the Yankees squaring off against the Braves this week, we thought it would be appropriate to take a look back at the two World Series during which they faced off in the late 90's]

Joe Torre had held back David Cone for Game 3, believing it to be the most critical game of a series. That move worked like a charm. But the Yankees still trailed two games to one, making Game 4 nearly as critical. A win would even the Series, but a loss would push the Yankees to the brink of elimination.

The difference between Game 4 and Game 3 was that instead of handing the ball to the gutsy, tested David Cone, the start would go to Kenny Rogers. A native of nearby Savannah, Rogers had signed a four year, $20M free agent contract following the 1995 season, as he, Jack McDowell, and Ken Hill went on a free agent carousel that mirrored a three team trade.

Rogers had been a successful pitcher in Texas, spending his first four seasons as a reliever. Converted to a starter in 1993, Rogers performed well, going 44-25 with a 3.95 ERA (117 ERA+) in his final three seasons in Arlington. The Yankees always seek quality left handed pitching, but almost immediately following the signing there were questions as to whether Rogers had the right mental make up for New York.

1996 got off to a rough start for The Gambler, taking a BP line drive from Tony Fernandez of his pitching elbow early in spring training. He recovered to make thirty starts, going 12-8. He posted an ERA of 4.68, which was actually below league average in a record setting offensive year, good for an ERA+ of 107. But he was a constant tightrope act, allowing nearly 1.5 baserunners per inning, and posting a K/BB of only 1.11. He had been a disaster in his three postseason appearances, allowing 6 ER in 5 IP and failing to make it to the fourth inning in either of his starts.

For Game 4 he was opposed by future Yankee and friend to streetwalkers everywhere, Denny Neagle. Neagle was a deadline pick up for the Braves, and he pitched poorly in his six starts for the Braves, going 2-3 with a 5.59 ERA. But he had been dynamite with Pittsburgh earlier in the year and his final line for 1996 was 16-9, 3.50 ERA 126 ERA+. He had yet to register a decision in the '96 postseason, but entered Game 4 with a postseason ERA of 2.63 over 13.2 IP.

Rogers worked a perfect first, inducing three groundouts. He was an utter disaster thereafter. The Crimedog led off the bottom of the second with a solo shot. Rogers then issued free passes to Javy Lopez and Andruw Jones. Lopez moved to third on a Jermaine Dye flyout to right, then scored on a bunt single from Jeff Blauser. Neagle sacrificed the runners to second and third, then Marquis Grissom cleared the bases with a double. A Mark Lemke groundout ended the inning, but the damage was done. Rogers had spotted the Braves a four run lead.

Rogers returned to the mound for the third, but threw only seven more pitches, yielding back-to-back singles to Chipper Jones and Fred McGriff to put runners on the corners. As he had in Game 1, Torre turned to Brian Boehringer in the early going, and Boehringer faired far better this time around. He set down three in order to wriggle out of Rogers' jam, allowing the Braves fifth run to score on a sacrifice fly. Boehringer followed that with a perfect fourth.

Boehinger gave way to David Weathers for the fifth. He sandwiched two walks between two Ks, before allowing the sixth Brave run on an Andruw Jones double.

Neagle entered the top of the sixth up six runs and cruising. He had gone five scoreless innings, retired the first eight in a row, and allowed just two hits - one of them an infield single. His only hiccup came in the fourth when he walked three, but used a double play and his third strikeout of the night to get out of trouble. He had been close to untouchable, but his luck was about to change.

Derek Jeter led off the sixth with a single and moved to second on a Bernie Williams walk. Cecil Fielder and Charlie Hayes, starting against the lefty in place of Tino Martinez and Wade Boggs respectively, followed with back-to-back singles. An error by Jermaine Dye on the Fielder single allowed Williams to score, and Fielder to move to second then score on the Hayes single. That was it for Neagle; he exited leading 6-3 and responsible for Hayes on first.

