The World Series
Fueled by Rocket, Yankees complete 4*0 sweep
ey sen wawer
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Roger Clemens
had waited too long not to savor
every moment of this glorious
night.
With the final out of the World
Series, he bolted for the mound
and, flanked by two of his sons,
grabbed manager Joe Torre in a
bear hug and found it hard to let
go
Then, while his New York Yan
kees teammates were still dousing
each other with champagne,
Clemens sprinted back out to the
field, climbed on the dugout roof
and ran up and down, slapping
every outstretched hand in the
front row.
The Rocket had landed. The
ring was his.
Clemens pitched the Yankees to
their second straight World Series
sweep, shutting down the Atlanta
Braves 4-1 Wednesday night and
ending his quest for the one and
only prize that eluded him.
“This must be what it’s like to
be a Yankee,” Clemens said. “This
is what everybody said it was all
about.”
With raucous fans waving yel
low, plastic brooms all over the
ballpark and Clemens bouncing
around on the mound, the Yan
kees won their record 25th cham
pionship and third in four sea
sons.
Game 4 marked New York’s
12th Series victory in a row,
matching the mark set by its Mur
derers’ Row teams.
All his life, Clemens had hoped
for this chance and, at last, he
commanded the October stage.
Showing the form that earned him
five Cy Young Awards and 247
wins in 16 seasons, he shut out At
lanta into the eighth to outduel
John Smoltz.
Brought to the Bronx this spring
from Toronto in a trade for David
Wells that many Yankees fans dis
liked, Clemens walked off the
mound to rousing cheers, tipping
his cap and holding both hands
high to acknowledge the ovation.
“It seemed like a perfect setup,”
Torre said. “I couldn’t see it not
happening tonight, not with the
way his career had gone.”
Clemens recalled seeing his
teammates get their 1998 World
Series rings in April, and being a
bit envious.
“I was sitting there watching
them receive them. They said,
‘We’re going to get you one,”’ he
said.
They sure did.
Mariano Rivera, who had two
saves and a win in the Series, was
selected MVP.
“Everybody talked about last
year, but this is unbelievable,
back-to-back,” he said.
Owner George Steinbrenner’s
team finished off a week in which
it simply overwhelmed the club
that had best record in the majors.
Along the way, the Yankees also:
— Became baseball’s first repeat
champion since Toronto in 1992
93.
— Posted the first set of consec
utive Series sweeps since the Yan
kees in 1938-39. New York beat
San Diego four straight last year,
capping off a record 125-win sea
son.
—Completed an incredible run
in which they won 18 of 19 post
season games. The only loss came
when Clemens was beaten by Pe
dro Martinez at Fenway Park 11
days earlier.
— Overcame a year of adversi
ty, from manager Joe Torre’s
prostate cancer in spring training
to the death of outfielder Paul
O’Neill’s father early Wednesday.
Scott Brosius and Luis Sojo also
lost their fathers, Hall of Famers
Joe DiMaggio and Catfish Hunter
died and Darryl Strawberry was
beset by health and legal prob
lems.
And, in the last game of the 20th
century, their all-century team
pitcher ended all debate about
which club was most dominant
this decade.
“Having to validate what we
did last year, one of those freak
years where you win everything
and everything turns out well,”
Torre said, “then all of a sudden
we zipped through the postsea
son.”
For Atlanta, the loss was its
record-tying eighth straight in the
Series, a string that began in 1996
against the Yankees.
“I think they think in their
minds that they had a tremendous
year with all the ballclub went
through,” Braves manager Bobby
Cox said. “They’re disappointed
just like I am.”
Now with Beavers,
Erickson back at WSU
By Nicholas K. Geranios
The Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash. — It’s been
more than a decade since Dennis
Erickson stalked the football side
lines in the Palouse.
In 1988, Erickson coached
Washington State to its first bowl
victory in 72 years, then left for
college football’s promised land at
Miami. Saturday, he brings his
Oregon State team to Pullman to
play Washington State.
Although Erickson has re
turned to the Palouse on pleasure
trips, this time it’s different.
“Going back now, it’s a job and
it’s business,” Erickson said. “As
far as going back and playing in
Martin Stadium, had I left there
two or three years ago, it might be
a big deal. But that’s been 11 years
ago that I left.”
