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Look back at: Divisional Playoffs |
League Championship
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Friday, October 27
Question of the game: Game 5
ESPN.com
What was the key to the Yankees winning another World Series?
Buck Martinez
There was a difference in the experience factor between the Mets and the Yankees. The Yankees are very business-like. And Derek Jeter set the tone for the entire Series with his defense, his hustle on the bases and his clutch hitting. You can't overlook the job the Yankees pitching staff did. They took a little bit of heat at the end of year, especially Jeff Nelson and Mike Stanton. But Andy Pettitte, in the seventh inning of Game 5, was incredible. He got through the toughest part of the Mets lineup, and that was the difference in the game. The Yankees know how to make good pitches. They might have had an inconsistent year over the summer, but in a short series they are pretty tough.
Buck Showalter
One of the most important things a club can always address is the "what if?" question. What if Chuck Knoblauch has problems? What if a catcher goes down? What is your next line of defense? That's what GM Brian Cashman and Joe Torre have done so well. They always addressed the what-ifs. That was indicative of the job that Luis Sojo and Jose Vizcaino did when the Yankees had problems during the season. It's not near the easy ride people think it is. They did different things during the course of the season, like trade for Denny Neagle when David Cone was struggling. That shows you the vision a club must have in order to do what they have done in New York.
Harold Reynolds
Derek Jeter. The guy is phenomenal. He is the type of player you have to watch play everyday to appreciate. You can talk about Jeter, Nomar Garciaparra, Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Tejada in the same sentence, but Jeter stands out. He has four titles at 26 years old. The thing I like about Jeter is that every year he is consistent. There will be some stretch where he will be on base for 40 straight games. He catches all his groundballs, gets 200 hits and goes unnoticed. And then he goes into the postseason and continues to be extremely incredible. In the postseason, the guys at the top of the order have to get on base, and Jeter does it every year.
Tim Kurkjian
There were a few keys, but bench and bullpen usually win in the postseason. We all know how great the Yankees bullpen was, but their bench was solid. Jose Vizcaino and Luis Sojo are still bench guys to me, and they got the big hits in Game 1 and Game 5. To mix in a great bullpen with a great bench, an outstanding player like Derek Jeter and some quality veterans, it's a pretty good formula for success.
Paul O'Neill, for instance, knows how to get on base, how to work deep counts and how to win -- whether it's a walk or something else. The whole team knows how to win and they know how to work deep counts. Two of the biggest at-bats in the Series were walks -- O'Neill's in Game 1 and Jorge Posada's in Game 5. Posada worked a nine-pitch walk, fouling off balls and taking two balls that were really close to being strikes. Only a really disciplined hitter can do that, and the Yankees are filled with disciplined hitters.
Dave Campbell
Their pitchers refused to give in. The hitters had relentless at-bats. The Yankees are a great team. They don't bludgeon teams to death, but they play great fundamentally and run the bases intelligently. That's a pretty good combination.
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