Mariners, Yankees set to do bat Je
again
By Josh Dubow
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Ken Griffey Jr.
and Randy Johnson left Seattle.
Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter
have become full-blown megastars.
Tino Martinez, Jeff Nelson and Luis
Sojo shed their Mariners’ uniforms
for Yankees pinstripes.
Much has changed since the
Mariners beat the Yankees in a clas
sic, five-game duel in 1995.
Perhaps most importantly is that
the Yankees have the mystique of
winning three World Series titles in
four years, and the Mariners have un
dergone an overhaul from a power
hitting team to a club that relies on
pitching and situational baseball.
“It’s a different Yankees club and
certainly a different Seattle club,”
said Mariners manager Lou Piniella,
one of the few holdovers on either
team. “I don’t think you can go back
to 1995 and draw any comparisons.”
The teams begin a new series
Tuesday night at Yankees Stadium,
with Denny Neagle (15-9) starting
for New York against Freddy Garcia
(9-5) in Game 1 of the AL champi
onship series.
Many of the changes the teams
have undergone stem from that mem
orable week in October 1995. The se
ries featured two extra-inning games,
including Jim Leyritz’s game-win
ning homer in the 15th inning that
gave the Yankees a 2-0 series lead.
Then Griffey, Johnson and Edgar
Martinez took over, with the Big
Unit winning two of the next three
games — one in relief — and Grif
fey scoring the winning run on Mar
tinez’s double in the 11th inning of
the deciding fifth game.
“That memory is apparent for all
Yankees fans, as well as Mariners
fans,” New York manager Joe Torre
said.
Buck Showalter lost his job fol
lowing that series, and Yankees
owner George Steinbrenner, in one
of his best moves, hired Torre. Jeter
became the starting shortstop in
1996, Martinez took over Don Mat
tingly’s spot at first base, and Nel
son helped give New York the best
postseason bullpen in history.
“Losing that series was such a
huge disappointment for us,” said
Paul O’Neill, one of five Yankees still
on the roster. “When you lose like
that, it’s something you never forget.
But that experience has made this
team better. We learned you don’t
take any year for granted because you
know it can go so quickly.”
The Mariners’ changes took longer
to develop. Their dramatic playoff
run helped spur voters to approve
funding for a new stadium, which
opened last season. But Seattle was
unable to keep Johnson and Griffey,
losing their ace pitcher and star hitter.
“In ’98 we lost Randy, in ’99 we
lost Griff and in 2000 we’re in the
postseason," Rodriguez said. “It’s
kind of ironic.”
Part of the reason is a new philoso
phy that coincided with the opening
of spacious Safeco Field and the clos
ing of the homer-happy Kingdome.
“We’ve adapted to Safeco,” Ro
driguez said. “We don’t sit around
and wait for the three-run homer
anymore. We bunt, move people
over, steal bases and pitch a lot bet
ter. Pitching and defense are what
win baseball games. ”
Seattle will rely on a deep
bullpen led by Japanese import'
Kazuhiro Sasaki and an inexperi
encea rotatic fronted by Garcia
and Halama — two of the prospects
acquired from Houston for Johnson.
“We need for them to settle down
and throw strikes,” Piniella said.
“But they both have the equipment.
Both Freddie and John will pitch
good ballgames if they are pitching
on their games.”
There are other intriguing story
lines to this series: the Yankees trying
to become the first team in 10 years to
make three straight World Series;
Rickey Henderson playing in the
postseason in New York after his re
ported in-game card-playing during
last year’s NLCS with the Mets; and
buddies Jeter and Rodriguez squaring
off in the postseason for the first time.
“It’s very exciting playing against
my best friend,” Rodriguez said. “But
we have lots of time to spend together
in the offseason. This week, it’s war.”
Alonzo Mourning's spirits good, prognosis uncertain
By Steven Wine
The Associated Press
BOCA RATON, Fla. — At first the
workout sounds like any other Mia
mi Heat practice, with Pat Riley’s
voice and the squeal of sneakers re
verberating in the gym.
