MLB 20 Greatest Games #15: 1995 ALDS Game 5

welcome to another installment of Elmo be networks 20 greatest games we've reached number 15 on the countdown it comes from the first year of the wild card and it's one of the wildest postseason games in recent memory absolutely and lo you've managed more than 3,500 major league games I imagine this one has got to be near the top of your personal list no question fun-filled pressure packed King domes a wild place to start with here we go with Lou Piniella and game number 15 on the countdown okay for game number 15 on the countdown we turn back the clock 16 years it's October of 1995 we're joined by Lou Piniella who managed the Seattle Mariners and David Cone who began the season with the Blue Jays traded mid year to the Yankees help them get the wild card get to the playoffs and starts the game we're about to see which is Game five of the division series this is the first year Tom that the wild card was in effect it was supposed to be there for 94 but of course the strike blew out the postseason worth noting that the Yankees led by six and a half at the time of the strike over the Orioles in the American League East but to this point the Yankees who we think of as postseason perennials had not been in the postseason since 1981 it's been a long time and what's interesting to bob is both these teams have to make a charge down the stretch just to get in fact both teams the Mariners and the Yankees were under 500 in August so we're looking at two very hot teams and I know Lou you're also playing for something bigger you're trying to keep baseball in Seattle because there's rumors about leaving for Florida for Tampa there's a referendum on the table to try to keep the team in Seattle I'm not sure if you are aware of that as a manager but there's a lot in play big picture no I was aware of it I that game there I think built the new stadium and yet earlier that season coming off the strike and with the Mariners struggling there were small crowds there were crowds of under 10,000 at some games and that referendum had failed to tack something on to a sales tax and they would have used the funds to build the new stadium so at this point people are thinking the Mariners are out of town and they make their run and the state legislature says hold on wait a minute we can come up with another package and they did I remember my first year there we had been there in town for about two weeks and myself and the coaches went to a little diner and had some breakfast and the guy says I'm a great Mariners fan when is your seat and start as a we've played two weeks already they didn't know we were in town but 95 changed all that well you guys were under 500 actually a game over on August 15th 51 and 52 and a half back of the Angels you finished 28 and 16 the Angels falter you tie them one game tiebreaker at the Kingdome you got Randy Johnson and you win the game well you know what's amazing is my message to the team after the all-star break was I played on a Yankee team in 1978 there was 14 games behind the Red Sox and we came back in 1 so let's not give up on the season and you know truthfully our whole focus that year Bob but was the wild-card we didn't figure that we would be in the divisional race but California really really struggled down the stretch and they gave us an opportunity but we were entirely focused on the wild-card you guys grabbed the wild-card by going 25 and 6 in September and coming back from sub 500 to get to the postseason it was there was a sense of urgency it since a desperation on that team also Don Mattingly everybody wanted to get Mattingly to the playoffs he had never made the playoffs obviously in his whole career in key career and to be able to do that was sort of our rallying cry something else that's interesting here the matchups in the playoffs were predetermined record had nothing to do with it so Cleveland had gone 144 because the season started late because the strike still hadn't been settled Cleveland had the best record in all of baseball yet they would play the winners of the American League East the Red Sox the Yankees with a wild-card but they got the first two games at home with the next three it wasn't 2 to 1 the next three scheduled for Seattle right and they win those first two games at home so you go to Seattle David knowing you just need one more win tough place to play I know but one more win you had a leading game for lost the game you had a big lead in Game four game 3 you also had a lead lost that game so you get to Game five you said desperation down the stretch I imagine there had to be some going into Game five incredible incredible pressure on that Yankee team you know obviously with George Steinbrenner is your owner you can you could feel him in the clubhouse what he walked in and when it was 2 to 2 and we went into game 5 he looked me up and down and said you better be ready to pitch and I said I will be and I thought I was but still waiting for my commission check for that Kingdome in a second but it's worth noting these first two games at Yankee Stadium David you won Game one had to throw 135 pitches to do it which comes into play when they bring you back for Game five game two was just completely wild 15 innings lead changes eventually Leyritz wins it with a homer I mean it's already shaping up as an incredible series even though it's two nothing they go back to Seattle Randy Johnson wins Game three the Yankees had a five nothing lead in Game four but you guys came back to win that and that sets the table for Game five let's take a look at the lineups Buck Showalter managed the Yankees he goes with Deion James which was kind of a surprise you know some of the names that we associate with the Yankee dynasty that would soon take shape are not yet there in fact most of them aren't yet there well he had Darryl Strawberry on the bench but I guess he didn't really trust him in the outfield too much Darryl crushed right-handed pitching but he's stuck with Deon James let's look at Luke pinellas lineup for the Mariners Alex Rodriguez is in uniform he would not become a starter for a while yet he gets into the game later on you got Vince Coleman at the top Joey Korra Ken Griffey jr. who just had a fabulous series Edgar Martinez who in Game four had two home runs and seven RBIs Tino Martinez who soon enough would become a Yankee Buhner SOHO Wilson and blowers at the bottom you know the key to that lineup Lou and I thought you know ken griffey jr. jumps out at me I'm a right-handed pitcher he's a left-handed batter but Edgar Martinez is just as good against right-handed pitching so there's no break there I couldn't pitch around Griffey junior to get to Edgar I think Griffey ends up hitting four home runs or three home runs off of me personally in the series and a few more off of other pictures as well here is the pitching pairing Andy Bennis who like David had started the season with another team he started with the Padres and then came over he was 11 and 9 and his e ra was almost 5 David Cohen had gone 18 and 8 er a 3 and a half now David you'd pitched in a lot of big games with Toronto with the Mets earlier in your career you'd want to siyeong award with Kansas City at 2 times won a game winner so in that respect you had an edge I did have an edge but I'd never pitched a closeout game or you know a do-or-die type game you know you win you win you go on you lose you're done so that was a freely my first experience at that type of a start and let me tell you the pressure is enormous when you know it's one and done the last game the seventh game of any sports series it is what it is it is unbelievably pressure packed ok so here we go top of the 1st and the Bennis is on the mound facing Wade Boggs the leadoff man the game was on ABC Brent Musburger and Jim kaat with the call noise crowd he's gonna pump them up it'll only help that fastball wait box steps in to delete it off a little what kind of trust you have in Venice at this point I know Bob mentioned you picked him up in July pitched well for you not great a lot of runs support but giving him the ball in this situation he pitched very well in the Kingdome you know if you've got a good fastball in that ballpark with the air conditioning the fact that it's cool the mounds a little higher than what you think elevation wise I thought that if he got his fastball over the plate if he didn't fall behind and could use his breaking ball at time to strike out hitters that he would pitch well and he did he did his job so Bernie Williams