1999 World Series, Game 4: Braves @ Yankees

the scene a few minutes ago Yankee Stadium Roger Clemens emerges from the bullpen and does what he always does walks over to Monument Park and touches the Babe Ruth monument the Yankees didn't win their first World Series of this century until they acquired a star pitcher from the Boston Red Sox they may win their last World Series of this century tonight using a scar pitcher they acquired from the Boston Red Sox of course they have announced no plans to convert Roger Clemens into an outfielder is the Budweiser starting lineup for Bobby Cox's Atlanta Braves Bret Boone had three doubles that went four for five last night Roger Clemens hasn't taken the mound yet his record of 14 at 10:00 certainly not what you'd call a typical Roger Clemens year he is 37 years old but we're talking about a five-time Sai Young Award winner a six-time er a Titleist five times he's led the league in strikeouts he has the two 20 strikeout games it's credentials like that that led him to be named the member of the all century team he does not have is a victory in the World Series and more importantly he has never been a member of a world championship team well in his two starts he has no decisions in each one and there you see Roger Clemens numbers everyone keeps saying that we'll know early whether Roger has it or not a lot of times he's concealed injuries and gone out and pitched anyway he has a good fastball a splitter a slider and he has gone more to the slider and the splitter in the last couple of years he used to have the overpowering fastball he threw upstairs well there's a big difference pitching 300 as compared to if they would have lost yesterday and he would go in with a 2-1 lead and this is the game that he's probably always been looking for in his entire career a chance to clinch the world championship for his ballclub he pitched with the Boston Red Sox he didn't win a championship there now he has an opportunity here with the Yankees to win his first championship and to be the pitcher on the mound when that happens let's take a look at the defense behind him we've talked about how good the Yankees are overall they have not committed an error during this World Series meaning the position players all the guys you see they're excluding Clemens of course they are position players they have not made an error the time we saw him pitch against Texas issue is the best outing I've seen from Roger the entire season he had sharp control he was throwing strikes getting out in front of the Texas hitters and he was getting them to chase some pigeon he gets ahead he gets you to change the splitter or the slider and let's take a look at the scouting report aggressive fastball he's that sets up his other pitcher he tries to stay ahead and you see throws for off-speed pitches when he's down in the count than before if he got behind you want to know it was pretty much going to be his fastball now he will throw you a slider on those occasions he'll come with a splitter sometimes he has made some adjustments because he has lost a little bit off of his fastball through the years he threw seven innings of shutout three-hit ball in the division series at Texas then he was shelled on his return to Fenway Park lasted just two innings in a 13 150 Martinez and the Red Sox the only game they've lost in postseason and Joe Torre says that really doesn't count because it was Pedro Martinez we're going to throw that one out he says Pedro is that good that anytime he pitches you know you're going to lose anyway in today's Boston Globe Dan Shaughnessy writes that tonight Roger Clemens is pitching with 10 days rest and 13 years of restlessness he got to the World Series as a 24 year old sy Young Award winner it's taken this long to get back and not just any world Surry stage the mound at Yankee Stadium in the final world series of the 20th century Gerald Williams had a single and a triple last night from Gerald Williams last night we saw him trying to be patient and waiting for Petitte to give him a pitch to hit he goes right after Roger Clemens who threw him a fastball on the first pitch jerry davis from the national Jim Joyce America loaded Steve rippley nationally in life yeowch off the outside corner the plate umpire Derryl cousins is an American League UMP in the dirt - and to the last nine times Roger Clemens has started Joe Girardi has caught it tonight it's Jorge Posada you and Williams fouls it back Gerardi a big contributor last night he singled ahead of Chuck Knoblauch game-tying homer in the 8th off Tom Glavine and he threw out two runners trying to steal they had an excellent ball game last night because Mariano Rivera had not had a base runner thrown out trying to steal while he was on the mound the entire season in last Otis Nixon crying and a game-winning another 2 2 pitch full count and this is one of the things that Roger does not want to do is go deep into a lot of counts with these hitters because he was a head of Gerald Williams oh and - and now it is a three in two count obviously Clemens is a veteran but he doesn't necessarily have the calm demeanor of veterans like Maddux and Glavine he can get and he starts the game with a strikeout as since parkour well Roger gets it Gerald Williams to chase this fastball it's a sinking fastball it's down and you see it's leaking well out of the strike zone but Williams had already committed himself and he swings over the top of it now Bret Boone swinging a hot bat of late nuts and mrs. and Bobby never took the that was a big swing that's the one it normally gets him in trouble last night he was really staying under control making good contact with the ball that was a big swing right there for a ball and a strike in 20 of 30 regular-season starts in 1999 Roger Clemens allowed a first inning run or more sometimes it takes him a while to settle down and get so intense you think he's about to squeeze the yarn out on the ball 2 & 1 the count had an excellent night last night in fact you see what he's done he started to get better and he to the last three ballgames the first game he singled and his last at-bat singled in the next game for one he had four straight hits all the short santino has to reach up and get the ball now he comes down in plenty of time to retire boom so here's Chipper Jones ruin his career against Roger Clemens is 2 for 6 with a home run the Braves beat Clemens back in July during interleague series here 62 the inside corner two balls in the strike to Chipper Jones who had 45 regular-season home runs and has hit only one out of the park in 13 postseason games he connected off El Duque in Game one of this world series he has only four playoff in World Series RBIs but part of that is because they pitched around it and now Clemens is behind him 3 & 1 when he threw him one fastball on the inside corner which is where they want to throw the fastball and then he's thrown three splitters out of the strike zone get back toward the middle but Gino is there and played well a perfect first for Clemens is the Yankee lineup for what they hope will be their final game of 1999 Keter extended his postseason hitting streak to 16 last night and John Smoltz on the mound in the past John Smoltz through three quarters now he's dropped down a little bit to relieve a little of the pain in his elbow he has a chronic elbow problem but John smokes ball moves a lot more now than it did before he was very overpowering from the time but now he's got a lot of movement on his mantle own three errors in the world series they've led the Natraj and those came in the second ball game that he played very good defense other than the second ball game in this series last time you saw John Smoltz Bobby Cox brought him out of the bullpen late in Game six of the LCS against the Mets and he was pummeled Mike Piazza took him out of the park to right-center it was then a game-tying home run first one an oblong is taken for a spike during the season Smoltz was 11 and 8 in the 99 postseason he's won an hour with a save but his er a partly because of that one disaster is inning against the Mets is nearly six one two watching the first two fastball they're a little different than what I've seen from John Smoltz most of the season he doesn't seem to be dropping down quite as much on those last two pitches and he wasn't and he didn't get the same tailing action on his fastball that he's been using comes down from the side and finishes Knobloch off on three pitches let's take a look at the scouting report on John Smoltz you see what I've invited those first two pitches he had to reinvented deliver to ease and elbow pain his strength now is working across the strike zone words before he was up and down in the strike zone he threw the overpowering high fastball he threw a nice slider down now his ball pulls across the strike zone as we saw that sweeping slider and his fastball normally tales into the right-handed hitter Jeter fouls it back he saw the career postseason record of 12 and 3 that's the highest postseason career victory total of any pitcher in history but the guy who threw out the first pitch tonight at Yankee Stadium Hall of Fame left-hander whitey Ford won 10 postseason games and they were all World Series games Jeter fouls it off Smoltz has had the LCS in the World Series through the 90s and since 1995 the division series thrown in but the fact remains he's been a very strong playoff in World Series pitcher Bob he's been chomping at the bit he wanted to start a lot sooner in this series he was hoping it's in our game too Bobby decided to go with Millwood but this guy is a big-game pitcher Cheeta wouldn't bite 1 & 2 one of the things John supposes doing so far is he's changing his release point he's thrown a little bit closer to 3/4 and then he drops down on the right-hander when he gets ahead he dropped down here after two strikes trying to get Jeter to trace the case this little slider off the outside corner there it is the slider breaking just off the plate here holds up and the teacher pitch knob toward first there's the put out easily for Klesko is Paul O'Neill at least a portion of the crowd passed away overnight saw the pregame show Joe Torre explained in chambray that O'Neal's father was a huge baseball fan and follow Paul's career very closely had been extremely ill for a long time the death did not come as a surprise but obviously Paul O'Neill playing this game while grief-stricken taking a strike the O'Neil family is from Ohio but his father was in the hospital here in New York at Lenox Hill Hospital and Paul was able to visit him in the final days of his life Yankee ballclub has had a lot of off fill-in you know problems Scott Brosius father passed away during the season we solo Paul O'Neill a ball and a strike and that was low if the Yankees finished the World Series out tonight then O'Neill and what would