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World Series Notebook Follow the Jeter: Derek delivers Yankees' 26th title
Updated: Sunday December 31, 2000 6:35 PM FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Derek Jeter of the Yankees became only the third shortstop to be named World Series Most Valuable Player, joining Alan Trammell of the Detroit Tigers (1984) and Bucky Dent of the Yankees (1978). Jeter hit .409 (9-for-22) with two double, a triple, two home runs and two RBI, setting a five-game World Series record with 19 total bases. He tied five-game marks for with nine hits and six runs and became the first player won win MVP honors in the All-Star Game and the World Series in the same season. Jeter, 26, has played on championship teams in four of his five full seasons in the major leagues. He owns a career average of .342 (26-for-76) in the "Fall Classic," has hit safely in 14 straight World Series games and has reached safely in 56 of 61 postseason contests. "It's great," Jeter said. "You don't know when you're going to have an opportunity to get back, so you can't take these things for granted." Added Yankees manager Joe Torre, "This kid, right now, the tougher the situation, the more fire (he) gets in his eyes. You don't teach that. It's something you have to be born with." Jeter was the only Yankee to hit safely in all five games of the "Subway Series." ... Torre has won all four World Series in which he has managed, tying Walter Alston of the Dodgers for the fourth-most titles. He joined former Yankees' skippers Joe McCarthy (6) and Casey Stengel (5) as the only managers to win in at least four straight trips to the "Fall Classic." Torre's teams are 16-3 in the World Series, tying him with Sparky Anderson for seventh on the all-time list for wins. "Winning four World Series out of five years in this day and age, when you have to come through layer after layer of postseason play, we can put our record, our dedication, our resolve up against any team that's ever played the game of baseball in my mind," Torre said. ... It should come as no surprise to anyone who tuned in to any of the five games, but the first "Subway Series" in 44 years featured the longest average game time at 3 hours, 47 minutes. The previous record was 3 1/2 hours, set in 1997 by the Florida Marlins and Cleveland Indians. Three of the five games between the Mets and Yankees ended past midnight EDT. ... Mike Stanton of the Yankees became only the seventh reliever to record two wins in a single World Series and the first to do it in a five-game series. He tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings, extending his shutout streak against the Mets to 12 innings dating to the 1997 season. The last reliever to record two wins in the same World Series was Duane Ward of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992. ... John Franco was a bright spot out of the bullpen for the Mets, recording their lone win in Game Three and pitching 3 1/3 scoreless innings in the Series. At 40 years, 1 month and 7 days, he was the second-oldest pitcher to win a World Series game behind only Dolph Luque, who was 43 when he won Game Five of the 1933 "Fall Classic" for the New York Giants against the Washington Senators. "I enjoyed the heck out of it," Franco said. "I waited a long time to get here and I'm sure as time goes by, I'll appreciate it even more." ... Al Leiter's 8 2/3-inning stint tonight was the longest by a pitcher in the World Series since Greg Maddux of the Atlanta Braves tossed a complete game for the Atlanta Braves in Game One of the 1995 "Fall Classic" against the Cleveland Indians. "I was joking with (manager) Bobby (Valentine) yesterday that you could keep me in for 150 pitches. I'll have plenty of time to rest," Leiter said. "It's not an issue of being tired. Your legs wear down a little, but you're playing chess games with them and you still feel you can get them out." Leiter threw 142 pitches and fell to 0-3 in 11 career postseason starts, the most without a win in major league history. His lone postseason victory came as a reliever in 1993 for the Toronto Blue Jays. "I've never been quite as upset after a game. I've never been so emotional," he said. "Deep down, I felt I could get the third out (in the ninth inning)." ... General manager Brian Cashman, whose midseason acquisitions of David Justice, Luis Sojo, Jose Vizcaino, Glenallen Hill, Jose Canseco and Denny Neagle, helped the Yankees to their third straight World Series championship, was not at Shea Stadium to celebrate tonight. Cashman's mother-in-law, Barbara Bresnan, suffered a massive heart attack and died suddenly today at the age of 63. ... Mike Piazza and rookie Jay Payton were the only Mets who hit safely in all five games of the Series. Piazza's first-inning single extended his postseason hitting streak to 10 games.
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