who had homered from both sides of the plate in Game three goes down swinging Bennett's then retired Paul O'Neill on a flyout so a strong top of the first for him and David here you go in the bottom of the first yes feeling the pressure you know I think I have Billy Connors Jersey on Lou that's the old pitching coach who got fired by George halfway through the season but you know there's Griffey jr. you know when I'm thinking about Griffey junior you got to tie him up inside and I just could not the whole series get the ball consistently in on him kept drifting out over the plate and get away with a pitch right here as you see it's out over the plate he gets a good swing he's just a little late and popped it on it but the rest of the series I just could not get him out well jr. pretty good hitter a tremendous year and and the playoffs he was exceptional he was on fire so you had gotten Coleman Cora and then Griffey for a one two three first Bennis gets through the top of the second without incident and now Edgar Martinez starts it against you in the bottom half and just the way you want to face him with nobody on leading off an inning but Edgar is the best right-handed hitter I've ever faced and you know I was a right-handed pitcher that that really dominated right-handed hitters but you see Edgar he he could get the ball in he could shorten up a swing and get in a pitch like that he could keep his hands back and still flight fillet it up the middle you know he covered both sides of the plate so well off-speed fast balls as well there was no way to pitch right now I I was doing them for eight or nine ten years over there and I couldn't tell you how to pitch them and you're right he made adjustments double dose of Martinez here Dave Niehaus at the mic for Seattle tea no steps in his cone goes to his stretch and the right-handers pitch edgar goes and it's [Applause] you got a pitch a min and I never really established a fastball and the whole series so now you got a deal with Buhner two on nobody out and this place is already rocking David I mean early in the season there was no dollar place than the Kingdome late in the season it became a huge home-field advantage for them it really was it was the loudest place I've ever pitched and I pitched in the Metrodome to when they you know in back in the eighties you know the Hrbek and Puckett era this was the loudest place ever allowed on the Metrodome louder than the bottom that game I have no question in my mind about it Seattle was just they were so hungry for this game I mean all the all the external things going around whether the Kingdome where the Seattle's gonna stay in Seattle whether they're gonna get a new ballpark I mean everybody seemed to understand it to refuse to lose campaign in that ballpark the loudest most aggressive fans I've ever been around for one game you get Buner swinging soon enough a rods gonna be the Mariners shortstop but right now it's Luis solo see Mike Stanley's behind the plate and Mike was a veteran guy he was sort of a guy that wasn't a catcher by trade more of a first baseman more of a hitter but he did a great job for me behind the plate I'm a tough guy to catch I throw everything a lot of dirt balls a lot of high counts a lot of three two counts you can see here I'm gonna beat him up right here with this is my Patton a little slider in the dirt and you see a catcher do that quite often when I'm pitching David seems like early in this game you have to tap the reservoir cuz you need strikeouts in this situation yeah that's it you know that's that's the style I was you know that's going back to my med days I always felt you see high fastball to Louie you know Louie was always a free swinger so you can if you can get it up and out not too high but just up above the strike zone you can get him to chase there and that was a big pitch but I always going back to my betting it Mets days was trained to be a flyball strikeout type pitcher and and that's that's going back to Davey Johnson in the Mets the baseball paths take twists and turns in a few years Louie Soho would be a key Yankee he sits down now and Dan Wilson at the plate here comes the 1 2 pitch to Dan Wilson on the way now from the veteran right-hander and the fastball swing and a Miss and he comes back and strikes out Gunners Soho and Wilson you know if I can get my off-speed pitches that look like strikes and go down over the heart of the plate I'm gonna get some swings and misses well when you have a good fastball like you like you had the illusion of the strike gets you the strikeouts and that's the secret keeping the ball over the cylinder that's it and hitters will chase I know I chased a few of my career Tom's point is a really good one though because you'd throw in 135 pitches back in Game one and now early in this game you're throwing stressful pitches and don't forget to Bob that not to break kid but this was a strike shortened season you know they really didn't have much of a spring training to start out with then he goes out leads the league in innings pitched so I'd imagine David at this point I don't know if you're guest but you're probably feeling it a little bit yeah I'm definitely feeling it I was part of the Union The Players Association I was in Washington all winter I did not pick up a ball until that there's Judge Sotomayor ended the strike with her decision three weeks of spring training right down to this game I was completely exhausted and our strategy with David on the mound we knew it'll be tough and he was but we wanted to be selective we wanted him to throw a lot of pitches and get that pitch count up early in the ballgame and it worked so Game five Andy Bennis David Cone scoreless through two when we come back an unlikely source provides the game's first blow this is MLB's 20 greatest games back with Tom Verducci David Cone and Lou Piniella as we continue to review game number 15 on the list it's Game five of the division series in 95 between Lou's Mariners and David's Yankees the Yanks went out in order in the top of the third we move now in a scoreless game to the bottom half two outs nobody on Joey Cora at the plate Rick Riz has the call on the Mariners radio broadcast Joey o Fulani is flied out to center fielder Bernie Williams in the first inning still close to third is Wade Boggs fastball swinging a flyball deep the right [Applause] this about Joey if he got one to his liking he'd try to turn on it he hit a few during the course of the season but you're right Joey is more of a get on base type guy single to left field but at times he had a little popping and that time he surprised to all of us only rarely that was his eighth career home run in more than 2000 big-league at-bats the only three during the season so David we talked about trying to pitch to that middle of the order and he jumped you right there he really did you know it's two outs yeah I don't think you know that's a perfect time for him try to get on base extend the inning just steal a base a hammer yes get me over fastball belt high right down the middle nothing on it and it's gone that's done me a little bit you know it was lucky I had two outs right there because you got the fans right back into the ballgame because you had quieted them pretty good especially after striking out those three hitters with the bases loaded in the second anyway so here it is that's Jack McDonald by the way on the bench he'll figure later and he'll be more engaged than he is at that moment yawning down down one nothing as Bernie Williams walks to start the top of the fourth yeah little did he know rector Jack McDowell you're gonna be in this game well what a tough lineup the Yankee threw at you the switch hitters the left-hand hitters with a meal sting the Mariners again [Applause] put it on the scoreboard and the Yankees bounce ahead Auto deals home run well I had Paul in Cincinnati I knew he could hit and he was quick inside here he gets a nice fastball that Bennett's is trying to get in on his hands and he shortens up his swing and in the Kingdome you don't have to hit it all that far to hit it out and he got enough of it and drove it into the seats well you know you had a reputation for your pitchers buzzing Paul O'Neill every time so I get blamed for that but truthfully that's not the case I didn't believe in that I really didn't but a few of the pitchers had pitch for me with the Reds knew Paul and and and you're right if you got him off the plate a little bit he gave at times and at times so that was a strategy but it certainly