Yankee 21
01-16-2002, 06:57 PM
White, Karsay, Vander Wal formally join Yanks
January 16, 2002
New York (AP) – Rondell White, Steve Karsay and John Vander Wal each can easily remember being on the wrong side at the wrong time at Yankee Stadium.
Which only made them want to return even more.
“I’ve been waiting so long for the honor to come here to play in the pinstripes,” White said.
The Yankees formally welcomed all three newcomers to Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. They’re part of a dramatic makeover for a team that also added Jason Giambi and David Wells since losing Game 7 of the World Series to Arizona.
Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, Chuck Knoblauch and Scott Brosius are among the Yankees who have left.
The trio is part of the new-look Yankees. (AP)
“There are some big shoes to fill,” Vander Wal said.
White already is part of Yankee Stadium lore. On July 18, 1999, he played for the Montreal Expos when David Cone pitched a perfect game against them.
“I went 0-for-3 that day,” White said. “We all did.”
White recalled seeing Don Larsen throw out a first ball at Yankee Stadium, hearing fans sing “New York, New York,” and listening to the crowd chant on Don Mattingly Day.
“Something magical always seems to happen here,” he said.
Last fall, White and friend Cliff Floyd of the Florida Marlins got tickets to a pair of a World Series games at Yankee Stadium.
“We were sitting in the stands and the fans were going crazy and I told Cliff, ‘Wouldn’t it be unbelievable to be playing here like this?”’ White said.
White, who hit .307 with 17 home runs and 50 RBIs in an injury-interrupted season for the Chicago Cubs, is expected to be the Yankees’ full-time left fielder. The free agent signed a $10 million, two-year contract.
Karsay got a $22.25 million, four-year deal to become a setup man. He split last season with Cleveland and Atlanta, going 3-5 with eight saves and a 2.35 ERA.
Born and raised near Shea Stadium, Karsay said one of his greatest baseball thrills came when he started for the first time at Yankee Stadium.
Pitching for Oakland on July 30, 1997, he lasted just three innings, gave up six runs and took the loss as Wells and the Yankees routed the Athletics 7-0.
“I got beat up pretty good,” he said. “But just to be able to warm up and hear Bob Sheppard announce my name, it was great.”
“Ever since I was a kid, it was a childhood dream to pitch in Yankee Stadium, wearing the pinstripes,” he said.
Vander Wal was acquired from the San Francisco Giants in a trade for reliever Jay Witasick. Vander Wal hit .270 with 14 home runs and 70 RBIs last season for the Giants and Pittsburgh.
Vander Wal played with White in Montreal in 1993, and had primarily been a pinch-hitter until the past couple of years. He hit .299 with 24 home runs and 94 RBIs for the Pirates in 2000.
“I wish I had gotten the opportunity to be an everyday player early in my career,” he said.
Vander Wal, whose 17 pinch-hit homers are three behind Cliff Johnson’s major league record, is a steady outfielder who might also see time as the DH.
“Whatever they want me to do, I’ll do,” he said. “I just want to win a world championship.”
In 1998, Vander Wal started for San Diego in Game 2 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. Though he doubled and singled off Orlando Hernandez, it did not help the Padres – by the second inning, he was standing in left field, hands on hips, listening to the crowd go wild as New York took a 6-0 lead on its way to a sweep.
“Before Game 1, there was so much excitement as I took batting practice. I also met George Steinbrenner in the dugout tunnel,” he said. “I remember telling my wife, ‘I want to come here and play baseball.”’
January 16, 2002
New York (AP) – Rondell White, Steve Karsay and John Vander Wal each can easily remember being on the wrong side at the wrong time at Yankee Stadium.
Which only made them want to return even more.
“I’ve been waiting so long for the honor to come here to play in the pinstripes,” White said.
The Yankees formally welcomed all three newcomers to Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. They’re part of a dramatic makeover for a team that also added Jason Giambi and David Wells since losing Game 7 of the World Series to Arizona.
Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, Chuck Knoblauch and Scott Brosius are among the Yankees who have left.
The trio is part of the new-look Yankees. (AP)
“There are some big shoes to fill,” Vander Wal said.
White already is part of Yankee Stadium lore. On July 18, 1999, he played for the Montreal Expos when David Cone pitched a perfect game against them.
“I went 0-for-3 that day,” White said. “We all did.”
White recalled seeing Don Larsen throw out a first ball at Yankee Stadium, hearing fans sing “New York, New York,” and listening to the crowd chant on Don Mattingly Day.
“Something magical always seems to happen here,” he said.
Last fall, White and friend Cliff Floyd of the Florida Marlins got tickets to a pair of a World Series games at Yankee Stadium.
“We were sitting in the stands and the fans were going crazy and I told Cliff, ‘Wouldn’t it be unbelievable to be playing here like this?”’ White said.
White, who hit .307 with 17 home runs and 50 RBIs in an injury-interrupted season for the Chicago Cubs, is expected to be the Yankees’ full-time left fielder. The free agent signed a $10 million, two-year contract.
Karsay got a $22.25 million, four-year deal to become a setup man. He split last season with Cleveland and Atlanta, going 3-5 with eight saves and a 2.35 ERA.
Born and raised near Shea Stadium, Karsay said one of his greatest baseball thrills came when he started for the first time at Yankee Stadium.
Pitching for Oakland on July 30, 1997, he lasted just three innings, gave up six runs and took the loss as Wells and the Yankees routed the Athletics 7-0.
“I got beat up pretty good,” he said. “But just to be able to warm up and hear Bob Sheppard announce my name, it was great.”
“Ever since I was a kid, it was a childhood dream to pitch in Yankee Stadium, wearing the pinstripes,” he said.
Vander Wal was acquired from the San Francisco Giants in a trade for reliever Jay Witasick. Vander Wal hit .270 with 14 home runs and 70 RBIs last season for the Giants and Pittsburgh.
Vander Wal played with White in Montreal in 1993, and had primarily been a pinch-hitter until the past couple of years. He hit .299 with 24 home runs and 94 RBIs for the Pirates in 2000.
“I wish I had gotten the opportunity to be an everyday player early in my career,” he said.
Vander Wal, whose 17 pinch-hit homers are three behind Cliff Johnson’s major league record, is a steady outfielder who might also see time as the DH.
“Whatever they want me to do, I’ll do,” he said. “I just want to win a world championship.”
In 1998, Vander Wal started for San Diego in Game 2 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. Though he doubled and singled off Orlando Hernandez, it did not help the Padres – by the second inning, he was standing in left field, hands on hips, listening to the crowd go wild as New York took a 6-0 lead on its way to a sweep.
“Before Game 1, there was so much excitement as I took batting practice. I also met George Steinbrenner in the dugout tunnel,” he said. “I remember telling my wife, ‘I want to come here and play baseball.”’