Knob Gets Handle on New York

By PETER BOTTE Daily News Sports Writer

Jack Morris pitched 10 innings of scoreless baseball and Gene Larkin finally lifted that fly-ball single to left field. The Minnesota Twins had risen from the ashes of last place the year before to become the champions of the world with a 1-0 Game 7 victory.

Chuck Knoblauch - the American League's best rookie in 1991, but a rookie nonetheless - didn't know any better as he frolicked around amid that Octoberfest.

He thought it always would be that way. Of course, he was mistaken.

"You just don't know. You come in as a rookie, and to begin with, you don't even know what a 162-game season is really like," the Yankees second baseman said recently. "When you're used to experiencing that success early on - a lot of winning like that - I guess it just seemed a lot easier then, than it actually is to win. It's a very difficult thing to do, it takes so many things to happen the right way.

"I've come to realize that now. Believe me, that's why I appreciate this every day."

This, as Knoblauch puts it, is better known as the Yankees' quest for unprecedented team greatness.

Of course, the 30-year-old Knoblauch may not even be among the top 10 MVP candidates on this juggernaut. He may not be having a career year - or even an average year - by the standards he set for himself when he was a four-time All-Star in Minnesota.

Still, Knoblauch already is assured of returning to the postseason, which is what this was supposed to be about when he begged out of the Twins after five straight losing seasons.

"I've tried to do the same things all year. It's not an excuse, but I have to admit that it took me a while to get adjusted to being with a new team and living in a new city," Knoblauch said. "And I think I've done a good job of putting all of that aside and keep the focus on the team winning."

Knoblauch also is forced to approach every day with his family weighing on his mind. His father Ray, a legendary high-school baseball coach in the Houston area, is a victim of Alzheimer's disease.

"Some days, it's harder than others. It's always there. It's something that's not going to go away," Knoblauch said. "Seeing him in Texas (two weeks ago), there was such a big difference just from the last time I saw him in spring training. It wasn't too good to see, but it's reality and it's something I deal with as best I can."

Knoblauch's batting average atop the lineup - which has lingered as many as 60 points below his career mark of .304 entering this season - had crept back up to .261 after yesterday's loss. His 17 home runs are a career high, although his primary job description is "scrappy line-drive hitter."

He does, however, get the Yanks going, and they head into this week's series with the second-place Red Sox on the verge of clinching the AL East.

"It's definitely a special feeling. You definitely feel lucky to be a part of it," Knoblauch said. "This just doesn't happen all the time.

"It took all of one day after the World Series was over (in '91) and that became an untruth. They started letting guys go. That whole first year was an eye-opener, not only the winning, but what takes place after that."

The Yanks, of course, won the World Series in 1996 and heroes John Wetteland and Jimmy Key and Jim Leyritz were all gone within several weeks. There was also the ugly scene of Cecil Fielder demanding a trade - his right because the Yanks had obtained him in the middle of a multi-year contract.

It is a card that Knoblauch similarly holds for the coming offseason, but a hand he refuses to tip. For now, all he will do is concentrate on October. His first since 1991.

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