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Beckett Pitches Marlins to World Series Win
Sunday, October 26, 2003
NEW YORK  The wild-card Florida Marlins (search) stunned the New York Yankees (search) Saturday night, winning Game 6 of the World Series 2-0 and taking the 2003 championship.
Credit the able right arm and youthful determination of the Marlins' ace pitcher and the series' most valuable player, Josh Beckett . On just three days' rest, the 23-year-old threw a five-hitter, giving his team their second title in seven seasons and victory over a foe with the highest payroll in Major League Baseball -- roughly three times Florida's relatively paltry $52.2 million.
"You'll believe me now that anything can happen," Marlins manager Jack McKeon (search) said. "This guy has the guts of a burglar."
McKeon was second-guessed the moment he said Beckett would start Game 6 on three days' rest. But the 23-year-old fastballer, called "Rook" by his manager, made McKeon look brilliant.
Beckett outdueled Andy Pettitte (search) and defeated a Yankees team that had won four of the last seven crowns, never allowing a runner past second base.
"They're a tough squad. They have 27 championships," Beckett said.
His pitching was better than his math. Because of him, the Yankees are stuck at 26.
"That kid showed that he was going to be a great one down the road, if he hasn't already," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "When you're that young, you don't know what fear is."
Not since 1981 had another team won a Series championship on the field at Yankee Stadium. When the Los Angeles Dodgers did it then, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner apologized to the city for the dismal performance.
"It makes you sick," Yankees star Derek Jeter said of the Marlins' celebration. "How else can you feel?"
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and former star Reggie Jackson, chins resting on hands, watched from a box with the same incredulous look on their face.
"I feel emptiness," Torre said.
It was as if the sellout crowd of 55,773 couldn't believe what it was seeing -- then again, Florida has been an upset special this October in improving to 6-0 lifetime in postseason series.
The Marlins' postgame celebration spilled from the clubhouse back onto the field, where players and their families hugged and kissed, and their kids circled the bases.
Even Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria took a victory lap -- and with good reason.
After the franchise was stripped of its stars in cost-cutting moves following its 1997 championship, Loria came in later and helped rebuild it. Though the Marlins were outspent 3-to-1 by the Yankees, they brought in the right mix of players to put them back on top.
"In our mind, it's not an upset at all. In everybody else's mind, it's a humongous upset. Nobody gave us a chance," said Jeff Conine, the only Florida player who also was a member of that 1997 team.
The resilient Marlins dropped the opener to Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants in the division before winning three in a row. They overcame a 3-1 deficit in the NL championship series, beating Cubs aces Mark Prior and Kerry Wood at Wrigley Field.
In this 100th World Series game at Yankee Stadium, Beckett and the Marlins never gave the Yankees much of a chance. Florida became the fastest team in the post-expansion era to win two titles, having joined the majors in 1993.
Beckett finished 1-1 in this Series. He lost Game 3 despite 7 1-3 impressive innings.
In the NLCS, Beckett saved the Marlins' season with his first major league shutout, a two-hitter against Chicago in Game 5. He then came back on two days' rest to pitch four innings on one-hit relief in Game 7.
Beckett's shutout ended the career of the player he grew up idolizing -- Roger Clemens. The Yankees pitcher is retiring, with his next stop the Hall of Fame.
Beckett seemed to take it all in stride, speaking with little emotion afterward.
"I can't believe we don't have a game tomorrow. Not to say that winning the world championship isn't a big thing," he said. "It's kind of relief to get to go deer hunting now."
Luis Castillo snapped his 0-for-14 rut with an RBI single that saw Alex Gonzalez make a neat slide home in the fifth and Juan Encarnacion added a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
That was plenty for Beckett, who fielded Jorge Posada's tapper up the first-base line and tagged him for the final out. He struck out nine, featuring a 97 mph fastball, and walked two.
In the past five postseasons, pitchers working on three or fewer days' rest had been atrocious. In 37 such starts, they were 6-20 with a 5.93 ERA.
But Beckett and the 72-year-old McKeon threw that wisdom to the wind. It was just the kind of free thinking that made McKeon so successful this season -- the Marlins were 19-29 shortly after he took over for the fired Jeff Torborg in mid-May, and headed toward a last-place finish before he took them to the title.
"Nobody gave us a chance and here they are world champions," said McKeon, the oldest manager to win a World Series title.
Pettitte was sharp through the first four innings, working around an early double by former Yankees farmhand Mike Lowell.
Pettitte started strongly in the fifth, too, retiring the first two batters before the Marlins struck.
Gonzalez singled -- yet another hit from a ninth-place hitter whose bat is headed for the Hall, based on his 12th-inning homer in Game 4 -- and moved to second when Juan Pierre singled.
That brought up Castillo, only 3-for-23 in the Series, and he quickly fell behind in the count 0-2. Posada then made a trip to the mound to visit Pettitte and while the catcher and pitcher talked, on-deck hitter Ivan Rodriguez took several steps toward Castillo to shout some sort of encouragement.
Moments later, Castillo poked an opposite-field single to right and third-base coach Ozzie Guillen immediately waved Gonzalez home.
Right fielder Karim Garcia made a strong, one-hop throw to the plate that beat Gonzalez. But Posada, who almost always tries to avoid collisions, caught the ball a step up the first-base line and had to reach back on a swipe tag.
Gonzalez saw his opening and slid wide, reaching to touch the plate with his left hand as he tumbled past. It was a close play, but there was no argument for the Yankees as umpire Tim Welke called it correctly.
