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 Missing heroes Yankees remember Strawberry, DiMaggio in victory celebration
Posted: Thursday October 22, 1998 03:16 AM
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- David Wells, squeezed into the New York Yankees clubhouse like a sardine, raised his voice above the din and shouted, "This one was for the Straw Man." The rest of the champagne-soaked Yankees momentarily stopped dousing each other and chanted, "Straw Man! Straw Man!" in tribute to cancer-stricken teammate Darryl Strawberry. Strawberry missed the Yankees' World Series sweep of the San Diego Padres after undergoing colon cancer surgery earlier this month. His prognosis is promising. But the outfielder might as well have been in the clubhouse Wednesday night after New York's 3-0 victory wrapped up its 24th world championship. He was on everybody's mind. "We finally did it, we did it great. This one is for the Straw Man," Wells shouted into the small, crowded, sweaty room. "We're thinking about Darryl and Joe DiMaggio. It was emotional," team owner George Steinbrenner said. "They're both tremendous Yankees." DiMaggio, known as "The Yankee Clipper," is hospitalized in Florida with pneumonia, which kept him from tossing out the first pitch in Game 1. New York fans gathered in the stands above the team's dugout for their own shouted salute of "Darryl! Darryl!" The team talked to Strawberry during a phone call in the trainer's room. "We told him how much we loved him and missed him. It was a very emotional moment," catcher Joe Girardi said. "It was hard without Darryl, not so much because of his baseball presence but just as a person." Strawberry sent his love back to his teammates, telling them he watched Game 4 at home and stayed tuned to the post-game interviews. "We told him that we loved him and that we couldn't have done this without him," pitcher David Cone said. "This one's for Darryl, he's as much a part of this as anyone else." The Yankees won 125 games this season, prompting Steinbrenner to label his team "as good as any there's ever been." "I'm not going to rate our fellows because that might take away from the others," he said of previous great Yankees teams. Strawberry made his first public appearance Wednesday since being released from the hospital last Friday. The 36-year-old slugger said his prognosis is good because doctors caught the colon cancer early. "Don't worry -- I'm going to live," he said. He's also getting ready for the big party. Steinbrenner wants him there. "The Boss called me yesterday to tell me to get ready for the parade," Strawberry said. But first there was champagne to spray and cigars to savor. A haze of bubbly and smoke hung over the clubhouse as employees pelted players with white championship T-shirts. Derek Jeter made sure he doused Steinbrenner's impeccable look. Grinning mischievously, Jeter pointed an extra-large, green champagne bottle and soaked the owner's navy blazer, white turtleneck and gray hair, leaving a disheveled Steinbrenner grabbing for a towel. "I got to get a bottle and do some soaking of my own," Steinbrenner said. "I got a few guys I want to get."
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