...I just think Joe Torre is a hell of a coach and class act. Everytime I hear him give an interview, win or lose--I come away impressed with how he carries himself. I think he keeps his team together and shields them from the pressure a lot more than known--plenty of other rich baseball teams/franchises have one or none World Series trophies since 1990s. Side note I also think the Paul Oneal fan chant in Game 5 was one of coolest sports scenes I have watched, thank god for RJ and Schilling that year though. I hate them, but there is a lot of respect about them too.
I agree about Joe Torre. The man is a class act. I feel sorry for him in that he has to deal with a meglomaniac like Steinbrenner.
Like when Grady Little asked the ump to have Roger Clemens change his MLB-approved mitt when he was going for win 300??
I didn't like Torre until I heard what he did after the 'Stros put that legendary no-hitter on them. A bottle of niiiiiice champagne in each of the pitcher's lockers. Class act.
6 Astros pitchers combine to handcuff Yankees By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES NEW YORK -- Watching Octavio Dotel put the Astros an inning closer to history, Billy Wagner could only think about the legend of the place teammate Brad Ausmus proudly calls a national monument. Wagner and the rest of the Astros arrived at Yankee Stadium for the first time in franchise history this week eager to explore the myth of Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig. By the ninth inning Wednesday night, Wagner nervously headed to the mound to finish writing a new chapter in the lore that is New York Yankees baseball. "I'm sitting out there going, `Oh, my goodness,' " Wagner said. "I have a shot to finish the no-hitter -- at Yankee Stadium. Really, it was just amazing. There's no greater place to be part of history. This is a great book." The book on the Astros' 8-0 victory Wednesday night had six chapters: Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Dotel and Wagner as six men combined to throw a no-hitter for the first time in Major League Baseball history. "You can't expect to no-hit any major-league team," Astros manager Jimy Williams said. "But sometimes it happens. But usually with one (pitcher), maybe two. But not six. It just happened." The Astros have now thrown 10 no-hitters in franchise history, the last being Darryl Kile's 7-1 victory on Sept. 8, 1993. The Yankees have been no-hit only seven times in their rich history, and they had gone exactly 6,890 games since being no-hit on Sept. 20, 1958, by Hall of Fame knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm of the Baltimore Orioles. The last time New York was held hitless at Yankee Stadium was on Aug. 25, 1952, by Detroit's Virgil Trucks. The Astros' no-hitter came on the 65th anniversary of Johnny Vander Meer's first no-hitter. The only pitcher to throw consecutive no-hitters, he started that streak on June 11, 1938, for Cincinnati against the Boston Braves. "It's embarrassing," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. "We should be embarrassed. If you're not embarrassed something's wrong with you." "This is one of the worst games I've ever been involved in," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "I can't find a reason for what happened today," he said. "The whole game stunk." "It's certainly an unusual game," Williams said after the Astros evened their first interleague series against the Yankees at one game apiece before a crowd of 29,905. By the second inning, however, Williams was merely trying to figure out a way to get through the night with his bullpen after Oswalt exited with a groin strain. With so many Astros pitchers strolling to and from the Yankee Stadium mound, Brad Ausmus didn't even realize the history in the making until about the sixth inning. Oswalt retired the side in order in the first, but he left with a right groin strain in the second. With a 1-1 count on leadoff hitter Jorge Posada, Munro took over and came through with 2 2/3 innings. Munro grew up in Flushing, N.Y., near Shea Stadium. He was a fan of the Mets and rooted against the Yankees. "This is a get-you-back game," he said. Righthander Saarloos relieved Munro with two outs and a man on in the fourth, throwing 1 1/3 innings. Lidge followed with two scoreless innings, striking out two while retiring the six Yankees he faced in order. Dotel handled the eighth, striking out four to tie a major-league record and becoming the second pitcher in Astros history to strike out four batters in one inning. Mike Scott was the first on Sept. 3, 1986, at Chicago. Dotel had to strike out four because Alfonso Soriano reached on a strikeout-wild pitch after swinging through a slider that broke away from Ausmus. Dotel responded by striking out Jeter and Jason Giambi to end the inning. "If they get a hit, who cares?" Dotel said. "I just wanted to do my thing." By the time Wagner took over, Oswalt, Munro, Saarloos, Lidge and Dotel nervously watched from the couches in the visitors' dugout. After the game, all six pitchers, some in shorts and T-shirts, posed for a picture by the third-base dugout. The closest the Yankees came to getting a hit was when Soriano blooped a flyball to left field off Saarloos with two outs in the fifth, but Lance Berkman dived forward like a wide receiver and made a nifty catch. Third baseman Geoff Blum made a barehanded pickup on Juan Rivera in the third inning and threw him out at first. Equally important, the Astros were well in command. They got all the offense they needed in the first when Craig Biggio scored on Jeff Weaver's high 1-2 wild pitch to Lance Berkman. Jose Vizcaino's sacrifice fly in the second made the score 2-0. Berkman put the Astros ahead 4-0 with a two-run home run into the third deck behind the right field wall in the third inning. Ausmus scored on an error in the seventh inning to put the Astros up 5-0, and his RBI single made it 6-0 in the eighth. The Astros capped the scoring on Richard Hidalgo's two-run double to center field in the ninth inning. Then Wagner struck out Posada to lead off the bottom of the ninth. "I can't explain it," Posada said. "It was awful." Bubba Trammell, hitting for Robin Ventura, also struck out. Hideki Matsui, the Yankees' Japanese outfielder, grounded out to first to seal the no-hitter. Wagner covered first, took Jeff Bagwell's toss and pumped his left hand in joy. Second baseman Jeff Kent, not realizing what had transpired, looked at Wagner as though he were silly. "What's amazing," Wagner said, "is that most of our team didn't know about it." The crowd at Yankee Stadium was well aware, however, and the Astros appreciated the standing ovation they received. For one night, at least, the place and the history belonged to them. By the time the Astros returned to their clubhouse, the Yankees had left a bottle of champagne in front of the locker of all six pitchers. "That's how the Yankees are, they're pretty classy," Wagner said.
Exactly. I obviously remember it being a story and that it was proven false at a later date. So, an article from the day after doesn't really prove anything.
It was the Astros traveling secretary that had the champagne sent to the Astros locker room, NOT the Yankees.
Found the link: Afterward, each of the six pitchers had a bottle of champagne placed in front of his locker. Visiting clubhouse manager Lou Cucuzza said the Astros had him order the champagne from the upstairs Club restaurant after the final out was recorded. http://www.nydailynews.com/06-12-2003/sports/baseball/story/91722p-83357c.html