undoubtedly be a subdued celebration for him can share the moment with his teammates and then move on to his family business tomorrow even if the World Series should be extended Friday would be an off day even with two atlanta victories and that would leave him an opportunity to go home take care of the funeral and still rejoin the team Saturday in Atlanta if the World Series goes that far smokes is being very careful not to leave a ball inside the short porch in right field you see everything outside and moving away watch the movement on this pitch from John Smoltz see the rotation look at it start to really dive away from Paul O'Neill much where this pitch ends up call O'Neill fouls it off it's just off they off just on the outside corner and the 3-2 pitch he walked in first base runner of the game who as a cart now the Yankee coach immersed as party Williams steps in burning in 342 for the year third in the league behind Nomar Garciaparra who won the batting title for the Red Sox and his Yankee teammate Derek Jeter such a home-field advantage for the Yankees is what happened to the Braves last night watching balls going to the right-field seats this being a short porch in right field so when they run the left-handed hitters up there one after another you have to stay steady and stay away from them and you see smoke being very careful both to Paul O'Neill and now he starts to Bernie Williams off he's trying to make sure he keeps the ball down and also moving away from the left-handed hitters so they cannot pull it into the short seats in right field and you can almost feel games being managed especially here at Yankee Stadium with the idea of avoiding Darryl Strawberry lurking on the bench tonight he's the D H there's the straw man he's six in the Yankee order for Game four a dangerous pitch coming down for smokes chases or he'll back we hide in the couch - no - Bernie Williams Tino Martinez who had a home run last night is on deck Oh it was the two Oh swung on a tap foul at least we think it's foul and they're giving it every chance to roll fair with Bernie wound is barely out of the box but it dies on the other side of the line hello Neil ran all the way down to second base he got caught last night not running on a bunt that he popped into the air and you know that's not going to happen again smokes staring in at Perez for his side and his 2-1 pitch to Bernie Williams it shut in a second but Boone is right there that'll do it for the Yankee half of the first no score after one in the rocks Brian Jordan Ryan Klesko and the D H Keith Lockhart to face Clemens in the top of the second bouncing ball Knobloch this is where he's had problems but his flip to Martinez is right there and with views from high above it's the bud 1 airship over 165 feet long the bud 1 airship flies high over the biggest sporting events of the world Budweiser the official beer of Major League Baseball and the World Series the Klesko is outside Bob in the first inning Roger Clemens is having trouble throwing his splitter even close to the strike zone so if you're the Braves you go up there looking for a fastball first pitch to Brian Jordan with fastball he grounded out and now the first two pitches here to Ryan Klesko or fast balls when a guy doesn't have control of his splitter or his curve or his changeup you just kind of limonade those pitches and still until he starts to throw them for strikes here's his two old and that one's in there since Darrell Cozens fastball over the OP middle out to an old pitch actually pretty much where Klesko likes the ball right out over the plate he hits this one over nah blocks head for the game's first hit another pitch out over the plate that one was down a little bit he actually broke his bat but he gets a line drive out of it he had a splitter grip McMahon was in basketball he was just trying to get it to sink a little bit it wasn't a complete splitter he just turned that over a little bit you can change the movement on the ball by how much you split your fingers on the pitch or how much you bring them off to her side and that was just to get some movement on his fastball rather than throw the splitter first one to Lockhart is in there when we speak of the umpires it's worth noting that none of the 20 new hires after the resignations of many umpires were accepted none of the 20 new hires work any of the postseason games these are all experienced veteran umpires three from each league working the World Series bouncing ball slowly the Brosius he looks at second he picks it therefore the force not in time at first they didn't have a chance to make the double play Knobloch should have just taken this and held it because the ball was kind of chopped toward third base wasn't hit hard enough and I think Jeter is telling him that really not a chance this ball is chopped it's not even hit to the third baseman Brosius is just trying to cut down the lead runner and he makes a good throw and Knobloch just kind of jumps in the air and throws it but you can see that Lockhart was well past the back sit when any time a guy the third baseman has to come get the ball like that you're just going to have problems then Knobloch throws off-balance that's where he gets in trouble sometimes that's an off-balance throw Eddie Perez takes ball 1 just to finish up on the umpires the shame of the accepted resignations is that in the mix guys almost universally regarded as excellent umpires like Richie Garcia and Frank pulli disappeared from the scene here's the one out to another perhaps Bobby still struggling with his control meaning Roger Clemens when we saw him in Texas he was getting ahead of the hitters and then you get the hitters to help you out by swinging the pitches out of the strike home since he is falling behind the guys are getting a chance to pick pitches they want to hit brains haven't been able to do a lot with it so far but yet still they're getting better swings and he would like chopped to Jeter comes up nicely for the flip to Knoblauch for the force and the Braves are finished in the second back to Yankee Stadium after this Tino Martinez will start it for the Yankees against John Smoltz in the bottom of the second Joe Torre was actually saying before game 3 you know we're not really the Bronx Bombers we don't really pound the ball and then his team goes out and hits four home runs to overcome a 5-1 deficit now granted two of them were flyballs to the opposite field on tonight the ball is carrying this wasn't one of those this ball was hammered and would have been gone most any night but I think it's more about doing what you have to do to win when you fall behind early in the ballgame like 5 to 1 you usually have to hit some balls out of the ballpark to get back in the ballgame it's going to be very difficult off of a guy like Glavine to put eight or nine hits in a row together to score four or five runs the tuol pitch is popped up but the teams that are able to come back from big deficits early in the ballgame are teams that have some power and I'll able hit the ball out of the ballpark with one swing and the Yankees have done that when they needed to last night Kurdish two solo homers including a game-winner Knobloch the two-run homer to tie it Martinez the solo homer to bring it to five three so they were just magnificent and getting the job done and coming from behind in that ballgame and smokes falls behind Martinez three and one nothing cheap about the Homer Kurtis hit to end the night that ball was crushed you see John's most trying to stay away see he's trying to stay away from the left-handed hitters know where that pitch was that pitch should have been caused by to take a look sees trying to run the fastball away left and he doesn't want to give them something they can pull he didn't move until he was told to go to first base the Blackie was fooled on the pitch big reception now for Darryl Strawberry he's had only one iPad in the series and it was important actually wasn't an official I thought it was just a plate appearance he walked in Game one he swings on the first one slices at the other way for Vincent cut off by Williams as Martinez stops a second lineup changes the way that this guy is the second hitter the third hitter away and you try to make sure you don't get anybody a chance to be on base when he's hitting this is a bread a little sleeker away girl strawberry showing that he can still handle the low pitch is slapped in the other way he has always been a very good lowball hitter but he makes a big difference with his presence in the lineup well in Game one when Maddux working on the 1 nothing shutout into the 8th Brosius opens with a hit Tori could have had El Duque sacrifice instead he pulled him back Maddux was so careful with the pinch hitter strawberry that he walked him and the gates were open for a big Yankee inning now here's Posada we didn't have a sacrifice this year and his swinging away and fouling it off one thing to remember it's early in the ballgame tory's up team is up three games to zero and he's got a chance here to try to you know break this game open if you want to think of it that way he's thinking of maybe trying to get three or four runs here rather than bunting them in the scoring position just trying to get one one on one account leftfielder Ricky ledee is on deck his team has finished first speaking of Bobby Cox in its division eight consecutive years we're not counting 94 when the season wasn't played to completion because of the strike eight straight first-place finishes only one world championship though in that stretch the 1-1 pitch foul ground Chipper Jones and Walt Weiss for a look but they have no play Martinez who let off of the walk is its second strawberry who singled at first nobody out bottom of the second difficult situation for John Smoltz the Yankees have put six straight left-handers in a row in this order called strike three Masada turns away second strikeout for Smoltz this pitch is very similar to the one that Greg Maddux throws he starts the ball off the plate inside watched the rotation in a rotation and moves right back over the middle of the plate that is an opinion it looks it's off the plate inside and then it moves right back over the middle of the plate not even close great pitch there who smokes when you play the Yankees here at Yankee Stadium you have the face - six left-handers in a row the first time through the order is the most difficult because you're trying to get rhythm you're trying to find exactly how you want to pitch each one you want to stay aware you want to come in cause weigh in on the day ball one when you said that John Smoltz was a big-game pitcher Joe you weren't exaggerating I'll tell you more about that after this pitch which is taken from ball two it was smokes who as a young pitcher went to the mound against Jack Morris in Game seven of the 91 World