didn't work so Joey Cora had stunned you you were down one nothing but only briefly O'Neill's two-run homer gives you the lead it does you know you know once I get out that ain't okay I'm okay we've got the lead back O'Neill goes deep it's a bomb I've got to regroup I'm feeling pretty good about it you know even though I'd thrown a lot of pitches at this point as Lou said that would that was there that was their battle plan to get my pitches up and my pitch count was not in good shape even though we had the lead right there so after the O'Neill homer off Bennis david has a one-run lead to work with but that's not going to last that much longer this is game number 15 on the list of MLB's 20 greatest games of the last half-century back with number 15 on the list pick up the action now bottom of the fourth to one Yankees one out nobody on David Cone against Tino Martinez here's the late Dave Niehaus on the Mariners radio broadcast 2 & 2 on Tino and the 2 2 pitch on the way to him now fastball swung on lined into the gap in left-center field that's gonna get down once again low out over the plate didn't really establish into any of the left-handed hitters the whole series and in retrospect I see it now even more so and that's where Tino likes it even though that was off-speed and it was down on the way he could keep his hands back and still serve it in the gap and now I'm in trouble Tino was a good hitter it really was he could hit the ball for some power he hit the ball in the gap like you mentioned there and and you're right when Tina was hot he kept his hands back really well and used his hands whoops I'm a tough guy to catch every catcher in my career poor Mike Stanley when I look at some of these these pitches they throw I mean I could uncork some wild ones well you had that really really tight breaking ball and you get a lot of strikeouts with that tight breaking ball but you do get some balls and get by the catcher's also so Tino advances to third and Buner is out bat continues here comes a 3-1 to Jay Buhner now the fastball swung on and lined into left-center field for a base hit so Tino's [Applause] 3 1 fastball in retrospect when I look at that with first base open was a big mistake in that situation especially Buner sitting on fastball in a fastball count should have thrown a slider yeah you sawed-off though somehow he had enough strength to get it over the youth field I thought Buhner had a good series he had a couple of really key at-bats this is one of them and then late in the eighth inning it will come up to that later but buna really had some unsung great at-bats in the series after Luis Soho lines out it's Dan Wilson at the plate and now the gone stretching the 3 1 pitch to Dan Wilson on the way now that's one lined into centerfield [Applause] so now flowers can get a hit the Mariners will be back on top breaking ball hit to short and here's Fernandez who was always so smooth you forget how good he was at shortstop with the Blue Jays made several good plays in this game hope she get out of the inning with the score no worse than tied yeah yeah at this point I feel pretty lucky to get out of that inning because on the turf that brown ball up the middle you know it's a decent slider Fernandez you had great range covered that that could easily get up the middle and who knows what happens from there and as you saw David some pitches in that inning elevated the pitch to Martinez to pitch to Buner the pitch to Wilson they're all probably a little higher than you wanted them yeah that's the first sign of fatigue when you see a pitcher who's trying to throw fast balls and trying to hit spots and your arm drops a little bit the pitches elevate they drift out over the middle of the plate I had some early signs in this game that showed that I was gonna wear it out later so through for Game five is tied at 2 neither team would score in the fifth and up next it's the last hit of Don Mattingly's career and it's a big one you're watching MLB's 20 greatest games I didn't realize that you're about to find out and Williams again walks which sets the table for Paul O'Neill two on back-to-back walks here comes Reuben that Sarah who is way overdue to do something for the Bombers and the bases are loaded on three walks and Lou Pinella now with a decision to make all right as Brent Musburger said you got a decision to make the bases are loaded in a tie game one out Don Mattingly's coming up you got norm Charlton who was already been effective in this series you had him in Cincinnati you got him in Seattle why didn't you go to him I should have Bob looking at it in retrospect there's no question that norm had the good split-finger his best pitch wasn't a breaking ball but he had good fastball we didn't have him for long either our bullpen was pretty well spent but at the same time this was a fifth and deciding game probably no excuses I should have had Charlton in the ballgame and Lou managing this game how much do you have Randy Johnson four he was your game three starter you know you could use him obviously you're not going to use him this early but how many outs how many innings can you get out of Randy we were hoping that we could bring him into a ball game in the ninth inning with a one-run lead and let him close it out for us we knew that the the dome would go crazy the fans would that place there if it was loud it'd be the loudest had ever been let's not get ahead of ourselves we're still in the sixth it's 2-2 the bases are loaded as we said Mattingly is at the plate against Bennis brent musburger on the call [Applause] slaps one into left field what a great series Donnie had I mean his only playoff series is a Yankee and he just led us he had great at-bats every at-bat Quaglia bats and big hits what a great swing I was as any coach in New York when he first came up to the big leagues and I loved working with him he had the shortest takeaway of any hitter I've ever seen probably Paul Molitor and he had the two shortest and this guy could hit the ball over and he'd get the ball for a lot of power and Mattingly didn't actually pull that ball he just went with it but that's good hitting with the bases loaded bad break for the Yanks though ground rule double Sierra probably would have scored from first they had to stop him at third they get two runs now Dion James is gonna be walked intentionally to load them up again you know I'm the Yankee bench we're thinking we're gonna blow him out right here we're gonna blow out the game this is our time he's leaving Venice in the game Venice maybe gets a fastball up like Stanley's a great hitter got some pop I'm thinking I'm thinking you know home run right here and working up we're gonna win this thing we're gonna blow him out and that was a key to the ballgame for us we are we were able to get a out of this inning with no more damage and it gave us a chance with the hitting that we had to mount a comeback give Bennett some credit he got two big big outs force right there pop out bases loaded less than two outs did his job so Stanley's retired that'll leave it up to Tony Fernandez and you're still sticking with Venice look we we like the idea of throwing as much power as he as we could against New York they had some experienced hitters over there that knew the strike zone very well that would make pitchers throw pitches and and and and and they were good breaking ball and off-speed hitters also so we like the idea of power if we could against them and I stayed with Andy and thank God it worked out but I should have had him out of there against madly I can see that he got it both out with fastball still had a good that's a sign that I've gotten from Danny we had we had we Danny and I would work things out where when he thought that the pitchers a little spent or when he was losing his fastball he'd give me a little sign and we'd go out and make a pitching change but Danny still had confidence in the in the pitcher and when your catcher is good and he's calling a good ballgame and you know he knows what he's doing you've got to give him some some rope too and let him help you with decisions okay let's go to the bottom of the sixth it's 4-2 Yankees leading off against David Cone is Edgar Martinez who seems to come up every other batter it doesn't believe me when you're when you're on the mountain face and Edgar Martinez you just you just got a knuckle down you realize that you just cannot make mistakes and you know that's a decent pitch a splitter down and out over the plate Edgar just had such great hands and such