By Kirby Arnold
Herald Writer
NEW YORK – Paul Abbott said he took the mound with nothing working.
His changeup wasn’t changing, his slider wasn’t sliding and his curve … well, you get the idea.
“I really didn’t have anything working that I could rely on,” said Abbott, who pitched one of the most unique games in Seattle Mariners postseason history.
Abbott held the New York Yankees hitless through five innings, but was finished by his wildness and a high pitch count that resulted in eight walks.
Still, the Yankees didn’t hit anything hard off Abbott even though he pitched with runners on base in all but the first inning.
“Basically I didn’t want to give in to them and just give them something good to hit,” Abbott said. “I didn’t feel overpowering. I didn’t feel like I had a great curveball, slider, changeup. I just threw everything I could at them.”
By the time he got out of the fifth inning, Abbott had thrown 97 pitches and knew he wouldn’t go on despite the fact he had a no-hitter.
“It was my first start in three weeks,” Abbott said. “I only had five innings in three weeks so I knew my pitch count was probably going to be limited anyway.”
He said it didn’t feel like he threw 97 pitches.
“I thought I threw about 140,” he said of an outing like no other in his pro career.
“Maybe A-ball or maybe my senior year in high school,” Abbott said. “It wasn’t the most pleasurable of outings out there, being in that situation in Yankee Stadium with guys on base.
“But I stuck to my game plan. I didn’t want to give in at any time and I guess it worked.”
Sobering tour: On the day of one of the biggest games of their lives, baseball seemed very unimportant to several Seattle Mariners who got a chilling perspective of the Sept. 11 tragedy at the World Trade Center.
About eight players, plus manager Lou Piniella, some coaches and a few members of the front office, went to Firehouse 24, Ladder Co. No. 1, the home base for several firefighters who were lost on Sept. 11.
The Mariners spent about an hour talking with firefighters, then were invited by a member of the New York Police Department to tour Ground Zero.
Repeating the process: As the Mariners headed onto the field for batting practice Sunday night, coach Lee Elia walked to a spot beyond the end of the dugout and leaned against a railing.
He did the same thing Saturday night before the Mariners beat the Yankees 14-3.
“I’m doing it again tonight because I’m a little superstitious,” Elia said.
After Sunday night’s brutal loss, chances are good Elia will find another pregame location.
Hug for a hero: After he met at home plate with umpires before Sunday’s game, Piniella jogged to the box next to the Yankee dugout and gave a warm embrace to New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
The fans at Yankee Stadium cheered Piniella as he approached the mayor, then broke into a resounding chorus of “Looouuuu!” as he headed back to the Seattle dugout.
A loose bunch: Mark McLemore trotted in from the outfield during the Mariners’ batting practice Sunday and stopped for a few moments to offer pointers to a few TV camera operators.
He stood behind each camera and gave an approving nod, then went back to his business of preparing for the game.
“Someone should tell that guy to lighten up,” someone told Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln, who was talking to three reporters nearby.
Such looseness has been a trademark of this Mariners team.
“Our team doesn’t get too high or too low,” Piniella said. “I’ve said many times during the course of the year that if you have not seen the ballgame, you can’t come into our clubhouse and know whether we won or lost.”
It was fairly obvious from the silence Sunday that the Marines had lost a tough one.
Celebrity watch: Among the 56,375 at Sunday night’s game were actor/director Billy Crystal and tycoon Donald Trump in Yankee owner George Steinbrenner’s box. Actor Bill Murray was seated in the second row behind home plate, one row behind singer Paul McCartney.
When the old Beatles hit “I Saw Her Standing There” was played over the stadium speakers after the second inning, McCartney was shown on the big screen and he broke into song along with the crowd.
What mystique? Everywhere a ballplayer goes in Yankee Stadium, there are reminders of the greatness in his midst.
Outside the stadium is a huge sign that tells of the 26 World Series championships won here. Then there are photos and quotations from the eras of Ruth, DiMaggio, Ford, Mantle and Reggie.
It’s enough to make the current Yankees, winners of the last three World Series, seem as invincible as their predecessors. It’s also enough to make Piniella cringe, which is one of the reasons he called the brief team meeting before Game 3.
“One of the things we did in my meeting was to dispel that Yankee mystique, or try to, anyway,” Piniella said. “But you’ve got to tip your hat to them. You don’t win (the Series) four years out of five like they have.”
“But,” Piniella said with emphasis, “they can be beaten. The thing about mystique is you can’t play with your mind. If you go out and play well enough on the field, mystique, and what a manager says or doesn’t say, those don’t win ballgames.”
Nobody who was in on Piniella’s meeting Saturday would reveal exactly what he said, but they said it was a message that helped keep the team loose. Piniella downplays his impact.
“It’s easy to say things,” he said. “It’s hard to go out and get them accomplished on the field. The players get it done on the field, plain and simple.”
Ichiro’s impact: The Yankees have been reluctant to throw many pitches in the strike zone to Mariners leadoff hitter Ichiro Suzuki in this series, and that’s fine with Piniella.
“I hope they keep walking him,” Piniella said. “Let him get on base.”
They walked Suzuki twice in Game 3, including once intentionally, and he scored both times. The challenge for Suzuki has been to show enough discipline to watch four balls. He is a put-it-in-play hitter who walked just 30 times in the regular season.
“With Ichiro, what you want him to do is get on base, whether it’s a walk, whether it’s a base hit or whatever,” Piniella said. “It puts a little more pressure on the defense and it puts more pressure on the pitcher to hold him and get the ball quicker to the catcher. It changes the equation of the game somewhat.
“When he gets on base and we can get our speed people on and start running around a little bit, it can put some pressure on teams. That’s one of the reasons that we have been successful.”
From the bleachers: Fans in the right-center field bleachers at Yankee Stadium are famous for their creative chants, cheers and jeers.
In the top of the first inning of every game, they chant the name of each Yankee starter and don’t stop until that player acknowledges their call.
Most of all, however, those rowdy folks are renowned for the way they ride opposing players. Mariners right fielder Ichiro has gotten the brunt of it this series, the most common chant being: “I-chi-ro, I-chi-ro, I-chi-ro … You s—!”
By the end of Saturday’s 14-3 Mariners victory, those fans not only had turned on the Yankee players, they chided themselves.
“Yankees s—! Yankees s—!” they cheered.
And, “Fans s—! Fans s—!”
They stuck with the game, however. By the eighth inning of Saturday’s blowout, the bleachers remained nearly full. The rest of the stadium contained perhaps only a quarter of the original crowd.
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