Erickson is a legend in pea and
lentil country. He helped build
the University of Idaho into a foot
ball power from 1982-85, posting
a 32-15 record in four seasons.
Current Idaho coach Chris
Tormey was an assistant under Er
ickson for two years.
After a season at Wyoming, Er
ickson became head coach at
WSU, located eight miles from the
Idaho campus. He posted his only
losing season as a college coach,
3-7-1 in 1987. Then the Cougars
went 9-3 and beat Houston in the
1988 Aloha Bowl. It was the
team’s first bowl victory since the
1916 Rose Bowl.
Erickson left before the 1989
season for Miami, where he won a
couple of national champi
onships. He was succeeded in
Pullman by Mike Price, a long
time friend.
“We’re very good friends,” Er
ickson said of Price. “We’ve ex
changed ideas over the years, our
families are very close and he’s a
guy I respect very much.
“But when you compete, you
compete harder against brothers
and friends than you do against
other people,” Erickson added.
Erickson and Price are both
products of Everett High School,
where they were both successful
quarterbacks.
“He was a year ahead of me, so
we both played on the same
team,” Erickson said.
Both were young assistants at
Washington State in 1970 under
Jim Sweeney.
When Price was head coach at
Weber State, he faced Erickson’s
Idaho teams four times. Each
coach won two.
Price also plays up their friend
ship, and downplays any personal
rivalry.
“I want to win the game and so
does he,” Price said. “But it’s the
Cougars versus the Beavers. It’s
not the Snohomish County coach
ing cup at stake.”
Erickson hired Price’s son, Erie,
as a graduate assistant at Miami in
1992-93, coaching wide receivers.
Eric Price is now WSU’s quarter
backs coach.
The friendship of the two head
coaches extends beyond the foot
ball field.
“I like to hang out with Den
nis,” Price said. “He’s a better
golfer than I am, but I’m a better
fisherman than he is.”
Ironically, Price and Erickson are
now coaching the two lowest-profile
programs in the Pac-10. Oregon
State and Washington State are both
small-town universities, in isolated
rural areas, where it can be difficult
to recruit urban talent.
They play in small stadiums, far
from media centers.
“The difference is, they (WSU)
have won and gone to bowl games
and went to the Rose Bowl game
in the last couple of years and we
haven’t gone in 20 years,” Erick
son said.
Erickson doesn’t expect a lot of
heckling from Cougar fans with
long memories.
“I’ve got more friends than ene
mies in that area,” he said.
But people still angry at his
abrupt departure from WSU
“probably have a right to be,” Er
ickson said.
“I was there two years and decid
ed to leave to go to Miami and have
an opportunity to win a couple of
national championships,” he said.
“Probably the timing wasn’t
right after being there only two
years, but like anybody in any
business, if you have an opportu
nity, you’ve got to try to take ad
vantage of it,” he said.
Price doesn’t think there should
be any sore feelings.
“He did a great job at Idaho and
Washington State,” Price said. “I
think he’s improved every pro
gram he’s been in.”
TIAA-CREF Financial Education Seminars
TIAA-CREF invites you to the Eugene-Corvallis Financial
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tary session, you will gain the knowledge you need to reach
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Topic I: Saving For Your Financial Goals
• Mutual Funds
• Roth IRAs, Classic IRAs, and SRAs
• Tuition Savings Programs and the Education IRA
Topic II: Choosing Income Options
• Lifetime Annuity Income
• Cash Withdrawal and Interest-Only Options
• Tax and Estate Planning
Mark your calendar!
Monday, November 1,1999
Oregon State University, Corvallis
The LaSells Stewart Center, Ag Science Room
Topic I: Saving for Your Financial Goals, 6:30 - 7:30 pm
Topic II: Choosing Income Options, 7:45 - 8:45 pm
Tuesday, November 2,1999
Valley River Inn
1000 Valley River Way, Eugene
Topic I: Saving for Your Financial Goals, 6:30 - 7:30 pm
Topic II: Choosing Income Options, 7:45 - 8:45 pm
Light refreshments will be served. Guests are welcome.
Please R.S.V.P. by visiting our website or calling
the toll-free number below. Please be sure to mention which
meeting(s) you plan to attend.
Ensuring the future ^ 800 842-2733 GXt.2061
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