Yankee 21
09-16-2002, 10:54 AM
09/15/2002 7:20 pm ET
Soriano, Giambi pushing each other
Soriano leads club with 38 homers, Giambi has 37
By Mark Feinsand / MLB.com
NEW YORK -- When you think of dynamic home run duos in New York Yankees history, the first pair that generally comes to mind is Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, who combined to slug 115 homers in 1961. In that magical season, the "M&M" boys went deep in the same game 14 times, the most in franchise history.
How long that record stands up may be in question. Jason Giambi and Alfonso Soriano each homered in Sunday's 8-4, six-inning win over the Chicago White Sox, the 13th time the pair has left the yard in the same contest.
"That's pretty amazing," said manager Joe Torre. "Mantle, Maris and Giambi is a given, but when you're talking about your leadoff hitter and second baseman, that can question the manager's sanity about his leadoff hitter. It's fun to watch."
"It's pretty amazing," Giambi said. "Of course, they had a lot more homers than we did."
Giambi tied Soriano for the team lead with his 37th home run in the fourth inning, but Soriano took it back an inning later, hitting his 38th.
"Here we are in the middle of September, and we have Giambi catching Soriano in home runs. That's something we never had a blue print for," Torre said. "It's a nice competition. It puts a smile on the face of everyone in the dugout, especially when Sori does it. Not that we don't appreciate when Jason does it, but you expect it. To have Sori up there, nip and tuck with him, it's a lot of fun for us -- and for Jason, too."
"Giambi is a great hitter, and for me and him to be doing this is very exciting," Soriano said. "I never thought that I would be in a competition with Giambi for homers. I'm surprised about it, and a lot of people are surprised too."
Don't count Giambi among the surprised. Giambi knew early this season that his young teammate was a special player, predicting in April that Soriano would put up a 40-40 season in the next few years. Soriano still needs two home runs to go along with his 40 steals, but there is no denying how incredible his sophomore season has been.
"He's put it together this year. To see how fast he's progressed as a player, it's amazing," Giambi said. "A-Rod got better every year, but I don't know how much better Soriano can get. I mean, 50-50? He's starting to get to that elite class. He can do it all. He can hit for power, he plays second base and he can steal bags. That's a rare combination to be able to do all that."
"The kid is having a hell of a year," Torre said. "If he doesn't do anything from now to the end of the season, it's been a remarkable season."
After Chicago took a 4-0 lead in the third, the Yankees used back-to-back homers by Giambi and Bernie Williams to cut the lead to 4-3. Soriano's solo shot in the fourth tied the game, and the Yankees put together a four-run rally in the sixth, taking an 8-4 lead before heavy rain caused the game to be called.
New York averted a three-game sweep at the hands of the White Sox with the win, cutting their magic number to clinch the AL East down to five in the process. After being outscored 21-3 in the first two games of the series, Torre was happy to see his team respond in the final three innings of Sunday's game.
"You're sitting there on the bench, you know what you're capable of doing offensively, and we haven't done that," Torre said. "You know it's going to happen, whether it's today, Tuesday or Wednesday, and you know that your ballclub is going to snap out of it. I'm just glad that we decided to do it today. You never want to string losses together."
If Soriano and Giambi continue to play "Home Run Derby" against each other, the Yankees' offense should be just fine.
"We've been chasing each other all year long. It's been a lot of fun," Giambi said. "With him leading off and me batting third, it's been productive. We don't really talk about it, but we constantly try to push each other to keep going."
With two more homers, Soriano will join Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez as the fourth member of the exclusive 40-40 club. But the 24-year-old is doing his best not to think about it, though that isn't an easy task.
Soriano's last three hits have all been home runs. When he was approaching the 30-30 mark, Soriano seemed to be looking for his 30th home run every time he stepped to the plate. Torre hopes that if the same thing happens as 40-40 gets closer, that Soriano gets to the mark as soon as possible.
"We need to slip in a single or two every once in a while. Hopefully it's going to happen," Torre said. "If 40 is on his mind, I hope he gets to 40 and get it out of the way."
"Fans scream 40-40 all the time," Soriano said. "I try not to pay attention to it, because I may hear them talk about 40-40 and bring that to the plate, trying to hit homers."
For now, Soriano and Giambi will have to be content with being mentioned along with Mantle and Maris.
"You dream about it," Giambi said. "The one thing about coming here is that if you do anything special, you start to talk about some pretty unbelievable names with all the history here. To see your name next to those guys is pretty amazing."
