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Suddenly a Series Mets flying high, Yankees a bit wary as Game 4 nears
Updated: Wednesday October 25, 2000 7:42 PM
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com NEW YORK -- We have a World Series here. The Mets say so. The Yankees say so. Even the New York tabloids say so. It must be true. "It's been a long year, a hard year," said Yankees lefty Andy Pettitte, scheduled to start Game 5 on Thursday evening. "It would have been nice to win four straight and get back down to my hometown in Texas. "It's a Series now. And we plan on it being a hard Series." Yes, the Game 3 win by the Mets on Tuesday at Shea Stadium has done wonders in pumping life back into a Series that was beginning to look like a dud. Before Game 4 at Shea on Wednesday night, Mets center fielder Jay Payton talked about the influence of the Shea crowd. Mets left fielder Benny Agbayani talked about the influence of second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo. The Mets oozed confidence after cutting the Yankees' lead to two games to one in this best-of-seven Series. With a win Wednesday night, this thing suddenly turns into a best-of-three. Still, the Yankees aren't about to concede that this thing is even. After having their 14-game World Series winning streak snapped Tuesday, they aim to get Pettitte in the position to clinch the team's third straight World Series title on Thursday. That, of course, would take a win Wednesday, when the Yankees' Denny Neagle is scheduled to go against the Mets' Bobby J. Jones. All three games have been going well past midnight, so someone asked Pettitte if he would take off early Wednesday to make sure he's rested for his start. Most players, he said, have been getting home around 3 a.m. and sleeping past 11 a.m. in this Series. Pettitte said he'd probably stick around. "[But] if Skip taps me on the shoulder and tells me to leave," he said, "I'd be more than happy to leave." Bottom lines . A win Wednesday night by the Mets would force a Game 6 on Saturday in Yankee Stadium, where Roger Clemens is expected to pitch for the Yankees. Thankfully, though, after Tuesday night's well-played 4-2 win by the Mets, there were few questions Wednesday about Clemens' bat-throwing antics in Game 2 ... Pettitte has been in position to clinch a title for his team before. He was the starter in Game 4 of the '98 Series, when the Yankees completed the sweep of the San Diego Padres ... An Apocalypse sign: The Baha Men will sing Who Let the Dogs Out live before the game at Shea ... Sheryl Crow is scheduled to sing the national anthem ... Three heroes of the Mets' '86 World Series champions will handle first-pitch duties: Lenny Dykstra, Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez.
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