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Teammates left Cone alone

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Posted: Sunday July 18, 1999 10:06 PM

Most of the Yankees, shown here celebrating Cone's gem, had been through a perfect game when David Wells pitched his last season. AP

NEW YORK (AP) -- David Cone just wanted to be alone. He walked off the mound and straight to the clubhouse after each inning.

No high-fives, no pep talks, no pats on his back.

After all, perfection is nothing to be trifled with.

"The only time I talked to David today, was before the game when we went over the hitters," catcher Joe Girardi said. "We talked about the pitch selection and I didn't say another word the rest of the day. Nobody was brave enough to joke with him."

Cone stayed away from his teammates for the first two outs of each inning, every time changing his T-shirt that was soaked with sweat because of the near 100-degree temperature.

Yankees manager Joe Torre found Cone in his clubhouse office after the sixth inning. Neither had much to say.

"We walked past each other," Torre said. "I just told him he could use my office."

And the pair met for the next three innings, under the exact same circumstances.

"Every inning after that, I made a point of doing it again," Torre said.

When Cone was on the bench just before retaking the mound each inning, his teammates completely ignored him, in keeping with baseball superstitions.

Most of them had been through this when David Wells pitched his perfect game last season for the Yankees.

"I've been spoiled by a couple perfect games, and I think that helped the mood," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said.

Outfielder and designated hitter Chili Davis was the only one who tried to lighten things up.

He was catching Cone during warmups in the eighth inning and told Cone to throw the ball faster.

"'You can throw the ball as hard as you want. I caught in the minors,'" Davis told Cone. "Even something like that, which wasn't very funny, broke the ice."

After completing the perfect game and being mobbed by his teammates, Cone eventually found himself back at his hideout in Torre's office, where he got a congratulatory call from Wells.

Yankee second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, who saved the no-hitter with a backhanded grab in the eighth inning, enjoyed Cone's perfection more than Wells'.

"Today was more exciting for me," Knoblauch said. "The guy is the ultimate teammate and for him to be able to pull this off was amazing. Equally amazing was the fact that this happened on Yogi Berra Day and we actually had Don Larsen here."

 

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