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What might have been A's miss Dye's big bat as season comes to an end
Updated: Tuesday October 16, 2001 6:08 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- In the end, the Oakland Athletics dearly missed Jermaine Dye. The A's couldn't find anyone to replace Dye's big bat Monday night and lost 5-3 to the New York Yankees in the deciding Game 5 of their first-round AL playoff series. "He's meant so much to our team," center fielder Johnny Damon said. "He wanted us to win for him. It's a shame we couldn't." With its cleanup hitter out because of a broken leg, Oakland's Nos. 4, 5 and 6 hitters -- Eric Chavez, Terrence Long and Ron Gant -- were a combined 1-for-12 with no RBIs. Jason Giambi went 4-for-4 in the No. 3 spot, but never crossed home plate. The A's hung Dye's No. 24 jersey in the dugout, and Damon rubbed it for good luck. "At least he was here in spirit," Damon said. "He was pulling for us." That wasn't enough. What the A's needed was Dye's presence in the middle of the lineup. After being acquired from Kansas City in a three-team trade on July 25, the 27-year-old outfielder had 59 RBIs in 61 games and provided needed protection in the lineup for Giambi. Dye batted fourth in 61 of Oakland's final 62 regular-season games, hitting .302 with 13 homers. The team's other cleanup batters hit a combined .208 with 10 home runs and 48 RBIs the entire season. "He's been such a big part of this team since he got here," Oakland manager Art Howe said. "It's just unfortunate. He's such a well-liked guy and such a big part of the club. Everybody was feeling for him." Chavez, who hit just .143 (3-for-21) in the series with five strikeouts and no RBIs, didn't contribute much Monday night. Batting fourth for only the third time all year, he grounded into an inning-ending double play in the top of the first and never advanced Giambi following four straight singles. Gant, who hit his eighth career postseason homer in a Game 2 win at Yankee Stadium, went 0-for-4 with a strikeout and never got the ball out of the infield. Gant had a chance to tie it when he came to bat in the eighth with a runner on second and two outs. But he grounded out against Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, and the A's never got another baserunner. Dye broke his left leg when he fouled a ball just below his knee Sunday during the Athletics' 9-2 loss in Game 4 at Oakland. Dye, who earned a trip to the All-Star game and a Gold Glove last season with Kansas City, finished 3-for-13 in the series with two doubles. He will be in a cast for 8-to-12 weeks, A's trainer Larry Davis said Sunday. Facing Roger Clemens and the three-time defending World Series champions in Game 5, Howe juggled his lineup in an attempt to make up for the loss. Nothing worked. "We talked it over a little bit and spent some time evaluating, and this is what we came up with," Howe said. "Chavez is one of our leading home run and RBI guys." The wild card A's batted a dismal .100 (4-for-40) in the series with runners in scoring position. They hit .273 in those situations during the regular season. The Yankees became the first team to win a best-of-five series after losing the first two games at home. New York moves on to play the Mariners in a rematch of last year's AL championship series. The A's are left to wonder what might have been if Dye didn't get hurt.
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