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Look back at: Divisional Playoffs |
League Championship
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Friday, October 27
What if? Mets can only wonder
By Bob Klapisch
Special to ESPN.com
NEW YORK -- Al Leiter had spent three hours and 138 pitches choreographing
a miniature classic, filling the strike zone with fastballs away, sliders in, as one Yankee after another struggled to make contact.
It was Mets nirvana, all right: the ball felt small and perfect in Leiter's
hand, and as he matched Andy Pettitte inning for inning, Leiter became a
human bridge to Game 6, where Mike Piazza and Roger Clemens were waiting to
collide in the Bronx.
Leiter called this night "one of the most emotional moments in my
career." But the truth was, he'd become a machine at 60 feet, six inches,
giving the Mets hope of staying alive in the Subway Series.
|  | | A dejected Al Leiter walks off the mound after allowing Luis Sojo's game-winning hit. |
But then, suddenly, without warning, the walls melted all around Leiter,
and with them, so did the Mets. Even an hour after their 4-2 loss to the
Yankees, which delivered the Bombers their third straight world championship,
the Mets were trying to absorb their demise.
How? Why? With the score tied, 2-2, Leiter threw blistering sliders to
both Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez, striking out both hitters to start the
inning. There was no sense of the impending disaster as Jorge Posada stepped
to the plate, even as Leiter was approaching his 140th pitch of the night.
"I told Bobby (Valentine) yesterday that I didn't care if I had to throw
150 pitches, because I wanted to be out there," Leiter said. "I said, 'I've
got four months to rest. I've had a good career, but I'm 35 years old. I'd
really like the chance to win this game.' "
Valentine digested the message, making no promises, but a day later,
deciding Leiter had earned the right to pitch through the ninth -- even as
Posada drew the two-out walk. The manager said, "I wasn't worried about
pitch counts, because there are no pitch counts at this time of the year.
That's for the regular season, when you're thinking about the next start.
"Stuff-wise, I didn't see any difference in Al from eighth to the ninth
innings," Valentine said. "I thought he was fine. This was his game."
Valentine uttered those words in a far-away voice, his face a mask of
disappointment. Despite his loyalty to Leiter, and an iron belief that his
left-hander still had enough velocity to handle Scott Brosius, Valentine had
guessed wrong.
Brosius lined a sharp single to left, putting runners on first and
second. Valentine still never left the dugout, still convinced Leiter was in
control. Yet, Luis Sojo hit a first-pitch slider up the middle -- "an eighteen-bouncer," Leiter said ruefully -- that ended the Mets' season.
They watched in stunned silence while Posada scored, and -- when Jay
Payton's desperation throw from center field hit Posada on the back and
rolled into the Mets dugout -- Brosius crossed the plate, too.
The Yankees, so corporate, so composed during the entire Series, burst
out of their dugout, practically devouring Posada in a sea of high-fives.
Only now could the Mets understand how the Giants and Cardinals had felt
during the National League playoffs -- that awful sense of powerlessness with
the end so near.
Oh, the Mets could console themselves at having won their first pennant
since 1986, and how competitive the Series had been. It was a great
Series, full of October theater. No one doubted that and, to a man, the
Yankees paid the Mets respect.
But for now, all Leiter could comprehend was a Yankee rally that raged beyond
his control.
"It really hurts that I couldn't get the last out," he said. "It's just
amazing that three hours of great pitching, a terrific game, all of it could
be wiped away in just 3-4 minutes."
Sojo's single represented Leiter's last pitch off the evening, No. 142 --
an extraordinary total, considering the dependability of the Mets bullpen.
Thus, the entire franchise will spend the winter wondering if another tactic
-- indeed, another pitcher -- could have saved them once Brosius had singled.
Valentine admitted he did have John Franco warming up in the eighth, and
the lefty was ready in the ninth, too. But once again, Valentine said, "I
made the decision based on what I saw. I mean, Al struck out the first two
guys in the inning. If he'd been in trouble early in the inning, maybe it'd
be different. But he was throwing so well."
Franco agreed.
"That was Al's game to win or lose. He deserved a chance to keep
pitching," the reliever said. "There's no doubt in my mind that Bobby made
the right choice."
How? Why? The questions lingered. The one that hurt the most was this:
What if?
Of course, the Mets realize there's no winning these mindgames. What-if
never has an answer. As Piazza's two-out fly ball landed in Bernie Williams'
glove in the ninth -- as the Yankees openly celebrated on the Shea Stadium
infield -- the chilly offseason officially began.
The Mets tried to look away, although most had difficulty hiding their
disappointment.
"You work so hard, and to come up short .. well, it just hurts," Leiter
said, his eyes glistening for a moment.
It was probably just the light.
Bob Klapisch of the Bergen (N.J.) Record covers baseball for ESPN.com.
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