2001 World Series Game 5 Thread

[NetShrine]

Thoughts? Observations? Comments? Opinions?

I kid around a lot. And am very rarely serious. But, what I'm about to tell you is true.

When Brosius hit the HR tonight, I almost fainted. Not like "almost" meaning I could have - - I mean "almost" like I was 85% there - - everything went completely numb and it was as if my brain was under water.

Last night, I quoted Jack Buck out loud when Tino hit it - "I can't believe what I just saw!" Tonight, there were no words. How could I find any words? Gosh, and I'm a Yankee fan. I can only imagine what the D-back fans are going through.

[Duque]

Originally posted by NetShrine
Last night, I quoted Jack Buck out loud when Tino hit it - "I can't believe what I just saw!" Tonight, there were no words. How could I find any words? Gosh, and I'm a Yankee fan. I can only imagine what the D-back fans are going through.

That's unbelievable (there's that word again), because that's just what I thought tonight. I literally heard Jack Buck in my head.

Glad to see you didn't pull the Blanche DuBois and swoon, though.

By the way, Brenly is the goat of this game. How could he even consider using Kim tonight after he threw 61 pitches last night. Pure stupidity. And his countless sacrifice bunts (and the heaping praise McCarver and Buck the Younger lump on them) are ridiculous. But, I hope he keeps it up.

I feel terrible for Kim - and thought Grace coming up to the mound and embracing him was a real classy move. Poor kid should've never been put in that position to begin with.

[NetShrine]

As I watched the whole Kim thing unfold, all I could think of was Donnie Moore. For the kid's sake, I hope he bounces back - next year.

[willyg]

The last three nights (while walking home from the Yankee Game) all I say to myself over and over is how good are these guys? The last three nights, the last two especially I am at a loss for words. There is just nothing to say.

My ticket to game 5 was loge level section 25. For those of you not familiar with Yankee Stadium, second level, right field line, foul side of foul pole. Although I cannot speak of the emotions Paul O'Neill was feeling, I can tell you about mine. That was a very very emotional time that top of the ninth inning. You saw it on O'Neill's face, that told the entire story.

[NetShrine]

The O'Neill thing may have been the most memorable sign of appreciation that I've ever seen fans give a player - - amazing, in that situation (WS, 9th inning, losing), that the thoughts of the fans were to honor a player that may not be returning. You could really feel the love.

[BuzzBuzzard]

Originally posted by NetShrine
that the thoughts of the fans were to honor a player that may not be returning

I read something this morning that led me to believe it was official. Didn't he acknowledge he was done last night?

[jpalexa]

Originally posted by NetShrine
As I watched the whole Kim thing unfold, all I could think of was Donnie Moore. For the kid's sake, I hope he bounces back - next year.

Donnie Moore. Ouch.

Man, I felt for Kim. When the camera first panned to him after the tater, I thought he was crying.

Should Brenly have used Kim?

[b-ball-lunachik]

I felt for him too -- how could you not?...and when Mark Grace went over and grabbed him like that, some of the Yankee elation went away that much quicker and my eyes just filled up with tears...I love Grace -- one of my favorite non-Yankees...

I hope we didn't witness the end of a young career or worse!

As for the rest of the game...that was another brilliant, magical game...from Donnie baseball...to to Moose...to Scotty...to Mo pitching out of that inning...to Knobby and Soriano... just awesome!

I think one of the unsung heroes was Hitchcock...great job by Sterling!

I need sleep...I'm kind of glad we have an off day today...most of the guys said they hadn't gone to sleep the first night until 5:30 or 6 they had just an adrenaline rush...I wonder how much they slept last night...

Originally posted by b-ball-lunachik
I think one of the unsung heroes was Hitchcock...great job by Sterling!

Just when I was thinking anybody but Sterling, along he comes and gives the ole 1-2-3. I couldn't believe it, and trust me, hiding underneath the couch ain't no fun either.

At least W&W (the self-demolition crew of Wohlers & Witasick) weren't brought in. Sandman wasn't on in the 11th, and who could blame him, after quite his 6th inning in 3 games straight. Sterling was _gold_ and got the win so this provided the comfort zone we'd needed.