Series at the Metrodome and pitched seven shutout innings got a no-decision Morris went the distance in a classic one nothing tenoning victory in Game seven to get returns the World Series is a look at what he's done in the World Series in 96 against the Yankees he won game warms warm men was the loser in heartbreaking fashion won nothing against Andy Pettitte in Game five a call strike to ledee in the three-game interleague series here in July Smoltz did not have a story so this is the first time he's seen the Yankees this year is 3:1 pitch swung on and fouled back one out two on a full count pitch coming up Brosius on deck to the runners go it's a good question I think they would in this case they're not going as ledee fouls it off he'd you've been very aggressive that was one of the reason I thought they did such a great job as first year here and getting a Yankees to the championship he brought more of a national league style of baseball to the American League where he would thought he was hit and run he would do a lot of different things to put pressure on the defense and a striker a part of his thinking speaking of Tory you got a left-handed batter at the plate Martinez not that fast at second you could get a strikeout throw out situation pretty easily that's true here we're going to take a look at this pitch it's the same pitch he threw to Masada and look at that starts inside and just runs back toward the inside part of the plate watch where this pitch goes right back on the inside corner good pitch there by John Smoltz and a lot of times left-handed hitters give up on that fastball inside because it looks like it's going to be off the plate inside that the last second and moves back on the corner is that one did now Brosius in the ninth spot tonight strike one swinging out of the way one and one John Smoltz is one of five Sai Young Award winners working in this series Clemens Maddox Smoltz Cohn Glavine outside - one smokes one his in 1996 when he went 24 and eight struck out nearly 300 hitters and had an ER a under three look at that that is some quality going to the mound in this world series is to one pitch good pest him to and to that's more than John Smoltz of old the high fastball and then the slider across the outside part of the plate here is a fat boy he just turned this one loose he wasn't looking for movement there he was just trying to overpower Brosius upstairs and he did full count and with two out here is a safe thought they will be going low sigh Young Award winners and probably fits in just as well all of them just a lot of kids time in Cuba the runners go and it's a called third strike two the first two men reached Smoltz struck out the side all of them on right John Smoltz had to make some tough pitches after he walked the first hitter and Darryl Strawberry single he made a great pitch to Posada ball off the plate inside whose back and a strikes out ledee and finally a little cut fastball there gets Scott Brosius so great pitching there to get three called third strikes after he got in trouble there in the second inning and through jones standing in against Clemens as we move to the third bluffing a bunt and taking ball one he's had six career at-bats against the rocket with two hits and four strikeouts as you see by that 196 more his bat remains quiet in this postseason rolled slowly to short Jeter charges throws on the run gets it NBC's coverage of the World Series extends online and msnbcsports.com go in-depth on Game four as total cast provide batter by batter stats in a real-time bond score plus check out a player's perspective of tonight's key plays as the Reds Barry Larkin whose saliva web cast and answers viewer email msnbcsports.com the official website of NBC Sports sissie struck out the first hit of Gerald Williams he has had six straight ground outs in Roger Clemens he's done a good job of staying down in the strike zone Clemens blowing into his pitching hand on what is now a 48 degree night Weis can't find the home Martinez backhands it and goes to the bag himself Tino Martinez kind of underrated as a defensive first baseman he seems to get himself in position to make plays plus he really helps the infielders out on bat throws and low throws to first base the miry does a good job of covering the hole and beating Walt Weiss to first base they only hit off Clemens so far is a broken bat single by Ryan Klesko in the second faces Gerald Williams with two out and nobody out on the third and starts him with ball one there's Klesko with Don Baylor the hitting coach and the sidelines Andres Galarraga now Weiss walks into the picture in the Atlanta dugout tuna as we glimpse Don Baylor on the Atlanta side of Chris Chambliss and the Yankee dugout Willie Randolph on the coaching lines at third for New York you're talking about three guys who might very well be managing in the major leagues come the year 2000 to old pitch whomped it into shallow right Knobloch retreats from second and takes it from his cruising to three still no score Yankees saving a glimpse into Monument Park at Yankee Stadium Mickey Mantle monument who grew some Yankee greats are memorialized with plots against the far wall a select few have monuments the Iron Horse Lou Gehrig the manager of the murderer's row Yankees of the 20s Miller Huggins the bambino's monument next to his and Joe DiMaggio also has a monument out there remember when they were on the field before they remodeled Yankee Stadium it was 460 or so to straightaway center Knobloch hits it to deep short Weiss can't come up with it and Knobloch reaches to start the bottom of the third was a ground ball toward the hole Walt Weiss gets there but he not able to come up with the balls he he'll get there and it just hits off of his bum I know what they haven't ruled yet I guess now the official scorer hasn't decided just yet was a tough way but a play that could have been made base it I think that's the right decision it was not an easy play that's for sure where's Tito swinging and missing probably the first time I came to Yankee Stadium I was going to play in the ball game here I came out to the ballpark at 2 o'clock afternoon ran out to to the monuments walked through there and my skin just tingled all the time I was out there you know with all the great history and all the great players were played here at Yankee Stadium thirty-six pennant winners 24 world champions guys like Judith who know how to hit the situation's going to the opposite field runners at the corners they force you to make plays if you do not make plays behind your pitcher you're going to be in trouble Jeter takes advantage of the hole it's opened up in first base by the fact that Weis couldn't make the play on Knobloch ball so it opens up this big hole on the right side Jeter takes advantage of it Knobloch puzzles all the way around to third base he losses the third base can't get there in time and the Yankees have runners at first and third that quickly here in the SEC third inning basically the two pitches in a row and Peter is now hit in 17 straight postseason games ball one to O'Neill and naturally they're playing back trying to stay out of the big inning the Braves are trying to get a double play on a ground ball he falls behind to know Bernie Williams will be next this was the start of the sixth grade left-handers in the Yankees batting order tonight Bernie Williams of course a switch hitter but he said he left-handed boy that guy's trusted aides Don Zimmer and the pitching coach Mel stottlemyre and the tool pitch swinging in the mess that's one of the better fast balls that John smokeless roll tonight had a lot of pop on it also a lot of movement the last time a team swept the World Series in consecutive years it was the Yankees in 38 and 39 against the Cubs and the lens three balls and one strike the Yankees try to do it to the Padres and the Braves and the one thing the Yankees continue to do is show a lot of patience that was a pretty good pitch there from John Smoltz to get the ground ball that he wanted a little sinker down Paul O'Neill took it now the count one which lock locking the first pitch next pitch was hit the right door now it will sudden get the pitcher in trouble work and makes him give him there goes Jeter or the 3-1 pitch is fouled off interesting move there by dilatory to put the runner in motion because with no one outs you hit a line drive at someone and you're going to get doubled up but he figures if he starts O'Neill someone has to cover the bag first he goes again and the 3-2 pitch is grounded foul for the year Peter swiped 19 let's take a look at what happens here on the right side of the light of the inn the runner takes off I mean look at all this area here to hit also opens up the shortstop hole because he's covered so you do give your hitter a lot more ground that he can hit the ball through the bluff move that seldom works and always brings cries of balk even though it isn't when it's done by the visiting pitcher hi yo bought myself all the time because the rules say you're not supposed to de-seed the runner and I don't know what he's trying to do if he's not trying to deceive the runner Oh spoken like a member of a base stealing profit in fact what Jeeter bolts per second or Niel swings and did he get a piece of it he did not so it's a stolen base for Jeter as O'Neill strikes out the more strikeout for John smokes I think gets look at this fall see that's what he was trying to do earlier in the count tough pitch for Perez to handle because it had such late movement on it but he gets to strikeout anyway although Jeter moves down to second base they're going to walk Bernie I think one thing the Braves are trying to do in this ballgame is make sure they do not fall behind the Yankees because the Yankees are very good frontrunners and they're excellent coming from behind but when you let them get out front they know how to play with the lead so if they're good when they're in front and they're excellent coming from behind they've got you coming and going exactly but that's why he pointed 11 straight World Series game the intentional walk will be the third walk issued by smokes he's already struck out five you know Bobby Cox said it ruefully before the games and ordinarily you go to the eighth inning with Maddox and with Glavine and a lead yet longer the bullpen we win those games but we're playing a championship team and you don't win them as often against a team like the Yankees and the Yankees just shows so much confidence in the late innings I mean they realize that they've seen the pitchers they know exactly what they want to do when they walk to the plate no one goes up they're over swinging they do everything in the context of the teamwork that they've Knobloch Jeter and Williams at board for Martinez who takes ball runs he no is one of 17 men in World Series history for the Grand Slam no