The remainder of the sixth turned into a chess match. Terrell Wade relieved Neagle and walked Darryl Strawberry, making it first and second with no one out. Wade gave way to Mike Bielecki. As Jay pointed out yesterday, Bielecki wasn't the Atlanta closer, but he was their fireman. The veteran righty was in the second to last and best season of his 14 year career. He put out the blaze by striking out the side, getting Mariano Duncan and pinch hitters Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez although it took him 15 pitches to do so.

The game stayed at 6-3 for the remainder of the sixth and through the seventh. Jeff Nelson worked those two frames for the Yankees, yielding no hits and a walk against 2 Ks. Bielecki was nearly as effective in the seventh as he was in the sixth, giving up just a walk and notching another strikeout.

In the top of the eighth the whole World Series changed. Bobby Cox turned to his closer Mark Wholers. Hayes and Strawberry led off with back-to-back singles. Strawberry was erased on a fielder's choice from Duncan, leaving runners at the corners with one out. Jim Leyritz stepped to the plate and was about to make a career for himself.

Leyritz had first come up to the Yankees in the disastrous 1990 season, making him the most tenured member of the team. It took him until '92 to stick for good, but one thing Leyritz never lacked for was confidence, even as he hit .182/.300/.221 in '91. His brashness rubbed some the wrong way, but also earned him a measure of respect amongst him teammates, as well as two good nicknames: Elvis and The King. He already had won a bit of a reputation for coming up big in the post-season, as his 15th inning home run ended Game 2 of the 1995 ALDS.

Leyritz had entered the game in the bottom of the sixth, after O'Neill pinch hit for Joe Girardi, and had to face the fireballing Wholers in his first plate appearance of the night. Wholers peppered Leyritz with fastballs approaching 100 MPH and Leyritz struggled to keep up with them. Then, Wholers inexplicably threw a 2-2 slider. He hung it, and Leyritz yanked it over the left field fence to tie the score at six.

Mariano Rivera took over in the bottom of the eighth and worked around a leadoff single to keep the score tied. Wholers made it interesting again in the top of the ninth, allowing three consecutive two out singles to load the bases, before getting Duncan to line out and end the threat.

In the bottom of the ninth, Rivera put two on with one out when Torre summoned Graeme Lloyd to face McGriff. Lloyd was absolutely awful after coming over from the Brewers in an August trade. His ERA was 17.47 and WHIP was 3.00 over 13 appeances. There were rumors that he was damaged goods and there was reason to believe that he was. The initial trade also had former Rookie of the Year Pat Listach going to the Yankees until he was found to be injured, requiring the Brewers to send Ricky Bones to complete the deal.

But as the fall dawned, Lloyd turned over a new leaf. He allowed just one hit and no runs over four appearances and 2.2 IP between the ALDS and ALCS and was perfect through 1.1 IP between Games 2 and 3 of the World Series, striking out three of the four batters he faced. Lloyd continued his superb October by getting a doubleplay grounder from McGriff to send the game to extra innings.

In the tenth, Cox replaced Wholers with Steve Avery. At the outset of the Braves postseason run in 1991 it appeared that Avery would be part of "The Big Three" with Glavine and Smoltz. He went 47-25 from '91-'93 and finished sixth in the '91 Cy Young Award voting. But Avery began slipping in '94 and by '96 he was a sub-.500 pitcher with an ERA slightly poorer than the league average. The arrivals of Maddux and Neagle had bumped him from the postseason rotation.

Avery recorded two quick outs. But Tim Raines drew a walk, followed by an infield single from Jeter that put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Cox elected to intentionally walk Bernie Williams to load the bases. Light hitting Andy Fox was due up, but Torre had one last bullet in his gun.

Wade Boggs was the last position player on the bench. Hayes had started at third with the lefty Neagle starting, and Torre had elected to use O'Neill, Martinez, and even Mike Aldrete for earlier pinch hitting duties. It was almost as if Torre was waiting for this opportunity to come around.

Boggs had suffered through the Red Sox collapse in the 1986 World Series as well as their beatdowns at the hands of the Oakland A's in the 1988 and 1990 ALCS. His arrival in New York was a big part of changing the culture of the organization, and he rewarded the team with two Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers in his first four seasons in pintstripes. But Hayes' arrival at the waiver deadline reduced Boggs' playing time. He had gone a combined 3 for 27 (.111) in the AL playoffs, but rebounded to go 3 for 8 between Games 1 and 2 of the Series.

