2000 World Series Review
THIS PAGE WAS WRITTEN BY SASHA GAGARIN, sgagarin@hotmail.com
The World Series, an event that baseball fans everywhere, young and old, stop what work they have to do for either school or work, and sit down to watch the World Series. his year's World Series was especially looked forward to by all as it was the New York Yankees versus the New York Mets, in other words, it was the Bronx versus Flushings and the winner had both the right and obligation to gloat to their friends in the opposite town for the next six months until Spring Training started once again.
The first game of the 2000 World Series was a game that featured constant excitement with two records being broken. The Yankees where able to pull out a 4-3 win, to make it their 13th consecutive World Series win. It was also the longest game ever played at 4:51 minutes. In the sixth inning the excitement started. Todd Zeile smashed the ball into the top of the left field padding. For a while everyone in the stadium thought it was a homerun, but the umpire down the line called it fair, and although Valentine signaled it was a homer, the replay tape proved the Umpire correct. As a result of the ball being in play, Jorge Posada, the Yankees catcher, cut down the Mets Timo Perez at a play at the plate. In the Yankees half of the inning, they scored two runs, making the game 2-0 Yankees. In the next inning though, it was the Mets turn to score some runs. Benny Agbayani and Jay Payton got on base with hits, Todd Pratt was walked, and then the big hitter of the Post Season, the Mets Buba Trammell, was at the plate. Trammell came through with a two run hit to left. The game was tied. Perez was thrown out, but the other runners advanced to second and third. The next Met batter, Elgardo Alfonzo hit the ball to the Yankees Scott Brosius, but `Fonzie was able to beat out the play at first, to allow Pratt to score. The Mets where now ahead 3-2. Chuck Knoblauch later tied up the game, in the ninth with a basses loaded sacrifice fly. Leading off the 12th was Tino Martinez, who got on base along with Jorge Posada, who got a double. Paul O'Neill then loaded the basses with a walk. However, Louis Sojo got out though. However, Jose Vizcaino, got a hit and the winning run came home. Mike Stanton was awarded the technical win, even though some might consider Vizcaino the real winner after singling in O'Neill to end the game at 1:04 AM ET.
Game 2 of the Subway Series started off with a re-match between Piazza and Clemens. Clemens was masterful as he allowed just one runner to reach second. He also walked no one while striking out at least one batter in every inning, except the fifth. However, his pitching performance on the mound was not the talk of New York. What was, happened in the first inning, when Piazza came up to the plate vs. Clemens. On a 1-2 count, Piazza swung and a portion of his bat broke off and headed towards Clemens. Clemens picked it up and threw it towards the first base side. What is peculiar about this action is that the split bat piece was throw just inches from hitting Piazza. Piazza reacted to what Clemens did by walking up to the mound, "to see what his problem was. I started asking him and he really had no response," said Piazza. The following was Clemens excuse for his actions: "Before I let go of the bat, I had no idea that Mike had ran....There was no intent. I had no idea Mike was running.
There was no intent there." The Yankees where able to score at least a single run in almost all of the innings, while shutting down the Mets. However, in the top of the 9th, the Mets did end up scoring 5 runs, but the Yankees ended up winning the game 6-5 in the end.
The Met won their first and only World Series game during Game 3 of the Series. Everyone expected the Mets to automatically loose this one on account of "El Duque, Orlando Hernandez pitching for the Yankees vs. the Mets Rick Reed. Although Hernandez did loose his first post-season game, he did become the first pitcher to strike out 12 in a World Series game since Tom Seaver. Robin Ventura hit a Homerun the first.
In Game 4, with the Mets down two games to one, they started Jones vs. Neagle. Derek Jeter started the game off with his first World Series Homerun, on the first pitch of the game. The Yankees scored later in the game off of a sac fly. Then, in the third Jeter came back again and hit a triple and later scored on a teammates grounder. It was then 3-0 but the Mets came back when Mike Piazza hit a two run homer in the bottom half of the inning. Now the scored was 3-2, and it would stay that way for the remainder of the game. Cone, who pitched later in the game, managed to retire Piazza when the slugger popped out.
In Game 5, the deciding game, Bernie Williams broke his hitting drought in the second inning by hitting a long homer to left field, giving the Yankees the lead. The Mets managed to come back and score two runs in the bottom half of the inning though, as the Yankees where charged with quite a few careless errors. It stayed that way until the 6th inning when Derek Jeter came through once again and crushed the ball into the back of the visitors bullpen, to tie the game for the Yankees. In the ninth, Posada drew a walk, Brosius got a single. Sojo then singled to allow Posada to score, the game was 3-2. Sojo went to third and Brosius scored on Jay Payton's throwing error. The Yankees won the game, 4-2 and the Series 4-1.
It was a heck of a season all the way through, but the Yankees managed to come out on top and the Yankees Dynasty was truly that, existing through four solid years of turmoil. Through the Yankees Organization considering changing towns, through both personal and private deaths of Yankee players and Yankee parents. The Yankees still managed to win it all four times in a row. Many predicted that the Red Sox would manage to pull through and win it all, (including Sports Illustrated,) however, lifelong Yankee fans knew that it was their team that would be in the World Series since day one of Spring Training.
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