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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Yankees’ Kismet Was Series Title Even The Prayers Were One-Sided For Complete Team From New York

Ben Walker Associated Press

The bullpen was exceptional, as expected. Jim Leyritz delivered a big home run, Andy Pettitte threw a marvelous game and Paul O’Neill made a nifty catch.

The New York Yankees had it all - pitching, hitting and fielding in one of the finest weeks in their history.

But what about it, Joe Torre? Was there something else on your side? Did you think the Yankees were destined to win the World Series?

“I guess I did, but I wouldn’t let it happen because once you think it’s fate, you stop working,” the manager said after Saturday night’s clinching 3-2 win over Atlanta in Game 6. “What made it happen were people like John Wetteland and Bernie Williams and Cecil Fielder.

“Everybody has a piece of it,” he said. “We went through a series and every player on our roster helped us win a game.”

The result was the Yankees’ record 23rd championship and first since 1978, along with one of the most remarkable turnarounds in baseball history. New York became only the third team in 92 World Series to win it after losing the first two games at home.

Wade Boggs and Fielder wound up with the first championships in their long careers, while emerging stars Derek Jeter and Williams also celebrated in a pileup on the mound after the last out. At Torre’s suggestion, the team took a victory lap around the outfield, with Boggs riding a police horse.

Certainly a lot of casual fans found themselves pulling for the Yankees, mostly because of Torre.

He’d lost his brother, Rocco, to a heart attack this season. He’d finally made it to the World Series after 4,272 games as a player and manager, the longest such drought in major league history.

His brother, Frank, had undergone a desperately needed heart transplant at a New York hospital a day before Game 6. His sister, Sister Marguerite, is a principal at a Catholic grade school in nearby Queens.

The Yankees were sentimental favorites, for sure, compared to Atlanta. Manager Bobby Cox and the Braves already had won last year’s title, and were appearing for the fourth time in the last five World Series.

“I think the thing with my brother passing away and my brother, Frank, has taken the game and put it more on a personal playing field. I think maybe this humanized the game,” Torre said.

“I think it’s unfortunate for Bobby Cox, because we seem to have more people praying for us,” he said. “The story is about more than wins and losses and has a bit more human interest in it.”

No doubt, the catch by that 12-year-old boy in right field during Game 1 of the A.L. championship series against Baltimore seemed to indicate luck was in the Yankees’ corner.

But after losing the first two games to Atlanta at Yankee Stadium 12-1 and 4-0, New York needed more than just good fortune.

“They deserve what they got. They beat some of the best players in baseball,” Atlanta’s Ryan Klesko said. “But we can’t believe it.”