Gotham Baseball FALL 2006

LETTER FRDM THE EDITDR

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t's such an exciting time for Gotham Baseball Magazine, and yet, I find myself thinking about the late Buck 0' Neil.

For those that only know him as the elderly African-American gentleman whose magical voice made Ken Bums' PBS documentary Baseball a must-watch for any baseball fan, John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil spent 16 years as a first baseman and manager with the Kansas City Monarchs, the flagship franchise of the Negro Leagues. He was a three-time All-Star, won a batting title, and was by all accounts, a very good defensive player. As a manager, he led the Monarchs to four Negro American League titles and two Negro League World Series championships.

After spending several years as a scout for the Chicago Cubs, during which he had a hand in discovering Hall-Of-Famers Ernie Banks and Lou Brock, he then became the first African-American coach in Major League Baseball history. He also helped start the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo. He was a great, great man, and he will be missed.

~(/f#; Mark Healey

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: tuc VELEZ. DAVID LIPPMAN. NICOLE ROBERGE. KENNETH SCHLAPP. WILLIAM CUMMINGS MINOR LEAGUE CORRESSPONOENT: LINDA BERARDELlI

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Basel:lall is published four • Subscriptions are daj •• rs, us. International hia~.

All Inquiries are to

EXECUTIVE EOT[]R: MARK HEALEY PUBLISHER ANO GENERAL COUNSEL: GENE BERAROELlI DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT: PAUL GRECO ART DIRECTOR: EDWARD R. LEOS

SENIOR COLUMNIST: AL COHN SENIOR WRITERS: Eo SHAKESPEARE CHIP ARMoNAITIS. JOE McDONALD. CECILIA TAN

CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER: PETE BoRRIELLo PUBLIC RELATIONS CONSULTANT: fAITH ARMoNAITIS AOOITONAL PHOTOS BY: GENE BERARDELlI. fAITH ARMoNAITIS. CHRISTINA SANTUCCI. AND THE BASEBALL HALL Of fAME

COVER PHOTO: BUTCH MORAN

wriHen by: Joe McDonald

1985, a very talented Mets team - some would argue the most talented Mets team ever -fell short in its season-long battle for the National League East title with Whitey Herzog s St. Louis Cardinals.

After coming back and beating the Pittsburgh Pirates to cut the Cardinal lead to three games, the Mets faced a "must sweep" three-game series in St. Louis. The Mets won the first two games, the punctuation mark being a mammoth home run in the 12th inning by Darryl Strawberry off of Ken Dayley in Game 1. Dwight Gooden put the finishing touches on his remarkable season with a win in Game 2, but rookie Rick Aguilera couldn't seal the deal, and the 4-3 loss ended their journey.

The loss left a lasting bad taste on their collective palette. "When we didn't get the third game to tie it, " Ron Darling remembers, "although it wasn't said, everyone to a man knew we were not going to allow this to happen again. " A talented mix of players, led by the amazing Dwight Gooden and his Cy Young Award-winning 24-4 record and Bob Gibson-like 1.85 ERA, the raw power and speed of Darryl Strawberry, veterans Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter (easily the best players in baseball at their respective positions), a coaching staff led by the popular Bud

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Harrelson, and manager Davey Johnson - who two year earlier had transformed a motley bunch of guys into a formidable team - were destined to become a dynasty.

It didn't quite happen, and the reasons for it have be, well-documented in Gotham Baseball, as well as other places.

Remembering 1986 At this particular time, we'll remember - as most M( fans do - just how incredible a ride the 1986 season wa: and why, no matter the subsequent disappointments, it v always be a special year.

It will be special, because, as the 2006 New York M( found out, dominance in the regular season means nothi October.

It's hard to win a World Series.

Just ask the Houston Astros, who were born in 1962, same year the Mets brought NL baseball back to Gotha! the first time since the Brooklyn Dodgers and New Yorl Giants left for the sunny skies of California.

Or the Boston Red Sox. Sure, Boston reversed the ( of the Bambino is truly magical fashion in 2004, erasinj 13-0 deficit in the ALCS against the Bambino's Yankee along the way. Try asking one of the Royal Rooters alx 1986 and see what he says.

Those two clubs nearly made the 1986 season one tc

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to always cherish.

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. A cocky, triumphant, spit in your grave type of season. The 1986 Mets ac_~on its shoulder all year; four on-the-field c__ calls after every home run, and were pound••• ~"'r(:"ki.o submission by the All-Star break. :a remember was the St. Louis Cardi_.JIlIK.:YIE~l3TBreak announcing the fact that it's over, .e won this thing," said reliever Doug Sisk.

1iII~ .1:'A2" realiz e until 20 years later how huge of a year

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e-Ioading in the offseason S.CI!!~med by offseason deals that added WCla:.a left-hander Bobby Ojeda and second Teufel, the infusion of young evin Micthell, and the returning .•••••••• nitlv-.nv grown players like Wally Ba:i:n:lDl.. _ lookie Wilson, Lenny Dykstra, _ {CDowell would all play their part postseason. the failed races of seasons past (both _lets in 1985 and for his Expos in Carter, as cocky and exuberant as any •••••••••••c nro that 86 club, was no braggadocio eason. 't feel we're a dominant team; we re'Il always find a way to win," the Toronto Star. "There's a really on the team of youth and experiand power, maybe a little like the Cincinnati Reds of the 1970s and good teams." tbl::Sr1l". _. often romanticized, so Mets fans that lived know full well that year was hardly a cakewalk. it didn't start that way.

Spring Training g training injury to Mookie Wilson, the team's 1l!][S popular player, could have cost them dearly, as S:::3Vi:berrv. 's thumb injury cost his team 43 games the year _which proved quite costly. insertion of Lenny Dykstra into the everyday lineup 1IR~d the Mets' depth was astounding. He, along with BildllDlo.. _ -e the team a 1-2 punch a top of the lineup that early and often and drives other teams nuts. \\li1:slJo returned, his adaption to a new role as a ould prove quite beneficial later on.

DDddJle of the lineup was equally effective. The ;r.:ILl~lJiau _-0. hitter in Hernandez, the slugging power of vastating Strawberry - whose ability to for weeks on end was invaluable. :11'~ J~been made of Ray Knight's 1986 season, and

well it should, because year in the big leagues Series MVP. However, when all was overshadowed by

the veteran third baseman's last great would eventually earn him a World was said and done, all of this offense the team's real strength: pitching.

Pitching Depth The rotation of Gooden, Darling, Ojeda, Sid Fernandez (with help from Aguilera later in the season) would dominate the league from start to finish. The bullpen, anchored

by McDowell and Jesse Orosco, were nearly as good.

Then the postseason began.

"I felt, and everyone else on this team felt, we would blow the division away," said Darling, who - along with fellow '86 teammate Hernandez - is one of the color men for SportsNet NY broadcasts oftoday's Mets. "We had doubts that entire postseason. We knew every night we could put a person on the mound in the regular season who could start that was better than their guy. We knew that wasn't true in the playoffs. We knew our strength hurt us in the postseason."

But if it wasn't for that good 01' Mets Magic in October (AI Weis, Cleon Jones' shoe polish, etc.), those 108 wins would be a footnote in history.

Playoff Magic First up were the NL West champions, the Houston Astros.

History has forgotten how talented this team was, but Mike Scott, Bob Knepper, Nolan Ryan headed a pitching staff that rolled into the Championship Series. Houston had played as well as the Mets had in 1986, and its fanbase didn't have a 1969 World Series to keep it warm at night. Plus, ex-Met Mike Scott had become Don Drysdale - and nearly as dominant as Gooden had been in 1985.

That was evident in Game 1, as Scott out-dueled Gooden, 1-0 at the Astrodome, Ojeda and Hernandez led the Amazins' 5-1 win in Game 2, and the series moved to Shea Stadium for Game 3.

Houston jumped out a 4-0 lead, but the Mets tied it in the sixth behind a three-run homer off Nolan Ryan by Strawberry. The Astros would add another run to go up 5-4, and in the ninth, Dykstra, the little guy (well, then he was little) slammed a two-run homer to give the Mets a 2-1 series lead.

"I wasn't thinking about going up there to hit a home run to win the ballgame," Dykstra told reporters after the game.

"I was just thinking base hit. I saw the pitch real well and hit it real well. Don't get used tothis. You're not going to see too many more game-winning home runs from me." continued on page 6

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That victory was short-lived as Houston tied the series the next day, as Scott - who the Mets believed was scuffing the ball- beat Sid Fernandez 3-1, setting up a Ryan vs. Gooden matchup for Game 5.

"Ryan Express" vs. "Doctor K" "Von Ryan's Express" matched "Doctor K" pitch for pitch with the only runs coming in the fifth. Eventually in the 12th, Carter's little dribbler found its way through the infield, and Backman scored the game-winner.

Game 6 of the NLCS was one of the most famous games in Mets history. If they couldn't win this game, Scott loomed ready to pitch Game 7, which would have been a near-insurmountable mountain to climb. After falling behind 3-0 to Bob Knepper, the Mets tied the game up in the ninth off Astros closer Dave Smith.

In the 14th, the Mets made their bid to win it, but in the bottom of the inning, outfielder Billy Hatcher tied the game once again with a homer right inside the foul pole. The Mets scored three in the 16th inning, but tired closer Jesse Orosco let in two runs in the bottom of the inning, and with the tying run on second and the winning run on first, Kevin Bass came to the plate. The Mets' crafty lefty threw six sliders, eventually inducing Bass to strikeout and sent the Mets to their third World Series in dramatic fashion.

After the series, Hernandez said in the clubhouse: "What can you say? I just don't ever want to go through another playoff series like this."

On to the World Series Well, the first baseman and the now-National League Champions would have an even more dramatic struggle to come.

The Boston Red Sox had just won their own miracle LCS against Gene Mauch's California Angels, coming back from the brink of elimination to win Games 5 through 7 and were set to break their 68 year-old World Championship drought.