Boggs pinch hit for Fox, and as he had done so often in his career, he worked a full count, then drew a walk to give the Yankees the lead. Cox pulled a double switch, putting Ryan Klesko at first and bringing in Brad Clontz to face Charlie Hayes. Hayes popped up to first, but Klesko made an error, giving the Yankees a two run lead.

Lloyd came back to the mound for the bottom of the tenth. He struck out Klesko leading off the inning, to run his World Series ledger to 2.1 perfect innings with four strikeouts. Torre then called on John Wetteland to get the final two outs. Wetteland gave up a single to Andruw Jones, then ended the game by getting both Dye and Terry Pendleton to fly out to left.

With that, the Series became a best of three.

Torre: Adding Insult to Injury

I have to start off by saying that I love Joe Torre. He brought sanity and stability and most importantly, championships, back to the franchise when all were sorely missed. I had hoped that he would return for a final season as manager and still feel that he deserved better than what he got on his on way out the door.

But that isn't to say the man is without his faults. My principal gripe with Torre over the latter part of his tenure was his bullpen management, or mismanagement to be more precise. To be fair, as we've seen with this year's pen, the skipper can only play the hand he's been dealt. But as the Graeme Lloyds, Jeff Nelsons, Mike Stantons, and Ramiro Mendozas of the world departed and were replaced by inferior arms, Torre refused to alter his managerial style, instead choosing a select few of his "guys" in the pen to beat like rented mules. These guys were virtually always veteran players who had established themselves elsewhere, and no matter if their best days were behind them, Torre always chose the known quantity over the unproven youngsters. There's no telling how many cost-controlable, effective young arms went by the wayside while the Yankees dumped millions of dollars into multi-year contracts for the likes of Steve Karsay, Tom Gordon, Paul Quantrill, and Kyle Farnsworthless and actually traded for Armando Benitez. Armando Benitez!

Torre's insistance upon handling his pen that way became so bad that when Joba Chamberlain arrived in the pen in August 2007, Brian Cashman implemented the infamous "Joba Rules", essentially to protect the stud prospect from his own manager.

This really should be water under the bridge at this point, and I would let it be if it weren't for a little blurb on River Avenue Blues Tuesday. There, they link to an article in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in which Torre essentially states that Proctor's willingness to pitch while hurt led to his recent Tommy John Surgery.

I might even be willing to let that slide, but consider the Yankees' all-time single-season appearance leaderboard, courtesy of baseball-reference.com

1). Paul Quantrill (2004) 86
2). Scott Proctor (2006) 83
3). Tom Gordon (2004) 80
T-4). Tom Gordon (2005) 79
T-4). Mike Stanton (2002) 79
6). Steve Karsay (2002) 78
T-7). Jeff Nelson (1997) 77
T-7). Luis Vizcaino (2007) 77
9). Mike Stanton (2001) 76
T-10). Dave Righetti (1985) 74
T-10). Dave Righetti (1986) 74
T-10). Mariano Rivera (2004) 74

Granted, relievers as individuals and bullpens as a whole have been used far differently for about the last twenty years. None of these guys (with the possible exception of Proctor in 2006) pitched as many innings as the "firemen" of old. But there are some things worth examining:

• Of the 12 seasons that comprise the list, 10 appeared under Torre's watch.


• Of the 10 Torre seasons, 9 of them occured after the Yankees let Jeff Nelson walk over a few thousand dollars following the 2000 season. That decision cost the Yankees far more in the long run as they tried to replace him with the likes of Todd Williams, Mark Wohlers, and Jay Witasick in 2001 alone.


• Of the 9 post-Nelson seasons, 6 of them occured after the other two rocks of the dynasty set-up core - Stanton and Mendoza - departed (the first time at least) following the 2002 season.


• Of the 6 post-Nelson/Stanton/Mendoza, 3 of them occured in 2004 as Rivera, Gordon, and Quantrill combined for 270 appearances - 55% of the bullpen's total.


