“BERNIE GOES BOOM” and “WHEN DRUCE WAS ZEUS”
#956/#955
956. NEW YORK YANKEES VS ANAHEIM ANGELS
AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES
GAME ONE
YANKEE STADIUM
OCTOBER 1, 2002
QUALITY OF PLAY—5.69
DRAMA—7.47
STAR POWER—6.75
CONTEMPORARY IMPORT—7.85
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE—7.04
LOCAL IMPACT—7.39
TOTAL: 42.19
“BERNIE GOES BOOM”
2001 was, of course, a season about more than simply baseball for the Yankees and their fans. All were affected by 9/11 and the playoffs that followed were a nightly purification ceremony. The fact it all ended with a fluky Game Seven loss in the Arizona desert seemed to scarcely matter, at least in the moment. But there was no doubt that everyone wanted order restored come the 2002 postseason.
In order to bolster that possibility, the Yankees signed Jason Giambi, the 2000 MVP (and a close second in 2001) to play first base and attack the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium. He shaved his long hair and goatee to Yankees standards and immediately blasted 41 homers with a 1.033 OPS, including a walk-off grand slam against the Twins that was the highlight of another awesome offensive campaign.
Paced by Giambi, the Yanks smoothly weathered the transition from the dynastic teams of the late-90s. Local heroes Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius and Chuck Knoblauch all departed after 2001. Nevertheless, New York cruised to another A.L. East title, finishing 10.5 games in front of Boston, and was the top seed in the playoffs, just ahead of Giambi’s former team, the Moneyball Oakland A’s.
That meant the playoffs opened with a clash against the 99-win wild card, the Anaheim Angels, who led the A.L. West for most of the summer before Oakland won 20 in a row and overtook them late. The Angels were led by their prodigious offense, but few imagined they would be anything more than a speed bump for the Yanks when the Division Series opened on a hot and humid Tuesday night, October 1, 2002, at 161st Street and River Avenue.
As expected, the bats were the story. In a back and forth affair, starters Roger Clemons and Jerrod Washburn were hit hard and often.
Anaheim outfielder Troy Glaus should have been the hero. He homered twice in the game, including a go-ahead dinger off Ramiro Mendoza to lead off the top of the eighth inning, as Anaheim went ahead 5-4.
But in the finest tradition of the franchise for whom “Five O’Clock Thunder” was coined for their (day game) late inning heroics, the Yankees exploded in the bottom of the eighth. With Ben Weber, whose angry pre-pitch windup earned him some brief notoriety, on the mound, the Yanks put two on with two out. Scott Schoeneweis replaced Weber to pitch to Giambi, playing in his first postseason game as a Yankee. He had already homered in the game, becoming a “true Yankee” right off the bat.
It was exactly 11:30 PM, somewhat later than 5:00, when The Giambino lined a hard shot off the glove of first baseman Scott Spezio. The ball deflected behind the second baseman, Adam Kennedy, who was headed toward the first base bag. That allowed the tying run to score. As the Angels top closer, Troy Percival, watched from the bullpen, yet another pitcher, lefty Brendan Donnelly, entered, and he faced the modern version of Tommy Henrich, that most clutch of Yankee hitters.
That would be Bernie Williams, clubber of 22 postseason home runs in 545 plate appearances, more than any other Yankee. Now he blasted one of his most memorable, number 17 of those 22, a three-run shot to right to put the home club up 8-5. The Stadium seemed ready to shake free of its foundations, so loud was the roar from the assembled 56,710. Bernie was one of the sole holdovers from the initial championship team under Joe Torre, so it was fitting this moment belonged to him.
“It happened. Like magic,” wrote Mike Lupica in the Daily News, capturing the essence of that Yankee aura that still held sway, at least for the moment, over baseball.
Torre went to the Hammer, Mo Rivera, to close the game, even with a three-run lead, and of course he slammed the door. The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the series, and few doubted they were en route to yet another pennant and their fifth title in seven years.
AFTERMATH
As enumerated earlier on this list, the path to another World Series hit a major pothole when Anaheim stole Game Two in Yankee Stadium, then bludgeoned the Yanks in Southern California to eliminate the Bombers on the way to the Angels’ lone championship.
Honoring the classic if cliched pre-series bet between mayors, NYC’s Mike Bloomberg sent Anaheim’s Tom Daly a crate of Nathan’s hot dogs and H&H bagels. A Yankees win would have resulted in oranges and chili peppers headed east. Needless to say, Daly got by far the better of the deal.
WHAT THEY SAID
“It’s a great thing for us to come back with two out and nobody on because I think it’s going to set the tone for the whole series.”