After the first two games of the World Series, it looked like just that was going to happen. Boston, led by their ace Roger Clemens and Hall of Farner Wade Boggs beat the Mets at Shea in the first 2 games, 1-0 and 9-3, and was sitting pretty going back to Fenway Park.

The Mets pounded Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd 7-1 and Al Nipper, 6-2, in Games 3 and 4 respectively to ;ie th~ series, but Gooden lost Game 5, 4-2, to Bruce Hurst, sending the series back to Shea with the Sox needing only one game to win it.What happened next would be talked about from Lowell to Lynbrook for years to come.

Game 6 saw the Sox take a 2-0 lead with the Mets coming back in the fifth inning to tie it. Then, in the seventh, eventual series MVP Ray Knight made a crucial error to put Boston up 3-2.

The Mets tied it in the eighth, on a Gary Carter sacrifice fly. The Mets had an opportunity in the ninth, as pinch-hitter

Lee Mazzilli's hit, which looked like a walk-off home run fe a few feet foul. Had it stayed fair, well, you know the rest, But it didn't, and the Red Sox got out of the inning.

In the top of the tenth, Dave Henderson hit a home run an Boston tacked on another run off Aguilera to give the Sox a : 3 lead.

"Coming off the mound I felt a couple of horns puncturin through my skull," Aguilera said. "To sit there and there was such an extreme emotion swing in that half hours' time. It ws an incredible half inning - not for me personally - but one I will never forget."

Mets Hanging On

The once-pulsating Shea Stadium was now a graveyard, a Backman and Hernandez each flied out to put the Sox one oi away. Always aggressive, Carter slashed a base hit. He slipped first base coach Bill Robinson the two-finger shake, and pumped his fist with a grim determination on his face.

Sans a protective cup and with his mind on his flight back home to San Diego, the "What, me worry?" Mitchell calmly poked another single. That brought up Ray Knight, who wet down quickly 0-2.

One more strike and the Red Sox would be dancing on th Shea grass, and all of America would rejoice.

Knight ended that fantasy with a soft liner over the head ( second baseman Marty Barrett to cut the lead in half, and pu the tying run on third and the winning run on first. Red Sox Manager John McNamara pulled his closer in favor of Bob Stanley with Mookie Wilson coming to the plate "I just didn't want to be the last out," Wilson said recentl' "Being a hero was not what I was trying to do." .

But the hero he was. After the count went to 2-2, the Met left fielder fouled off two balls. Then, on the seventh pitch 0 the at bat, Stanley sent one to the backstop, scoring Mitchell tie the game. Knight went to second and Shea Stadium shool under the weight of 55,078 fans in Flushing.

Wilson then fouled off two more pitches and on the tenth pitch of the at bat, he hit that famous slow roller up first.

The late Bob Murphy made this iconic call on WHN that day: ...and a ground ball, trickling, its a fair ball ..gets by Buckner!! Rounding third, Knight! The Mets will win the ba game! The Mets win! They Win! After Knight scored, Vin Scully remained silent on NBC and let the images do the talking for three minutes, until he chimed in with this: "If one picture is worth a thousand words, then you have seen about a million words, but more than that you have see an absolutely bizarre finish of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. The Mets are not only alive, they are well, and they play the Red Sox in Game 7 tomorrow."

Though rains forced the final game to be pushed back to Monday and McNamara was able to replace Boyd with Gan 5 winner Hurst, Game 7 didn't disappoint. The Sox took a 3 lead off Darling, but the Mets were given a much needed

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o of the bullpen by Sid Fernandez who came in and _ ied Boston for 2 1/3 innings with four strikeouts.

The Mets tied it in the sixth, on a Hernandez single, and Knight hit a homer off Schiraldi to lead off the seventh to the Mets ahead for good. Strawberry iced the game in the .~ th with another long ball.

Jesse Orosco worked the scoreless ninth and ultimately k out Barrett to crown the Mets champions. Even today, fans lucky enough to have been around then can re-call alma t frightening detail the image of Orosco throwing .- ~ 0 -e in the air, then kneeling on the field with arms extended overhead - the everlasting image of the 1986 World Champion New York Mets. That moment was the pinnacle of started by general manager Frank Cashen in 1980 and e are of players four years later.

If you ask real Met fans, 1984 was real special and' 85 built that specia1-ness," Darling said. "Then in '86, it wasn't that e knew it was going to be special. What we didn't know was w close the team would become. Not only winning, but getting a third year with each other, fighting against a lot of teams and a lot of comeback wins."

And now, 20 years later, the Mets and their fans can look k and really see how special that team was.

Joe McDonald is the Publisher and Owner of _ I"SportsDay.com II

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Bronx Bobby: Abreu Proves to be the "Right" Stuff written

by: John Buro

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RONX, NY -There was a time, in the beginning : of August, when life had gotten even better for Bobby Abreu. Not that it was ever bad to begin with. He had already fulfilled his dream to be a Major League baseball player, and with it, has become financially set for a few lifetimes.

Except that the trade rumors which had haunted him for the majority of the season had finally been laid to rest. On July 30, Abreu - along with the late Cory Lidle - was traded from the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees in exchange for prospects C.J. Henry, Carlos Monasterios, Jesus Sanchez and Matt Smith. The swap was as much of a salary dump on the Phillies' part as it was the Yankees' urgency for a rightfielder and frontline pitching.

"The trade," said the 32 year-old Venezuelan, who finished with 15 home runs, 107 RBIs and a .297 average, "gave me an opportunity to be in the playoffs; an opportunity to win a ring. That's all I was looking for."

Before the Yankees were eliminated by the Detroit Tigers in the American League Divisional Series, Abreu had certainly given his new team a better chance to win it all.

Great Trade In 58 games since the move, he hit .330 with 42 RBIs, including one very special inning against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. That particular contest a 12-4 New York romp on September 13 - had signified Hideki Matsui's return to the line-up after missing exactly four months, a 110 game span, with a broken wrist.

It was Abreu, however, who broke the Devil Rays' hearts.

In the home first, he bombed a three-run home run, his first as a Yankee, against Tim Corcoran. Minutes later, against Brian Stokes, Abreu cleared the bases with a threerun double to left-center, just beyond the outstretched glove of Carl Crawford.

One inning. Two swings. Six runs batted in.

Before that, it had been 55 years since any Yankee had six

ribbies in one frame [Gil McDougald, in the ninth inning, against the St. Louis Browns on May 3, 1951] and a decade since the first-inning feat was last accomplished [the Oakland Athletics' Matt Stairs lit the California Angels for a grand slam and a two-run single in July 1996].Then, the new guyon the team for all of six weeks - came along.

A third inning sacrifice fly produced a seventh RBI; with the bases juiced an inning later, Abreu reached the warning track in right, narrowly missing a grand slam and an 11 RBI evenmg.

"It was crazy," he said. "I had six in a game only once before [August 24, 1999 vs. the San Diego Padres], so a game like that doesn't happen very often. But, when it does, I just enjoy it."

The game, itself, was an anomaly.

In addition to Abreu's very rare achievement, Matsui had four singles off four different pitchers. And Derek Jeter, riding a 21-game hitting streak, somehow batted four times and scored three runs without recording an officia at-bat [with three walks and a hit by pitch, the streak was allowed to remair intact under Major League Baseball's guidelines] .

Consistent Production Abreu, too, knows streaks. He has nine consecutive seasons of 150 game: played, 155 hits and a .285 average, eight with 20 steals, 35 doubles, 95 runs scored and 100 walks and four with 100 runs batted in.

All of which may actually overshadow the fact that this was the first time since 1999 that he didn't reach the 20 home run plateau.

Cynical observers have noted that since he won the 2005 Century 21 Home Run Derby at Detroit's Comerica Park, where Abreu slugged a record 41 dingers [14 more than Miguel Tejada's old mark established in Houston in 2004], h~ has endured a power shortage.

"I couldn't believe what I was doing," Abreu said afterward. "I was in such a good rhythm, it was hard to believe.

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That was a beautiful night."

Among the 41 home runs was a -1 -foot moon launch beyond the Montgomery Inn BBQ establishment, above the second-deck porch in right field. Since 1985, when the Derby became an added attraction to the All-Star festivities, only Sammy Sosa's 524-foot blast [in 2002, at Milwaukee's _filler Park] has gone further.

Abreu entered the event with 1 first-half home runs, but hit only six after the July 12 exhibi.on. But, as he had averaged 25 home runs from 2000-04, the twenty-one home runs he has hit oyer the last 1 seasons was cause for concern.

"I didn't change my swing," he revealed to Gotham Baseball. "I continue to hit the ball hard, but sometimes it just doesn't elevate.

I'm not making excuses, but I don't see any reason why I haven't hit as many homers.

"I don't know what it is."

A Twist of Fate Things happen for a reason, even if there is no rationale.

Abreu, himself, is only a Yankee because a twist of fate brought him here. After signing with the Houston Astros in 1990 as an amateur free agent, he was left unprotected and selected with Tampa Bay's 6th pick of the 1997 Expansion Draft. On that very same day, however, he was dealt to the Phillies for infielder Kevin Stocker. That fiasco has contributed mightily to the Devil Rays' futility.

Thus, when New York inquired what it would take to land the 2005 Gold Glove recipient and two-time All-Star, it was only because Gary Sheffield - who had hit 70 home runs and knocked in 244 runs during the previous two full seasons as the Yankees' rightfielder - had been on the Disabled List with a sore wrist since May. And, because money has rarely been a concern throughout the George Steinbrenner regime, Abreu's bloated contract [the

balance of his $13 million salary in 2006, $15 million in 2007 and either $16 million or a $2 million buyout in 2008] was not so much of an issue as keeping the farm system in place. Including part of Lidle's $3.3 million salary, the Yankees were on the hook for well over $20 million.

But that was okay, because all of their better prospects remained.