Soriano, Giambi pushing each other
Soriano leads club with 38 homers, Giambi has 37
By Mark Feinsand / MLB.com
NEW YORK -- When you think of dynamic home run duos in New York Yankees history, the first pair that generally comes to mind is Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, who combined to slug 115 homers in 1961. In that magical season, the "M&M" boys went deep in the same game 14 times, the most in franchise history.
How long that record stands up may be in question. Jason Giambi and Alfonso Soriano each homered in Sunday's 8-4, six-inning win over the Chicago White Sox, the 13th time the pair has left the yard in the same contest.
"That's pretty amazing," said manager Joe Torre. "Mantle, Maris and Giambi is a given, but when you're talking about your leadoff hitter and second baseman, that can question the manager's sanity about his leadoff hitter. It's fun to watch."
"It's pretty amazing," Giambi said. "Of course, they had a lot more homers than we did."
Giambi tied Soriano for the team lead with his 37th home run in the fourth inning, but Soriano took it back an inning later, hitting his 38th.
"Here we are in the middle of September, and we have Giambi catching Soriano in home runs. That's something we never had a blue print for," Torre said. "It's a nice competition. It puts a smile on the face of everyone in the dugout, especially when Sori does it. Not that we don't appreciate when Jason does it, but you expect it. To have Sori up there, nip and tuck with him, it's a lot of fun for us -- and for Jason, too."
"Giambi is a great hitter, and for me and him to be doing this is very exciting," Soriano said. "I never thought that I would be in a competition with Giambi for homers. I'm surprised about it, and a lot of people are surprised too."
Don't count Giambi among the surprised. Giambi knew early this season that his young teammate was a special player, predicting in April that Soriano would put up a 40-40 season in the next few years. Soriano still needs two home runs to go along with his 40 steals, but there is no denying how incredible his sophomore season has been.
"He's put it together this year. To see how fast he's progressed as a player, it's amazing," Giambi said. "A-Rod got better every year, but I don't know how much better Soriano can get. I mean, 50-50? He's starting to get to that elite class. He can do it all. He can hit for power, he plays second base and he can steal bags. That's a rare combination to be able to do all that."
"The kid is having a hell of a year," Torre said. "If he doesn't do anything from now to the end of the season, it's been a remarkable season."
After Chicago took a 4-0 lead in the third, the Yankees used back-to-back homers by Giambi and Bernie Williams to cut the lead to 4-3. Soriano's solo shot in the fourth tied the game, and the Yankees put together a four-run rally in the sixth, taking an 8-4 lead before heavy rain caused the game to be called.
New York averted a three-game sweep at the hands of the White Sox with the win, cutting their magic number to clinch the AL East down to five in the process. After being outscored 21-3 in the first two games of the series, Torre was happy to see his team respond in the final three innings of Sunday's game.
"You're sitting there on the bench, you know what you're capable of doing offensively, and we haven't done that," Torre said. "You know it's going to happen, whether it's today, Tuesday or Wednesday, and you know that your ballclub is going to snap out of it. I'm just glad that we decided to do it today. You never want to string losses together."
If Soriano and Giambi continue to play "Home Run Derby" against each other, the Yankees' offense should be just fine.
"We've been chasing each other all year long. It's been a lot of fun," Giambi said. "With him leading off and me batting third, it's been productive. We don't really talk about it, but we constantly try to push each other to keep going."
With two more homers, Soriano will join Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez as the fourth member of the exclusive 40-40 club. But the 24-year-old is doing his best not to think about it, though that isn't an easy task.
Soriano's last three hits have all been home runs. When he was approaching the 30-30 mark, Soriano seemed to be looking for his 30th home run every time he stepped to the plate. Torre hopes that if the same thing happens as 40-40 gets closer, that Soriano gets to the mark as soon as possible.
"We need to slip in a single or two every once in a while. Hopefully it's going to happen," Torre said. "If 40 is on his mind, I hope he gets to 40 and get it out of the way."
"Fans scream 40-40 all the time," Soriano said. "I try not to pay attention to it, because I may hear them talk about 40-40 and bring that to the plate, trying to hit homers."
For now, Soriano and Giambi will have to be content with being mentioned along with Mantle and Maris.
"You dream about it," Giambi said. "The one thing about coming here is that if you do anything special, you start to talk about some pretty unbelievable names with all the history here. To see your name next to those guys is pretty amazing."