SPORTS
Yankees Win 25th World Championship of the Century
By Barry J. Hicks
Capital Times Staff Writer
In the Sept. 22 edition of The
Capital Times, I did a team by
team breakdown of the playoff
contenders. I predicted who would
make the playoffs and what would
happen after that. This goes to
show you why they play the
games.
ATLANTA BRAVES
This was probably my biggest
mistake of the entire article. I stat
ed that Chipper Jones couldn’t
carry the load much longer.
I made this comment with the
understanding that teams would
just stop pitching to him. They
didn’t and he killed them.
The Braves played the Mets six
times in the final two weeks of the
season. I thought the Mets would
take the division by winning the
majority of these games.
They pitched to Jones, and he
made them pay by hitting four
home runs in the first three games
virtually taking the Mets out of the
pennant race.
In the playoffs, Bobby Cox
played baseball the way it was
meant to be played utilizing stolen
bases, sacrifice bunts, and scoring
just enough runs to let his pitching
staff carry the team.
This led them to the World
Series but the Yankees big play
offense took out the Braves’
“small ball” National League style
of play.
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
I predicted this team would go
to the World Series behind the arm
of Randy Johnson. He got bombed
by the Mets in game one of the
division series and gave up 7
earned runs in 8.1 innings.
The Diamondbacks just could
n’t let this happen. The only pitch
er who came to play for the
Diamondbacks in this series was
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Todd Stottlemyre and that wasn’t
enough. The Mets took the series,
3-1.
HOUSTON ASTROS
The Astros had the Central
Division crown fall into their laps.
Who would’ve predicted the Reds
dropping two out of three in
Milwaukee? Not me, that’s for
sure. They took on the Braves in
the division series and, in one of
my few correct predictions, their
11-22 record against other
National League contenders came
into play.
The Braves took them out in
four games.
CINCINNATI REDS
This was, by far, the biggest
disappointment of the season. The
low payroll Reds fought all year
long for respect and had the
Central Division wrapped up
going into a three-game series in
Milwaukee.
They dropped two out of three
and not only allowed Houston to
take the division crown, but let the
Mets back into the Wild Card race.
This forced a one-game playoff
and the Reds were at a severe dis
advantage. While the Mets got to
throw their ace, A 1 Leiter; the Reds
had to count on Steve Paris to win
the biggest game of the season.
The Mets got on the board first
when Edguardo Alfonzo hit a two
run home run in the first inning
and for the first time all year, the
Reds looked scared.
They never scored a run and
became the first team since the
advent of the Wild Card to win
90+ games and not make the play
offs. They finished the regular sea
son 29 games over .500.
NEW YORK METS
You’ve got to give this team a
lot of credit. They didn’t give up
when they dropped eight out of
nine games down the stretch and
fought back to win their last four.
They forced the one game play
off with the Reds and won. The
veteran group was patient and
smashed Randy Johnson and the
Diamondbacks in the divisional
They went on to almost pull off
the unthinkable. After falling
behind 3-0 to the Braves in the
National League Championship
Series, they didn’t give up.
Behind Bobby Valentine’s
“Why not us?” attitude, the Mets
fought back to win the next two
games before losing game six in
11 innings.
This was one of the greatest
playoff series in history as five of
the six games were determined by
only one run, and the other game
was determined by two.
NEW YORK YANKEES
I said that the Yankees were still
the team to beat. They proved that
by winning another World
Championship. This team contin
ued to show how chemistry can
help win championships.
Sure, a top five payroll helps,
but they never got nervous when
they fell behind. They were
extremely confident and knew
they were the best team in baseball
all along.
The only doubt was whether
they would win it all came in the
American League Championship
Series.
Pedro Martinez was only able
to pitch one game because of a
drawn out divisional series with
Cleveland. The ALCS series might
have turned out differently had he
been able to pitch games one, four,
and seven.
Instead, with the help of a few
obviously blown calls and the Red
Sox batting 13-53 with runners in
scoring position, the Yankees took
control of this series and won it 4-
1.
That’s 25 World Champion
ships in the century. No one else is
anywhere near that mark.
CLEVELAND INDIANS
I made a comment in my pre
diction that the Indians need to
realize they will never win a
championship until they get a
number one starter.
They learned that lesson the
hard way in the divisional series
against Boston. The same Red Sox
lineup that couldn’t do anything
against the Yankees pitching staff
scored 41 runs in five games
against the Indians.
Despite Pedro Martinez injur
ing his back in game one, he
pitched six shutout innings in
game five. This seems more aston
ishing when you add the fact that
he could only throw 91 mph on the
radar gun in contrast to his usual
98-99 mph fastball.
This should teach Cleveland
that there is a huge difference
between throwing and pitching.
Pedro Martinez knows that differ
ence and by the end of his career,
in an era when the talk of baseball
being juiced is at an all-time high,
he will go down as the best pitch
er in Major League Baseball histo
ry-
TEXAS RANGERS
I can honestly say that I was
right on with this one. The Texas
Rangers unluckily drew the
Yankees in the divisional series
once again. This rivalry has gone
beyond physical ability and now
reaches into the minds of the
Rangers’ players, manager, and
front office.
They just feel they can’t beat
the Yankees in the playoffs. They
didn’t put up much of a fight and
were swept by the Yankees in the
BOSTON RED SOX
I also stated in my prediction
that the Boston Red Sox had the
one guy who could determine the
outcome of an entire playoff series
in Pedro Martinez. It turned out
that he only pitched four innings
prior to game five of the division
al series against the Indians. The
Red Sox took it to Cleveland’s
sub-par pitching staff and moved
on to face the Yankees in the
A.L.C.S.
This is where their weak lineup
came into play. You aren’t going to
beat the Yankees with Mike
Stanley, Lou Merloni, Trot Nixon,
and Darren Lewis.
Jimy Williams tried to play
American League baseball with a
National League style offense.
After Troy O’Leary, the Red Sox
had nothing. They sat back and
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waited for the big play.
It never came. If Martinez
could’ve pitched games one, four,
PSH
Bowling
Starts Soon
By Barry J. Hicks
Capital Times Staff Writer
Any student who is interested in
trying out for Penn State
Harrisburg’s men’s and women’s
bowling teams should be at the
ABC East Bowling Lanes, located
on Eisenhower Boulevard, on
Tuesday, Nov. 9 from 910:30 p.m.
Tryouts for the teams will be
Nov. 9 and 16. Teams will be
selected on the 16th and will prac
tice from 9 - 10:30 p.m. on the fol
lowing dates: Nov. 30, Dec. 7, Jan.
11, Jan. 18, Jan. 25, Feb. 4, and
Feb. 5.
There is no charge for this pro
gram and it is open to all full-time
undergraduate and graduate stu
dents.
For further information, contact
Bud Smitley of the Penn State
Harrisburg Recreation/ Athletics
Department at 948-6267.
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Student B goes elsewhere. Who has more fun,
: money and/or food and beer?
-Clue: Who is the A Student?
(The A Student drinks responsibly, too!)
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