Abreu, who usually hit between Jeter and Jason Giambi, had been in a comfort zone from the very first time he adorned e . pinstripes. With good reason.

"The fans, like those in Philadelphia, have treated me great," he said. "From my first day here, everyone has welcomed me. Everything changed once I put this uniform on. I just felt like a Yankee.

"And this line-up is so good.

If someone doesn't do their job, there are other guys who can. It's not a problem here. Everyone contributes. That's what it's all about."

Familiar Faces A little familiarity has helped, too. He was traded with Lidle, four days after New York had already acquired reserve catcher Sal Fasano [who has since opted for free agency] from the Phillies for Hector Made, a minor league infielder.

Then, there's Larry Bowa, the team's third base coach, who happened to manage Philadelphia from 2001-04.

"We're very good friends," said Abreu, who set career highs of 31 HRs and 110 RBIs when Bowa copped the NL Manager of the Year Award in his first season. "When I arrived here, he told me about the organization, and how things are done here. "He said, 'Just do what you've been doing; you don't have to change anything'."

Abreu smiled, and prepared to take the field. Soon, it woulc be time for another game, and proof that life, indeed, was grand.~

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The Debate Over What Really is Vintage BaselÂť wriHen by: Ken Schlapp ontroversy and politics are not new to baseball or even to "base ball". ~ That's right - two words not one. When our national pastime started to take hold in the 19th century, it was known as "base ball." It's not exactly a common fact - but a fact nonetheless.

What is "commonly known" is that the game was created by a Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, NY in 1839. The only problem with that is it's not true. "Base ball" has been played in some shape or form for hundreds and possibly thousands of years.

"Base ball" You see, Albert Spalding, the star major league pitcher, manager, owner and eventual sports magnate, took an unsubstantiated letter from Abner Graves about a game initiated by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown in the summer of 1839 to promote base ball as an American invention. However, historical records show that it is unlikely that Abner Doubleday could have even been in Cooperstown at that point in time - but that didn't stop Mr. Spalding.

The leading "base ball" writer of the time, Henry Chadwick, wrote and discussed how our game of "base ball" had come from the British children's game of "rounders", which Spalding took offense to, and thereafter sought to prove that "base ball" was a purely American game.

The end result is that, regardless of the facts, common knowledge sides with Spalding's fiction.

You may be asking yourself "Why is this important now"? The answer is this type of false presentation of history may be repeating itself.

A group led by former Major Leaguer Jim Bouton has recently made news promoting the Vintage Base Ball Federation (VBBF), an organization billed as bringing the game of baseball back to its roots.

However, most vintage "base ball" aficionados don't see it that way, and have a list of grievances with the VBBF, claiming that it may ruin the game they love.

Rules? What Rules?

The rules that will be played in the VBBF are actually a conglomerate of rules that were in effect during various years in the last half of the 19th century.

In fact, some of those rules were never in place at the same point in base ball history, which, many vintage ballplayers contend, creates a new game entirely -

not the true game of "base ball".

Playing "base ball" by 19th cent rules has become very popular as t are currently around 200 teams pla by such rules throughout the Unite States and Canada. The difference between the majority of those tean the VBBF is that the existing team the game by a set of rules that wer play at a particular point in time.

For instance, the New York Go Base Ball Club play according to 1 rules listed in Beadle s Dime Base Player for 1864, which was the ac source governing the rules at the t The Gothams chose that year spec cally because it was the last year t "bound rule" was in effect (which that the striker, or batter, is out if: struck ball is caught on one bounc It's these antiquated - and quirky of the game that attract so many tl Old Time Game.

Other teams look to their area' in choosing rules of the game. Ri: "Tricky Rick" Stattler of the Prov Grays Vintage Baseball Club indi that the Grays play by 1884 because "that was the year 1 original Providence Grays, National League Pennant."

These teams already hax loosely-organized group ca Vintage Base Ball Associat (VBBA), which is a memb: organization meant to facili communication amongst te and, among other goals, "p ing the game of 'base ball' was actually played in accc

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",.~' r:-~f'~ - the rules, equipment, uniforms, field specifications, stoms, practices, language, and behavioral norms of the iod," Presenting an accurate picture is the major concern many rage ballplayers have with the creation of the VBBF. "I - w [playing] as a chance to help others to see 'base ball' as it .as originally played, a living history lesson if you will.", explained Tom "Big Bat" Fesolowich of the Mutual Base Ball Club of New York "The ""BBFwill misinform and mislead the public believing what they are witnessing how ball' was really played in the 19thcentury" Bouton doesn't see the VBBF as a misrepreration, but a broader view of the period, and not feel that using a broad range of rules rould hurt their game or portray inaccuracies of - ball history to the publico. "[The VBBF] ing to present a period of time and not one icular year. Trying to play according to a .cular year would be like trying to portray the Roaring 20s - the roaring 1922." He also indicated that the VBBF plans - lude in their programs a comparison of modem baseball - and the rules the VBBF will include information on en those rules were actually in effect.

This may appease some of the current 19thcentury teams, all. Paul "Quickstep" Salomone of the Elizabeth ~-cu.u •.•••.. ric Club indicated that the VBBF are still going to be g by "a bastardization of 'base ball' rules" that he feels - lead the public as a result of the league's accessibility media,

Just a Money Maker? er bone of contention between the VBBF and other century teams has to do with money. Many of the exisnng teams are generally either self-funded (like the Gotnamsj or sponsored by historical societies like the Old Bethpage Village Restoration on Long Island. Most of the iated with playing are for equipment, period soecific attire, and traveling to play games. there is a $50 fee for a team to join the VBBA, not a requirement of participating in games against member teams), the VBBF requires a $500 entry fee, icated to prize money for their annual World and for insurance ($150). Also, to start up a VBBF, all equipment must be purchased ;"BBF and its sponsors. While current teams are of playing to make money (but do receive certain events), the VBBF is a business, and is taking away the charm and the good will _-for the love of the game has built until

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WWW.GOTHAMBASEBALL.GOM·11 taken away from the people who enjoy it the most. The common thread that binds all of these vintage ballplayers can be boiled down to two ideas - their love of "base ball", and the opportunity to share their love and knowledge of the history of the game with others. The current group of 19th century players range in age from 16 to 75 and boast varying levels of skill - and like in any other sport, some teams are very good and some are not. While winning is always nice, the main goal of these vintage base ball players is not to rack up a great win-loss record, but to have fun and share knowledge of base ball history. Drew "Wilkes Booth" Frady, the current president of the VBBA, indicated that the camaraderie on and off the field between players on the same team as well as with. opposing teams is a big reason he enjoys the game. "The fear of the current teams is that the inaccuracy in the rules, money, and the competition associated with the VBBF may ruin the current version of the 19thcentury game."

Bouton has indicated that he wanted to showcase a better brand of base ball in the VBBF. The VBBF includes rules limiting the number of former professional baseball players and encourages college players to join. Competition will be an important feature of this organization as the VBBF will feature former professional baseball players, is encouraging college ballplayers to join, and the culmination of each season will include an annual "World Series".

The Old Time Game Revived No matter what side of the debate you fall on, it's clear that the popularity of "base ball" has never been higher. "I like that Vintage Base Ball is growing and would like to see it done right by playing the game as accurately as possible. I may not agree with the differences between the organizations, but having more people caring about the game as a byproduct producing more teams is not a bad thing", said Frady.

The jury is still out, but the big question is can these two different factions of 19thcentury baseball coexist?

Maybe the attitude of Frank "Hammy" Obidienzo of the Atlantic Base Ball Club will go a long way towards the two sides moving forward. "The VBBF shouldn't have any effect on what all our teams have been doing all these years.

They'll do their thing, we'll do ours. Ifwe had the money and connections we'd be doing what they're doing, but in a more accurate way. If people ask me about the VBBF, I'll just explain that it's basically a watered-down version of what real vintage ball is about. That's their interpretation of vintage ball, not ours." ~ Ken "Trolley Car" Schlapp is Captain of the New York Gothams Base Ball Club, the host team for Gotham Baseball's annual Gotham Cup Invitational Base Ball Tournament in Central Park.

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by Joe Pietaro

The Year That Started It All as it really 10 years ago?

That question has been asked by many a Yankee fan this season - especially after New York was unceremoniously dumped by the Detroit Tigers in the first round of the postseason in October.

So, a look back at a happier memory seems apprpropriate, as the 2006 season marked the l O" anniversary of the 1996 team, a group that won the franchise's first World Championship since the 1978 season.

Perhaps when the team you root for qualifies for the postseason year after year, it feels like a natural occurrence.

Things weren't always that way, as the Yankees from 1979 to 1993 only made the postseason once over that entire span (1981).

However, since the Buck Showalter-led Yankees won the 1995 American League Wild Card, the Pinstripers have been perennial postseason party-goers.

The playoff streak, currently at 12 years, could have started a year earlier, as the Yankees were in first place when the 1994 player's strike wiped out the postseason and World Series.

Nevertheless, the 1995 team was superb in its own right, despite losing the ALDS to the Seattle Mariners. Following that loss, Yankee owner George Steinbrenner shocked baseball by firing Showalter and hiring ex-Met, Braves and Cardinals skipper Joe Torre to replace him in the offseason.

What seemed like a questionable decision at the time - tabloids blared headlines like "CLUELESS JOE" - looks brilliant in retrospect.

Another big change on that club was

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the introduction of Tino Martinez, acquired to replace the retiring Don Mattingly at first base. This team was loaded players like Martinez, who avoided the Bronx Zoo escapa of Yankee teams past and established the team's dignified professionalism that exists to this day.

Another change came in the middle infield, a group the uncertain in Spring Training until an injury to Tony Femai The vacancy at the shortstop spot was offered to a young rookie named Derek Jeter. While at second base, a mix of players young and old (headed by steady offensive veteran Mariano Duncan) played well enough to make the doublecombo a strength.

