It is often forgotten that the 1998 New York Yankees, the team that won more regular season games (114) than the 1927 Yankees (110), were in a dire situation during the playoffs.
After winning the first game of the ALCS against the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees lost Game 2 in 12 innings, 4-1.
Jim Thome led off the Indians’ 12th with an opposite field single to left field. Enrique Wilson ran for him.
Travis Fryman bunted toward first base, where Tino Martinez fielded the ball and threw to second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, who was covering first. Martinez’ throw hit Fryman in the back.
Knoblauch argued that Fryman should have been called out for interference. He continually pointed to where he believed Fryman had run out of the baseline instead of going after the ball as Wilson raced home with the go-ahead run.
The series moved to Cleveland where the recently retired Andy Pettitte faced Bartolo Colon in a game Pettitte had to win.
The Yankees, after setting an American League record for regular season wins, had to win the World Series in order for the season to be successful. Anything less would be a disgrace and an embarrassment, as the 1906 Chicago Cubs, the team that won 116 regular season games, discovered when their crosstown rivals, the “Hitless Wonder” Chicago White Sox, beat them in the World Series.
The Yankees, who were not hitting much (two runs in the last seven innings of the first game and a single run in 12 innings in the second game) needed a strong game from Pettitte. They didn’t get it.
Pettitte fell behind seven of the first 10 batters he faced. He was lucky in the first inning when, with Indians on first and third with two outs, Fryman hit a vicious line drive to left that was right at Shane Spencer.
Leading off the second inning, Jim Thome hit a tremendous 421-foot home run to match the run the Yankees had scored in the first. Mark Whiten doubled, and Hideki Irabu started to warm up.
Roberto Alomar grounded out, moving Whiten to third. With the infield drawn in, Enrique Wilson bounced a hit up the middle for a 2-1 Indians lead.
One writer compared Pettitte to a dazed fighter, completely vulnerable and waiting to be knocked out. It didn’t take long.
The left-hander managed to get through the third and fourth innings unscathed. He retired the first two batters in the fifth.
Manager Joe Torre later said, “It looked like he had straightened himself out and then in the fifth inning, it looked like he started muscling the ball a little bit.”
Pettitte got a quick strike on Manny Ramirez. He turned his back to home plate, rubbed up the baseball and prepared to get the signal from catcher Joe Girardi. He fired a fastball low and away.
Ramirez swung and the Indians had increased their lead to 3-1. Pettitte’s body lurched in anger as he saw the ball land in the Yankees bullpen in right field.
Before the inning was over, Pettitte had given up four runs in an inning for the 11th time in 1998.
Fryman walked after falling behind on the count, 0-2. He scored on a Jim Thome home run. Mark Whiten then blasted a 416-foot home run to left. It was the first time that Pettitte had given up four home runs in a game.
The next day, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez shut out the Indians as the Yankees evened the series. David Wells, seeking payback against Indians fans that had insulted him mother, won Game 5. Back at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees’ bats and David Cone finished off the Indians.
Andy Pettitte has done well in the playoffs and World Series. He pitched a classic game against the Braves in the 1996 World Series and won the clincher in the 1998 Series, but he has had some subpar games as well.
In the World Series, Pettitte is only 5-4 with a 4.06 ERA in 13 starts, allowing 83 hits in 77.2 innings. His WHIP is 1.403.
Andy Pettitte was very good, but he was not great.
References
OLNEY, Buster. (1998, After a long struggle, Pettitte comes apart: A three-homer inning pushes Indians ahead. New York Times (1923-Current File), pp. A1. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/109861166?accountid=46260
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