great recognition rekka recognizing skills and you know there's just no way to pitch him as Lou said earlier I mean I tried pitching every pitch I had in my repertoire and that he was on everything yeah you would think that a pitch like that he'd go to right centerfield with but he keeps his hands back and drives him by the third-base but now Edgar could hit he really could lead off double here's the other Martinez and he doesn't fare as well can't check his swing so you got him that's the only way I could get the ball into lefties is throw a slider you know every time I try to throw a fastball inside the lefties as I said before my arm we got a little fatigued and drift out drifted out but that's the only way I got the ball in right there with sliders down and into lefties you know had an RBI hit against you last time you got him this time again can't check his swing yeah another splitter down you know that that's the key you know Lou and I talked about that earlier it was split finger fastballs that look like they're right down the middle over the heart of the plate and they dive down you can see Buena Reed's fastball the whole way tries to hold up a camp now it's the splitter and the slider they're your best friends not the fastball I'm shining away from my fastball at this point Lauren Newsom is hitting four so home [Applause] David Cone is dictating now a two-run lead through six in the top of the seventh Bennis was relieved by norm Charlton but the Yankees didn't score now to the bottom of the seventh and Dan Wilson up against Dave cone yeah I feel pretty good here right little I've got a two-run lead I'm coming off you know striking out the side yeah yeah I'm thinking you know I'm gonna close this game out I'm not gonna give them not gonna give up this lead and I'm gonna go after these guys in this city and you see they're even a decent fastball late in the game and I hadn't had one the whole game and when you start to feel it late in the game as a pitcher because you threw only nine pitches all out of the windup you had so many high-stress innings in the course of this game that it seemed like this sitting got you back to where you want it to be yeah I really felt good there quality sliders you see they're just it's very the best slider I threw all night and it is it's just like Lou said you get your second wind you start to start to see the finish line and you've got a two-run lead and we're gonna win this game right at the knees to make blower's your fifth consecutive strikeout now it's Vince Coleman at the plate Coleman's a guy obviously his reputation for stealing bases you just you just don't want to let him get on base so I'm going after him gold Glover Donny manually makes a great play there cuz Coleman hit that ball fairly well so threw seven in this game the Yankees still lead by two up next the kid goes deep a controversial decision and two future stars make an appearance we have it all when MLB's 20 greatest games continues with number 15 on the list [Music] [Applause] it's Game five in 95 between the Yankees and the Mariners and was Brent Musburger right part of your idea here isn't just to get him ready but just to Jack the crowd up a little bit well no question we're behind four to David's in command of the ballgame and we've got to do something to keep our fans excited give us a lift and it worked well remember too that Randy Johnson pitched the tiebreaker game for you on short rest to beat the Angels to get into the postseason he pitches Game three on short rest wins that game and now here he is with one day of rest did you have any conversations with Randy before or even during the game about how much he had and what his spot was yeah we talked to him before the ball game and he said skip I got one inning for you and we felt well if we can take a lead into the ninth we give the ball to Randy and hopefully does his job as it was he pitched a little longer but even during the course of the ballgame we called down there a couple times and and to make sure that he could pitch and every time the answer was yes just get me the ball so once you get him up you're pretty committed to using him that's it we didn't have the liberty of getting him up and and and sitting them back down once we got him up we had to get him into a ball game and we let him go about as long as he could all right so with a 4-2 lead the Yankees went quietly in the top of the eighth against norm Charlton to the bottom of the eighth we go one out nobody on David Cone still on the mound ken griffey jr. at the plate Dave Niehaus at the Mike junior against David gone so far has gone over three the 100 pitch on the way to junior [Applause] [Music] [Applause] coming off the heels of five straight strikeouts I've got my second wind and this just knocked me right out of the saddle that home run even though I've still got a 4 to 3 lead I've got complete doubt in my mind about what I have left he almost reached the upper deck he had 5 homers in the series but that one was really tattooed well you can see that Stanley was sitting inside yes and the ball drifted slightly out over the plate and boy junior extended yes and that was that that's a real red flag right here I'm coming up on 140 pitches that sort of arm action you could see my arm drop as Lou said the ball drifts out over look at that swing oh my goodness that hurts today even though you said you were shaken you got Edgar Martinez who had given you big trouble to groundout now it's Tino Tino and it puts a really quality a bad on me and just eyeballs a splitter down away he could see Seattle's on to me now they know I've lost my fastball they know any hitters count 3 2 2 1 any fastball count I'm gonna throw off speed at this point I'm in trouble you know Dave Niehaus could get pretty excited in a game in May imagine how excited he is now and the 2 1 on the way to be unearths whatnot line drive Bernie Williams stop it in right-center field in the mirrors have the tying run in scoring position Tino Martinez at second base this is interesting to me David a conference here where there's no eye contact whatsoever with your pitching coach and I think about a year later when Joe Torre goes out in Game three and you had to look him in the eye to stay in the game I didn't see any of that body language right here no no you can see you can see you know I'm flustered I'm really flustered especially after that last pitch to Buhner I thought I was gonna get Buner out Nadia Contreras was only there half a season we really didn't even know each other I can tell you I probably even know his last name I knew he was an RD and that was my pitching coach so you can see there that interaction as you said Tom you know there was none now Lou you were looking for young Alex Rodriguez who had started the season at age 19 turned 20 during the year he's back at the clubhouse you want him to pinch run finally he shows up where was he Alex was getting loose look how young and athletic he looks what a great young player and he this was tremendous experience for Alex sitting on our bench and and watching the proceedings he'd become a star obviously how about there's a rod in to run for Tino Martinez warming up in the bullpen is Mariano Rivera you have no confidence left your body language shows it why didn't Showalter pull you I don't know I think I think buck really at this point in his career really trusted veterans you know and as you'll see here I'm struggling you see balls up another walk you know I'm just gonna nibble my way and try to try to get out of this some way or another I'm not gonna give in but I think buck just really had faith in his veterans and he's gonna follow up Mariano Rivera with Jack Miguel when we still had Whitman and wetland in the bullpen as well but think about what buck shoulders choices are in the bullpen he's got Mariano Rivera yes he's not the Rivera we know of today buddy had pitched very well in this series John wetland his closer he got off of because he didn't get anybody out in the previous game he also has Jack McDowell Andy Pettitte Steve Howe Stirling Hitchcock and Bob Wickman it's a veritable who's who of starters and closers in his bullpen there are options but evidently he thought you were still the best one approaching 130 pitches no I appreciate that and even to this day I talked to buck him you know I say you know I really appreciate the faith you showed in me in that game when I was proud of my I pitch counts you know I really going back to my Metz days even though now I look at it I say I