one has two Grand Slams the Royal sirs blood Tito hit one here in game Langston last October got the inside corner water one this has been his most effective pitch against left-handed hitters watch again this ball is tailing starts off the plate inside the liver the movement moves right back over the inside corner and you can see there that ball is over the inside corner for strike the left-handed hitters are giving up on that pitch bases-loaded no score bottom and the 1-1 pitch and by crisco office globe enemy outfield two runs will score all kids on the ground the plays are not made see this ball is hit right to quest over the hip bounces up hits him on the arm bounces in the shallow right field Bernie Williams hustled on a third nerd Jeter Chuck now watch you get to the bottom a the ball is there just not hit that far too is right he gets there bounces up he doesn't play the hop and it hits him on the right go to shallow right field the ball was hit hard no doubt about that but no the plays that could be made if you play the whole and the one right there both of those it's scored a hit his stalker inside to him that you have to make when you're behind in the sea and they have not made them here in this - OH Terry Mulholland quickly what's up in the Atlanta pen the - oh take him to ball three bleh has a green light meal if he's sitting on a pitch in a particular zone what's the Joe Torre sing right there is narrow your hitting area area and attack he does take a rip in he fouls it back and he got a good pitch to hit he was patient he got the pitch that he wanted fastball over the plate and down good low fastball hitter he gets the low fastball and he fouls it back good movement on the pitch from John smokes he's the reason that he filed it back what Torre says outruns for the third is seemed like it moved so much strawberry couldn't even catch up with it this is a fastball that just explodes away from look at that see that ball jumps away from him it jumps out toward the outside corner all he can do is swing at it late strawberry backs out hit a homer in both the division series against Texas from the ALCS against the Red Sox if he connects here the series is all but over fouls it back I'm going to tell you what he smokes it's really throwing him some quality pitches here great late moving on all of these pitches strawberry's right on them but the ball is moving just a little bit at the end not able to put the ball in play 64 pitches with no one out actually in there here in the fourth inning so technically this third inning no one either way it's still Ola another 3-2 pitch and another foul Glavine had 62 pitches at the end of six innings last night you see smokes already at 65 and two and a third yes and a called third strike that's the sixth strikeout for Smoltz call third strike and it's basically the same pitch the left-hander gives up when I watch the ball starts off the plate inside explodes right there over the outs inside corner and what piss off magnet is because his fastball is running away and they're leaning out over the plate defiled it now the sudden the ball starts off the plate inside and you give up on it now here's Posada struck out looking in a second which one back of third we were talking about the monuments of the plaques out behind the fence and left-center before every game he catches Jorge Posada walks out there and touches the Thurman Munson plaque that's his pregame ritual and he did it again tonight there's Munson the great catcher the plane crash in 1979 the o1 pitch way inside 68 pitches for Smoltz 33 for Clemens Tina's at first Bernie Williams at third two runs already home in the bottom of the third here's the one one in the dirt Perez Bluffs a throw and Williams skips back to third Chipper Jones wasn't even covering excellent play here by Perez he actually catches this he doesn't even try to block it watch he just catches this a sinker in the dirt he just reaches down and catches like to see the catcher block it make sure he blocks it get his body over in front of it but he was able to come - intuitive posada you look at this in it it starts with an infield single and a single to the opposite field by Jeter Jeter steals second as O'Neill strikes out that leads them to intentionally walk Bernie Williams Tino Martinez with a sharp ground ball that really should have been taken by Klesko he missed plays it into what the sport is a hit just like that the Braves are down to Oh now to Posada so Martinez will run from first but that's what good teams do I mean it they just keep pressure on you to make all of the plays you can't make half of them look 3/4 of the plate if you're going to beat the Yankees you're gonna have to make all of the plays or 3-2 pitch bounced five forces bottom gets him where he said his sixties team could beat the all century team right well maybe this Yankee team can do the same thing another 3-2 pitch with Martinez running a line drive base hit Williams drops home Martinez wheels to Posadas hit makes it clean up in New York success was the fastball inside it starts inside again the sod was right on it this time the ball moves back on inside Warner and he rips into left field that's the pitch that he's been able to get his call strikes on but he wasn't able to do so here Posada just to it ripped it the right Gilmore base hit that brings Leo Mazzoni the pitching coach to the mound and when he comes out there rather than it's to talk things over not to make the change I think that was just the visit to see and make sure to John smokes when you're down three games to none you cannot fall too far behind expect to come back especially on the road Yankee Stadium nothing right now it looked like smoke was going to get out of this inning with all two runs big scores work still a day who takes a ball but as the Yankees have done throughout this series they've gotten a lot of two-outs to strike base hits and that's why they are winning this series three games to none they have been able to make sure that they make contact with two outs and two strikes and ledee lifts it behind the infield either Weiss will so the Yankees are done in the third but the Braves trail this game three nothing and the series three nothing Bob Roger Clemens has done a great job of limiting his pitch total as well as just keeping the ball on the infield everyone on the infield has had a chance ground ball ground ball up the middle to shortstop for ground balls to shortstop one to each corner they've done a great job leave this all the balls are hit on the ground you can't hurt Roger Clemens hitting ground balls to the infield and that's what he has done so successfully tonight in his first playoff start this year he was staked to a three nothing lead at Texas that happened before he ever took the mound the Yankees got three in the top of the first on a strawberry home run here it took them three innings but now he takes a three nothing lead into the fourth and in most cases they say you'll know early whether Roger has it or not if the ground balls are an indication he does have it and we've seen him change a little bit of his grip on his splitter to get the sinker moving and to be able to throw strikes with it he wasn't throwing strikes with this splitter to start the game so now he's throwing a three-quarter splitter where the ball are just moving and sinking a little bit strike one to Bret Boone who grounded to short his first time on Chipper Jones and Brian Jordan will follow in the fourth he's still having trouble with that splitter he still wants to throw it and he still needs to try to throw it so he can find some rhythm with it that's an important pitch for him although tonight he's like I says used a sinker a lot more effectively than he has there's a good splitter and with a three to nothing lead you can keep throwing it until you find your rhythm with us either here is the splitter to watch how this ball reacts come straight up there like a fastball then just sinks right you can get them to change pitches out of the strike zone he throw a fastball for strike then he comes with a splitter he swings and misses what if they do come with another splitter and the key to the splitter started in the strike zone as he does there above the knees and then by the time it gets to the plate has already suck out of the strike zone watch this and that's what you want you get help from the hitters if you stay ahead of them but if you fall behind they're going to make now his Chipper Jones bouncing one to Clemens the flip to Martinez for the second out and now while we have a moment we'd like to announce the MasterCard all century starting lineup as selected by you the fans and there's the club Koufax and Ryan your lefty and righty your old teammate bench the catcher around the infield Schmidt Ripken Robinson Goering hey with ribbon and Goering you wouldn't need any backups they play every game Ernie Banks and Honus Wagner and Mark McGwire could never get in Willie Mays Babe Ruth and ten millions in the outfield tremendous the problem with it is Felipe Karin off you know you got to leave guys off that you just can't feel right about leaving off the list Bob the problem that's the problem with the entire all century team selection I think there were more than 30 deserving players you know starting with Roberto Clemente starting with Josh Gibson and Sakharov age and of course Frank Robinson has the fourth highest home run total in the history of the game only trails Mays Aaron and Babe Ruth and he couldn't even make the team so I think the problem is that there are more than 30 deserving players to be on that all-century team and you look at some of those players that not a representative from the Negro League on the tee the genitive on the team when you had both Clemente and Juan Marichal tap foul it's still one and two and in addition to the very deserving players you mentioned Tom Seaver right not for him but Eve Carlton and Bob Feller let me tell you something the guys that didn't put Seaver on the team never faced him if you were to face Steve Carlton and Tom Seaver as I did he would have been on the ballclub both of them they are excellent pitchers and they definitely deserve to be on this ballclub but again jordon rolls it foul you know what there's some surviving major-leaguer a 90 year old guy watching tonight saying Joe you're right but I stood in against lefty Grove and let me tell you yeah well they're look there have been over 15,000 major-league players very difficult to cut that down the third and say that they were the greatest when you leave Clemens on the all-century team as we mentioned part of the pitching staff one two pitch from the five times celluloid missiles outside too Roger Clemens was going for the strikeout here this is a fastball off the outside corner he's trying to get that movement back over the outside corner