I'm still wondering why Stanton wasn't used. Because he's a LHP or Joe didn't feel he was ready that night?

[NetShrine]

Originally posted by BuzzBuzzard
I read something this morning that led me to believe it was official. Didn't he acknowledge he was done last night?

Nothing official - - it's all still assumed - - but, it's looking more like fact than rumor. Betcha Torre and the other players already know for sure.

[NetShrine]

Originally posted by jpalexa
Should Brenly have used Kim?

Most feel no - - based on the pitch count from the night before.

I've been hearing that BYUNG-HYUN is Korean for "Beneitz." Can anyone confirm that?

[NetShrine]

More on Kim:

Friday, November 2
South Korea stunned by Kim's failure
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea -- Byung-Hyun Kim had a country behind him, ready to cheer the first South Korean to make it to the World Series.

The results, by any standard, were heartbreaking.

"It's too cruel even in a movie or fiction," the major newspaper Dong-Ah Ilbo wrote Friday.

For the second straight night, the Arizona Diamondbacks reliever gave up a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning Thursday night to keep the New York Yankees alive. The Yankees won both games in extra innings.

"Byung-Hyun Kim. Again," read the headline of the top story of the Hankyoreh newspaper's sports page.

Major local TV stations in South Korea carried live broadcasts of the games. Many office workers took time out to watch Kim.

The lasting image may be newspaper photographs of the 22-year-old pitcher crouched on the mound and holding his head with both hands.

Kim entered Game 4 on Wednesday night as a big-league closer on the rise. He gave up a two-run homer to Tino Martinez in the ninth and the game-winner to Derek Jeter an inning later.

On Thursday night, Kim again tried to protect a two-run lead. But Scott Brosius tormented him this time, going after the second pitch and homering to left to force extra innings.

Kim doubled up on the mound, and his teammates came over to console him.

The Yankees won in the 12th on Alfonso Soriano's single, leaving them one victory shy of a fourth straight title. Only this time, Albie Lopez was pitching for Arizona.

In the locker room, Kim sat by his cubicle and spoke through an interpreter.

"I am sorry to my teammates and my manager for giving up the tying run," he said. "I want to thank my manager for giving me another chance to pitch."

[Duque]

Originally posted by NetShrine
I've been hearing that BYUNG-HYUN is Korean for "Beneitz." Can anyone confirm that?

Depending on your choice of Korean dialect, it's either "Mitch Williams" or "Calvin Schiraldi"

[NetShrine]

Originally posted by NetShrine
Nothing official - - it's all still assumed - - but, it's looking more like fact than rumor. Betcha Torre and the other players already know for sure.

More on this:

Sports Desk; Section S
ON BASEBALL
An Emotional End For All the O'Neills
By Jack Curry

11/02/2001
The New York Times
Page 8, Column 1
c. 2001 New York Times Company

Pat O'Neill started crying in August. That is when he finished coaching a traveling team of 16-year-old baseball players in Ohio and had time to think about the future. That is when Pat realized, really allowed himself to ponder, that his little brother, Paul, was going to retire at the end of the season. That, Pat kept reminding himself, would change his life and change so many lives.

The days remaining in Paul O'Neill's 15-year career have dwindled to a few, three at most, after he played his last game at Yankee Stadium in Game 5 of the World Series last night. The emotions have intensified for him and a family that includes his wife, three children, four brothers, one sister, his mother and the fans who have treated him like a boarder for the last nine years.

O'Neill will never again stand in right field here. Never get to respond to chants of ''Paul-ie, Paul-ie'' by casually lifting his glove as if catching a Frisbee. Never get to stare into the upper deck and remind himself how cool a place the Stadium is and how cool a job he has. A piece of O'Neill's career died last night. The rest of it will follow. Too bad.

''It's been emotional for me, for all of us,'' Pat O'Neill said. ''This has been his career since he was 10 years old. Basically, he's been the youth of the family. Now, to see a gray hair, to see the milestones across his face, it's sad.''