Holdovers from Showalter's team also shined in 1996.

Wade Boggs, cast aside by the Red Sox after the 1992 season, responded by making the All-Star team in all but 0 his five years in pinstripes. In 1996, he remained a key cor tributor while sharing duties at third base with Charlie Hay Though initially not pleased with the decision (nobody' perfect) Boggs' platoon with Hayes was combination of solid gloves, work ethic, leadership, and hunger to win a champio ship.

Another twist of irony came when DI Ruben Sierra was dealt to the Tigers for Fielder that June. Clearly not happy in h first stint in pinstripes, complaining that' they care about in New York (is) winning he would later became one of Joe Torre's "guys" when he returned to the team a fe years later. While Sierra contributed earl) his mid-season replacements Cecil Fielde and Darryl Strawberry combined for 24 1 and 73 RBIs. The outfield, led by Bernie Williams il center and Paul O'Neill in right, was are,

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strength. Those two everyday, allaround pros were assisted by the LF combination of Gerald Williams and Tim Raines, a fine mix of speed and veteran moxie.

Playoff Time In September, the Yankees captured their first division crown since 1981 with a 92-77 record, four games better than the Wild Card Baltimore Orioles.

In the ALDS, the Yankees defeated the AL West champion Texas Rangers three games to one, as Bernie Williams (.467 BA, 3 HRs, 5 RBIs) had a big series to help the Bombers move on. In their firstALCS since 1981, New York would face Baltimore, who had ousted the Cleveland Indians, also in four games.

The two AL East powerhouses squared off, and New York, helped by the Jeffrey Maier-assisted opposite field home run off the bat of Derek Jeter at Yankee Stadium, went on to face the heavily-favored Atlanta Braves in the World Series.

World Series

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The Fall Classic did not start off very well for the Bombers, as the Braves pounded out a 12-1 shellacking of the home team in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium. Starting pitcher Andy Pettitte was ineffective against a strong Braves line-up, including two home runs from 19-year old center fielder Andruw Jones.

Greg Maddux threw a seven-hit shutout in the next game to give Atlanta a 2-0 edge heading home to Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Braves were in control and it appeared that they would be on their way to being considered a dynasty.

However, the Yankees bounced back with a 5-2 victory in Game 3. David Cone and three relievers held down the Braves' offense and the Yanks got to Tom Glavine enough for the series-saving win.

Game 4 looked to be comfortably in the Braves' hands when they built a six-run lead through the first five innings.

The Bombers chipped away to cut the lead in half and headed to the eighth inning looking for more. They got the equalizer when replacement catcher Jim Leyritz took Braves closer Mark Wohlers deep for a three-run bomb that was the turning point in the series. The Yankees eventually won the game to get even at two games a piece.

Game 5 was a pitcher's duel that was won by Pettitte over

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John Smoltz 1-0. The Yankees headed home after an improbable sweep on the road with a one-game lead, closing out an era in Fulton County Stadium.

In Game 6, Jimmy Key faced off against Greg Maddux. The Yanks pu1 up a three spot in the bottom of the third inning, and the lead held.

When Charlie Hayes gloved a foul pop-up for the 27th out, the Bombers beat Atlanta 3-2 in the clincher, and the team celebrated their first World Series win since 1978. Fittingly, it was that same year that Graig Nettles made a similar put-out in Boston to propel the Yankees to the ALCS in a one-game playoff for the AL East.

Yankees closer John Wetteland was named the series MVP for saving all four Yankee wins. The great Mariano Rivera, then baseball's best setup man, was equally brilliant.

Powerhouse Club Although it was deemed an upset at the time, the Yankees established themselves as a powerhouse team quickly. They had a hiccup the following season in a playoff loss to Cleveland, but then won three consecutive World Series championships from 1998 to 2000.

Torre was the perfect manager for that veteran-laden 1996 team. His laid-back style and mannerisms dictated trust and belief in his team, especially in the veteran leaders that took care of the locker room. There were plenty, with Boggs, O'Neill, Strawberry, Raines, Wetteland and Cone amongst others. This was a team built to win and did just that.

Rivera, Williams, Jeter and Jorge Posada are the only remaining Yankees from that 1996 team. Each has played a big role in the Yankees' run in the '90's and beyond.

Future Hall of Famers Rivera and Jeter are first-ballot Hall ofFamers, Williams (whose return in 2007 was still up in the air at press time) has had a wonderful career, and Jorge Posada has been steady and clutch behind the plate.

With youngsters like Robinson Cano, Chien-Ming Wang and Melky Cabrera poised to become the next great Yankees in their own right, the influence and presence of that 1996 championship club is still around to help them continue the tradition of Yankees excellence and to start their own dynasty] Joe Pietaro is the Managing Editor of New York Sportscene Magazine

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by: Aaron Ross

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he hulking figure garbed in the tools of ignorance walked from the bullpen out onto the familiar field of Shea Stadium and into the comforting applause of thousands of fans, like he'd done hundreds of times before in the past. But this time was different. This time, he emerged from the opponent's bullpen with a peculiar #33 sewn on the back of his blue San Diego Padres road jersey. He was a visitor, yet still he was welcomed home.

Piazza Returns to New York Mike Piazza's return to Flushing on August 8th, the scene from which eight years of his baseball life took place, was no ordinary homecoming. Under the ever-watchful surveillance of the New York media and the adoring eyes of a near sold-out audience, Piazza received a gift from the baseball gods that normally eludes those without championships ... a hero's welcome and the heartfelt thanks from the New York fans. "(It was) Awesome, from start to fmish, " Piazza said. "I totally didn't think it was going to be this much support. I thought it would be nice, but I was overwhelmed, from the start of batting practice to the end of the game. It was awesome. " If Piazza didn't expect the reception he received, it's only because his humble disposition would not allow it. In reality, the response was widely anticipated by anyone who was remotely familiar with what Piazza's presence had meant to the Mets from May of 1998 to his final game in NY last October, including his current teammates.

"It was nice," said Woody Williams, the Padre pitcher assigned to be his battery mate for the auspicious occasion.

"The fans here are so passionate and appreciative," continued Williams, "they gave Mike what he deserved."

The video tribute, set to the Beatles tune "In My Life", presented a retrospective of Piazza's greatest hits through his eight years as a Met. Touching and tasteful, the highlights

included his introduction press conference, his first game, various charitable events he attended, an assortment of home runs he hit throughout his Met career, his celebration after the Mets won the 2000 pennant, and his final curtain call as a Met.

A Met Moment The most poignant part of the video was the detailing of maybe his most defining moment as a Met, the home run off of Steve Karsay against the Braves on September 21, 2001. continued on page

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you to do it, it's one of those Just ten days after the September things."

11th tragedy that rocked the nation, Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez, particularly New York, Piazza's 2Piazza's double victim that night, run, eighth inning, game-winning certainly understood the situation. bomb is widely considered as the He had received similar adulation moment New Yorkers realized it earlier in the year in Boston, when was okay to smile again. he returned as a visitor to the . Upon the conclusion of the mound from which he helped the video, Piazza received the first of Red Sox break their World Series many standing ovations, accompacurse. nied by a chant of his name rising "It was well-deserved, wellthrough the air so loud it drowned earned, well done by the fans." out the sound of the ascending Martinez said about the crowd's planes taking off from nearby response to Piazza. "I think players LaGuardia Airport. Piazza couldn't of Mike Piazza's category that have help but to be touched. done what they've done deserve the "You don't spend eight years in a credit." place and not be sentimental, " That Wednesday night game was rationalized Piazza. the last regular season in-game Still, Piazza needed to keep appearance Piazza would make at himself composed, as there was the Shea Stadium this year, possibly in business of a game ahead of him. his career. Although the Padres The fans didn't make it easy on him. played the Mets the following As Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child afternoon, Piazza was left out of the (Slight Return) blared from the PA line-up, as is typical on any day and his name was announced, game following a night game.

Piazza was again saluted with a standing ovation while he Despite the chants and pleas from the Met fans in attendance strode to the plate to take his first at-bat. Even though he struck that day, Padres manager Bruce Bochy never found a suitable out in his first plate appearance, the fans repeated their show of moment for Piazza to pinch-hit in the Padres 7-3 loss. respect for beloved number 31.

At age 38, Piazza's career is close to winding down. His "It was tough playing under those circumstances. It was one age, combined with all the years of wear and tear he's taken as ofthose amazing moments in sports I can't explain." Piazza a catcher now make it impossible for him to live up to the said. "You have to be calm in this game. The adrenaline throws offensive standards he's set for himself. Still, he continues to you off. It was so hard to go out and play .. .in one way they're produce among the top at his position, putting up his best cheering for me, and in •• T. .. season since 2002 while another way they're not." ..l t was tough playmg under those CIrcumstances. It was one of helping to lead the Padres Piazza wound up going 1-4 those amazing moments in sports I can't explain." Piazza said. to a division championthat night while his Padres "You have to be calm in this game. The adrenaline throws you ship. His 22 homeruns went on to lose the game to off. It was so hard to go out and play .. .in one way they're this season fell just two the Mets, 3-2. His only hit cheering for me, and in another way they're not." shy of Brian McCann's was a single to center, the Former Met, Mike Piazza major league lead for kind Mets fans have seen time catchers, even though and again. He received another standing ovation for his effort.