This is more than just basketball,
though. The Heat are playing a tense
waiting game.
They broke training camp Monday
without All-Star center Alonzo
Mourning, and they don’t know if or
when he’ll return. He has been in Mia
mi undergoing further tests so doctors
can determine the best course of treat
ment for an apparent kidney disorder.
Mourning told his best friend in the
NBA, Seattle center Patrick Ewing,
that he’ll play this season. At Mourn
ing’s request, the Heat have declined
to discuss his condition or prognosis.
“Zo left me a message Sunday and
told us to keep working hard, and
he’ll take care of his end of it,” Riley
said. “He’s in great spirits. He just
wants to find out what’s available out
there and what the definitive answer
is, and then we’ll go from there. ”
Mourning’s ailment was discov
ered during a routine physical ex
amination before training camp be
gan Wednesday.
“We’re more concerned about
Alonzo as a person than as a play
er,” forward Brian Grant said.
“We’re not even thinking about
when he’s going to come back, but
just is he going to be all right. We
should know that pretty soon. ”
Mourning discussed his condi
tion last week with Ewing, The Mia
mi Herald reported.
“Our conversation went fine, and
he was in good spirits,” Ewing said.
“In fact, he cursed me out because I
Pac-10
continued from page 7
Beavers and the Wildcats changed
that.
Not only are the Trojans un
ranked now, but they are on their
way to a repeat of last season when
they won just three Pac-10 games.
“I think we’re not going to know
how this team responds to adversi
ty until it plays Arizona,” USC
coach Paul Hackett said last Fri
day. “I’m hopeful and I feel good,
but they have to show something
Saturday.”
That said, Hackett probably felt
a little sick on Saturday night.
To make matters worse, receiver
Kareem Kelly sat out against the
Wildcats with nagging injuries,
and fellow receiver Marcell All
mond broke his leg in the fourth
quarter and is gone for the season.
Instead of playing two seasoned
veterans, the Trojans’ receiving sta
tistics now depend on Matt Nick
els, a nonscholarship athlete, and
freshman Keary Colbert, who had
six receptions for 113 yards on Sat
urday.
At least USC still has Carson
Palmer in good health. His injury
early last season set the tone for
the Trojans’ soon-to-have disap
pointments. Oh yeah, his injured
shoulder was sustained in his
team’s triple-overtime loss to the
Ducks.
Dawg tired
The Huskies kept themselves in
the Rose Bowl race by taking care
of business against a passionate
Oregon State team. But will the
bruising win hurt the Dawgs in the
long run?
“It was a costly victory,” Wash
ington head coach Rick Neuheisel
said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who
are nicked and banged up, to the
extent I don’t know. The team was
certainly fired up and excited from
the victory, but there wasn’t much
left in the tanks.”
Among the most “banged up”
Husky is starting fullback Pat Con
niff, who could miss the next few
weeks with a sprained knee.
Fortunately for Washington, it
faces Arizona State, California and
Stanford before it plays No. 22 Ari
zona on Nov. 4 and 13th-ranked
UCLA on Nov. 11.
“While people might point to
the UCLA game as the reason we
didn’t go to the Rose Bowl, Ari
zona State looms every bit as
large,” Neuheisel said, referring to
last season when the Sun Devils
upset the Huskies, 28-7.
Tennis
continued from page 7
urday. The team of Menke and
Mink lost to Pacific’s duo of
Thomas Abrahamson and Claus
Lindholm 8-6, while Teig and Beck
er fell to Chase Exxon and Steve
Raccioppi of Pepperdine 8-5.
Oregon will have the next three
weeks off before competing in the
International Tennis Association’s
Regional tournament in Berkeley,
Calif.
The Ducks will face some of the
same opponents later in the sea
son. Fresno State, Washington, Pa
cific and Santa Clara are all on the
Oregon schedule.
sounded depressed on the phone
when he told me what he had....
“He’s going to play again this sea
son. He just said he is going to play
again at some point. I don’t know
when that is.”
The Heat will play their first pre
season game Wednesday at New Jer
sey. The regular season opens Nov. 1.
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