we've seen John Smoltz use that he did not get the a little pop and it looks like that's going to make the seats when I heard from mark mcgwire yesterday and he wanted the fans to know this there was some kind of mix-up with his luggage mark tells us and that's why he was the only guy not wearing a suit at the all-century celebration he was in jeans and a jacket that's what he flew in wearing and they couldn't locate his clothes in time he's a guy with a real respect and knowledge of baseball history and he didn't want anyone to think that he intentionally slighted the occasion here's the 2 2 pitch and Jordan hangs in actually I didn't really notice it you were the one that brought it up you know I'm looking from the booth I said he's got Jesus daddy what is up for this yeah yeah but that you know that is tough because when you say he can't just walk out and buy one off the rack on a Sunday after not a his size wires former teammate with the Cardinals Brian Jordan and he works into a rock he should have had the call on that pit watch his reaction and Tino Martinez is going to go in to calm him down I think this is a great idea here there was more than one pitch in this sequence that he wanted for strike three and you see that ball is clearly low but Roger thought it crossed the plane knee-high before Posada caught it you can see it does get the outside corner but I think he umpire Derryl cousins called it as low and Roger was getting upset out there and it's a good job by Tino Martinez to go in and say hey relax big fella you got a three to nothing lead let's take it on to the barn Klesko has Atlanta's only with all Clemens second ending single Plus goes a home and threat especially in this park if he catches hold of one the Braves climb right back into it 3:14 down the line and right 3:18 to the foul pole in left before they remodel this park it used to be 296 to the right-field corner and just 344 to a low barrier being straightaway right but then it went out quickly toward very deep gaps 407 and 457 and 461 to straightaway center where the monuments were on the field alongside the flagpole Oh into the Klesko and Bob I mentioned when I was here I ran out watch the monument but the most satisfying thing for me was why stood in the batter's box knowing that I stood in the same the other great Yankee player this place has so much condition that every baseball that's ever played the game is missing something when they do not get a chance giving you hit a homer here in the all-star game on Jim Palmer I was hoping you'd bring that up the o2 pitch a little bouncer that Martinez comes up with and tags Klesko to finish the inning after three and a half looking for the sweep three nothing New York such a great team come on guys we're not done yet although they're up three games to none they're up three to nothing in this ball game they say they're not done yet remember in game two Bob Joe Torre said let's keep playing the game even though they were up seven to nothing let's keep playing the game that keeps you from getting complacent and forces you to keep playing the game and yesterday the Braves got to hit five to one and maybe they thought that was enough but you have to keep playing the game and especially against the Yankees Brosius pops one towards second actually behind second base Jordan comes in and takes it in behind boom on the views from high above or courtesy of the bud one airship the blue masters and Budweiser remind you that fresh beer tastes better Budweiser the official beer of Major League Baseball and the World Series here's Knoblauch struck out and started the three-run third with an infield single last year's Yankees as you know 114 regular-season games and had a final victory total of 125 counting the playoffs in World Series this year Joe Torre's team 198 during the regular season but they have a chance if they win tonight to go last year's team one better in one respect they would finish this postseason 11 and one last year they blitzed through the competition 11 and 2 Jordan coming in again and he takes it once more 965 runs you know last year that that's a big number 650 opponents run you know this year they gave up four runs but again you could not match numbers with last year's team because it wasn't really just about numbers these guys know how to play and this team this year could probably beat last year's team in a short series I mean I really believe that tell you what that run differential boat last year it was just astonishing I mean that's just outside any of the accepted norms and almost in the entire history of baseball and I said it before I believe that this team may be a little stronger in that last year they had 25 MVPs they said this year they have Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams who have stepped to the forefront last year Scott Brosius really kind of carried him in the World Series you know Paul O'Neill but this year they have had consistent production from both Jeter and Williams and the other guys kind of chipping in Chipper Jones got on that one quickly and he throws Jeter out it's a quick forth for the ice if there is no game tomorrow night a lot of Atlanta Braves fans will be stark raving mad and stark raving mad we'll be on the air Tony Shalhoub and Neil Patrick Harris are among the stars are two must-see TV Thursday however if the Braves win tonight well a week from tomorrow Tony and Neil Patrick will be on yeah we go to the fifth three runs five hits no errors for New York oh one a no for Atlanta Lockhart the D H followed by catcher Eddie Perez and centerfielder Andrew Jones as of this moment with just one hit through four innings Atlanta's team batting average is down to 196 in this world series and that's even with a good hitting performance last night a strike to lock on Bob there are losses and there are very very tough losses and last night was a very tough loss for the Atlanta Braves because if they could have won the ballgame they know they're back in this series whereas when you lose and you go down three and oh you're you're a you can but you're probably not going to dig out oven and I think that really has an effect on them and and you can see it a little bit in tonight intensity in this ball game but once you pitch hit pass Clemens not he couldn't evade a play even had he stopped it a leadoff hit for Lockhart the Clemens is making the Rays keep the ball on the ground here's that little sinker away right by Roger Clemens he made a die for it wasn't able to get it and then you see Knobloch make a die for it as the ball goes in the center field Clemens can't get it Knobloch can't get it that's the second base hit of the ballgame for the Braves Perez hit into a force play his first time up fastball misses Roger reached back and through the high heater right there 95 mile an hour fastball he hasn't lost all that much velocity at age 37 what has come and gone has been command of his stock but he still has good stuff - it up but think about the kind of stuff he must have had the nights he struck out 20 men and a nine inning game and on at least one of those occasions 20 strikeouts with no walks Perez is a slow runner he hits it on the ground you can double it but Clemens is falling behind him the COTS was telling us before the game said it really truthfully almost matter-of-factly we outplayed them virtually the entire game last night we're playing a good game we should have had it won and just like that it slipped away from us that's why it's such a tough loss Bob you know you gave it everything you had you played a good ballgame you let going into the late innings and this Yankee team came back on you I mean that that's a tough loss and there's no way you can get around it as individual or as a team there's something that sticks with you and hit the ball better than they had for several games they were aggressive on the bases they were playing smartly up until the end and they couldn't close the deal one pitch fits slowly to Brosius can they turn two there's one not rocks related they get a boat well the Yankees are making the plays and that's woodwinds logging any craft not a fast runner Brosius gets the ball quickly gets it to second base Knobloch has plenty of time to turn it and he makes a throw here's Roger Clemens me just watching the relay all around that's an excited right there andrew jones on for 1 tonight 1 for 5 last night at just a bloop single his bat has been very quiet this entire postseason you can tell it's sinking in maybe it has already on Chipper Jones Ryan Klesko and the rest of the Atlanta Braves this isn't just any old team roaming the Yankees Pam admittedly they've been in the team hitting slump for a while but this is a team that won 103 games more than any other team and they believe got in on Jones but he manages to fight it off and foul it to the seats as you just hit into the double play boxers won eight straight division titles at seven out of eight times the season ended in some sort of disappointment Down Goes Andruw Jones the third strike output my food but yet see the excitement in the Yankee dugout I mean they are excited they can see the goal line now and they're going to run forward Roger Clemens really throwing the ball well tonight O'Neill leads it off and takes strike one from John Smoltz as we saw at the bottom of the fifth Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez to follow if it ends tonight with the Yankee sweep the MVP voting will be interesting obviously no starter worked more than one game El Duque was terrific so was Cohen in Game two curtis had the two homers including the game-winner in the third game Jeter's hitting nearly 400 Knobloch has scored five runs and although he's had some awkward moments of a meal he hasn't been charged with an error and he's 5 for 15 but nobody jumps out as the obvious candidate well I think when you do not have an obvious candidate like that I think you have to look at somebody like Mariano Rivera who is definitely the big gun coming out of the bullpen and if he pitches in tonight's ballgame you might have to look in that direction but it's command this is a great Yankee team that gets contributions from every carry of the game on some contributors like Jason Grimsley and Jeff Nelson last night and held the Braves in check while the Yankees mounted their comeback Bret Boone flips to Klesko to retire O'Neal I think Jason Grimsley's performance last night was the real key because the Braves had been scoring runs he came in and he just shut them down and that gave the Yankees a chance to start their comeback and then as you mentioned Jeff Nelson came in for a couple of inning and did a good job as well but I think Greg Lee's performers wouldn't he and he Williams old for one with an intentional walk fouls it off for strike one if the Yankees win tonight that's 12 straight World Series victories