wish I would have been more efficient maybe I'd still be pitching or what a pitch longer but you know it's stubborn I was a stubborn pitcher I wasn't gonna give in and if I walk guys I didn't care if I threw wild pitches I didn't care my stat sheet was everything a lot of everything across the board you know you can strike people out in key situations that's a pretty good thought for a pitcher so Lou now you're really using your bench you go to a rod as a pinch runner you'd use Diaz as a pinch hitter he draws the walk to load the bases now Dan Wilson right-handed hitting catcher is due to hit and you're gonna go to your bench again for Doug strange what Doug it had some big at-bats for us down the stretch and he's a good pinch hitter I knows a strike zone little discipline and if you give them a pretty good pitch to hit he can crank you every once in a while I felt good about that move and you know it was maybe to try to force the other managers move a little bit too sometimes we didn't know that Mariano was gonna be as good as Mariano was you know well we talked about pitch counts and obviously it's not always just that game it's how you got to that game and David people would in today's game would never believe this but that year you went over 130 pitches 14 times now what does that mean you could take every pitcher of baseball in 2010 and 2009 and they wouldn't have 14 130 pitch games so the the odometer on David Cone right now is sky high I want to know how you think you can get strange out well the book on strange was he was a dead read first pitch fastball hitter you see I jump ahead that's actually a slider so that you know I'm feeling good right now I jumped ahead stranges a dead read first pitch fastball hitter but he made the adjustment from here on I couldn't get him to chase any pitches from here on yeah you can see now the sudden after that first wild hack he gets off on my off-speed pitches and those second two pitches were actually better than the first one that he swung at so you know I'm just not gonna give in Here I am there a high breaking ball my arms dropping I'm completely done look at my body language I'm rubbing my shoulder and you know I'm trying to stretch my shoulder out you know I'm thinking the East I got to get a strike here I have to get a strike throw a fastball right down the middle he takes it so now we're at 3-2 and I'm thinking whatever Mike Stanley puts down at this point I'm gonna go with I didn't really the pitch in my mind if Mike Stanley calls a fastball I'm gonna throw a fastball if he calls the splitter I'm gonna throw a splitter he called the splitter I went with it I really tried to get on top of it and it's down and in ball four to doug strange I know I'm done I'm exhausted on the mound I almost collapsed on the mound after that pitch the physical and emotional pain I'm going through right now I mean I can't believe that I let my team down you know accountability was big for me accountability your teammates I had a lead late in the game I'm the number one starter this games supposed to be over I don't care if I had to throw 190 pitches to get it done that was my mentality and I was crushed on this pitch still still wakes me up at nights really it's funny you're not little maybe you can talk to this a little bit but isn't it funny how you remember your tough losses more than your wins I remember this game more than the perfect game no question I've always remembered bad at-bats in key situations and I noticed one of the first guys to greet you coming off that man was someone who was not on the active roster but in uniform Derek Jeter yes that told me something about Derek Jeter Derek Jeter was the first one there young Jorge Posada was there and a young Mariano Rivera obviously was just coming in the game pretty unique if you think about it but those three guys were there and on the bench along with Alex Rodriguez on the other side well now that you're out of the game let's take a look at your line and the pitch total even though you didn't finish it off if you thought you would the number of pitches you threw and what you did while you were in there coming off another 130 plus pitch effort in Game one this is a gutsy a performance if you've ever turned in you know retrospect I you know I see that now at the time I thought I blew it I was completely devastated I let I let New York down I let my teammates down the Yankees aren't gonna want me back you know I'm a free agent I'm given everything I had out there and you know and interesting Randy Johnson is I'm coming into this game later and both of us were throwing caution to the wind you know the strike was about greedy millionaire ball players versus greedy billionaire owners we would agree would have thrown to our arms fell off on this game we didn't care whether we were free agents we wanted that game badly maybe buck let you down maybe buck in that situations like the guy in the fighters corner who sends him back out for an extra round that he didn't deserve to take the pummeling yeah well you know yeah it's easy it's hard to argue with that at this point maybe Buck would agree with that but at the time I was appreciative that he had that much confidence in me that's the mentality I had I was stubborn it wasn't very smart to think that way but you know as an athlete you almost trick yourself into believing that you can do anything you can get through this no matter what so now you're back even what are you thinking well what I'm thinking now is let's get Randy Johnson into the ball game let's see if we can hold him for an inning there in the night then and score a run and win a baseball game but you still had a chance to actually take the lead here in the bottom of the eighth the bases are obviously still loaded after the walk to strange Mike blowers comes to the plate and at this point Buck Showalter will call on his rookie reliever Mariano Rivera to get him out of the jam what follows is a glimpse of things to come for the Yanks [Applause] oh and two and ahead with the bases loaded what a pitching job I Rivera [Applause] Game five tied now at 4:00 between the MS and the Yanks moves to the top of the ninth Tony Fernandez leads off for New York against norm Charlton so loose thinking about Johnson but for the moment you stick with Charlton who's been in since the seventh fly ball it deep into right center field and Buhner on his horse goes way back and this ball is off the wall it'll be taken by junior and junior we'll get it in to second base but the leadoff double by Tony Fernandez here in the ninth and now the Yankees will be good looking for the sacrifice the switch hitter Fernandez batting right head it doubles to the gap in right-center the go-ahead run is at second with nobody out and Randy Velarde is the hitter and Randy was pretty good hitter to right-center field we were expecting them to go that way with the ball this is a 3-2 pitch first and second nobody out and now you're not just thinking about Johnson you want them well you know Randy I knew didn't have all that much because he pitched game three a day removed but it was time to bring the big guy into the ball game and he does a heck of a job and they're going to go down and get the big guy Randy Johnson and listen to this ovation this is an all-time moment right here this is when the saloon doors swing open and the gunslinger comes walking in not running in he is milking this moment walking in this place Liu went absolutely nuts yeah Randy was a hero there and I and I'll tell you what he puts so many great games and he excited the crowd and you know he had that animation about him the big unit I mean guy six foot ten long hair stared at the hitters it was intimidating and then the fans loved him and this was the right time for him and we were hoping he'd give us a chance there in the bottom of the ninth and he does a heck of a job to his credit he was virtually unbeatable this year we went 18 and 2 I think your team was 28 and 3 in games that he pitched and again this is the third time now he's pitching in seven days every game is it must-win it's winter go home for the Mariners three times in seven days and he's the winning pitcher in all three games and this is a very tough situation for Randy to come into the ballgame runners on first and second nobody out and you know it's got to be a bunt situation or maybe you're expecting one with the Johnson against Boggs man and if the wall the worst the one thing too is that if Boggs hit him I thought he'd go to left field with the ball so