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Look back at: Divisional Playoffs |
League Championship
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Friday, October 27
Twenty-five players, one cab, three straight
By Sean McAdam
Special to ESPN.com
NEW YORK -- They may be a dynasty, as their three straight titles and four in the last five years attest. But the New York Yankees are also a democracy, with everyone playing a part.
In the finale of what Mets manager Bobby Valentine aptly labeled "47 wonderful innings of baseball," it wasn't Bernie Williams or Derek Jeter playing the role of hero.
It was utilityman Luis Sojo, of all people, who provided the biggest hit of all.
|  | | Jorge Posada scores the go-ahead run on Luis Sojo's single to center in the eighth. The throw hit Posada, preventing Mike Piazza, left, from making a play. |
Sojo drove a single up the middle in the ninth to snap a tie and give the Yankees a 4-2 win, their 26th championship and a fitting climax to what may be the most competitive five-game World Series in history.
"I know you guys didn't expect me to be here," said a beaming Sojo. "But it's very special. I got the chance to come through and I did."
Mets starter Al Leiter, in a heroic start, struck out Tino Martinez and Paul O'Neill for the first two outs in the ninth. But then the Yanks put their rally in motion.
Jorge Posada walked and Scott Brosius singled to center, with Posada taking second.
Sojo, who had entered the game in the bottom of the eighth as a defensive replacement, drove the first pitch he saw from Leiter.
"I said to El Duque, 'I want to hit with a man on base,' " Sojo said. "I saw (first-base coach) Lee Mazzilli and he told me, 'Stay back, trust your hands, try to hit the ball by middle.' All my career, I didn't hit Al Leiter good. But Lee told me to hit the pitch up the middle and everything would work out good for us."
As if by directive, Sojo did as told. As Posada headed to the plate, so did center fielder Jay Payton's throw. As catcher Mike Piazza braced for a play, the ball struck Posada's right hip on a bounce and skipped away. Brosius scored, too, on the overthrow, as Sojo took third.
Had Piazza been closer to the plate, he might have caught the ball and blocked Posada's path.
"The throw hit (Posada)," Valentine said. "It hit the runner. Mike talked about it on the mound. He felt he would let the ball get to him. If he had been in front of the plate, he would have given the plate to the runner to slide by him.
"If that ball is a fraction of a second sooner, or an inch away from the runner's leg, Mike would have caught it and tagged him out and we'd still be playing."
Even after grabbing the lead in the ninth, the Yankees weren't assured of anything.
Closer Mariano Rivera walked Benny Agbayani with one out and then Edgardo Alfonzo flied to left. That brought, fittingly, Piazza to the plate, matching the Mets' most powerful hitter against the Yankees' most dominant pitcher.
Piazza drove a ball to deep center that seemed to make everything come to a dead stop in Shea Stadium.
In the Yankee dugout, Torre thought the worst.
"It was probably the most scared I've been," recounted Torre. "I screamed, 'No!' Because any time he hits the ball in the air, it's a home run in my mind. I saw Bernie (Williams) trotting over for that and said, 'Wow -- I guess I misread that one.' "
It may have been one of the few errors in judgment Torre made all month.
He lifted starter Andy Pettitte after seven innings. In what has become a trademark postseason performance over the last five years, Pettitte allowed more baserunners than was advisable, but managed to survive.
In his seven innings of work, he retired the side in order only once -- the third -- and stranded nine along the way.
Over his last three innings in particular, Pettitte lived dangerously. In the fifth, he had Mets on first and second with two outs when he got Robin Ventura to fly to left. In the sixth, the Mets put Payton on second and Kurt Abbott on first with one down. But after a sacrifice moved both baserunners into scoring position, Pettitte retired Benny Agbayani on an infield groundout.
Finally, Alfonzo led off the seventh with a single, but never advanced past first.
"I was in a lot of trouble," acknowledged Pettitte, "but I was able to make big pitches when I had to."
Pettitte had gotten early support on solo homers in the second from Bernie Williams -- who snapped an 0-for-15 skid in this Series -- and in the sixth from Derek Jeter, his second in as many nights.
The only runs off Pettitte came in the second when he bobbled a throw on a bunt attempt by Leiter and Agbayani's soft two-hopper to third skipped over Scott Brosius' bare hand.
In the ninth, as they seemingly always do, the Yankees found a way.
"MVP -- you could have picked a name out of a hat," said Jeter, who was given the honor for hitting .409, scoring six runs and collecting nine hits. "It seems like we have 25 MVPs. In the first game, (Jose) Vizcaino came through. What Paul O'Neill's done, our pitching staff, our bullpen, Mariano Rivera, today ... Luis Sojo.
"You don't rely on one guy. You have to get contributions from everyone."
That's what makes democracies. And ultimately, champions.
Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal writes a major-league notebook each week for ESPN.com.
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