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Do or die for Yankees
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-09 09:33
NEW YORK (Reuters) - It is do or die time for the New York Yankees and
manager Joe Torre says his players will help in any way possible when their
rain-delayed American League Division Series with the Los Angeles Angels resumes
on Sunday.
Los Angeles, who thwarted the Yankees's bid to reach a fifth successive World
Series by beating them in the 2002 playoffs, put New York on the brink of
elimination on Friday when an 11-7 win gave the Angels a 2-1 lead in the
best-of-five series.
"When you're up against it like we are right now, we certainly look for a
show of hands and we'll take whatever help we can get," Torre told reporters
when asked who would be available from his $200 million squad in Game Four.
Even starting pitcher Randy Johnson, booed by the Yankee Stadium crowd after
a dismal performance on Friday, may be called upon after rain forced Saturday's
scheduled game to be put back 24 hours.
"I think whenever Randy feels physically able to do it, he'll jump in there,"
Torre said of the tall left-hander who worked only three innings on Friday.
"He's done this before where he has volunteered for bullpen work."
The Yankees had a dugout view of Johnson doing precisely that in the 2001
World Series.
Four years ago Johnson won Game Six of the Fall Classic for the Arizona
Diamondbacks before bouncing back the next day with 1 1/3 inning of relief for
the series-clinching win, his third victory of the series.
Johnson, 42, won 17 games this season but has not been the dominant pitcher
he was in Arizona.
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