from the New York Times

September 10, 1998

By BUSTER OLNEY

BOSTON -- Ball in hand, Jorge Posada waited on the mound for the Yankees' closer, Mariano Rivera, to jog in from the bullpen. With the Yankees three outs from a division title, the visitors' dugout was overflowing with players poised to run on the field and celebrate a summer of excellence. "Let's finish this," Posada said to Rivera, pounding the ball into the pitcher's glove. "Let's do this right now."

And when John Valentin grounded out to complete the Yankees' 7-5 victory over the Red Sox, first baseman Tino Martinez thrust an arm into the air and the Yankees celebrated, more than they probably thought they would, after running away with the American League East.

The last time the Yankees clinched a division championship on the road, on Oct. 2, 1978, a light hitter named Bucky Dent played shortstop. Dent lofted a three-run homer here that day and the Yankees went crazy, wildly shouting in the eerie silence of Fenway Park, at the end of a memorable race. This was not quite so suspenseful.

The Yankees are 102-41 and lead the Red Sox by 20 1/2 games, matching the biggest lead in club history, set in 1941. The Yankees clinched on the earliest date in their history since the advent of division play in 1969. The '41 Yankees clinched the American League pennant on Sept. 4.

Tonight, they hugged and high-fived on the field, congregating between the mound and second base. But the real mayhem started when they retreated to the visitors' clubhouse, where all the walls were covered with plastic and five cases of Champagne awaited dispersal.

Martinez sprayed the pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre with the bubbly. Posada poured a bottle of beer down the back of shortstop Derek Jeter, who slugged two home runs. Orlando Hernández flicked suds on Chuck Knoblauch. Tim Raines and Darryl Strawberry, players nearing the end of their careers, smoked cigars together. Don Zimmer, the bench coach, hid in Manager Joe Torre's office, knowing he would be a prime target for Champagne spray if he were to emerge.

They were all happy, but as if programmed, they all repeated the same mantra. "This is our goal, we wanted to win the A.L. East," Jeter said. "We can celebrate for a day, but now our goal is to win the World Series."

Said Torre: "Everybody realizes you can only get just so excited with this. But we can take a day and enjoy this."

The players all probably realized but refused to acknowledge what everybody in baseball thought in June, that the Yankees would run away with the division. Torre, however, felt strongly that they deserved to celebrate. He met with the players before the game and suggested that when they clinched the division, they should be careful. Please don't hurt each other, but enjoy it, he told the Yankees. You earned it.

Some poor teams play above expectations, some good teams don't reach expectations, but the Yankees accomplished what only a few teams in history have. They are a collection of superb players who have played extremely hard and maintained peak concentration over the long, hot summer. They are a great team that has overachieved.

The Yankees lost their first three games of the season, prompting an intense team meeting in Seattle before a game against the Mariners April 7. The Yankees won that night and won 21 of the 23 games that followed, launching themselves into the record books. In winning their seventh East Division title, the Yankees are 102-41, on a pace to win 116 games and match the major league single-season record for victories.

Their inevitable clinching celebration Wednesday night nearly was postponed another night, even after they took a big early lead. The Yankees exploded against Tim Wakefield, Boston's knuckleballing starting pitcher. Jeter bashed a 418-foot home run to center in the first inning, and two innings later he slugged another, to about the same spot but not quite as far. The Yankees added three more runs in the fourth inning, making their lead 5-0; the Champagne drinkers among them probably started imagining the bubbly.

But Hernández started picking at the corners and walked a couple of hitters, and suddenly Scott Hatteberg ripped a monstrous grand slam, cutting the lead to 5-4. Trot Nixon and Donnie Sadler, both rookies, singled, and after Darren Bragg whiffed, Hernández walked John Valentin on four pitches, loading the bases once more. Mo Vaughn was due to bat.

Hernández knew that Ramiro Mendoza was warming up, so when Jeter and Scott Brosius went to the mound, Hernández knew that Torre had asked them to buy a little time for Mendoza to get ready. Hernández faced the Yankee dugout and raised his hands in silent body-language plea: I'm O.K., I'm O.K.

Torre emerged from the dugout, and Hernández crossed his arms and looked away, then circled to the front of the mound.

Holding the ball at full arm's length, he greeted Torre at the edge of the grass. Neither man seemed particularly pleased.

But Mendoza pitched out of the jam, Paul O'Neill blasted home runs in the fifth and eighth innings and Posada found himself waiting on the mound for Rivera, then running from Jeter's spray of beer.

"It's nice to mess up their clubhouse," said David Wells.

Torre said, "It's really great that we've been able to sustain our play." And his smile seemed to reflect off the shining spots of Champagne on his jacket, or vice versa.

Some Yankees privately wondered how the Chicago Cubs, who are contending for a playoff spot, could have let themselves be so caught up in the emotion when MARK McGWIRE hit his record-breaking home run Tuesday. All the infielders shook McGwire's hand and SAMMY SOSA came in from right field during the break in the action and gave McGwire a bearhug. Maybe it would have been more appropriate to wait until after the game, one Yankee said. JOE TORRE said that BOB GIBSON, his former teammate and a Hall of Famer, certainly would not have congratulated McGwire on the field. "It made everybody happy, and that's great," Torre said. "Both he and Sammy are class acts. If I'm Trachsel" -- STEVE TRACHSEL, the pitcher who allowed the home run -- "I'm having a hard time with everybody hugging him."