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AL notebook

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 15, 2001

Dye out for playoffs after breaking leg on foul ball

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Jermaine Dye was one of the most important acquisitions the A's made this season. Now they have to play their biggest, and perhaps final, game without him.

Dye fouled a ball violently off his left shin in the third inning and ended up in the hospital with a fractured tibia. He is out for the postseason.

"We're going to miss him dearly," outfielder Johnny Damon said. "Words can't even speak to how much we're going to miss him."

The A's acquired Dye from Kansas City on July 25 and he delivered immediately, driving in 59 runs in his 61 games with Oakland. He also hit 13 home runs and posted a .297 batting average.

Dye will be in a cast for 8-12 weeks, trainer Larry Davis said.

Veteran Ron Gant is likely to replace Dye in the batting order and play leftfield, with Terrence Long taking Dye's spot in rightfield.

ROCKET READY: The Yankees are excited that Roger Clemens will be on the mound tonight, though he won't be at full strength. Clemens left his Game 1 start in the fifth inning because of a strained right hamstring, an injury that occurred Oct. 5 at Tropicana Field, and there has been some question whether he has recovered enough to pitch.

Clemens told the Yankees he felt good after throwing off the mound Saturday and Sunday, and he went back to New York on Sunday afternoon.

"I don't expect anything but the best," outfielder Paul O'Neill said. "For what he did for us this year, I wouldn't want anyone else out there. He's Roger Clemens. If he's on, we've got a great shot at winning this thing."

The Yankees will have Game 2 starter Andy Pettitte ready.

THE REAL DIRT: The most crucial play of the series is Derek Jeter's amazing flip-toss to home that prevented Jeremy Giambi from scoring the tying run in the seventh inning Saturday.

Giambi said he didn't slide because he thought he would get there quicker by running through the plate and wanted to be prepared to run over catcher Jorge Posada, if necessary.

Third-base coach Ron Washington disagreed: "What Jeremy had to do was finish the play off. ... Any time you're going home in a 1-0 game and it's going to be close, you hit the dirt."

DEAL PENDING: Uncertainty about the future of Torre and general manager Brian Cashman should end soon. New York papers report Torre is close to a three-year extension that will be worth $15-million to $18-million, which could nearly double his $3-million annual salary. Cashman reportedly has been offered a three-year contract worth about $1.15-million annually.

BITS: At 4 hours and 13 minutes, Sunday's game was the longest nine-inning division series game in history. ... Sunday's crowd was 43,681, a drop-off of a whopping 12,180 from Saturday. ... The A's are 1-for-34 with runners in scoring position.

NERVE DAMAGE: Cleveland veteran Chuck Finley starts Game 5 against the Mariners today, hoping for a turnaround from his Game 2 outing when he gave up two two-run homers in the first inning. Finley blamed it on too much adrenaline.

"I've got to find a way to burn it all out before I get on the mound and not take it into the game with me," Finley said. "I've got to find some way to tame it and work with it."

And how will Finley accomplish that? "A six-pack, maybe," he said, laughing. "I don't know."

RARE SIGHT: Indians shortstop Omar Vizquel's error in the first inning Sunday was just his second in 271 chances in 56 postseason games. His 46-game errorless streak in the postseason was stopped in the 1998 ALCS.

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