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Aura, tradition, and no sign of Big Two

The Yanks don't have to face a D'backs ace tonight.

By MARC TOPKIN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 30, 2001

NEW YORK -- They'll have mystique and aura there, along with those friendly little ghosts of Octobers past that Joe Torre talks about in such a grandfatherly way.

They'll have some 55,000 rabid and roaring fans there, making the old stadium shake and the young or naive Diamondbacks tremble.

They'll have Roger Clemens there, though they probably won't know until the game starts whether he'll be the dominating Clemens of old or the recently old-looking Clemens.

Most important for the Yankees, they won't have Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson there, at least not on the mound tormenting them, as the World Series shifts to Yankee Stadium tonight for Game 3.

Having overcome a 2-0 deficit to score an unprecedented victory over Oakland in the best-of-five division series, having summarily dismissed the regular-season record-setting Mariners in the AL Championship Series, the Yankees now face the latest -- and perhaps greatest -- challenge in their bid to win a fourth straight world championship and fifth in six years.

Down 2-0 to Arizona, and with Schilling possibly coming back to pitch Wednesday and Johnson looming Thursday, the Yankees must take the approach that tonight has to be their night.

"There's no question," manager Joe Torre said Monday, "we need to win a ballgame. We're home, and we have that recent history in our memory bank where we've won some very tough ballgames when we've had to."

At times during their remarkable six-year run, it seems more credit has been given to the history and tradition of the game's most storied franchise than to the actual talent and skill of the players.

Seattle manager Lou Piniella said the mystique was merely a media creation, and the Diamondbacks, while being respectful (and smart enough to not incite the savvy fans), say they are more concerned with the players on the field than the people in the stands or the monuments beyond the outfield fence.

But at this critical juncture, the Yankees will take any edge they can get.

"We've got to play the game," Torre said, "but you know if we get a little momentum going in our direction, the fans will give us a lot more momentum and motivation."

Inspiration is also likely to come from their 1996 performance, when the Yankees started this dynastic run after losing the first two games of the Series to Atlanta -- at home. But they went to Atlanta and took three straight games, then came home and finished off the Series -- just as Torre had boldly promised principal owner George Steinbrenner they would.

Torre wouldn't make any such promises -- at least publicly -- on Monday, but said the experience will be a benefit.

"Hopefully," Derek Jeter said, "the main thing you can compare to '96 after this Series is that we came back and won."

While the atmosphere and the experience may help, what would do the Yankees the most good would be some hits.

After batting .241 and scoring 18 runs in the five division series games, and after batting .264 and scoring 25 runs in the five ALCS games, the Yankees are hitting .102 through the first two Series games, going 6-for-59 with 20 strikeouts. They haven't crossed home plate since the first inning of the opener.

What should work to their advantage is that the D'backs tonight start a pitcher who appears at least to be mortal. After two days of watching and flailing at Schilling and Johnson's lasers, the Yankees should be a little more comfortable against Arizona's Brian Anderson, who was 4-9 with a 5.20 ERA during an inconsistent season and has a lifetime record of 2-3 with an 8.50 ERA against them. More than anything, the Yankees need to get back to playing like the Yankees.

That transformation likely will have to start with a strong start by Clemens, who hasn't gone more than five innings in any of his three previous postseason starts due to a sore right hamstring.

"Roger is the key," Torre said.

The Yankees also need to play with the confidence that has carried them this far, that intangible sense of knowing that at some point somebody will do something to turn the game in their favor.

"It's not like we haven't done this before," reliever Mike Stanton said. "We knew we had the ability and talent to do it the first time (against Oakland). You don't like to do it this way, obviously, but that's what we'll have to do."

Clemens said he was looking forward to the challenge.

"Obviously we'd like to be on the other side, but we're not," he said. "We are backing ourselves into a corner again. We are being challenged again. You know, having won three (Series) in a row, some are going to say the odds are even against us.

"So we're just going to have to find out. We're going to have to go out and play some very good baseball and try to slow these guys down a little bit."

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