• The Yankees qualified for the playoffs in all of the Torre years, but made it as far as the World Series in just one of the seasons (2001) that made the list. This could be coincidental, but a shallow bullpen with limited reliable arms certainly isn't a strength, particularly if that bullpen's only good arms are worn out come playoff time.

But more, to debunk Torre's claim of innocence regarding Proctor, let's examine what happened to the pitchers on the list:

• Quantrill was essentially finished the last half of 2004. After a superb first half, his second half ERA was 7.09 and his OPS against was over .900. Yet Torre still ran him out there every other day because - well I'm not sure why. He pitched for 3 teams in 2005, his final season, and it was ugly to the tune of a 75 ERA+. Quantrill was 35 in 2004 and had led the league in appearances in each of the previous 3 seasons, so he already had a lot of miles on his tires. But at the very least Torre accelerated his demise.


• Gordon stayed healthy enough after 2004 to make the top 10 again in 2005. He then left for Philly, had a good 2006, and has been hurt on and off ever since. But he was 37 when he left New York and has been injury prone throughout his career.


• Stanton would survive relatively unscathed, lasting through the 2007 season. He would have 2 decent seasons after his initial departure from the Bronx, but had a disastrous 2005 return to the Yanks.


• Nelson, whose departure started the madness, would last parts of 6 seasons after leaving and for most of that time he was still a usable reliever. He too would have a brief return encounter with the Yanks, his coming in 2003.


• Mo, praise all that is holy, only appears on the list once, and that's at the bottom. I shudder to think what would have been the past several years had Mo been abused into ineffectiveness. Perhaps even Torre knew Mo was too valuable to be used that way.


• Steve Karsay's career was ended by Joe Torre. After struggling through a Nelson-less 2001, Torre fell in love with Karsay upon his arrival in 2002 and rode him into the ground. He would miss all of 2003 and all but September of 2004, and make only 56 more appearances before retiring in June 2006 at age 34.


• Luis Vizcaino spent time on the DL last year and after his career high 77 appearances in 2007. His 43 appearances last year was his lowest total since his rookie season of 2001. He's now with his 3rd team in the season-plus since he departed the Yankees.

Special consideration should also be given to Tanyon Sturtze. Sturtze became a Torre-crush late in the '04 season (it was the summer of love for Torre and his bullpen), and was then pitched what seemed like everyday until his arm fell off in early 2006. Sturtze, like so many others on this list, was older at the time, but I doubt age was the sole cause of his injuries. Like Proctor, he was reunited with Torre in LA last year. It may be the last team that for which Proctor and Sturtze will ever pitch.

After riding the Columbus shuttle in 2004 and 2005, Proctor stuck with the Yankees for good in 2006. With Gordon gone and Sturtze becoming less effective by the day, Torre soon annointed Proctor as his new go-to guy. In a way, it was an unprecedented move for Torre, as Proctor was 29 and relatively unestablished. By season's end, he had pitched 102.1 innings, all in relief, spread out over his near franchise-record 83 appearances. He led all of MLB in relief innings pitched, and was a very effective part of the Yankee bullpen.

In 2007 he had made 52 appearances by the trade deadline, when he was mercifully shipped to the Dodgers. He would finish the season with 83 appearances for the second consecutive year, again finishing in the MLB top 5, but his performance dipped somewhat from the previous year. In 2008 they were reunited and it didn't feel so go. The wheels came off for Proctor, his ERA, WHIP, and BB/9 all poor. Yet he was still handed the ball 41 different times.

Proctor was/is a gamer, and I'm sure he and others on this list took the ball when they probably shouldn't have. But part of the manager's job is to utilize his team's considerable medical resources to protect the even more considerable investment his organization has made in its players. To use or abuse a possibly injured pitcher is bad enough, to claim that an injured pitcher's surgery is his own fault for taking the ball is adding insult to injury. If Torre knew Proctor was that bad off, as his own quotes imply, then it's borderline unconscionable that Torre would continue to use him so much. I think Quantrill, Karsay, Sturtze, and others would agree.