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Perfect timing Jeter snaps out of Series-long slump with walkoff homer
Updated: Thursday November 01, 2001 5:04 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Derek Jeter saved the season and maybe the dynasty, too. He's banged up. His arm hurts, his hip hurts. Some days he limps. But he's always there. With Game 4 in extra innings, he stood his ground at the plate. He fell behind 0-2 in the count, and then he went to work against Byung-Hyun Kim. Jeter took a ball, fouled off two pitches, then took two more balls. Another foul. And then it came. A long drive to right field, just like the ones Joe Torre dreams about. Bleachers, upper deck, it didn't matter. It went over the wall.
And just like that, the World Series was tied at two games each. "With two strikes, you just try to get a hit, get a runner on," he said in his usual modest manner. Especially when you're 1-for-15 in the World Series, dragging your beat up body on the field every night. "We always feel as though we have a chance to win a game," he said. That's what makes these Yankees, well, the Yankees. "It's just got to be at the top," Torre said. "Surprising things happen. Yet, when you think about it, it doesn't surprise you, because this ballclub never quits. I know it's a cliche, but I've lived it the last six years." Tino Martinez showed Arizona how it's done with two outs in the ninth inning, when he took Kim deep for a two-run homer that tied the score. During the regular season, Kim saved 19 of 23 chances, pretty much automatic. But he never met the Yankees in the postseason with a game, with a season, with a dynasty on the line. "When you get to the postseason, you can throw everything out that you've done in the regular season," Jeter said. The clock had reached 12:04 a.m., and the World Series had slipped into November for the first time. But that 1-for-15 was history, just like last year's World Series MVP award. Jeter couldn't do anything about the past. So he locked in. "In that situation, with two strikes, you just try to get on base for O'Neill," he said. Paul O'Neill never got to bat again. The ball sailed over the wall to give the Yankees a 3-2, 10-inning win. The three-time defending champions had tied the Series at two games apiece. Jeter already was thinking about Game 5. "We need to win tomorrow night," he said. "If we don't win tomorrow, tonight doesn't matter."
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