at least we keep the ball in front of the runners which is what we wanted and this was an interesting call Boggs obviously he's got no sacrifice buds during the season very few I think three in the previous seven years Showalter did have some right-handers he could have set up to put a bunt down obviously Boggs not comfortable bunting right here don't keep thinking a John Kruk in the all-star game Boggs wants to turn around a bat right-handed right here but this is he does not want this challenge to try to bunt especially after that pitch up and in and Randy you know if I'm a pitcher and I know Randy's thinking about this you see a guy square around you go ahead and buzz him up and that's exactly what he did here's the old 2 pitch on the way to Boggs swag [Applause] three pitches and even against lefties bogs didn't strike out that often now here's Bernie Williams and he's going to pop up for the second out take out this is a big out for Randy because Bernie was a really really good boy he's a good hitter from both sides but especially from the right side maybe he won't get all right so yeah more power good contact just an excellent hitter so when you bring them in you know you got left switch which means right left so really you're most concerned about Bernie maybe versus the guy that you're concerned about in that sequence and and O'Neill if you make some good pitches on them here it's it's a it's a tough at-bat for Paul because he bails just a little bit [Applause] Randy dropped down on him just a little bit he got on Neil to pop out and the fans go crazy Chris Widger made the catch he was in behind the plate because you had yes all right so you guys got a chance to win it right here bottom of the ninth against Rivera here's Vince Coleman you know if he gets on he can run we got the right guy leading off two strikes on Vince Coleman Jack McDowell gets up and starts to drill the old to pitch to Coleman [Applause] now here's a decision now do you bunt him over do you let him run and your decision was I don't remember but I would think with Korra coming up we would bunt him over yes it was interesting to see we saw McDowell warming up Andy Pettit is next to him so the Yankees have Rivera in the game McDowell and Pettit in the bullpen and poor Cora is an excellent Bunter he could do this in his sleep and gets a good fastball right down the middle and he moves them over to second we got the winning run on second base on the other hand you know they're gonna walk Griffey now which they do but we've got Edgar coming up and to me Edgar in this type of situation what other hitter would you want that is a nice luxury Lou to be able you know when you bought your taking the ball the bat out of griffeys hands but you can do that when you have Edgar behind them no question now look if we don't bunt they're gonna pitch the junior obviously but if they get junior out and Coleman steals the base are going to walk Edgar so either or you're gonna lose one of your better hitters there with the men in scoring position so now blackjack with down facing Edgar and getting it blackjack one of my favorite teammates what a gamer I mean he was hurting I can tell you he was trying to give himself a cortisone shot in his back before this game and he's out there and he's running on fumes and did never complain did either one of we wanted this game so badly twenty-year-old rookie Alex Rodriguez with a chance to be a hero right here the OL one pitch on the way to Alex and it swung on the ground moment stop right there Fernandez aside flip to second and we will go into extra innings for the second time in this five-game series David take me take me back to when you came out of this game and now this game is in the balance where are you what are you doing watching this unfold well I remember the minute after I walked Doug strange ball for - Doug strange I made a beeline as you said Derek Jeter Chuck shook my hand I went right to the clubhouse and like a twelve-year-old little leaguer I buried my face in the towel and bawled my eyes out I mean that's how devastating I you know how important that game was how devastated I was the accountability I felt to both New York and my teammates and I was it was 12 years old in Little League and bawling and with my face buried in town it really shows what a competitor this young man was and what a great pitcher he was so you're in the clubhouse did you come back to the dugout at some point as the game went into extra and I did I went back to the dugout and we'll see here we actually take the lead here and I'm thinking Redemption I'm gonna get Redemption here you know wow we're still gonna win this game after all that and with the roller-coaster ride you see the finish to this game we're not even close to to finishing this one off yet but it is just remarkable you know I'm looking at that ninth inning again here I'm sitting here what 15 16 years later Coleman could run like heck Joey Cora could really handle the bat you could hit and run you could let come and steal you don't necessarily have to but yeah you could you could let Coleman steal and then have Korriban and have a guy at third with one out in theory yeah so they're there you know it goes to show that when you when you replay these games different thoughts come in your mind and say well what did I do this why did I do that if I had to do it all over again I probably would have put the game in motion with Coleman one way or another but when you wind up winning the game the second-guessing is just a pleasure when you want to losing the game the second-guessing is agata you play that over in your mind a heck of a lot more times than when you win that's for sure you learn more from losing than you do from winning but the second time this series is headed to extra innings up next Randy Johnson has the Kingdome in a frenzy we go to the 10th when MLB's 20 greatest games continues [Music] Randy Johnson pitching on guts pitching on adrenaline pitching on sure guile against the New York Yankees in this one Rick R is right about all of that after Randy Johnson came on and relieved to get all three outs in the top of the night he's back out there for the 10th he's set to face Ruben Sierra Don Mattingly and Gerald Williams back to the Mariners radio broadcast and Ruben Sierra will step in and lead it off in the 10th so the big unit on and relief for the third time in his career you got to have respect for Randy Johnson here in the second day of work it was a free agent at the end of the year I mentioned before this is on the heels of the baseball strike and the World Series canceled ization the previous year I have the utmost respect for Randy Johnson in this effort but 1 2 pitch you know when we talk about saving baseball in Seattle Lou I think near the top of the list if not at the top is Randy Johnson I mean he literally gave his back to the Mariners because next year he broke down handle 1 2 pitch strike break oh no question look Randy with a stalwart over there run got him from Montreal a few years earlier and I'll tell you what he he became a true number one guy and when Randy was a top of his game though he was electric and he was at the top of his game most of the time so pandemonium at the Kingdome and another chance sudden death at least in theory bottom of the 10th McDowell on the mound Buner is at the plate here's the windup in the one one on the way swinging a line drive base hit left-center field Jay Buhner makes the turn at first and holds them not the great at-bat by Buhner we don't talk about him a lot in this series but he had other greens just solid key at-bats throughout the whole series and Showalter goes out to talk to McDowell you're gonna have with your bunt right well I should have a bunny I'm in fact you know the one thing when when you manage the withers a young catcher we didn't get all that many at-bats you've got to make sure that you can ask a guy to bunt that can't bunt we probably only carried two catchers and then Ceri so there was no way that I could pinch-hit for him or have somebody bunt for him so we gave would you that opportunity and he didn't get it done but look it's tough when a guy is not used to bunny like Boggs was against Randy Johnson it's tough to lay down a bunt at times so he bunts foul with two strikes that takes care of him here's Doug strange who drew the bases-loaded walk to tie the game back in the eighth off cone Velarde will go to second they get one not in time at first and so the inning continues Tony Fernandez really just flings that