ALCS Notebook

Knoblauch tired of talking about bunt play

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Posted: Tuesday October 13, 1998 01:25 AM

Chuck Knoblauch : "After right now, I'm not going to talk about it. I don't know if I'll ever be able to see humor in it." AP

NEW YORK (AP) -- The last time Chuck Knoblauch batted at Yankee Stadium, a chorus of boos filled the ballpark.

That was last Wednesday, in the bottom half of the 12th inning of Game 2, after Knoblauch forgot to pick up the ball and argued with umpires as Cleveland's go-ahead run scored from first base.

"I'm ready to play the game. I'm not worried about how the fans are going to be," Knoblauch said Monday, a day before the Yankees and Indians played Game 6 of the AL championship series.

"They pay their money. They can do whatever they want," Knoblauch said.

Knoblauch, just 3-for-20 (.150) in the series, apologized last Thursday. At first, he claimed he didn't know where the ball was after Tino Martinez's throw hit Travis Fryman on the sacrifice bunt. Knoblauch then watched replays and realized his mistake.

"After right now, I'm not going to talk about it," he said. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to see humor in it."

Clearly, he didn't want to dwell on the play, which received front- and back-page attention in the New York papers.

"I'm going to go on and live my life," he said.

Any Dave will do

With all these Davids playing in the AL championship series, someone was bound to get his Wells confused with his Cone or Justice. And with everyone a little fuzzy from travel, that's exactly what happened to Charles Nagy on Monday.

Told during a news conference that "David" had talked about how much he admired him as a pitcher, Nagy thought that pitcher was Wells.

"I love that guy," Nagy began. "I am getting a little misty here. Oh, I mean, I am one of David Wells' biggest fans. He is an unbelievable ..."

Nagy stopped mid-sentence when told David Cone, whom he'll face Tuesday night in Game 6, had said all the kind things about him.

"I love that guy, too," Nagy said as the room broke up in laughter. "No, Coney is a great guy, I met him a few years back and ... yeah, I am a little tired."

Later, when teammate David Justice appeared in the back of the interview room, Nagy pointed and said: "I love that David, too."

Second time around

Yankees Game 6 starter David Cone knows it won't be easy to shut down Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome twice in a week. In Game 2, Cone held both Cleveland sluggers hitless, striking out Thome all three times he faced them.

"The second time facing a team, the degree of difficulty rises," said Cone, who allowed one run in eight innings in his last start. "They are a good hitting team and make adjustments very well. I will have to change my patterns a little bit, throwing fastballs to guys I threw off-speed stuff to last time."

Indians starter Charles Nagy has an even tougher task, facing the Yankees for the third time in three weeks. He allowed one run in eight innings the final week of the regular season and one run in 6 2-3 innings last week.

"I am just going to approach it like I did last week and there is no secret to what I am going to do out there," Nagy said. "I am just going to go out and throw my pitches and whatever happens, happens."

Red-hot Chili

Chili Davis finally feels like he is a part of the Yankees' record-setting season.

Davis injured his ankle the second game of the season and did not return until mid-August when New York had a 19 1/2-game lead in the AL East and were well on their way to an AL-record 114 wins. The Yankees finished 90-28 with Davis on the disabled list, 24-20 when he was healthy.

That made his breakout this weekend all the more special. Davis hit an RBI double in Game 4 and drove in three runs Sunday, with a homer and a two-run single.

"It feels good to finally contribute something instead of just watching," he said. "I think I need to earn some of that money George [Steinbrenner] gave me."

New Jersey

Right there hanging in David Wells' clubhouse stall among the navy blue NY jackets and the pinstriped jerseys was the face of the enemy.

A smiling Chief Wahoo -- mascot of the Cleveland Indians -- could be seen on a white jersey sleeve.

What in the name of Jim Thome was going on?

"It's for my charity, JDF [Juvenile Diabetes Foundation]," Wells explained. "I have a golf tournament in January and it's for an auction. It's Sandy Alomar's."

Wells said he planned to get another Cleveland jersey signed by the Indians which he would also put up for auction.

This and that

Since the championship series was expanded to a best-of-7 format in 1985, six teams had 3-2 leads and four of the six went on to win the pennant. The ones who failed were Toronto in 1985 and California in 1986. The Blue Jays lost the final two games at home against Kansas City and the Angels lost the final two at Boston. ... Neither team had picked a probable pitcher for Game 7, if there is one. For Yankees manager Joe Torre, the choice probably is between Game 3 loser Andy Pettitte on four days' rest or Game 4 winner Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez on three days' rest. "I am not even going to talk about the subject," Torre said.

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