"I thought Jorgie may have come up the line a little bit," Torre said.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,101238,00.html
Sunday, October 26, 2003
NEW YORK  The wild-card Florida Marlins (search) stunned the New York Yankees (search) Saturday night, winning Game 6 of the World Series 2-0 and taking the 2003 championship.
Credit the able right arm and youthful determination of the Marlins' ace pitcher and the series' most valuable player, Josh Beckett . On just three days' rest, the 23-year-old threw a five-hitter, giving his team their second title in seven seasons and victory over a foe with the highest payroll in Major League Baseball -- roughly three times Florida's relatively paltry $52.2 million.
"You'll believe me now that anything can happen," Marlins manager Jack McKeon (search) said. "This guy has the guts of a burglar."
McKeon was second-guessed the moment he said Beckett would start Game 6 on three days' rest. But the 23-year-old fastballer, called "Rook" by his manager, made McKeon look brilliant.
Beckett outdueled Andy Pettitte (search) and defeated a Yankees team that had won four of the last seven crowns, never allowing a runner past second base.
"They're a tough squad. They have 27 championships," Beckett said.
His pitching was better than his math. Because of him, the Yankees are stuck at 26.
"That kid showed that he was going to be a great one down the road, if he hasn't already," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "When you're that young, you don't know what fear is."
Not since 1981 had another team won a Series championship on the field at Yankee Stadium. When the Los Angeles Dodgers did it then, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner apologized to the city for the dismal performance.
"It makes you sick," Yankees star Derek Jeter said of the Marlins' celebration. "How else can you feel?"
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and former star Reggie Jackson, chins resting on hands, watched from a box with the same incredulous look on their face.
"I feel emptiness," Torre said.
It was as if the sellout crowd of 55,773 couldn't believe what it was seeing -- then again, Florida has been an upset special this October in improving to 6-0 lifetime in postseason series.
The Marlins' postgame celebration spilled from the clubhouse back onto the field, where players and their families hugged and kissed, and their kids circled the bases.
Even Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria took a victory lap -- and with good reason.
After the franchise was stripped of its stars in cost-cutting moves following its 1997 championship, Loria came in later and helped rebuild it. Though the Marlins were outspent 3-to-1 by the Yankees, they brought in the right mix of players to put them back on top.
"In our mind, it's not an upset at all. In everybody else's mind, it's a humongous upset. Nobody gave us a chance," said Jeff Conine, the only Florida player who also was a member of that 1997 team.
The resilient Marlins dropped the opener to Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants in the division before winning three in a row. They overcame a 3-1 deficit in the NL championship series, beating Cubs aces Mark Prior and Kerry Wood at Wrigley Field.
In this 100th World Series game at Yankee Stadium, Beckett and the Marlins never gave the Yankees much of a chance. Florida became the fastest team in the post-expansion era to win two titles, having joined the majors in 1993.
Beckett finished 1-1 in this Series. He lost Game 3 despite 7 1-3 impressive innings.
In the NLCS, Beckett saved the Marlins' season with his first major league shutout, a two-hitter against Chicago in Game 5. He then came back on two days' rest to pitch four innings on one-hit relief in Game 7.
Beckett's shutout ended the career of the player he grew up idolizing -- Roger Clemens. The Yankees pitcher is retiring, with his next stop the Hall of Fame.
Beckett seemed to take it all in stride, speaking with little emotion afterward.
"I can't believe we don't have a game tomorrow. Not to say that winning the world championship isn't a big thing," he said. "It's kind of relief to get to go deer hunting now."
Luis Castillo snapped his 0-for-14 rut with an RBI single that saw Alex Gonzalez make a neat slide home in the fifth and Juan Encarnacion added a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
That was plenty for Beckett, who fielded Jorge Posada's tapper up the first-base line and tagged him for the final out. He struck out nine, featuring a 97 mph fastball, and walked two.
In the past five postseasons, pitchers working on three or fewer days' rest had been atrocious. In 37 such starts, they were 6-20 with a 5.93 ERA.
But Beckett and the 72-year-old McKeon threw that wisdom to the wind. It was just the kind of free thinking that made McKeon so successful this season -- the Marlins were 19-29 shortly after he took over for the fired Jeff Torborg in mid-May, and headed toward a last-place finish before he took them to the title.
"Nobody gave us a chance and here they are world champions," said McKeon, the oldest manager to win a World Series title.
Pettitte was sharp through the first four innings, working around an early double by former Yankees farmhand Mike Lowell.
Pettitte started strongly in the fifth, too, retiring the first two batters before the Marlins struck.
Gonzalez singled -- yet another hit from a ninth-place hitter whose bat is headed for the Hall, based on his 12th-inning homer in Game 4 -- and moved to second when Juan Pierre singled.
That brought up Castillo, only 3-for-23 in the Series, and he quickly fell behind in the count 0-2. Posada then made a trip to the mound to visit Pettitte and while the catcher and pitcher talked, on-deck hitter Ivan Rodriguez took several steps toward Castillo to shout some sort of encouragement.
Moments later, Castillo poked an opposite-field single to right and third-base coach Ozzie Guillen immediately waved Gonzalez home.
Right fielder Karim Garcia made a strong, one-hop throw to the plate that beat Gonzalez. But Posada, who almost always tries to avoid collisions, caught the ball a step up the first-base line and had to reach back on a swipe tag.
Gonzalez saw his opening and slid wide, reaching to touch the plate with his left hand as he tumbled past. It was a close play, but there was no argument for the Yankees as umpire Tim Welke called it correctly.
"I thought Jorgie may have come up the line a little bit," Torre said.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,101238,00.html
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