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 ALCS Notebook Thome's grand slam lone bright spot for Indians
Posted: Wednesday October 14, 1998 01:54 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jim Thome quieted Yankee Stadium like it hadn't been silenced all year. Thome's grand slam into the upper deck capped Cleveland's five-run fifth inning off David Cone in Game 6 of the AL championship series Tuesday night and seemed to suck the air right out of the storied Bronx ballpark. "When he hits a home run," New York manager Joe Torre said. "You don't have to get out of your seat to know it's gone." It was gone all right, and so was most of New York's six-run lead. The Indians had closed to 6-5 but the Yankees responded to win their 35th AL pennant with a 9-5 victory. Thome's homer gave him an ALCS record four in the series, and the Cleveland first baseman also finished with the highest slugging percentage (.826) in a six-game series. "You're not in this for great moments," he said. "You're in this to advance. And we're not." Omar's errorsThe Indians were hurt by three errors, most notably a throwing error from Gold Glove shortstop Omar Vizquel in the sixth inning that allowed the Yankees to score three runs and open a four-run lead. Vizquel, who hadn't made an error in 46 straight postseason games, threw away Derek Jeter's routine grounder. Vizquel said the ball was wet, but didn't use that as an excuse. "Yeah, the ball was wet," he said. "But it was wet all game long and for the Yankees, too." Vizquel tied had gone 17 consecutive AL championship series games without an error, tying the record set by Baltimore's Mark Belanger, who died last week.With all the talk of rowdy fans, the Indians avoided getting verbally abused as a group by taking different modes of transportation to Yankee Stadium for Game 6. Bronx boundDavid Justice, who caused a stir on Monday by saying Yankee fans could only be rougher on opposing players if they "brought Uzis" to the game, arrived inconspicuously in a friends' car and walked briskly into the ballpark as a few Yankee fans yelled "No Justice" at him. Several of the Indians, including Game 6 starter Charles Nagy, rode the team bus from their Manhattan hotel, and didn't get to the ballpark until about 5:30 p.m. EDT. Needless to say, there wasn't a red carpet rolled out for them. "We're going to light you up tonight, Chuckie," one fan screamed toward Nagy. Indians shortstop Omar Vizquel took the No. 4 subway train from Grand Central Station to the Bronx and blended right in with the rush-hour crowd. "I do that all the time here," Vizquel said. "It makes no difference if you take a taxi or the train. It's actually quicker by subway." Once on the train, Vizquel got a mixed response from Yankee fans after being recognized. One fan complimented Vizquel on his barehanded stop in Game 5 to start a double play while another warned him the Indians were in trouble. "Some of them said, 'We're going to get you tonight,' " Vizquel said. When the train stopped at the stadium, a few of Vizquel's new friends followed him as he walked toward the players' entrance. They still couldn't believe one of the Indians would dare ride alone into enemy territory.
"A couple of those guys were freaking out," he said. "They couldn't believe it was me. They asked me about 10 times." Still not sure it was Vizquel, the fans double-checked with a reporter. "Man, if we'd known that, we would have broken his hand," one fan said. Vizquel was told of the fan's remark shortly before taking batting practice. "It's too late," Vizquel said. Clearing the airIndians manager Mike Hargrove backed David Justice on Tuesday, saying his outfielder-designated hitter didn't request to be taken out of the lineup for Game 5. "I made the decision not to play David based on the information that I had and in that David's arm had been hit the night before, was a little stiff," Hargrove said before Game 6. "David had not swung the bat particularly well against left-handers the whole second half of the season." Justice made a special trip to Yankee Stadium on Monday to express his anger over a TV report by ESPN baseball analyst Peter Gammons. Justice thought Gammons reported that he had asked to be taken out of the lineup for Game 5. But before the game Tuesday, Justice apologized to Gammons, saying he had misunderstood the report. "I had gone out for a walk with my wife, got back at 6 o'clock at the hotel, had about 19,000 messages on my phone," Hargrove said about the controversy. "At no time did he beg out of the lineup, did he ask to be taken out of the lineup, did he intimate to me in any shape or fashion that he did not want to play." Justice was back in the lineup Tuesday as the DH, batting third. Proud papaExactly 25 years ago new Yankees owner George Steinbrenner caught a kid spray-painting graffiti on one of the walls of Yankee Stadium. Instead of pressing charges, Steinbrenner allowed Ray Negron to become a Yankees bat boy. On Wednesday, Negron's 13-year-old son, Jon, was the Cleveland Indians' bat boy for Game 6 of the AL championship series. "It's amazing and exciting," said Ray Negron, now a consultant with the Indians. "I'm tickled to death." While working for the Yankees, Negron became close to slugger Reggie Jackson, who would become his son's godfather. He later served as an adviser to Dwight Gooden, and when Gooden signed with the Indians, Negron did too. Standing on the top step of Cleveland's dugout before Game 6 with his son in an Indians uniform and jacket just a few feet away, Negron's life had come full circle. "This is a direct result of everything George has been able to do for me," he said. "This is a direct benefit." Jon, an eighth grader who lives on Long Island with his mom, said he switched allegiances when his dad switched jobs. "When my dad was with the Yankees, I liked them," he said. "But now that he's with the Indians, I like them."
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