ball that knee is amazing I almost don't see it come out of his hand he almost got him so here's Mike Bowers against McDonough here's the stretch by McDowell and the pitch on the way fastball swinging a ground ball to the hole at Short backhanded reach Fernandez throw to second not in time second is Tony Fernandez ranging way though is right to backhand the ball he went the second to try to get the force on strange but Doug is safe at second base Vince Coleman has been there before here's the stretch by McDowell and the next pitch on the way swing in a ground ball wide at first over to Mattingly he's got it don't go down to second for the force on Mike blowers and that will end the inning you can see I'm sure Walter at this points could stay with the veterans he stayed with me deep into the game he's gonna stay what Jack McDowell he's gonna ride out the game with Jack McDowell at this point from our standpoint we know that this is Randy's last inning we this is it I mean he said he had one he went one plus we know that this is going to be his last inning out I saw sitting there that was good enough for me so you're thinking he'll hold them in the 11th and maybe we can score in the bottom half score in the bottom half and try to win a baseball game because if not we're gonna have to do I've already used charlton I've already used Randy so we're getting deeper and deeper in our bullpen and our bullpen was quite young ok before we go to the 11th we're gonna take a break and we'll pose this question he has great career numbers against the Big Unit and he will get to him in the eleventh inning who are we talking about he may be surprised find out next when MLB is 20 greatest games returns so here we go four four through ten game five deciding game of the division series in 1995 Seattle and the Yankees Randy Johnson comes out of the bullpen for Lou Piniella he's retired all six batters he's faced so far in the top of the 11th Mike Stanley leads off for New York and that's a four pitch walk well we're aware of that Randy's of pitching on fumes now we know it but the same time we've got to get through the eleventh inning as it is and the bottom half of that inning we got the middle part of our lineup coming out so it's important that Randy gets us through this inning that gives us a chance to win a baseball game Pat Kelly in to run for Stanley well there are a lot of moves from both managers lineup look drastically different at the end of the ball game than when it wasn't started Fernandez lays down a very nice bunt and now Kelly with the go-ahead run is at second base the next guy is Randy Velarde and look at that look at those career numbers against the Big Unit a fairly large sample size two of 39 at-bats yep Randy was a good hitter he could stay on that breaking ball he could hit the fastball in and out base hit he's gonna beat the throw and the Yankees have the lead 5 to 4 did you give any thought at all now you're the home team it's a different deal you get any thought at all to walking Velarde it's tough it's tough in that situation in the Kingdome you don't want to put people on base unnecessarily if you don't have to especially late in the ballgame and strikes out looking and now you're going to the mound he wants to make sure if the big guy is alright if he has one more out and him one more batter and he does as it is now we've got an open base to be able to walk Williams and here is David as hard as it has been to hold leads in this series do you allow yourself a little bit of confidence that finally you're going to win this game yeah I'm back on the bench at this point I've dried my eyes out for my crying session and crying game and came to came out out to the bench and I'm thinking Redemption I'm thinking ok we're OK here where I'm gonna pitch again this year I'm gonna get another chance and another start in the next round I'm completely confident we're gonna get it done I didn't know what the move would be you know Buck Showalter it turns out he's gonna ride out with Jack McDowell you know I'm looking down at the bullpen and you know as I said Buck Showalter was going with his veterans I appreciate that we've talked to several times since then you know I said I appreciate your confidence in me and I'm not one to look back in second-guess but it's easy to do in this game here's the situation Yankees are three outs away from heading to their first league championship series since 1981 but the Mariners have ken griffey jr. and Edgar Martinez due to bat in the inning the conclusion of Game five is next as they get set to come up to the plate so the Mariners have hope heart and noise but the Yankees have a 5-4 lead as we go to the bottom of the 11th Jack McDowell still in for New York Joey Cora leads off for Seattle Dave Niehaus at the Mike joy gore is one for four he sacrificed in the night and the wind and the 2 1 pitch to joy Goren now he bunts the ball up the first base line it's a dandy talk about a perfect drag bunt Joey just a great great headfirst slide and evades a tag but I'll tell you what Joey did that quite a few times during the course of a year Dan Morrison is telling Buck Showalter no it's okay he's a little bit out of a baseline but not so far as to be called out well it's a great non call by Morrison because you'll see Joey leave the running Lane that's perfectly acceptable as long as you're making an effort to touch the base avoid the tag that's exactly what he did you mentioned it Bob textbook perfect bunt you could not roll that ball anybody better exactly right you know Ferb McDowell crusher you know if you're on the mound here you you're on the ropes right now because you know something's gonna cut something is gonna happen and who's coming up in the lineup at this point and you can't pitch around Griffey in any sense you got a guy on first base you got to come right at junior you got the first place hole open everything is in your favor here you've been winning games like this for two months Lou the hole refused to lose Monty no question what a great slogan refused to lose let's listen to Dave Niehaus as Griffey faces McDowell the 1o pitch on the way to jr. now and it's swung on on a ground ball base hit in the right center field core is going to end up at third first and third and nobody out here in the bottom half of the 11th my first and third nobody out Edgar Martinez coming up what are you thinking David I'm thinking you know tie game I'm thinking ground ball get a double we're okay they're gonna tie it up this game is gonna go maybe nineteen eighteen at this point the way this series is going all the pictures are gonna be exhausted but I'm still confident you know okay we'll give up that run at third but we're still tied I didn't anticipate what comes next and I'm thinking I know I put the ball in play he doesn't strike out these type of situations he's a great contact hitter I'm thinking brilli right-center field and lo and behold we'll see what happens but it's not the right-center field all right here it is runners at the corners Edgar Martinez has just been tearing the Yankees up all series is at the plate now I thought this was a nice move by McDowell and Showalter keep Griffey close at first base that's the winning run don't take it for granted keep the double play in order but don't let them get a good jump off the bag that's exactly right I'm thinking the same thing on the bench ground ball keep him close sac fly we're okay you know but that girl always scares you this part of the lineup just wore us out the whole series empty bullpen so Joe Walters gone with McDowell yes yeah that's it nobody was even warming up yep you know that was you know that was the sign I think Buck Showalter wanted to send that side I'm going with my veterans he left me in their second guess or not Jack McDowell is the guy who wants to go with at this point and Buck Showalter his career he's gonna trust his veteran guys and here it is and the old one pitch on the way to Edgar Martinez here comes Joe here is jr. at third base they're gonna wave him in the throat of the plate we'll be late [Applause] Jr could score from first as well as any runner in the big leagues on a double and that's exactly what he did and all betting a broke loose there I've never seen anybody run like that that was a fastest I ever saw anybody run the bases I'll be for obvious reasons it's a winning run but Kim griffey jr. I know he'll say it too we he never ran the best base is better than that's absolutely not only speed David but the way he cut every base was