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 Mr. September Spencer's 9th HR of month gives Yanks 2-0 playoff lead
Posted: Thursday October 01, 1998 01:10 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Just imagine how many games the New York Yankees would have won with this guy in the lineup all year. Rookie Shane Spencer, a virtual unknown a month ago, capped his amazing September by homering in his first postseason at-bat to lead Andy Pettitte and the Yankees past Texas 3-1 Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in their AL division series. "It won't be storybook until it's all over," Spencer said. "We've still got eight or nine more wins to go. "I'm just riding it now, cherishing the moment. Maybe someday I'll look back on it." The 26-year-old Spencer certainly had enough time to look forward to the day he could add his name to the list of Yankees legends. He spent eight full seasons in the minors before finally getting a chance to play in the majors, and made three roundtrips between Class AAA Columbus and New York this year. Promoted for a fourth time on August 31, he hit eight home runs in September and three grand slams in 10 days -- joining Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio among the seven players in team history to hit three slams in an entire year.
Spencer, who hit 119 homers in the minors, earned AL player of the week honors for hitting six homers in the last week. Overall, he hit .373 with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs in helping the Yankees finish with a league-record 114 victories. Spencer happened to notice his name on the lineup card before Wednesday night's game, then made the most of his opportunity. He hit a solo home run off Rick Helling in the second inning, and singled ahead of Scott Brosius' homer for a 3-0 lead in the fourth. "He knows what that piece of wood is made for, and it's not to clean off his shoes," Rangers manager Johnny Oates said. The sellout crowd of 57,360 rewarded the rookie with standing ovations all night, the way fans used to respond to the likes of Reggie and Mickey. "That's a fun story," Yankees outfielder Paul O'Neill said. "It's so much fun, the game's kind of in slow motion when he's up." The Yankees would score no more, but that was plenty for a rejuvenated Pettitte and the bullpen. Pettitte atoned for a season-long struggle and pitched perfectly into the fifth inning. Texas led the league in batting this year, but managed only five hits in a Game 1 shutout and got only five more against the AL's top staff.
"What really feels good is that the critics were there, but my manager stuck with me," Pettitte said. The Yankees will try to sweep the best-of-5 playoff on Friday night in Texas. David Cone (20-7) starts for New York against Aaron Sele (19-11). "We just have to get the bats going," Oates said. Spencer got his chance to start in left field partly because of an ominous medical report on Darryl Strawberry. Told that doctors had "found something" on his colon, Strawberry left the team for more tests Thursday. It is not known when he will rejoin the Yankees. The Rangers had never faced Spencer, and he seemed to catch them by surprise, much the same way he startled Yankees fans with his power down the stretch. Helling, who emerged to tie for the league lead with 20 wins, struck out three of New York's first six batters and threw two fastballs past Spencer for called strikes. On a 2-2 pitch, however, Spencer launched a drive over the 399-foot marker in left-center field for the game's first run. Spencer quickly ran around the bases with his head down, nearly running past home plate when he arrived. The Yankees spilled out of the dugout to greet New York's newest hero.
The humble, aw-shucks Spencer had to be urged by manager Joe Torre and his teammates to take a curtain call. "I could hear them getting loud and it was like, 'Gosh. Oh, no,'" he said. "Joe was the one who told me to go out there." Spencer did it just the way they teach in the minors in his next at-bat, grounding a hard single up the middle. Brosius followed with a drive over the wall in right-center. "A lot of pitchers don't know much about me. They're coming after me," Spencer said. With his big "1.000" average still posted on the scoreboard, Spencer took a called third strike in his final at-bat. Juan Gonzalez doubled to begin the Texas fifth and later scored on a single by Ivan Rodriguez, Pettitte gave up three hits in seven innings, striking out eight and walking none. He improved to 6-0 lifetime at home against Texas and ended a slide in which he had won just four of his last 12 starts. Jeff Nelson got two outs in the eighth and Mariano Rivera closed for his second save of the series. Aside from Spencer and Brosius, who hit an RBI single in a 2-0 win in the opener, Helling had little trouble. He pitched six innings and struck out nine. Notes: Pettitte set his postseason high for strikeouts. He is 3-3 lifetime in postseason play. ... Helling is from Fargo, North Dakota, and attended the same high school as Roger Maris.
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