from the Star-Ledger

10/26/01

BY BRAD PARKS
STAR-LEDGER STAFF

Six to two.

That's how the last leg of the most important putout of the Yankees' season was written in the scorebook, that last out of the seventh inning of Game 3 of the AL Division Series in Oakland. Derek Jeter tossed a little shovel pass to Jorge Posada, who tagged Jeremy Giambi, preserved a 1-0 lead, and helped the Yankees shift the momentum in a series that had gone entirely against them.

Six to two.

Shortstop to catcher.

Jeter to Posada.

Best friend to best friend.

That's what they are most of all, of course. They were friends before they became household names in the House that Ruth Built, before they became World Series champions and All-Stars, before they acquired all the other trappings of success.

"We've been close a long time," Posada said.

"We basically grew up together," Jeter said.

The two men who made that big play in Oakland first met when they were barely older than boys. Jeter was 18. Posada was 20.

Jeter came from Michigan and was just out of high school. Posada was from Puerto Rico and had spent two years in the minor leagues.

Jeter was a first-rounder, a bonus baby. Posada was a 24th-round pick. His bonus had been nothing more than a plane ticket, which didn't necessarily make him inclined to like Jeter when he walked into the clubhouse at Class-A Greensboro for the first time.

"I saw him at first and saw how skinny he was and thought, 'What were our scouts thinking? This is our first-round pick?'" Posada said. "The first at-bat, he struck out. But then I think the next at-bat he hit a home run, and then made a great play in the hole. And I thought, 'Oh, I guess our scouts knew what they were talking about after all.'"

They roomed together on the road toward the end of that season, finding themselves in exotic South Atlantic League locales like Kannapolis, Hickory and Hagerstown. They were separated for 1993, but by the time they were reunited in Columbus in 1994 and 1995, they were like old friends.

"That's when we started becoming close," Jeter said.

They roomed together on the road. At home, they stayed a few rooms apart in the same hotel, killing time in each other's rooms watching rented movies.

"I got called up in September (of '95) and so did he," Posada said. "We were in the dugout together for the Seattle series (in the playoffs)."

Jeter was called up for good in 1996. Posada spent the season bouncing back and forth, crashing at Jeter's place in Manhattan whenever he was with the big club. They were two young men loose in Manhattan, learning their way together.

When Posada made the team permanently in 1997, he found a place a few blocks from Jeter. When Posada moved to a new place in 1998, Jeter found a spot in the same building.

When Posada needed a best man for his wedding, there was Jeter.

"None of my friends knew Laura like he did," Posada said. "He was a big part of us being together. So he was the logical choice."

Posada is a father now, which means the two players spend less time together away from the field.

"He doesn't hang out like he used to," Jeter said. "He's got that family now. The only time we see each other anymore is at the stadium."

But when they are playing baseball -- which for the Yankees seems to be a task that runs to the end of October every year -- they're often together. They come out at the same time for pregame warm-ups. They take the same rotation in batting practice. They are young pillars in the clubhouse, leaders despite their youth on a veteran club, mostly because they can match World Series rings with anyone in the game.

"Jorge is a little more fiery than Jeter, and Jeter has a more stable influence on Jorge," manager Joe Torre said. "I think they each learn a little bit from each other, the fire that Jorge has and the demeanor and the ability to win that Jeter has."

It's not a perfect analogy, but they are to the Yankees of today what Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto were to the Yankees of the '40s and '50s, a catcher and a shortstop who are crucial to their team's success. And this being the Yankees, it wouldn't be entirely without precedent if 50 years from now, Jeter and Posada will be the stooped old men trotting out before each playoff game to throw the ceremonial first pitch.

"I hope so," Jeter said. "Those guys had long and successful careers. It'd be premature to start talking like that. We've been together nine years already. Hopefully we've got at least nine more to go and they'll be as good as the last nine."

Regardless of happens next, what happened in Oakland -- The Flip -- is already part of their legacy. Could they have made the play if they weren't friends? Of course. But being such close buddies, they've savored it that much more.

"It says a lot about the kind of player he is that he was in that spot at that time, right where he was supposed to be," Posada said.

"Jorge put on a great tag," Jeter said.

And two weeks later, Jeter and Posada, six and two, find themselves in another World Series.

"I hope we can keep doing it every year," Posada said. "It's been very special to be able to do what we have together."