dating back to the time they were down Oh to to the Braves in 96 then won the last four and they would have swept the Padres and the Braves that would tie a record also held by the Yankees who swept the Pirates in 27 the Cardinals in 28 and the Cubs in 32 when Babe Ruth some say called a shot - and on Joe Torre who waited thousands and thousands of games as a player and manager before ever getting to a World Series now may see his team win it for the third time in four years by the interesting thing parallels that even lasher's World Series the San Diego Padres had the lead a couple of times themselves going into the late innings and couldn't hold it and this year the Braves have gone into two of out of three games so far with the lead in the eighth inning and couldn't hold it so these Yankees are just good finishers and they just know how to play the game ripped foul and look at the pictures they've beaten either hanging the defeat on them or winning games started by these guys going back to 96 Smoltz Maddux Glavine Kevin Brown last year was so tough to hit for the San Diego Padres whatever has been thrown in their path they haven't just defeated they've decimated it is true that because of the economic disparities in baseball a smaller percentage of teams have a chance to win the championship called third strike and Bernie Williams sits down but because of the new playoff format you have to run a gauntlet that's more extensive than it used to be you got to go through the division and the LCS and the World Series in the Yankees the second half of this decade have done that there's Tino Martinez his second time up he rips a ball off the arm a Ryan Klesko to drive in a couple of runs and that's where we are basically three to nothing all that the three runs were scored in the third inning by the Yankees and that's the only inning either team has scored in so very important inning there and we talked about how it got started and how the Yankees were able to cap it off that'll make the seats down the left-field line of course we're talking about what seems likely right but it's not absolutely inevitable and Smoltz is trying to keep what faint hopes the Braves have alive by keeping the moving striking distance and remember Yogi Berra isn't in the ballpark yogi says it's never over till it's over and I agree with that and let's face it Roger Clemens is pitching a very fine ballgame but they're going to have a shot at him you always get a shot at the pitcher I don't care if he's pitching a no-hitter or whatever there will come a time in the ballgame where you get a chance to rough him up of course if they get back-to-back sweeps of the World Series then another Yogi Berra quote will apply it it be deja vu all over again up to the seats once more still one and two Nuala John Smoltz is good at that third inning really first changeup he's throwing up in a slow changeup right there third inning is where he had the most problems that's when the Yankees scored their 3-1 poaching on hundred pitches as he tries to close the Yankees out of the fifth and he runs the count out full to Tino Martinez and Tino goes down swinging actually tipped it back into the glove of Eddie Perez five of the books still three nothing craig sager back at Yankee Stadium if it appeared to you that the Rourke Braves we're not showing much life you weren't alone rookie Randall Simon however is trying to pump some life into a do-or-die situation he is curso teammate Andruw Jones having criticized at times by Bobby Cox racking excited while the team was losing but apparently Simon Says time is running out Bob a lot of times that has to come from you your guys are going to have to pick up the guys who are on the field sometimes you have to you know say hey guys let's go we're here for you but you've got to do it out there on the field for us if only it were that simple Simon to just route your way back into the game is why is taking a strike as Craig mentioned Randall Simon and Andrew Jones are both from Curacao in the Caribbean nice play by Clemens and Weiss is gone well Clemens is keeping the ball on the ground and that's exactly what you want to do any reax here he falls off to the first base side a little bit anyway so he's able to glove this and throw lies out I'm going back looking at my scorecard pop up the second base but not a fly out to the outfield yeah that's what it was this hitter up here now Gerald Williams popped to not walk in the third and now Braves cheer rises up at Yankee Stadium mop shop not cheer darling is this to his left cheetah nice play on the move the Yankees make the play I mean it's just a very blind problem I mean this is not an easy play Jeter his left comes up with it throws from behind second base off-balance and he throws a strike to first base Derek Jeter on the move strike one to Bret Boone the next brave to reach second base will be the first that's how good Roger Clemens has been this is Clements 12 postseason start he's had a bunch of no decisions his overall playoff in the World Series record is 2 & 3 actually the World Series he has no record two starts in 86 for the Red Sox both a no decision with the lead late and what put it in the clincher at Shea Stadium game 6 the bullpen couldn't hold it for him sighing and a mess at some good high heat two and two here comes Big Boy see Claes boon to take a walk to gather his thoughts what's coming next talking about Clemens postseason record that was the rub when he was struggling a little bit this year in effect he was swapped for David Wells and Wells is one of the great postseason pitchers in his generation 8 & 1 in his career the playoffs and World Series as a Yankee so it's important for Clemens in the books lemons on the cloud thought he had him struck out Rogers showing you know his frustration at a lot of these calls this is a fastball towards the outside corner he thinks he gets the outside corner love and he puts his glove up kind of spot one mistake long and it's a one-run game Jones pokes it Brosius a great staff three tremendous please - retires in the judge while on a plane Levens leads the cheering section after the Yankees put on a fielding clinic in the top of the sixth they sent strawberry up to start the bottom half and that was the 100th pitch for John Smoltz one-on-one to the Yankee d.h who is singled and struck out the Braves trailing by three in the game and the series and down to three turns about at your the braid you're really thinking you have two shots because Mariano Rivera waits in the ninth unscored upon in this postseason down goes the straw man let's go back to the inning ending play by Scott Brosius on the little nubber hit by Chipper Jones and this is a real tough play because Chipper Jones runs so well watch out quickly gets rid of the ball one stamp and jump in a throw right on target nice play there by Brosius watch this see you have to get rid of the ball because Chipper Jones runs well if you stop plant and try to use your arm strength you'll beat it out but he gets rid of it quickly and it's there and there's Clemens look at him five times sigh Young award-winner 37 years old jumping around like a little leaguer in his excitement on what may turn out to be in many ways the most satisfying night of his career left side of the Yankee infield congratulating each other as each turned in a fine play in the top of the sixth the Oh Wanda Posada smokes is fans seven make it eight ahead on the count one two and there's his ninth including four hitters in a row down horse racing returns to NBC on Saturday November 6 for the 16th edition of the Breeders Cup championship from Gulfstream Park leading the entries Belmont Stakes with a lemon drop kid taking on America's number one ranked thoroughbred bearings in the Breeders Cup Classic that's the readers Cup championship eight championship stakes races on Racing's richest day Saturday November 6th on NBC Bobby appears that Roger Clemens is really out pitching Jon smokes they're both pitching very well John Smoltz had a tough third inning where a couple plays were not made behind him that's the Yankees scored three runs he's only given a five base hits and he's had to wade through all of these left-handed hitters for the New York Yankees and he struck out nine hitter so I mean he is pitching a very good ballgame just unfortunate that they got three run going in the third inning he dispatches the Yankees quickly in the bottom of the sixth but the Braves can't afford to match zeros now on strike three to Jorge Posada at the bottom of the six looks like John Smoltz goes to the number ball look at that baby floating there and Bobby actually through to number ball to Posada in that at-bat he started throwing the knuckleball in the game against Houston you know earlier in the postseason John spoke it acts more like a changeup and I think that's a good pitch for him in the future especially if it's because he's taking lost his slider because of the elbow problems actually we shortchanged him a strikeout back in the last half inning he's in double figures now Smoltz has struck out ten and he has pitched a very fine ballgame again it's just you know unfortunate they didn't make the plays behind him in the third inning strike one to Brian Jordan as he leads off the top of the seventh and you have to be impressed with Roger Clemens he's done it in a different way than you know he did when he won all the side Young Awards he's not overpowering but he's using all of his pitches well he's mixing in the good high fastball he's throwing a lot of splitters and sinkers I mean he's just using his entire arsenal and he's throwing strikes that's the key he's struck out only three but he's getting lots of ground balls and when he's needed it his defense has helped him watch this is the loose over the outside corner little slider right there knee high and away they're all cousins the plate umpire perhaps asking whether it was a strike it certainly wasn't but sometimes you can't hold up it looks like this right is it approaches well you can see the split grip on his hand there and all of a sudden look at that ball explode down and in on Brian Jordan here's Bobby Cox as he sees the outs slipping away got eight left Plus go the Braves have two singles Klesko has one of them Lockhart the other Knobloch to God ground ball to second base Knobloch he's adjusted his throws but he's been able to make the plays here in this World Series leading it from the my leading the charge I chased it upstairs and couldn't catch up with it is what the Braves are looking at it Clemens retires Lockhart they have the bottom of their order the 7 8 and 9 hitters in the eighth and then look at Rivera in the night Eddie Perez the catcher is on death or would be on deck but Greg Myers a left-handed hitter moves out to bat for him if Lockhart should prolong this in it and Posada out to talk