absolutely an instructional video think about this this is a ball hit to left field on turf with no outs very very few runners are going to score and he scores easily no question in left field is not really deep in the kingdom and that ball comes back to that left fielder fairly quick off the wall and junior like you said I mean look at his stride he perfect now you had won a World Series as a manager in 1990 with Cincinnati you swept an Oakland team that was heavily favored you'd been on the great Yankee teams of the 70s but there was something about this series and something about this moment that has to put it way up there for you personally well it was fun for me I've obviously you know I have a tremendous amount of respect and I had a tremendous amount of respect for the Yankee organization and where they're young their World Series ring very very proudly very humbly but you know it's great beating the team that you played for and the Yankees are the epitome of whom everybody seems to want to beat whether it's Seattle or whomever and it was a lot of fun it really was I'd managed a few years over there with the Yankees and it was great beating the Yankees in that playoff series but you know what they got even with maybe get down the road to tell you David it was devastating in that Yankees clubhouse I remember Buck Showalter in his office crying and George Steinbrenner standing right outside the doorway arms folded saying there will be changes we weren't sure if Don Mattingly was going to return whether booked Showalter was going to return but the devastation that moment was lost I may be gone for good for a lot of guys you could feel it in that room you could feel it you could talk about a morbid flight home six hours back to New York a red-eye that Club house was just dreadful when you could feel it you knew something was gonna happen you who know who knew how much change was gonna happen but the organization pivoted at that point when in a completely different direction Showalter gone Tory in we forget that at the time the back page of one of the New York tabloids said clueless Joe you know Tory had come off an unsuccessful stretch in st. Louis people wondered if he'd ever managed again but that was the pivot point there were other changes but the most important I mean obviously guys like Jeter and and Rivera and Posada were on the way out of the system but Tory at the top replacing Showalter is key it is and that's why this game to me is one of those key intersections in baseball history where you have a choice of where it goes both for Seattle maybe they wind up in Tampa and for the Yankees does the dynasty happen under Showalter or does it happen at all all those questions in play and if they want up in Tampa there are no Tampa Bay Rays about that I wouldn't have managed there for three years David talked about how difficult it was in the Yankee clubhouse let's take a look at the Mariner Clubhouse after the game as David comes in boy what a classy gesture David coming into our Clubhouse you pitched your heart out that's two great games in that series and you come in and congratulate our team we really appreciated it yeah anyway brilla respected you guys and we enjoyed competing against you and we were fortunate that we came out on top well David obviously a class gesture I want to forward it a little bit more you get off the plane you're home take me through how you're feeling in those weeks days after this game I'm assuming one of the most difficult losses at least physically and even beyond that yeah going back to the flight home after the game that's the six-hour red-eye I couldn't lift my arm on the plane and then when I got home I couldn't get off the couch for two weeks and then yeah the next spring I showed up and there was tingling in my fingers and all of a sudden my fingernails turned blue and I was diagnosed in May of the following year with an annular in my axillary artery my right shoulder now was that the cause of it the game that game it was probably a lot of a repetitive motion it's a repetitive motion injury so you know it's probably the culmination of a lot of things but I just know I couldn't get off the couch for two weeks after that game I couldn't lift my arm and obviously you're thinking maybe your career is over whereas in fact some of the greatest days of your career was still ahead yeah ironically yes who knew you know and especially leading into spring training and then trying to pitch through pain and then finally having the aneurysm surgery arterial bypass surgery I thought I was done at that point and you know it's what a lucky break I mean be able to be a part of that dynasty after I had an aneurysm you've already detailed how difficult it was as you sit here now and we review some of it can you appreciate what a great game you were part of yes I can't I can't I'm proud of it I'm proud of that effort I really am you know even though at the time I couldn't see that you know I felt such a I felt like I'd let the whole city down you know and I I pitched that way I pitched you know I used to have the Coneheads in the stands with the Mets back at Shea and I'd look up there and I don't want to let him down that was my motto I don't wanna let these people down these fans are unbelievable plus I don't wanna get a branch tear I don't wanna get food either so but yeah that was part of my feeling and you're right Bob now I see it and it was a great game great game for baseball great game for Seattle you know it's a beautiful foot park they have out there Safeco Field so you know you gotta take one for the Gipper after that game about how proud you were of ball players in general how this game represented the game so well again on the heels of the strike and the ill-will that was still there with a lot of fans it's really still there a lot of the players who were involved in the Tom Glavine really got hammered when they came back after the strike we all felt it we all felt the brunt of it and I think there was a responsibility where I felt for that in that series that you know what we're not greedy overpaid ballplayers I'll leave my career on the line right here I don't care if I'm a free agent I don't care about my next money in my next contract I want this game here and now so though you guys then go on to the LCS the Indians were a powerhouse they beat you in six they might have won anyway they were that good but you had had the charge from behind to catch the Angels beat them in a tiebreaker game win this crazy series down in games Oh two comebacks in all the games in Seattle were you spent by the time you got to face the fat but we got caught in a situation again we're and he couldn't pitch till game three we were all I go pitch be able to pitch him twice we had him for Game three in Game seven so it made a little more difficult for us but Cleveland like you said they had just a great team but this Yankee win was very exciting for us and it gave us a chance to go to the World Series and we just didn't quite get there but though we had a great great season well the Mariners obviously still don't have a pennant don't have a World Series parents Lou in some ways this game has been the pinnacle of the Mariners franchise and I'm wondering for you whether this game ranks is one of your prouder moments because what it meant and still does to the Seattle I guess and what 93 I think it was they had never had a winning season and I think my first year there we were 500 or maybe one game over 500 I don't remember the second game there was a strike so it was an incomplete season and then the third game like you said it the all-star break we were around a 500 team and then we caught we got hot and and and got ourselves and do a postseason but I'll tell you yeah it was probably the one of my finest moments over there in Seattle man I was so proud of our players that's the beauty of all this these kinds of games that were counting down the top 20 of the last 50 seasons you can talk about them forever but now our time is done Tom David Lou our thanks to you that's it for number 15 on our countdown of MLB's 20 greatest of the last half-century as we say so long we leave you one more time with the voice of the late great Dave Niehaus and the old one pitch on the way to Edgar Martinez here comes Joe here is jr. this bed base they're gonna wave him in the throat of the place we'll be late [Applause]

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Id: 1RXmN121z1k

Length: 65min 40sec (3940 seconds)

Published: Sun May 03 2020