It is sad for Paul O'Neill, but he does not want anyone to see him sweat or his eyes turn moist. He grudgingly agreed to speak with reporters before a momentous night and claimed he was not thinking about himself because the World Series was much more important. Then O'Neill rambled about his kids, his career and, without even realizing it, his legacy on a night where he quietly went 0 for 3 with two walks as the Yankees rallied to beat the Diamondbacks, 3-2, in 12 innings.

''If you see a picture representing baseball, you see an old-fashioned baseball with Babe Ruth's autograph and the old bats,'' O'Neill said. ''When you walk into this stadium, you feel that because of the history that's been here. Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio. Things haven't changed that much. Those are the things that meant the most to me when I got here and those are the things that stick with me the whole time I've been here.''

O'Neill would squawk, but he is a central part of that history. The Yankees will miss O'Neill. We all will. Who has never thrown a bat? How many times have you flung something in the office after making a mistake? I have. Did it on Tuesday. There is some O'Neill in all of us.

''He's going to kick a water cooler or do something, but he never aims it at anybody but himself,'' Joe Torre said. ''There's a lot of passion there and I think the fans appreciate the blue-collar nature of Paul O'Neill.''

Indeed. They chanted O'Neill's name as he ran sprints before the game and gave him a standing ovation as he trotted to right in the first. O'Neill offered the wave of the glove, but then he did something revealing. O'Neill inhaled, exhaled and twisted his head so he could absorb the scene. He surely saw the placards that said, ''Thanks, Paulie.''

Throughout O'Neill's eighth-inning at-bat, with the Yankees still trailing, he received a standing ovation and flashbulbs popped. O'Neill walked. When the fans stood for him again in the top of the ninth, O'Neill doffed his cap in right, then pulled his cap over his eyes. O'Neill looked like he was about to cry for most of the inning as the fans chanted ''Paul O'Neill'' over and over and over. O'Neill exhaled as he returned to the dugout and waved his cap. He came to bat one more time, in the 10th, to more cheers, more flashbulbs, and grounded out -- his final at-bat at the Stadium.

If you want a starting point for a dynasty that needs only one victory over Arizona to win four straight titles and five in the last six years, you can start on Nov. 3, 1992. That is when O'Neill was obtained from the Cincinnati Reds for Roberto Kelly, a serious heist. Before there was a Jeter, a Rivera, a Pettitte or a Torre, O'Neill brought ability and attitude.

''The Yankees, before Paul, had no chemistry,'' Pat O'Neill said. ''They went through some shallow years. When they got Paul, they started winning. He wants to win more than any player on the field. He makes you want to win.''

Pat sounded like an older brother, proud of the kid who he used to swat with a Ping-Pong paddle. But how objective could a sibling be? Don Mattingly was one of O'Neill's teammates in those building years and his answer was almost identical.

''I think he should be remembered in an unbelievable manner,'' Mattingly said. ''I think he's the guy who was the main guy in turning it around. He was a great player, but the other thing is he wouldn't settle. There was no acceptance. Nothing was good enough.''

Pat O'Neill said he could envision Paul playing for the Reds next year because he would be home in Cincinnati, but it was only speculation. Paul has not mentioned that and is braced for retirement. He loved the Big Red Machine as a kid and loves the notion that his team is better.

''Ten, 15 years from now, people will look back and say he was part of the Yankees,'' Pat O'Neill said. ''He was one of the guys on that team. I think that's good enough for all of us.''

Pat O'Neill and his brothers sat in the first row of Section 36 in left field. Why they did not have seats in right is a question George Steinbrenner should ask someone. Still, Pat O'Neill was easy to locate. He resembles Paul. Just a little older, a little thicker and a little weepier.

''Get the cameras out there,'' Pat warned. ''This is it for me. This will be the last time I see him play a game. There'll be a tear in my eye.''

[BuzzBuzzard]

Originally posted by NetShrine
I've been hearing that BYUNG-HYUN is Korean for "Beneitz." Can anyone confirm that?

Since you can't even spell the guy's name right (Beneitz), I won't even bother trying to defend him. One of these days, Net, you and I are going to cross path's in a dark alley.