with Clemens it's the World Series it's no time to fool around if it's three not the Clemens has a shutout to eight via think Tori with a three only holds Rivero back and lets Clemens stand out there and finish up how he finishes the eighth if he gets that to that point because you do not just go get Rivera for no reason remember he pitched two innings last night and it Rogers throwing well and he feels strong I'm sure Joe would let him start tonight but in China trouble and the count runs out full Tori told us before the game that even though Rivera through two innings last night he could give him an inning tonight the same is true of John Rocker should Bobby Cox need him but he said Rivera had given an inning if the game is on the line the world sounds Rochas wants it six outs from this week right here that's Chris Chambliss the Yankee batting coach that maybe someday soon a manager somewhere in the major leagues saying come on we'll get to some more now let's go that's what not rose's fouls the first one away as Smoltz works into the seventh well it's easy sometimes you look out there and see your leading three to nothing Roger Clemens on top of his game and feel like you have enough that's what a hitting instructor and the coaches are supposed to do pump you up we need some more runs let's make it easy for Roger guys chris chambliss hitting instructors before two balls and a strike to Brosius who's hitting ninth in the Yankee order tonight John Smoltz struck out town retired ten in a row victimized for three runs in the third without being hit home Brosius goes the opposite way for a leadoff single Leo Mazzoni the pitching coach to the phone was throwing earlier Remlinger is also down there Oh Hollen gets back up on the right-hander is Springer that's what Tory's thinking Knobloch pulls back taking strike one well you could the attitude in the dugout was that we need more runs you get the leadoff hitter on and I think he was going to take one shot at it I'm not sure you're going to make you but completely you're in a situation where you might want to use knob locks ability to you know use the bat by maybe hitting and running or something like that no you deciding you're going to run all the way now with two strikes we'll see what Tory decides he's bothering again and he strikes out how they get into the stands and I'm sure he did that on his own though Bobby because you know he felt bad because he didn't get the bunt down so he tried to get it down and you can look at Joe Torre and you can see that they're a little surprised too but he felt like he didn't get it down he's going to go ahead and get it down so number 11 Knobloch is the 11th strikeout for Smoltz last night Paulo mill was on his way to the plate and he looked at Tori and they've got Tori - thinking well maybe I will pon him and he did but no Neil bunted into a double play but I guarantee your Tory didn't put the bunt on therefore Knobloch Knobloch has been swinging the bat pretty well no just chase back Cheeta to the plate roundabouts sindelle grounded out again strike one the crowd has been announced at fifty six thousand seven hundred and fifty two perhaps on hand to witness the final game of the 25th World Championship season for the New York leading back to their first one in 1923 Weiss gets one and they turn No pick two slowly and Jeter's too fast Jeter chops this the shorts got me doesn't really hit it they're wise and charges back heads and then he just kind of shovels it over to Lockhart no chance women make the double play there because Brosius came in very hard of the Yankees 24 World Championships today only a third of them have been as an oddity cheetah breaks Perez the second but Derek is in there you Jeeter got a good jump on john smoltz the res comes up in fires he doesn't get it exactly where he wants it but the ball is late anyway as you can see Jeter getting in there safely watch he gets a pretty good pitch to throw on he looked like he didn't have it in his hand properly and it bounced at the second base but Jeter is safe as you can see goes straight in is the 100 pitch to O'Neal sliced foul last year of course the Yankees completed their sweep of San Diego on the road they did win the sixth and final game against the Braves here in 1996 he's just an oddity but they went from 1953 to 1977 all those championships in the mantle era in between without ever winning the final game of a World Series in their own ballpark a chance to do it tonight why in Jordan Andruw Jones Jones from centerfield takes it onto the when three nothing since the third he's Jose Hernandez from Puerto Rico right Jose Hernandez Donna was from Puerto Rico right from high above aerial coverage from the bud one airship delivered fresh daily from our local brewery near you Budweiser the official beer of Major League Baseball and the World Series Luis Soho makes his first World Series appearance he missed the first two games in Atlanta he was in Venezuela for his father's funeral now as the Yankees moved to the eighth of a three nothing lead he replaces Chuck Knoblauch for defense Greg Myers comes off Bobby Cox's bench to bat for Eddie Perez Clemens who has struck out four is working on a two hitter Jose Hernandez is underneath all that bundling saying to himself I don't recall it getting quite this cold in Puerto Rico note back to Clemens who bare hands it and there's the first out of the age look at those numbers with the exception of Pettit who was roughed up last night in Game three you are talking about some masterful performances by the Yankee starters in this world series but I'm still amazed there has not been a fly ball to the outfield off of Roger Clemens in this ball game two popups on the infield southern southern and all strikeouts and ground balls this is just a great performance by Roger Clemens Andruw Jones a chance for cheetah it comes up for and it comes it over to Martinez four outs from beating the Braves in four straight just in case Stanton the lefty Nelson the righty Vanda starting to feel it here Bobby and hear the buzz going through the if it ends tonight what they're marched through the division series the LCS and World Series has lacked in drama and tension is made up for by sheer professionalism the sheer quality of their play they're resourceful nasarah fishin see only a few days ago we were talking about this series as the one to decide the team of the decade and it shaped up as a series that should have gone six or seven games and then hard-fought throughout and maybe if Bobby Cox his team could've caught a break in the late innings of games one or three it would have been different three and one two wives it ends this way for the bras let's not have any snipers call laughter a big one for this whole decade and Stan pounced and the retiring farm director Paul Schneider at the top twice with a bouncer trevin's can't get to it now he covers Martinez flips safe he wants to stay in you know all that first base watch what Roger Clemens does he bounces off the mound he's going to try to field it himself right here watch he goes after the ball he realizes he's headed to get the ball he realized he can't get it now he heads for first base he gets the first base and then he has his leg stretch doctor I'm not sure if why steps on him or not he does step on his leg right rides over it and Roger was Argand Joe Torre went out and argued the play now watch his foot would put his foot on the bag of balls there he got the ball with his foot on the bag and Rogers saying he's out watch his right foot right there on the bag he has the ball then he slides over it still Aquin wife steps on him it sure looked like Weiss was out the complete game is on the endangered species list in baseball but Roger Kemp Clemens has been a horse throughout his career he's thrown a hundred and fifteen complete games and 45 career shutouts he wants to stay in let's take a look again watch now Roger goes after the ball he thinks he can catch it and then flip the T no he sees he can't so he continues on to first base which is the proper way to make the play the wat he puts his right his whole leg back by the time way just to be sure he was okay Toria the trainer out to check on it and he'll stay in that's just the third hit of the ball game for the Atlanta Braves and let's review those hits a broken bat humpback liner into right malesko a ground single up the middle by Keith Lockhart which wasn't hit all that sharply and this infield hit by Weiss Clark was immediately erased on a double play back in the fifth strike one the Gerald Williams you can see that no Stottlemeyer is calling down to the bullpen we may see Mariano Rivera get up and start throwing strike two swimming rajat limping just a little bit right basehead over the leaping Jeter this will bring the tying run to the plate baseball's just a funny game Bobby doesn't matter how well the guys pitching it just seems that you always get a shot at it and the Rays have their shot here fastball sink your time sneaker tight feel now the first visit would not count as a strategic trip to the mound because he was checking on Clemens who might have been hurt so he doesn't have to take him out here but he's going to the woman said is the first grade two weeks second against Clemens and listen to the world as he leaves the Yankee Stadium mouth Red Bull hit 20 home runs during the regular season home run swing and he comes up empty Jeff Nelson throws a lot of sliders sidearm sliders started going off of the fastball to get ahead a ball of the strike he popped button on his shirt but he swings and misses again movement really tail then on boom while one to pitch a bouncer over Nelson's head it trickles through the middle going to score and they'll have runners at the corners with two outs ice crosses the plate Williams to third and he wants possibly Rivera now you might want to have Chipper Jones that right-handed in this situation at Yankee Stadium on the other hand if you got Rivera why fool around infield hit by whites line single by Williams seeing eye single by Boone Nelson's gone and it'll be rubella Mariano Rivera unscored upon in this postseason in his career in the playoffs of World Series he's thrown 46 innings and been touched for exactly two runs this year he's given up one run since mid-july it's going to face Chipper Jones whereas the Braves only home run in this series Game one fourth inning off El Duque well he really crushed the fastball that el duque was trying to get outside and he got it on the inside corner Bob I noticed Mariano started throwing late the bullpen in fact after they made the call he still stood there and threw about four extra pitches and it's a cool night and they just seemed to take him a little longer than usual to get ready because he didn't start at the beginning of the end inside football one Gerald Williams is a third Bret