GAME THREE
“Every situation that you can have in a postseason, me and Bernie have been through it… We’ve been in big games. We’ve won, we’ve lost. I think the experience helps in terms of keeping your emotions under control.”
—Derek Jeter, Yankees shortstop (AP)
“I think it is a function of how many times I’ve been fortunate enough to be on a team to be in the postseason so many times.”
—Bernie Williams, Yankees outfielder, after tying Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson for most career postseason home runs (AP)
“When it’s [Series] over everybody’ll know which way I’m going… I don’t want to be misquoted. That man wrote a story that said I was never coming back. I never said nothing about retiring. He never said anything in his article about retiring. Everybody picked it up and ran [with it] and said I was retiring. That’s bullcrap.”
—Don Zimmer, Yankees bench coach (Arizona Sun-Sentinel)
GAME FOUR
“This is a very interesting team. It doesn’t drain on me. I enjoy it.”
—Jack McKeon, Marlins manager, after the Marlins’ 12-inning win over the Yankees in Game Four (AP)
“I had a feeling.”
—Alex Gonzalez, Marlins shortstop, following his walk-off homer to beat the Yankees (AP)
“I felt fine. After not throwing to a lot of hitters for a long time, it was nice to get in there.”
—Jeff Weaver, Yankees pitcher, after giving up the homer to Gonzalez (AP)
“Roger Clemens is the best pitcher ever. I’m very happy he finished strong.”
—Ivan Rodriguez, Marlins catcher, on Roger Clemens (AP)
GAME FIVE
“I think the whole country now really sees what kind of players these guys are.”
–McKeon, on his Marlins (AP)
“We’ve got to stay tough. They ain’t going to hand it to us… We came back on the Cubs, we’ve seen it, we’ve been on that side of it. We need to bear down and try to win that first game.”
—Josh Beckett, Marlins pitcher (AP)
“The NLCS, I had a bad day… I’m just glad they gave me another chance to go out there.”
—Brad Penny, Marlins pitcher, after beating the Yankees 6-4 in Game Five (AP)
GAME SIX
“We’re a good team, that’s why. We didn’t get here because of any [expletive] billy goat. We didn’t get here because of a [expletive] curse or a fan. We got here because we’re good, that’s why. We’re [expletive] good. What makes us unafraid? You aren’t afraid when you know you are good.”
–Beckett, after beating the Yankees 2-0 in Game Six to win the World Series (Miami Herald)
“You’ll believe me now that anything can happen… This guy has the guts of a burglar.”
–McKeon, on Josh Beckett (AP)
“That kid showed that he was going to be a great one down the road, if he hasn’t already… When you’re that young, you don’t know what fear is.”
—Joe Torre, Yankees manager, on Beckett (AP)
“It makes you sick… How else can you feel?”
–Jeter, on the loss (AP)
“I feel emptiness.”
–Torre, on the loss (AP)
“In our mind, it’s not an upset at all. In everybody else’s mind, it’s a humongous upset. Nobody gave us a chance.”
—Jeff Conine, Marlins outfielder (AP)
THE AFTERMATH
“I can’t believe we don’t have a game tomorrow. Not to say that winning the world championship isn’t a big thing… It’s kind of relief to get to go deer hunting now.”
–Beckett (AP)
“When I say I won’t be back, I won’t be back… They could have a day for me. The answer would be no, and only because of him.”
–Zimmer, on George Steinbrenner (New York Times)
“I’m kind of numb. When I woke up, I had to slap myself in the face to realize we don’t have a game today. It was kind of a shock, or aftershock.”
—Mel Stottlemyre, Yankees pitching coach (New York Times)
“Zim’s an emotional guy… I was hoping that he would do the same thing I’m doing: go home, think about it and let his mind clear up. But he seems to be dead set on what he wants to do.”
–Stottlemyre
“Of course I was disappointed. But we will be meeting soon to make whatever changes are needed to bring back a stronger, better team for New York and our fans. You can count on it.”
—George Steinbrenner, Yankees owner (New York Times)
THE REST
“I like the running game, and that’s what we’ve done here. In Cincinnati I couldn’t do that because Griffey didn’t like any distractions when he was batting. And whenever Larkin was on first base, he wouldn’t run so as to open up the right side for his buddy.”
–McKeon (AP)
“Seriously, what can Bobby (Cox) do with this lineup? You can’t hit-and-run, you can’t steal. What buttons do you want him to push when the team’s constructed the way it is? When you’re doing what you’ve got to do, it looks powerful, it looks great. But when you’re not, it looks ugly. There’s nothing in between.”
—John Smoltz, Braves pitcher, on the Braves’ lineup (AP)
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