—Bernie Williams
FURTHER READING:
Rhythms of the Game: The Link Between Musical and Athletic Performance by Bernie Williams with Dave Gluck and Bob Thompson
VIDEO:
955. NEW YORK RANGERS VS WASHINGTON CAPITALS
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
PATRICK DIVISION FINALS
GAME FIVE
APRIL 27, 1990
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
QUALITY OF PLAY—7.54
DRAMA—7.89
STAR POWER—5.76
CONTEMPORARY IMPORT—7.25
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE—6.30
LOCAL IMPACT—7.46
TOTAL: 42.20
“WHEN DRUCE WAS ZEUS”
John Druce played parts or all of 14 seasons in the NHL, but he is best remembered for a single postseason, 1990. The journeyman right winger’s first playoff appearance still leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of Rangers fans thanks an incredible scoring binge from a most unlikely source.
Druce was called up to the Washington Capitals midway through the 1989-90 season, and he was a minor offensive threat, scoring eight goals in 45 games. The Caps finished in third in the Patrick Division, and figured to make a brief playoff stay. They whipped New Jersey in the first round in six games, however, in part thanks to Druce, who filled in for top-liner Dino Ciccarelli. He scored three goals, two of them game-winners, and set up several more against the Devils, a bravura performance that keyed the upset. That set up a Patrick Division Final against the Rangers, who exorcised their blue and orange demons by taking out the crosstown Islanders in the first round.
The higher-seeded Rangers took the opener at Madison Square Garden behind a hat trick by Bernie Nicholls, yet another in the long line of players who starred for one franchise (in Bernie’s case, the L.A. Kings) before closing out their career on Broadway. Druce scored his fourth playoff goal in the loss.
But he was just getting warmed up. The Caps took Game Two thanks to a Druce hat trick. “I haven’t had a hat trick since midget hockey” said the stunned Druce afterwards. With the series moved to the Cap Center in Landover, MD, Druce scored twice more (with two assists) in a Game Three blowout as the Caps put seven goals past Mike Richter, and—yes—yet two more (giving Druce eight in the series, matching his season-long output) in the Game Four 4-3 overtime thriller that put the DC skaters up 3-1 in the series.
New York was thus on thin ice (oof) as they needed a Game Five win back at MSG to survive. There would be no “Druuuuuuuuuuce” chants from the NYC crowd, but the Rangers needed to find a way to ice down (double oof) the enflamed Capital winger. No one could quite figure out how Druce had turned into Wayne Gretzky all of a sudden, but his teammates knew he was a streaky player.
"I mean, he was one of those quiet kids, beautiful wife, great family guy,” recalled Rod Langway, the Hall of Fame defenseman who was with the Capitals in ‘90. “And he was one of those nervous guys, you could just tell when he wasn't gonna score a goal. And then all of the sudden his attitude changed; he got the first goal, and then a hat trick, two goals. We knew he was on fire.”
The usual throng turned out at MSG on a sticky and warm Friday night, April 27, 1990, to hope the home team could extend the series. Goalie John Vanbiesbrouck did his part, playing a sensational game and holding the Caps to a single goal in regulation. But Caps netminder Mike Liut was just as solid, beaten only by a third period goal by New York defenseman Normand Rochefort. The game went to overtime tied at 1.
In the extra period the Beezer made several amazing stops, including on a 2-on-1 against Druce. But the radioactive Cap was too hot to be stopped. With six and a half minutes gone by, Geoff Courtnall threw a puck in front of the net. Rangers defenseman Ron Greschner tried to keep Druce from getting it, but Druce fought him off, got his stick to it, and redirected the puck past a helpless Vanbiesbrouck to end the game, and the series. It marked the first time in franchise history the Capitals had advanced past the division round in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Druce had scored his ninth goal in just five games. He was booed by the fans but received plaudits on the handshake line from his amazed opponents.
The depressed Rangers coach, Roger Neilson, spoke for all the Rangers when he said of Druce, “Every time he stuck out his stick, the puck went in.”
AFTERMATH
Druce became a “phenomenon of the first order” in the Washington Post’s phrase, in the wake of the series. He was written up in Sports Illustrated and The Sporting News, and became the most popular athlete in the District for a brief moment.
Druce later revealed death threats he received from those classy Ranger Rooters, including a letter that read “You leave the rink you better have somebody by your side or your dead.” (sic) Fortunately, Druce only became aware of the threats weeks later after the season ended.
DruceMania came to an abrupt end in the Conference Finals. Big John kept scoring, adding a pair of goals to give him 14 for the playoffs (the record for a single playoff season is 19, held by Jari Kurri and Reggie Leach), but the Caps were swept by the Boston Bruins to bring down the curtain on their season. Still, anytime an otherwise obscure player goes on a postseason hot streak, Druce is recalled.
WHAT THEY SAID
"You know what, I'm honored, I'm honored that people remember that. The best thing about it is it could happen to anybody. If somebody's in the zone and somebody gets hot...it could be anybody this year, anybody could step it up and light it up. Which is great. It's just so fun to see. You cheer for guys like that, you cheer for the guys you don't expect it from, you know?"
— John Druce to the DC Sportsbog, the Washington Post’s sports blog.
FURTHER READING:
“Druce on the Loose” by Paul Fichtenbaum, Sports Illustrated
VIDEO:
https://www.nhl.com/wild/video/legends-look-back-john-druce/t-293178128/c-5399340