Boone the potential tying run is at first we won Yankees top of the age making no secret about what he wants to do to chipper he's going to bore down on him inside those are two straight fast balls inside you'll probably come with the cutter now but he was staying in tight on him yep 1 & 2 great great I mean he just hits the outside edge to a left-hander and chipper runs it just saw and the funny thing I'm watching her though with Rivera he is throwing a straight fastball not the cutter watch this is the straight fastball that he's you know he normally uses the cutter look at this that's the straight fastball see it doesn't move in it just stays right on the inside corner chipper rips it Tino Martinez makes a dive and it's just foul just foul the Yankees are lucky Tino didn't touch it it was hooking and as it got past him it went barely five the 1 2 pitch 2 2 inside cause he turned on the last one so he wants to show him a pitch away but he's definitely going back inside on Chipper Jones Mariano Rivera hasn't been charged with a run in more than three months course these runners on base are his the two two and he hangs in Williams at third belongs to Clemens who and at first belongs to Nelson and he finally missed his location there the pitch was supposed to be inside and he got a lot of the inside part of the plate again he hasn't thrown the announcer by Martinez with Soho's there the Yankees are out of the end the veteran Terry Mulholland comes on that will turn the switch hitter Bernie Williams around to the right side and then two lefties Tino Martinez and Darryl Strawberry are scheduled to follow Williams although Tory could go to his bench and send someone up for strawberry and maybe that someone is Jim Leyritz who's got him out of the Yankee dugout entirely new battery for the Braves as Greg miles it was used as a pinch-hitter at the top of the inning the poses any Perez behind the plate up high ball one Marlon Holland's job is to make sure that he doesn't give up anything here you got a really got to focus and make sure that he can give his team a chance in the ninth inning popped into shallow right Boone back Jordan in and it's cool as they collide what an infielder supposed to go until the outfielder called me Mom and Boone kept going and I guess he didn't hear Jordan you see Jordan is calling but Boone is underneath it and so is Jordan now here's Martinez he's walked singled home two and struck out John Smoltz while he was in there through seven good innings yielded six hits three runs he walked three and he struck out 11 foul back go into another excellent postseason performance by John Smoltz and he could have easily had a shutout body a couple plays on the infield would have been made behind him in the third the o2 pitch if it ends tonight there may not have been much drama in this postseason run because the Yankees were never pushed to the wall but there has been drama in their season considering the tradition of the Yankee France franchise this is a year in which they lost Joe DiMaggio and catfish hunter a little pop into foul ground and it's Myers off with the mask to make the catch as Klesko was bearing down on him from first base so catfish hunter and Joe DiMaggio passed away Yogi Berra after being gone 14 years and a dispute with George Steinbrenner was welcome back to Yankee Stadium in fact me and whitey Ford combined for the ceremonial first pitch ins and I all and the we Soho and Scott Brosius all lost their fathers Neal early this morning as pawns away in the middle of the night Darryl strawberry's personal problems plagued him still and yet he returned it was welcome back layer it's batting for strawberry here Chuck Knoblauch stat is deep in the throes of alzheimer's disease the season began with Joe Torre revealing that he had prostate cancer and missed the first 36 games so there was drama off the field surrounding the 1999 New York Yankees - it up a season that appears to be ended with a second consecutive World Championship and their 25th since 1923 but if the Braves put a man on they could bring the tying run to the plate of the night Brian Jordan Ryan Klesko Keith Lockhart the scheduled hitters of the night the 2-1 pitch three balls and a strike to Leyritz who as you may know has always been a dangerous play off in the World Series hitter he s 7 postseason home runs full count a fan here has reached over the railing and has already updated the sign he hopes not prematurely one thing you notice about watching Rivera whether he's on the mound or on the bench I mean just never change his expression I mean that's the expression he has when he's on the mound that's the expression he has when he sits on the bench that's why he's such a great believer nothing fazed yeah you could set the spider in October something you just could not let happen if you were Mulholland he gets a fastball up and let them score another run and on and bring the time run to the Posada lives of the deep center Andruw Jones turns and watches it with che a two-out double looks like it right the middle of the play not Masada drilled it over the head of Andruw Jones at centerfield it's off the wall bounces backwards a minute Ricky ledee walked all the way to the batter's box and a lot of where's Chad Curtis and then at the last moment Chad last night's hero with the two homers hopped out of the dugout and work for him with Orlando and women put chapters and left came up with two puts Jim Larry here to pinch-hit he hits a home run everything right here in this World Series with Curtis announced Potts we'll go to the right-hander Russ sweater the reaction of the Yankee bench as lurex provides an explanation point with the Yankee Stadium crowd was chanting we want rocker just so they could keep some more abuse on the left-hander she could come out of the no pain makes the logical move righty Russ Springer two-face Curtis swings on the first one and sends a sky-high pop in the foul ground fresco has it tumbling into the stands one pitch from Springer finishes the ackee eighth but one swing from Leyritz act on another Chad Curtis stays in the game after batting for Ricky ledee who play left there are just three outs left for the Atlanta Braves Roger Clemens has 247 regular-season wins two of the playoffs this would be his first in the World Series so if you combine them the 250th victory of his career would be the sweetest and if you're the Braves you want to at least give them a good finish put a little pressure on MA a ball to Brian Jordan you do not want to go quietly here in the night there's a strike Mariano Rivera who remembers fashioning a baseball glove out of cardboard in his native Panama looking to finish the World Series at Yankee Stadium his manager Joe Torre says he's so automatic it's almost boring and I love it strike two swinging he hangs in everyone talks about his overpowering fastball and his great cut fastball but the thing that makes Rivera so tough is his control on the corner hit back to his spirit and their two hours away and someone has run out onto the field in right and the security forces take care of that Clemens and Knobloch both of whom have had their critics this year both of whom have had big moments in this World Series and I think they're all happiest for Roger because he doesn't have a ring they all have one now he joins the circle open-ended quest go to and all the little rally that the Braves staged in their half of the eighth may have deprived Clemens in this Yankee Stadium crowd of some high drama if he still had the shutout going Torre would have let him come out for the ninth quite possibly that is a small drawback to this entire evening in this entire season but his way it's shaping up for the eggs Holly is probably fitting that Mariano Rivera is on the mound for them anyway I mean he has been the guy for them I mean he's the security blanket they know if they can get to the eighth-inning with a lead and even one out Nathan they know that Rivera can come in and close the deal and he's done that the second half of the season I mean you just no one's been able to touch it so that is the best security blanket you can possibly have yeah so if it ends this way it typifies their season that's for sure exactly that's why probably females that he'd be on the mound here in the ninth inning although Roger he hits the great ballgame for them fumbling at Fenway Park - quite possibly a Series clinching victory ten days later at Yankee Stadium Plus goes bad his shattered as he lines one foul well he's broken too bats here in the last two swings but it's because of Rivera's cut fastball watch where it starts it starts on the inside corner Klesko goes for it it just eats him up it just continues to go up and in I mean this is this cut fastball is just an amazing pitch because he has such great control with it another 2-2 pitch out to class go a little glue that goes solo to take it his last hope is Keith Lockhart a pop of the shadow Jacky's world champions scheme that the decade most successful franchise of the century when you play a dozen of season games against the best competition your league and the other league has to offer and you win eleven it's case closed migraine this is the same tree in San Diego vomit a I've been on both sides of this I've been raids are taking footage celebrated on the field there's a lot of emotion going on both sides have to remember the Atlanta Braves played 162 games got to the World Series and everything went sour for them here this team maybe better than the team last year statistically it's not going to look any better but it may be better I think this is just a much sounder ballclub than the one last it is certainly one of the most resourceful teams I have ever seen know how to win I'll play the game they know how to play the game when they're behind Paul O'Neill wiping tears away in a day or two will bear tonight World Championship team Joe Torre whose season began with the frightening news that he had prostate cancer he's made of very on recovery and another moment of joy for him as well perhaps its most satisfying all the people in pinstripes tonight for Roger Clemens his Hall of Fame credentials long since established five siyoung Awards five times the strikeout champion six times the gr hm the one thing he didn't the World Series victory of most importantly a World Series ring he's got it now and in the clincher no less Scott Brosius last year's World Series MVP Mariano Rivera has just been announced wins it this time Clement Centauri abrasive you

Channel: MLB Vault

Views: 191,223

Rating: 4.805789 out of 5

Keywords: Major League Baseball, ブレーブス, ニューヨーク, メジャー, Atlanta Braves, Baseball's Best Classic Games, メジャーリーグ, New York Yankees, アトランタ, 野球, ヤンキース, 大リーグ, 野球速報, アトランタ・ブレーブス, ニューヨーク・ヤンキース

Id: tu7-zlYuNrc

Length: 142min 35sec (8555 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 21 2010