The Clackamas print., October 28, 1998, Page 6, Image 6

6_________________
Sports _____________ TI he CUckAMAs P r I nt
Wednesday, October 28, 1998
He could... go... all... the... way!!!
AMY PARRISH I Clackamas Print
A Clackamas student outruns Paul Rothi [left] and Kathleen Smith during last week's Pigskin Classic. The flag football games were played last Tuesday and
Thursday and were deemed a huge success by their sponsor, the Cougar Club. Story on Page 1.
Yankees sweep into history books to cap season
KEVIN NAUMANN
Staff Writer
On Wednesday, October 21, the
New York Yankees won their sec­
ond world title in three years by
shutting out the National League
Champion San Diego Padres 3-0.
Andy (Pettitte pitched seven and
one-thir(l innings to complete the
four-game sweep.
After the game, a choked-up
George Steinbrenner, the Yankees
owner, held back tears as he gone
praise to his coaching staff and
players.
"This.bunch of guys were deter­
mined to win every single game this
season. Even when the team was
30 games over .500, they would
work even harder to stay focused
and on top of their games," said
Steinbrenner.
All of that hard work seemed to
pay off as the Yankees finished the
season with an astonishing record
of 125 wins and just 50 losses —a
winning percentage of .714. Now
it can definitely be debated that the
1998 New York Yankees may be
one of the best teams in baseball
history.
"It was very important to this
team to top the season record of the
1927 Yanks," said Yankees Man­
ager Joe Torre. "We have the best
record of all time, but I don't know
if We are the best team of all time."
Compared to the 1927 team,
which listed players like Babe Ruth
and Lou Gehrig on its roster, this
year's Yankees had help from the
whole squad, which included a col­
lective team-earned run average of
under 3.2 led by ace David Wells,
who pitched a perfect game earlier
in the regular season.
The New York pitching staff is
loaded, from its starting pitchers all
the way down to its closer Mariono
Rivera. That is what it takes to win
the big games consistently.
The 1998 Yankees were stacked
on the offensive side of the game,
as well. The team's batting average
was just over .300 led by American
League batting champion Bernie
Williams and unanimous World Se­
ries Most Valuable Player Scott
Brosius.
Brosius, a high school graduate
from nearby Rex Putnam and aformer
student at Linfield College, was
awarded the Series MVP for his pres­
ence at the plate. He finished the se­
ries with eight hits in 17 at bats [.471
average] including two home runs and
six runs batted in.
After the game, Brosius was
greeted by his teammates simulta­
neously chanting his name.
"I think that is every player's
dream to get to the World Series and
feel like you've played a part in the
team getting there and helping the
team to win," said Brosius.
Who would have thought, when
Brosius hit a bleak .204 for the Oak­
land Athletics last season, that he
would be holding a World Series
MVP trophy?
After the regular season ended,
the Yankees' record was 114 wins
with 48 losses —-the second best
record ever behind the 1908 Chi­
cago Cubs [116 wins].
The Yankees capped off what
experts call the most memorable
season ever by doing what every­
one expected them to do —winning
the World Series. This was the 24th
win out of 34 World Series appear­
ances for the most storied franchise
in baseball's history, and may be the
best of them all.
Another Smith steps forward in college football
Good things come to those who
wait, and after 30 years, the wait
at
Oregon
State looks
closer to the
end.
That’s how
long it’s been
since the Bea­
vers last had a
winning sea­
son. Although they may not fin­
ish with one this year, it appears
that Coach Mike Riley has the
Beavers headed in the right direc­
tion.
Oregon State narrowly came up
short against Washington, rally­
ing from 21-points down to pull
the score to 35-34 on the last play
of the game (a 33-yard touchdown
pass from Jonathan Smith to Tim
Alexander), before missing the 2-
point conversion with no time left
on the clock.
Despite the loss, however, this
game could end up being Oregon
State's biggest victory in years.
They discovered the quarterback
they have spent years searching
for, redshirt freshman quarterback
Jonathan Smith.
Smith was a walk-on last year,
and the backup for most of this
year, but after his performance
against Washington, that appears
destined to change. Oregon State
was supposed to be destroyed on
Saturday by the Huskies. After
stating quarterback Terrence
Bryant went 3 for 14 with 39 pass­
ing yards in the first half, that ap­
peared to be the direction OSU
was headed in. Apparently
though, Jonathan Smith had dif­
ferent plans.
Expected to play occasionally in
place of Bryant at planed intervals,
Smith put that plan to rest when
given his shot to play in the sec­
ond half. Smith led Oregon State
to a third quarter touchdown on
an 80-yard pass to receiver Greg
Ainsworth. The lead was cut to 28-
21 by the end of the 3rd quarter,
but Smith just wouldn’t quit there.
As the Beavers’ offense contin­
ued to gel, Smith just kept rolling
on. OSU scored two more touch­
downs, one on a 90-yard pass, in
the fourth quarter. Oregon State
drove 78-yards in 30 seconds on
the last drive of the game to pull
to 35-34 with no time left on the
clock. Even though they missed
the two-point conversion, this
game was still a major victory for
Oregon State.
“We came into our own on of­
fense,” said Smith. “We didn’t
have a false start today. We cut
those down. We were playing
sound football on offense. We
weren’t making stupid mistakes,
and we were calm. We missed
some opportunities, but we made
some great plays.”
And calm they were. Playing in
front of 71,000 screaming fans in
one of college football's loudest
stadiums, Smith looked like a vet­
eran. He was calm and composed,
throwing for a school-record 469
yards and 3 touchdowns in prob­
ably what equals out to about 3
quarters of play. He led Oregon
State on touchdown drives of 98,
86, 90, and 78 yards.
See Smith, page 8