Piazza played less games and got fewer at-bats than most of his The celebration continued for Piazza the next night, when peers. After getting married this past winter and with a baby he was met with several more standing ovations from the expected in February, Piazza's future in baseball right now is gracious Shea Stadium crowd. This time, he gave the people uncertain. Whether he re-signs with the Padres for another what they wanted ... twice. The first of Piazza's two jacks year, latches on to an American League team as a part-time presented him with a true rarity in baseball, a curtain call for catcher/designated hitter, or hangs up the spikes and shin an opposing player. guards for good, it's clear that if this August marked his final "You don't see that a lot," commented Piazza about the in-game appearance at Shea Stadium, then he gave his faithful raucous demand for him to come out and tip his cap. "The last fans one last set of magical moments that only Mike Piazza thing I want to do is show up the other team. When they ask could deliver. ~

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isruptive rather than destructive, Reyes not only sets the table, he sets the tone. When Reyes is on base, the runner becomes more important than the batter and the ball becomes a slippery seed in the grip of otherwise sure-handed infielders. And in pitchingdominated playoff baseball, that is likely to win you more games than Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard or Carlos Beltran ever will. " - Wallace Matthews, Newsday, Oct. 26, 2006 Speed, power, agility, aggressiveness and a sheer joy for playing the game. That's one way to describe New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes. His brilliance at the plate, in the field and on the basepaths have made him one ofthe game's brightest stars, a fan favorite and Gotham Baseball Magazine's Player of the Year.

Like David Wright, who garnered last season's POY, Reyes is a homegrown talent whose exploits have been scrutinized long before he made it to the Big Apple. Back in 2001, when Reyes was playing at Single-A Capital City as an 18-year old, I was sitting in Coney Island's KeySpan Park discussing the Mets organization's top prospects with a team official.

"That Reyes kid, have you seen him yet?" he asked me, as his eyes scanned the Brooklyn infield.

"No, not yet", I responded, "But I hear he's pretty good."

He turned, and smiled. "Pretty good, huh?"

"He's going to be the best shortstop in baseball in a few years."

Having never seen him play, and having heard similar praise heaped on the likes Alex Escobar, Alex Ochoa and Ruben Rivera, I simply smiled politely.

Five years later, those words seem almost prophetic, as Reyes is indeed not only one of the best shortstops in baseball, he is among the top all-around players in the sport.

Unlike his teammate Wright, however, the road to big league success was filled with more than a few obstacles. The first two years of Reyes' career were marred by a combination

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of fragility and poor organizational judgment.

In 2003, he was called up to the big leagues as a wide-eyed continued on page 18

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A hurt Reyes and an ineffective Matsui were just the tip of the iceberg for the vortex of chaos that was the Mets franchise at that point. Change was needed, and quickly. But was Reyes one of the "problems" that needed fixing?

Even Reyes was not immune to the ridicule being poured onto the team by the media and Mets fans alike. His flashes of brilliance were clearly evident of something enduring, yet weren't enough to silence the whispers that he might never be able to stay healthy enough to be the special player that everyone in the organization thought he should be.

Then, an epiphany.

Battered and bruised by months of contempt, the Mets decided a new direction - and a complete organizational purge - was needed. Enter Omar Minaya.

Minaya, who had always been a 20-year old with a quick bat and a cannon for an arm. Howfavorite of Mets' CEO Fred Wilpon, arrived at the end of '04 ever, despite his obvious impact on the offensive fortunes of (much to the unending joy and gratitude ofMets fans everythat moribund Mets team, Reyes tore a ligament in his ankle where) to take over for Duquette (his tenure, beset by infrawhile sliding into second base and missed the last month of structure turmoil and insubordination is another story for the season. another day) and signaled to Reyes that things were about to It would be more than a year before he would play fully change for the better. healthy or confident again.

Of the many questions facing Minaya's reconstruction of During the winter of 2003-04, the Mets organization was the shattered franchise was whether Reyes could be depended in full "Kitchen Cabinet" mode, meaning that then-GM Jim upon to earn his place among the "core" of the future. AcDuquette was just one of a plethora of people whose voices cording to a former team official, Minaya "wanted (Reyes) to played a role in the team's be, but wasn't personnel development. It convinced he he has everything going, he's as enjoyable a guy to was during one of these could count on watch as anyone I've ever played with or played alongside. "board meetings" that it was him." Combined He's like having a No.3 hitter leading off for you. I mean, we decided that Japanese shortwith the amount of have a bunch of No. 3s in our lineup, which is why it's so stop Kaz Matsui was a player money owed tough. But to have a guy that good leading off for you? the Mets had to have. Thus, Matsui and the That's rare." the signing of the highly perception that the -Mets outfielder Shawn Green told the NY Post touted Matsui required Reyes Japanese shortstop to not only move his position would balk at a in the field, but in the lineup as well. Hundreds of Mets fans position switch after just one year, Reyes' future was murky.

The decision facing Minaya was especially tricky, for questioned the move, but many more hailed it as a sign that the Mets were ready to make a move in the NL East. several reasons, not the least of which was an angry fan base To his credit, Reyes accepted the changes with nary a that was still seething over the "Black Friday" deal that sent word of protest - publicly anyway - but a severely strained young left-hander Scott Kazmir to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (and later grossly misdiagnosed and mistreated) hamstring for Victor Zambrano. cost him much of the 2004 season. It surely didn't help The other, and most important as it would turn out, was that Minaya's trusted confidant,. longtime Mets scout Eddy matters that Matsui was nowhere near the player he was hyped up to be, and with each error and feeble strikeout (and Toledo - who had convinced Minaya to sign the skinny kid in there were lots of both) thunderous boos rattled him irreparathe first place when Minaya was the head of the Mets' bly. international scouting department - was still completely

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positive that Reyes would be an All-Star.

One of Minaya's most endearing qualities is his loyalty, and by trading Reyes, he would be risking the wrath of a scouting department that was - with a few exceptions - skeptical of the new GM's VISIOn.

Just prior to the 2005 Winter Meetings, Oakland GM Billy Beane was letting teams know that two of his "Big Three" starting pitchers would be available.

Beane, who regularly was able to manipulate former Mets GM Steve Phillips (In his book Moneyball, author Michael Lewis quoted Beane as saying "Whenever I need money, I call Steve"), had in the past had a very high opinion of Reyes. Minaya didn't want to deal Reyes, but also didn't want to be on the outside looking in as other teams (like the NL East rival Atlanta Braves) were able to add top-of-the-rotation trophies.

A day or two before the meetings, I got a call from a thenMets front office person who said, "(Tim) Hudson's not going to the Dodgers, and Mulder's in play now too, so don't be shocked if Reyes is still a Met by Monday."

No one really knows how close Reyes came to being dealt, but when I asked the unnamed official on that Tuesday why Reyes hadn't been, his response was that Minaya had "overestimated Reyes' value on the open market."

Regardless, if Minaya was undecided about Reyes before the meetings, he was completely transformed immediately after, as every subsequent move the organization made was about creating a team and organizational atmosphere that would embrace, instruct and nurture its young talent The change in philosophy made an immediate impact on Reyes.

Reinstated atop the batting order and back at shortstop, Reyes' amazing abilities began to be recognized on a national level. He went from being "one of the worst everyday players in the major leagues (by ESPN's Dayn Perry)" to a guy that Mets' outfielder Cliff Floyd described as "the key to our team."

This season, he became a whole lot more.

Reyes hit .300, belted 19 home runs, 81 RBIs, scored 122 Runs, and swiped 64 bases, helping transform the Mets into one of the best offensive teams in the major leagues.

Everything promised and more.

"When he has everything going, he's as enjoyable a guy to watch as anyone I've ever played with or played alongside," Mets outfielder Shawn Green told the NY Post. "He's like

having a No.3 hitter leading off for you. 1 mean, we have a bunch of No. 3s in our lineup, which is why it's so tough. But to have a guy that good leading off for you? That's rare."

Perhaps the most telling commentary on Reyes comes from teammate, mentor and friend Floyd, who has helped Reyes navigate from the darkest of places to All-Star festivities.

"He means everything to our team," said Floyd during the NLDS match-up with the Los Angeles Dodgers in October. "I saw that back in the day when he was young and didn't really know what was going on, trying to get his feet wet in the big leagues. He's a great competitor. He keeps everything loose, you know what 1 mean, everyone loose. He smiles every day. 1 love him. 1 love him - a lot. You know, 1 mean as a person, too, not just 'cause he's a great ballplayer. 1 mean, you can always talk to him about anything.

He's always laughing. He probably don't know what the heck you're saying most of the time but he's laughing anyway. It's great. I look forward to seeing him every day 1 come to the ballpark."

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THE MORE THINGS CHANGE: A HISTORY LESSON by: Cecilia Tan

went to Cooperstown for the Hall of Fame Induction Weekend this year, which is a pilgrimage every baseball-loving fanatic should make at least once.

While patrolling the main street of shops, I happened into a used bookstore. There a tiny, red-bound volume caught my eye.

The book, entitled "The Powder of Sympathy," is from 1927, published by Doubleday, Page & Co., and appears to be a collection of essays by one Christopher Morley. Morley was something of a literary fixture in New York City during his lifetime.

He was a founder of the Baker Street Irregulars, took on the revision of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, and was chums with Don Marquis of "Archy and Mehitabel" fame. The essays seem to have appeared in the New York Evening Post in 1921 and 1922, when he was a columnist for the paper.

I did not think of him as a baseball writer, and indeed he wasn't. Morley is/was a "writer's writer", so when he chose to write about the World Series, he wrote not about the game itself, but about the writers at the game.

On page 183, the essay "The Editor At The Ball Game" begins, and concerns Game One of the 1922 World Series, or as it says in the punctuation ofthe day: World's Series Opening, 1922.

"At the Polo Grounds yesterday $119,000 worth of baseball was played," Morley writes. (For your information, that would be $l.3 million in today's dollars.) "Of that, however, only a meager $60,000 or so went to the players. We wonder how much the accumulated sports writers got for writing about it.

They are the real plutocrats of professional athletics."

My, how times have changed. These days a typical daily newspaper writer covering baseball makes about $80,000 per year. The Major League Baseball minimum salary now stands at $316,000. (Minor League players who get called up for even one day get a minimum of $52,000. At least the beat writers are paid better than somebody.)

"We have long intimated our inflexible determination to learn how to be a sports writer-or, as he is usually called, a Scribe," Morley continues. "We are getting promoted steadily.

