Monday, March 30, 2015

World Series: Did You Know?

Derek Jeter's best chance to lead the Fall Classic in batting average came in 2000. But he fell short. But Derek need make no apoligies. He was always there with the big hit in the clutch for New York. The Yankees needed Mr. Clutch to come through and Derek did. He always knew how to be the man of the hour.

But in his first eleventh hour, the 1996 World Series, Derek batted just .250 against Atlanta. The Braves won the first two games and Derek and Mariano Rivera were looking at this as just a bad experience. Rivera failed to get a save and Jeter wasn't coming through. But, New York turned on the jets and swept through the next four games. Now, all they needed to do was turn on the Jeter in the World Series.

Derek did just that in his next trip their. Better still, the Yankees swept through the San Diego Padres for another jewel in the crown. Jeter made sure it was a sweep as he hit .353. This thing was a group effort all around for New York however. Jeter finished fifth among his teammates in batting average. New York had so much depth, it wasn't easy for the opposition. But it wasn't easy for Derek to stick out, either!

It was much the same the next year. Another Fall Classic, this time against Atlanta. This was another sweep, just like in 1998, but unlike the 1996 World Series. Jeter, if you can believe it, hit exactly .353 again this time. However, Scott Brosius, who'd been the MVP of the 1998 World Series, was out for another. He hit .375. If you can believe it, despite the sweep, it was Atlanta's Bret Boone who trumped 'em both. All Bret did was hit a resounding .538 for the World Series. Derek was well back of that!

But the next year, Atlanta was on a mission of the three-peat. And Derek was on a hitting rampage. After three games, he was hitting .462 to Paul O'Neill's .583. But they both had company. Actually, Tino Martinez was hitting .429, which meant he had MVP credentials with that.

But it would come down to O'Neill and Jeter. In game four, it was the Yankees with a 3-2 win over their cross-town rivals, the Mets. Jeter had a home run and a triple, and boasted his average to 444! However, O'Neill had two hits of his own in only four at-bats. That "dropped" his average up to a still-astonishing .563. Still making Boone look like nothing! The Yankees were up three games to one. They needed just one more win and this Subway Series was theirs!

And they got it, but the problem was Jeter had just one hit in game five. But what a hit it was! Another home run. Bernie Williams also went yard. But it was Paul O'Neill with no hits. Brought down to earth. Alas, that couldn't stop him from ending this Fall Classic with a batting average of .474. Derek was left empty-handed again. His final batting average was .409.

But that didn't stop him from taking home MVP honours. It was a proud first for Derek. He'd hit two key home runs in the last two games. Other than Williams, the only other Yankee to go yard was Brosius. Certainly, they and O'Neill were key contributors. Jeter didn't hit as well as O'Neill, or even Bubba Trammell or Todd Zeile of the Mets, who each batted .400. But Derek, as always, had provided the lift that the Yankees had needed. He may not have had the highest batting average, but his play did give the Yankees high hopes!

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