David Justice added another line in his remarkable postseason resume: American League Championship Series MVP.
With his three-run homer in Game 6, Justice boosted his career postseason RBI total to 51, breaking his tie with Reggie Jackson (48). Justice has taken over the all-time RBI lead in League Championship Series play with 23, moving ahead of Steve Garvey (21).
Justice, whom the Yankees acquired from Cleveland in June, said it took him about a week to feel comfortable in pinstripes after the trade.
“Any time a player is traded in the middle of the season … it’s like your world is turned upside down,” he said. “When I first got here, I tried to hit everything out just to show Skip [manager Joe Torre] that I was good.”
He has proven that now.
End of an era: Mariano Rivera’s 33 1/3-inning scoreless streak ended in the eighth inning. After giving up a double to John Olerud and retiring two batters, Mark McLemore hit a two-hopper that bounced off first base. Two runs scored.
We are the world: So how will the Subway Series play in the rest of the country?
“Who cares?” New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said after the Mets clinched their spot Monday. “We are the rest of the country.”
The 60-year-old Torre, who grew up in Brooklyn when Subway Series were commonplace, took a different view.
“A lot of other cities are going to be …” said Torre, pretending to yawn. “But New York City will be up for it, no question.”
Must-see TV? Perhaps network executives should be concerned about sagging TV ratings. Baseball people aren’t even watching the games any more.
With both teams off Monday night, several Yankees and Mariners were asked if they had caught the Mets’ World Series-clinching victory.
Torre: “No, I was out to dinner. I turned it on and it was 6-0 and I turned it off at that point.”
Seattle manager Lou Piniella: “I didn’t watch it.”
Yankees second baseman Chuck Knoblauch: “I watched a little bit of it. I turned back and forth between the Mets and `Monday Night Football.'”
Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter: “I was out eating. I watched the first five or six innings.”
The drought ends: Mariners catcher Dan Wilson did not enter Game 6 in a slump. A collapse was more like it.
An All-Star in 1996, Wilson had earned an unfortunate new label–the worst player in postseason history. The Barrington native entered Tuesday’s game with two hits in 58 career postseason at-bats for a .034 average. Worse he had gone hitless in his last 41 at-bats.
“You have to keep going,” Wilson said before the game.
The effort paid off when Wilson blooped a single to right field in the fifth inning.