In the 1920 World's Series we were high up in the stand. At the Dempsey-Carpentier liquidation we were not more than a

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parasang from the ring. We broke into the press box at the 1921 World's Series, but only in the rearward allotments assigned to correspondents from Harrisburg and Des Moines."

By the way, a "parasang" is an ancient Persian unit of measure, but Morley for all his pretensions to a large vocabulary, seems to have gotten the usage wrong, since a parasang would have put him over three miles from ringside. But what were the chances that his readers would know that? I am sure they didn't have Google, which is how I found out what a parasang was.

But to get back to Morley's account of the World's Series. "But our stuff is beginning to be appreciated. We are gaining. Yesterday we found ourself actually below the sacred barrier-in the Second Row, right behind the Big Fellows. Down there we were positively almost on social terms (if we had ventured to speak to them) with chaps like Bill McGeehan and Grant[land] Rice and Damon Runyon and Ring Lardner. Well, there are a lot of climbers in the world of sporting literature."

Of course, Rice, Runyon and Lardner remain household names today, or at least they do among the baseball-literature loving, but how's this for funny? I knew who Christopher Morley was, but I didn't know Bill McGeehan, the fourth of the men Morley chooses to name. He was apparently the sports editor of the New York Herald-Tribune. A "Big Fellow" indeed, though perhaps not as nationally known as the troika of Rice, Runyon and Lardner would be through syndication and books bearing their names.

Morley describes the attitude of other sports writers toward these giants in their field: "We heard a man say, 'Which one is Damon Runyon?'

'Over there,' said another, pointing. The first, probably hoping to wangle some sort of prestige, made for Mr. Runyon. 'Hullo, Damon!' he cried genially. 'Remember me?' It must have been Pythias.

The name Pythias, of course, is a reference to the story of Damon and Pythias, two friends whose loyalty to one another was so strong that Damon agreed to be executed in Pythias place ifPythias did not return to King Dionysus in time.

Pythias had to go and set his affairs in order, you see, since Dionysus wanted him killed. Something about him being a follower of Pythagoras. Well, Dionysus was so impressed that

Damon would die for him, and that Pythias actually made it back in time to save his friend's life, too, that he let them both go. (By the way, this bit has no connection with baseball except for the fact that sabermetricians use a formula that bears the adjective "Pythagorean" to calculate a team's expected wins and losses on a season based on runs scored and runs allowed.

I just figured if Morley could raise the erudition of his readers through such references, well, then so shall 1.)

"We sit down now, after the game is over, to tell you exactly how we saw it," wrote Morley, after pointing out that the "experts" take up the use of the "wire" during the actual game. "We had a unique opportunity to study a great journalist and see exactly how it's e. It was just our good luck, sitting in the second row. The second sees better than the first-it's higher. You have to use _路0 knee for a writing desk, and you have to pull up your ha hes every few minutes to let by the baseball editor of the Topeka Clarion on his way back to Harry Stevens's Gratis TIffin for another platter of salad. But the second row gave us our much needed opportunity to watch the leaders of our craft" e recognized a very Famous Editor climbing into the seat directly in front of us. He was followed by two earnest young men. One of these respectfully placed a Noiseless typewriter in front ofthe Editor, and spread out a thick pole of _.paper. This young man had shell spectacles and truncated -whiskers. Both young men were plainly experts, and were to tell the Editor the fine points of what was happening.

The Famous Editor's job was to whale it out on the Noiseless, with that personal touch that has made him (it has been said) the most successful American newspaper man.

"This, we said to ourself, is going to be better than any Course In Journalism. " Morley goes on to describe how it was done in those days, in which the young men would mention things to the Famous Editor like "Babe Ruth at bat."

The Editor would "patter ... along on the keys like a well-trained engine." When he would fill a page, he would hand it to one of his young assistants, who would proofread it, and then pass it to a telegraph operator, "Here, indeed, is slavery, we said to ourself, watching he great man bent over his work," Morley opined. "Babe Ruth came to the plate. Judge Landis is named after a mountain, but Ruth looks like one. There was a pleasant dramatic quality in the scene: the burly gray figure swinging its bat, the agile and dangerous-looking Mr. Nehfwinding up for delivery, the twirl of revolving arms against a green background, the flashing airy swim of the ball, the turbine circling of the bat, the STRIKE sign floating silently upon the distant scoreboard ... but did the Editor have time to savour all this? Not he! One quick wistful peer upward through those clear lenses, he was back again on his keyboard-the Noiseless keyboard carrying words to the noisiest of papers."

Morley then warns his readers that perhaps everything the Famous Editor commits to paper may be less than accurate.

When a plane flies overhead, and one of his assistants remarks that the plane is taking photos for a Cleveland newspaper's continued on page 22

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morning edition, Morley himself remarks rather loudly that he thinks the plane is aluminum. He actually has no firm knowledge of the plane's make, but sees the plane described on the page as: "It's an aluminum flying machine."

These days, of course, the major league press box is somewhat different If anything, the writers have more time to watch the game than ever, since all the game stats and play-byplay are provided to them at the end of the game. Although almost every beat writer faithfully keeps a scorecard and types notes on a laptop throughout any game, it is still possible to make a trip to the restroom (or for a plate of salad). Anything one misses is filled in by the game notes handed out by the media relations staff That is one of the reasons why, if you follow a team that has multiple papers covering it, the game stories one sees the following day are bound to be similar.

The other reason is the constraints of space. A game story these days, even a World Series game story, rarely runs more " /1.S -4 than a thousand words.

In this age of multimedia, with television, radio, and Internet broadcasts carrying the news every second to hungry fans everywhere, the newspaper has become less about "news" and more about recording history. "In the fourth inning, the Editor was already at page 13 of his copy," Morley writes. Thirteen pages! These days even the longest treatise on the game in the most august of publications-let's say Roger Angell's rumination in The New Yorker-don't come to half that Are we poorer for it? As spectators, as followers of the game, we need not be impoverished by a lack of verbiage on our favorite sport. First of all, thanks to the Internet, you have me and my fellow columnists, whose explorations go far beyond the on-field action and cover every conceivable topic.

Secondly, you have so many sources at your fingertips, ranging from fan web sites to 24-hour cable channels, each one looking for a "scoop." And third, you have your own eyes.

The danger, I think, for the modem fan, is that we can easily become like the Famous Editor. We can become so absorbed by the information available to us that we fail to watch the actual game. This in an age when the game is more watchable than it ever has been.

The advent of high definition television makes us ever more free from the filter of the Editor or the radio announcer.

How many times have you been watching and disagreed with an announcer's call of a pitch location or a close play? You no longer have to take Vin Scully's word for anything. You can

see it all unfold on a sixty-inch screen in super slow-motion.

It should come as no surprise that umpires are under more scrutiny than ever before, as we can now scrutinize the minutest detail. With DVR technology like TiVo, we can eve) make our own replays.

And in World Series coverage, of course, Fox has brought out all the high-tech bells and whistles. There is Slo-Mo so slow that there isn't time to use it in the course of a normal broadcast There are tiny cameras buried in the mound and in front of home plate (the cameras that were famously stomped upon by Jorge Posada in the 2004 ALCS). The new "FoxTrax" strike zone sensor brings Fox up to speed with competitor ESPN's "K-Zone." But that raises the question: how many times, for example, during the epic 14-inning battle between the Astros and White Sox did "FoxTrax" appear to show a pitch was a strike or a borderline strike, only to have Tim McCarver opine that the ball was outside? Buck and McCarver were surprisingly mum about the discrepancies between their own new technology and the umpires' calls. The ESPN radio broadcasters were not: Dave Campbell was "livid," in Joe Morgan's words, about the tightness of the strike zone in the game. The Fox crew was apparently watching one game, the ESPN crew another.

Which is why, if we pay attention, the game belongs to the fans more than ever. You call it like YOU see it And whether you have a blog, hold court in your local sports bar, or just shout at the television at home, that is a good thing. II t

spectators, as followers of the game, we need not be impoverished by a lack of verbiage on our favorite sport. "

Cecilia Tan is the author of The 50 Greatest Yankee Games (Wiley, available in bookstores everywhere) and the producer of the baseball website Why I Like Baseball.

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he New York City area has produced many distinguished people from all walks of life: Woody Allen, Humphrey Bogart, Mary Tyler Moore, John D. Rockefeller, and Theodore Roosevelt, just to name a

few.

With respect to New York City baseball, a significant number of men who were born in the area went on to achieve outstanding success with the Big Apple teams.

Here are some of the best area ballplayers that once wore the colors of Gotham's clubs.

CATCHER: RICK CERONE (Newark, NJ) YANKEES (also Mets): Known as the successor to Thurman Munson who was tragically killed in a plane crash during the 1979' season, his talent and New Jersey roots made him a popular Yankee during the 1980s. Cerone, acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays, was an instant success in 1980 hitting a career high .277 with 14 home runs and 85 RBI. Additionally, he finished seventh in the voting for MVP that year. The Yankees made the playoffs in 1980 and 1981, and Cerone's play during the 1981 playoffs was a big factor in the team going to the Fall Classic that year. However, injuries hampered him, and was eventually traded to Atlanta and subsequently Milwaukee. He returned to the Yankees in 1987 and had his best year since 1980 playing in 113 games and leading the American League with a .998 fielding percentage. The Yankees released Cerone in 1988 and was picked up by the Red Sox where he had two solid years. He had a third tour of duty with the Yankees in 1990, hitting a solid .302 in 49 games. Cerone would finish out his career with the Mets in 1991 and finally Montreal in 1992.

