| | BOSTON -- Derek Jeter actually homered over the wall this
time.
|  | | Derek Jeter knocked in Chuck Knoblauch, left, for the only runs the Yankees would need in the first inning. |
Jeter, who needed the help of a 12-year-old fan for his only previous home run in an American League Championship Series, put the Yankees ahead with a two-run shot just eight pitches into the game Monday night, and New York went on to beat the Boston Red Sox 6-1 for their third AL pennant in four seasons.
"Every year is special," Jeter said. "It never gets old. You could write a book about each time."
In 1996, with the Yankees trailing Baltimore 4-3 in their series
opener, Jeter hit a fly ball to right that Tony Tarasco settled
under -- until 12-year-old Jeff Maier reached over the fence and
snatched it away for a game-tying homer. Bernie Williams'
11th-inning home run won it, and the Yankees finished off the
Orioles in five games.
"That didn't win the game, Bernie won the game," Jeter said then.
Not that he didn't appreciate Maier's help and umpire Richie Garcia's failure to call fan interference.
"Thank you. Reach over all you want," Jeter said. "It's just something that happens. Sometimes you call it right and sometimes you call it wrong."
There wasn't any controversy this time.
After Chuck Knoblauch's opposite-field single to right on Kent Mercker's fourth pitch of the game, Jeter worked the count to 2-1, then drove the ball slightly to the left of straightaway center, just to the right of the 37-foot-high Green Monster.
The 410-foot drive sailed over the 17-foot wall in center, cutting through a 17 mph northerly wind.
Up until that point, Jeter had 10 hits in 26 at-bats during the playoffs, but just one run batted in. Good for most players, but not for him, especially after a regular season in which he hit .349 with 24 homers and 102 RBI.
But on this night, he was at the forefront of another chapter in the Yankees' century of glory. He's been with them for four seasons, and gone to the World Series in three of them.
"It's a way of life, it seems like, for Derek Jeter since he's been in the league," teammate Roger Clemens said enviously. "I'm just happy to be going again -- it's been 13 years." | |
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