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Look back at: Divisional Playoffs |
League Championship
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Monday, October 23
Clemens tarnishes Yankees' good name
By Sean McAdam
Special to ESPN.com
NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees may yet go on to win their 26th World Series, their third in a row and their fourth in five years. Leading the New York Mets two games to none and preparing to send Orlando Hernandez to the mound, in fact, the odds are they'll do just that.
But this year, the championship comes at a heavy price, and we don't mean $100 million payroll. On their way to more October glory, the Yankees have paid with their good name.
When Roger Clemens temporarily took leave of his senses Sunday night, he also sacrificed the Yankees' reputation. A team whose hallmark under Joe Torre has been professionalism and a respect for the game and their opponents is now forced to explain itself under the harsh and unforgiving glare of the October spotlight.
When Clemens lost his cool, when he lost his ability to tell right from wrong -- indeed, when he apparently lost his ability to tell bat from ball -- he left a stain on the 2000 World Series.
A day after his bizarre display in the first inning, in which he fielded a shattered bat barrel and angrily fired it in the general direction of Mike Piazza, the Yankees found themselves squarely on the defensive, trying in vain to rationalize their pitcher's temporary meltdown.
Instead of celebrating their position, the Yankees were busy trying to make some sense and issue thinly veiled apologies for their pitcher.
"I'd still like to believe that my ballclub responds professionally," Torre said Monday. "Understand that Roger is wearing our uniform, and we're going to go overboard to back him, not necessarily agreeing with everything that happens, OK?
"But it's like everything else. When you have someone, the whole package is included. You can't pick and choose what part of it you like and what part of it you don't like. The thing that happened (Sunday) night, it's something that's unfortunate. It really was."
Since the Yankees began their recent run of titles, one vanquished opponent after another -- steamrolled by the unstoppable New York baseball machine -- has praised the Yankees for their professionalism and their approach to the game.
The Yankees, everyone agreed, played the game the right way.
They ran out every groundball, executed well, moved runners over and were remarkably sound fundamentally. There was no woofing on the field or in the dugout. When one of their own stumbled, like Darryl Strawberry, they responded with a mixture of support and tough love.
There was no grandstanding, no showboating, no rubbing their excellence in anyone's face. Apart from payroll envy and the occasional charge that they had purchased their titles with King George's money, there was little not to admire about their dominance.
That changed Sunday night, when the Yankees went from a juggernaut to a sideshow.
"It feels," said general manager Brian Cashman with some understandable sadness, "that this is more of a WWF-factor than the game. Do I resent (the focus)? I can't control it, and you've got to take the good with the bad. That's how I look at it."
For years, the Yankees were team you loved to hate.
In the 1940s and 1950s, when the Yankees made a trip to the Fall Classic seem like their birthright, it was said that "rooting for the Yankees was like rooting for U.S. Steel."
Out of the embers of free agency in the mid-1970s came the next Yankee mini-dynasty, one seemingly intent on buying back its glory with free agents like Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson. Their owner was a convicted felon, their manager was frequently out of control of himself and his players fought with each other.
Among the stars were cantankerous catcher Thurman Munson and the egomaniacal Jackson, who immodestly confessed that he had mistakenly "underestimated the magnitude of me."
Not exactly a cuddly bunch, in other words.
This edition of the Yankees was different. Their superstars -- from Derek Jeter to David Cone to Mariano Rivera -- were likeable. They played hard and won often, but in the end, treated the game and their opponents with respect.
Ask the New York Mets about that. With the benefit of a night's sleep, there was little absolution being offered toward Clemens on Monday. If anything, the Mets were even more angry at Clemens than they were the night before.
Piazza said that Clemens seemed "confused and unstable," and termed his actions "idiotic."
Pitcher Turk Wendell, who has a well-earned reputation for flaky behavior, said in retrospect that the Mets should have been pulled off the field until some sort of action was taken by the umpiring crew.
Major League Baseball had some questions, too, with both Frank Robinson and Sandy Alderson initiating an investigation into the events of the first inning.
Clemens did more than react impulsively. He tarnished his team's good name.
On the streets of New York, with fan support divided and passion already running high, the bizarre display -- not the games, the eventual winner, or bragging rights -- were the talk of the town.
One tabloid asked: "Is Roger Rabid?"
"Unfortunately," Torre acknowledged, "whichever team wins this World Series -- if the Mets win, I think they're going to use that as motivation for coming back and beating us. I mean ... it may be put to the public that way. And if we win, it's still going to be a major part of it.
"It's unfortunate, because baseball should be first and foremost. And the World Series should a fun, competitive time to celebrate two teams that are trying to be the best for that year."
Not this year. For that, we can thank Roger Clemens.
Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal writes a major-league notebook each week for ESPN.com.
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