FIRST BASE: LOU GEHRIG (New York, NY) YANKEES: Widely considered the greatest first baseman in baseball history, Gehrig joined the Yankees in 1923 after starring in baseball and football at Columbia University. He became the regular first baseman in 1925 after Wally Pipp was hit by an errant pitch and was subsequently hospitalized - a ory that has become Gotham lore. In 1927, he hit .373 with 7 home runs and 175 RBI and was voted MVP. Gehrig drove

in a record 184 runs in 1931 along with 46 home runs. He won the prestigious Triple Crown award in 1934, hitting .363 with 49 home runs and 165 RBI. Gehrig won another MVP in 1936 by hitting .354 with 49 home runs and 152 RBI. He was a great clutch player, hitting .500 in two different World Series, 1928 and 1932. Gehrig played in a total of seven World Series and hit ten home runs. He and Babe Ruth formed the greatest one-two punch in baseball history. Sadly, after playing in a remarkable 2,130 consecutive games, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative illness of the body's central nervous system and was finished as a baseball player in 1939. In July ofthat year, the Yankees held Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day, which is the afternoon during which Gehrig gave hi "luckiest man on the face of the Earth" speech, probably the most memorable speech in the history of the sport. Tragically, two years later, Gehrig passed away. One can only wonder what his career statistics of a .340 batting average and 493 home runs would have been if he was able to remain healthy. Given Gehrig's dedication and professionalism, a record of 700 plus career home runs along with more World Series appearances would have been a distinct possibility.

SECOND BASE: GEORGE "SNUFFY" STIRNWEISS (New York, NY) YANKEES: Stirnweiss joined the Yankees in 1943 backing up Joe Gordon at second base. However, the following year, Gordon went into the service and Stirnweiss took over at the keystone sack and played there in 1944-45.

He played the majority ofthe Yankee games a third base in 1946 and returned to second base for the 1947-48 seasons.

Stirnweiss was one of the most exciting and popular players to ever wear the pinstripes. He possessed outstanding speed and was a great baserunner. The 55 stolen bases he stole in 1944 is the sixth highest total in Yankee history. He batted .319 that year and lead the American League in hits (205) and triples (16). In 1945, he led the American League in batting (.309), hits (195), triples (22) and stolen bases (33). Stirnweiss was a key member of three Yankee World Championship clubs (1943, '47, '49). continued on page 26

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SHORTSTOP: PHIL RIZZUTO (New York, NY) YANKEES: Growing up in Brooklyn, "Scooter" was an exceptional athlete and earned several college scholarships to, ironically, play football as a 5'6" quarterback. He eventually signed with the Bronx Bombers and was Minor League Player of the Year while playing for Kansas City in 1940. In 1941, he become the Yankees shortstop replacing the everreliable Frank Crosetti and enjoyed an outstanding year hitting .307. From 1941 to 1953, Rizzuto averaged 135 hits a year and was greatly valued by Yankee pitchers fot his defensive play.

Manager Casey Stengel called him the best allaround shortstop he had ever seen and he was a tough player when turning the double play. In 1950, Phil Rizzuto aka "The Scooter" Rizzuto enjoyed his greatest season batting .324 with 200 hits and 125 runs scored and was the best fielding shortstop in the league that year. He was named MVP and won the prestigious Hitchcock Belt for being "the best professional athlete in the world." He was ironically released by the Yankees on Old Timers Day in 1956, but was in the Bombers broadcast booth the following year. He was a broadcaster for many years and became famous for his trademark "Holy Cow" expression. Rizzuto was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994 and is one ofthe most beloved figures in the Yankee illustrious history.

THIRD BASE: JOE TORRE (Brooklyn, NY) METS (also Yankees manager): The distinguished Brooklyn native joined the Mets for the 1975 season after many outstanding seasons with the Braves and Cardinals. He enjoyed a fine year in 1976 hitting .306. The former National League MVP managed the Mets from 1977-81 and later would lead the Braves and Cardinals. However, he became a New York legend when he took over the managerial reigns for the Bronx Bombers. Torre led the Yankees back to prominence by

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Mazzilli link to the Y baseball talian roots (Joe itch hitter (Mickey Mantle) and the baske . Mays). In 1979, he looked like New York's next .303 with 15 home runs. Additionally, he rep _ ets in that year's All-Star game, and homered. In 1 1 bases, batted .280, hit 16 home runs and drove i - However, his batting average fell to .22 in ras traded to the Texas Rangers for Ron Darling an Terrell in the spring of 1982. Mazzilli also played for the Y cees, Pirates and Blue Jays. He was brought back to e _ in 1986 for bench depth, and he delivered, going _ 0 : in the 1986 World Series, which, of course, the ~Ie .on, He enjoyed an outstanding year as a utility player and pin h hitter in 1987 with a .306 batting average. Mazzilli served as a Yankee coach under Joe Torre from 2000 to 2003 and returned to the Bronx in 2006 after managing the Baltimore Orioles.

CENTER FIELD: JOE ·PEPITONE (Brooklyn, NY) YANKEES: The flamboyant Brooklyn native was given a bonus of between $20,000 and $25,000 to sign with the Bronx

Bombers in 1958. Upon joining the organization, many experts felt that Pepitone possessed the skills to be a Yankee great and would eventually end up in the Hall of Fame. He possessed great power and was an outstanding defensive player both at first base and in the outfield. The local kid joined the Yankees in 1962 and hit two home runs in the eighth inning of a May 23 game. "Pepi" impressed the club so much that the highly productive and popular first baseman Bill "Moose" Showron was traded to make room for him at first base for the 1963 season. He justified the Skowron trade by hitting .271 with 27 home runs and 89 RBIs that season.

Pepitone also hit 28 home runs with 100 RBIs in 1964 and hit 31 home runs with 83 RBIs in 1966. He hit at least 25 home runs a season four times as a Yankee. Pepitone won the Gold Glove Award for outstanding defensive play in 1965, 1966 and 1969. He was a member ofthe 1962 World Championship team and played for the Bombers in the 1963 and 1964 Fall Classics. Despite these accomplishments, Pepitone was considered an underachiever. Sadly, off the field problems prevented him from achieving the greatness that was predicted for him. As former teammate Whitey Ford states in his book Few and Chosen, "Pepitone had so much ability, but he let his off-field behavior get in his way."

RIGHT FIELD: WILLIE KEELER (Brooklyn, NY) YANKEES (also Giants and Dodgers): "Wee Willie" may have been the smallest man to ever play the game, but he came up big in Gotham as he was one of the greatest hitters of the turn of the century, joining the Yankees (Highlanders) in 1903.

Even though his greatest seasons were behind him, he still led the Yankees in batting average and hits in three consecutive seasons (1903-05) and batted 3in 1904. He Outfielder, Willie Keeler also led the

club in games played and runs scored in 1903, 1905 and 1906. Keeler was an expert at bat control and along with the legendary John McGraw, he invented the hit-and-run play. In 1905, he made 42 sacrifices, setting a Yankee club record that unlikely ever to be broken. Keeler batted .294 in seven Yankee seasons and had a .341 average for his entire career.

LEFT HAND PITCHER: WHITEY FORD (New York, NY) YANKEES: Ford grew up in the Astoria section of Queens and tried out for the Yankees as a first baseman. He impressed chief Yankee scout Paul Krichell who Pitcher, Whitey Ford suggested that Ford try pitching. Krichell was immediately impressed with Ford's control and natural ability to throw a curveba11.

Ford subsequently pitched in his final year of high school and was a tremendous pitcher in the summer sandlot leagues in New York City. He signed with the Bronx Bombers in October of 1946 and made his big league debut in 1950. During that year, he won his first nine decisions before losing his final decision. The Yankees won the World Series in 1950 with the "Chairman of the Board" winning the fourth and deciding series game. Ford was inducted into the military and missed the 1951 and 1952 seasons. He returned in 1953 to begin a dozen years of dominance. From 1953 to 1960, he averaged 16 wins a year - with Manager Casey Stengel pitching him every fifth day, and saving him for the better opponents. When Ralph Houk became the manager in 1961, he told Ford that he would be pitching every fourth day. Ford subsequently won 99 games over the next five seasons, including a league leading 25 in 1961 and 24 in 1963. He was extremely tough in the clutch and won ten World Series games, which is still a continued on page 28

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record. Additionally, he pitched a record 33 consecutive oreless innings in the Fall Classic. Ford played in 11 World Series, and the Yankees won six. Ford won the Cy Young Award in 1961 and his 236 victories are the most in team history. He is second in career winning percentage (.690) behind former Yankee Spud Chandler.

RIGHT HAND PITCHER: WAITE HOYT (Brooklyn, NY) YANKEES (also Giants, Dodgers): "The Brooklyn Schoolboy" was a great pitcher at Erasmus High School in Brooklyn with a three year record of 31-2 with six no-hitters.

He signed with John McGraw's New York Giants and was subsequently traded to the Red Sox. Hoyt returned to his native New York in 1921 and won 55 games from 1921-23 as the Yankees won three consecutive American League pennants. In the 1921 Fall Classic, he pitched 27 innings (three consecutive games) without allowing an earned run. Hoyt was a great big game pitcher. In four of his six World Series (1921, 1922, 1926, 1928), he complied an ERA under 1.50. He was the most consistent Bomber pitcher in the 1920s, winning 116 games and averaging over 19 wins per season. Hoyt was at his best in the 1927-28 Championship seasons, winning 22 and 23 games respectively. He was a legendary ballplayer who has sophisticated tastes including singing at the ew York Palace Theatre, as well as painting and writing. Upon retiring from the major leagues, Hoyt became a beloved broadcaster for the Cincinnati Reds and during rain delays he would tell stories about his days with the Yankees and Babe Ruth.

RELIEF PITCHER (RIGHT): JOHNNY MURPHY (New York, NY) YANKEES: Considered by many experts to be the first "pure" relief pitcher in the major leagues, Murphy joined the Yankees during the 1932 World Championship season, appearing in two games. In 1934, Manager Joe McCarthy brought "Fordham Johnny" back to the Bronx and was the team's fourth starter with a 14-10 record. He also had four saves. However, Murphy became a relief pitcher in 1935 since McCarthy liked his control in difficult situations. This proved to be a fruitful move as Murphy complied an exceptional 21-6 record in the 193738 World Championship seasons. He

had a Yankee career record of93-53 and led American League pitchers in games won in relief six times. Murphy also led the league in saves four times. His World Series record with the Bombers was outstanding: 2-0 with three saves in five appearances. In 1936 and 1939, Murphy earned the save to clinch the Series for the Yankees. He is fifth all-time on the Yankees' save list with 104, fifth in appearances with 383 and 12thin winning percentage with .637. Upon retirement, Murphy served as the general manger for the Mets and helped develop the 1969 World Champion "Miracle Mets".

RELIEF PITCHER (LEFT): JOHN FRANCO (Brooklyn, NY) METS: Another Brooklyn native who came home to star with his local team. Franco came to Queens after six successful seasons as a closer in Cincinnati. As captain of the Mets, he pitched in more games and earned more saves than anyone in franchise history. Franco saved more than 30 games for the Mets on five occasions, including 38 in 1998. Additionally, he had an ERA of 1.64 in 1992 and 1.83 in 1996. His leadership, dedication and professionalism were big factors in the Mets' success in the late 1990s and 2000 World Series appearance.

Other notable New York area players (YANKEES): Eddie Lopat (New York, NY), Jim Bouton (Newark, NJ), Al Leiter (Toms River, NJ), Marius Russo (Brooklyn, NY), Hank Borowy (Bloomfield, NJ), Ralph Branca (Mt. Vernon, NY), Billy Johnson (Montclair, NJ), Bob Grim (New York, NY), Rocky Colavito (New York, NY), Irv Noren (Jamestown, NY), Dan Pasqua (Yonkers, NY), Duke Carmel (New York, NY), Frank Tepedino (Brooklyn, NY), Curt Blefary (Brooklyn, NY), Willie Randolph (born in Holy Hill, SC, but grew up in Brooklyn,NY).

Relief Pitcher, Johnny Murphy

Other notable New York area players (METS): Ed Kranepool (Bronx, NY), Tim Teufel (Greenwich, Coon.), Ken Singleton (New York, NY), Al Leiter (Toms River, NJ), Al Weiss (Franklin Square, NY), Bob Aspromonte (Brooklyn, NY), Bobby Valentine (Stamford, CT), Duke Carmel (New York, NY), Joe Sambito (Brooklyn, NY), Stan Jefferson (New York, NY)

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THE POWER OF Two: THE STORY OF EDDIE LUCAS, & RAY NEGRON wriHen by: Mark Healey here are two men.

They do not have much in common, at least when you first look at them. They spent decades in the same building, yet never met. They share a similar vision, yet one is without sight.

They share a common goal - to help those who cannot help themselves.

They are Ray Negron and Eddie Lucas, and each has a story that can stand alone. The wonder, tragedy and triumph of each man's life are more than enough for one narrative.

Together, however, their story is an epic tale.

O ***

Eddie Lucas was a baseball fan, born into a baseball loving family.

Just hours after watching Bobby Thompson hit his historic home run against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951, Lucas was hit with a baseball in his face. The accident robbed him of his eyesight at the young age of 12.

Though he had been born with an eye disease, he could still see. Now, he no longer would.

"My parents were heartbroken," Lucas remembered, "They each offered to donate one of their eyes so I could see, but the doctor said that it, wouldn't work."

Yet, while filled with fear, this was a lad with an iron will, who was determined to overcome this daunting obstacle that fate had cast before him.

He also had a little help along the way.

A chance meeting with a Yankee, Phil "The Scooter" Rizzuto, helped strengthen that will, and soon Lucas was enrolled in St. Joseph's School for the Blind.

Thanks, in part to a special nun named Sr. Anthony Marie, who told Lucas, "We're all in this together", the scared little boy learned to use his other senses, learned Braille and other critical skills that would help him to not depend on others to take care of him for the rest of his life.

As he became more and more adept at his newfound ities, he also discovered that his love for the game of

baseball could endure, and channeled his efforts into becoming a sports journalist.

Armed with a reel-to-reel to record interviews for radio broadcasts, the young boy was taken under the wing of the Yankees PR department, and a career was born. "!he Yankees, and especially (then-Assistant PR Director) Jackie Farrell, were very kind to me.", Lucas said. "I'd call them up and say 'I'd like to go to the game today', and Jackie would take care of it."

Years later, Lucas - armed with a Degree in Communications from Seton Hall - continued his historic (and too often overlooked) career as a sports writer. Over the years, his work has appeared in Baseball Digest, The Hudson Dispatch and The Jersey Journal.

Now, and as he's done for decades, Lucas has thanked the legendary St. Joseph staff through tireless fundraising efforts.

Those efforts inspired writer Aris Sakellaridis and illustrator John Pennisi to donate half of the proceeds of their book "Yankees Retired Numbers" to help raise the money needed to build a new facility for St. Joseph's.

With a foreword written by Rizzuto himself, (who also helped Lucas raise millions for the school) the book is an amazing tribute - and a memorabilia collector's dream - to the Yankee greats of years past.

He may have never worn the uniform, but to witness how Reggie Jackson, Yogi Berra and others interact with Lucas , you'd never know it.

For Lucas, the generosity, respect and admiration shown to him by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner is something that "means a great deal" to him.

"Mr Steinbrenner has always gone out of his way to acknowledge me," said Lucas. "When others would simply ignore me - thinking I was blind, so I wouldn't know if they were there (I always could) - he always would say hello and ask me if there was anything he could do."

The Boss not only said it, he meant it. Because when Lucas requested to be married at home plate at Yankee Stadium - the only person ever such honored - Steinbrenner continued on page 30

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not only gave the word, he picked up the tab.

"Mr. Steinbrenner's been so great to me," Lucas said. "I can't praise him enough."

For Negron, a chance "meeting" with Steinbrenner changed the course of his life as well.

The encounter, he says "saved my life." In return, he's now trying to help others believe that anything is possible.

Born and bred in the Bronx, the then-I? Negron's vandalism of the House That Ruth Built - he was spray painting a "NY" logo on a wall at Yankee Stadium - was interrupted by none other than the Boss himself, who instead of calling the cops, gave the troubled kid a job, and as it turns out, an incredible opportunity.

"Yes, baseball saved me," said Negron. "The day Mr. Steinbrenner found me, I was with two cousins and two brothers. The two cousins are both dead from drugs and my two brothers have been in and out of prisons most of their lives."

Given ajob as a Yankee bat boy, Negron was embraced by the Yankees - much like Lucas - and people like Steinbrenner, Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson made a lasting impression on him that "lasts to this day".

"The three of them had such an effect on me," Negron said. "Billy was such a good man, a religious man, and he used to tell me 'Ray, you can do whatever you want to do.'

"He was right."

Soon after, Negron embarked on an amazing journey that took him to places like being Willie Randolph's minor league double play partner, acting in Francis Ford Coppola's Cotton Club and later, working as a player agent and confidant to people like Roberto Alomar, Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden.

Now, though, Negron's journey has taken him to "The Boy of Steel".

For years, Negron made dozens of charities and causes that help children with cancer a priority in his life. But with his book, "The Boy of Steel", he's making history.

"Going to all the different hospitals through the years, and seeing what I've seen and experienced what I've experienced, people were always telling me, 'do a book, do a book, (you'll make money)." said Negron, who is donating all of the proceeds of the book's sales to charity. "(But) I could never make money off the death of a child."

The book tells the story of a cancer patient, Michael Steel, who gets to meet Gehrig and other famous Yankee legends like Babe Ruth and DiMaggio, when he is given the role ofYankees' bat boy for one day.

"We're here for a very short time, and what you do with that time is important," Negron said. "Especially when you

have kids, you have to do what you do for the betterment of mankind.

"It's not like I'm a rich guy or anything like that," said Negron. "I came in with nothing, and I'm going to leave with nothing.

"I want to know when I'm nearing the end, that I can have peace with myself, so when I meet my Maker, I can have at least half-way decent standing with him, know what I mean?"

Many prominent figures have praised the book, including radio icon Don Imus, country star Tim McGraw, "Sopranos" star James Gandolfini and Ron Shelton, producer of the baseball movie "Bull Durham." Even the President of the United States sent a personal letter to Negron, congratulating him on the book. Negron was deeply touched by the note, but a correspondence from Steinbrenner was one that Negron says "meant the most to him."

Considering their history, it makes perfect sense.

"He wrote "I'm proud of you," Negron said. "I cannot tell you how much that means to me."

Also moving, Negron says, has been the response from those who have read the book and shared it with others.

"I had to come up with something that the kids and their mothers and fathers dads could share together," Negron said. "I can't tell you how much I enjoy hearing that dads enjoy reading it as much as the kids do.

"I was-sitting in the stands one day with Richard Gere, and watching one of the greatest actors of our generation read the book to his son ...Well, that was something."

Ironically, Negron and Lucas had never really met before this year. When Lucas was married at Yankee Stadium, Negron - visibly touched by the event - introduced himself,. and a warm friendship was forged.

"When I feel bad, or something is bothering me, I know I can talk to Eddie, and feel better," smiled Negron. "He may be blind, but he sees more than all of us."

Inspiration, meet inspiration. Sounds catching. Let's hope so.

"Yankees Retired Numbers ", written by Aris Sakellaridis, and Illustrated by John Pennisi, is published by Retired Press.

Fifty percent of all sales will be donated to the St. Joseph s School for the Blind (NJ.). The "Boy of Steel", written by Ray Negron, with illustrations by Laura Seeley, is published by Judith Regan of HarperCollins and is already a children s book best-seller on several lists and has garnered rave reviews. All sales from the "The Boy of Steel" will be directed to various cancer-research centers and charities, including four that Negron has worked with: The Hewlett House (L.1.), Manhattan s Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Hackensack (N.J) Medical Center and the Tomorrows ChildrenFund.~