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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (ESPN.com news services) -- This is how the night ends, when you're Roger Clemens and you just pitched the biggest win of your life to clinch another World Series championship for the New York Yankees.
Thirty minutes after the final out of the World Series -- when you bolted for the mound and grabbed manager Joe Torre in a bear hug and found it hard to let go -- you return to the Yankee Stadium field from the clubhouse and jump on top of the dugout, leaning into the front row of the stands to hug and high-five fans.
|  | | Derek Jeter gives the fans a little taste of the celebration. |
You are a World Series champion. The ring is yours. At last.
Clemens pitched the Yankees to their second straight World Series sweep, shutting down the Atlanta Braves 4-1 Wednesday night and ending his quest for the one and only prize that eluded him.
With raucous fans waving yellow, plastic brooms all over the ballpark and Clemens bouncing around on the mound, the Yankees won their record 25th championship of the century and third in the past four years.
With a chance to make history, Clemens didn't just beat the Braves, he smothered them, never gave them a chance.
"This must be what it's like to be a Yankee," Clemens said. "This is what everybody said it was all about."
Clemens waited his entire career for this moment and, at last, commanded the October stage. Showing the form that earned him five Cy Young Awards and 247 wins in his 16 seasons, Clemens shut out Atlanta into the eighth to outduel John Smoltz.
"I knew he was going to do it," Series MVP Mariano Rivera said. "This guy was pumped up."
With the sweep of the Braves on the heels of last year's sweep of San Diego, and wins in the final four games of a 1996 World Series in which they lost the first two games, the Yankees have won their past 12 World Series games. They are 22-3 in the postseason the past two years.
"There's no question this club was very, very special," Torre said. "Having to
validate what we did last year, one of those freak years when
everything turns out well, and then this."
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GAME 4 AT A GLANCE
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Every game a hero
One of the greatest pitchers of all time, Roger Clemens remains haunted by Game 6 of the 1986 World Series while with the Red Sox. He's in pinstripes now but finally got to experience World Series glory. Clemens allowed only four hits in 7 2/3 innings to earn the victory.
Goat
Once again, the Atlanta offense failed to generate any hits. The Braves managed just five hits in Game 4, scored just nine runs in four games and hit .200 for the Series. Against New York's three right-handed starters (Clemens, David Cone and Orlando Hernandez), the Braves had six hits in 21 2/3 innings.
Managerial move of the night
Once again, an intentional walk didn't pay off. With runners at second and third in the third inning and one out, Bobby Cox put Bernie Williams on first base. Tino Martinez then hit a two-run single off the glove of first baseman Ryan Klesko to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.
Key number
Pick your poison. Zero -- number of runs Mariano Rivera has allowed over his past 43 innings. One -- World Series rings for Roger Clemens. Two -- consecutive World Series sweeps for the Yankees. 22-3 -- New York's record over the past two postseasons. 25 -- number of championships this century for the Yankees, one more than the 24 Stanley Cups for the Montreal Canadiens.
Last word
"The best team won."
-- John Smoltz
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Brought to the Bronx this spring from Toronto in a trade for
David Wells that many Yankees fans disliked, Clemens walked off the
mound with a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning to rousing cheers, tipping his cap and holding both hands
high to acknowledge the ovation.
The Braves scored a run to make it 3-1, but Rivera stopped another rally and Jim Leyritz added a home run to make it 4-1. Rivera, who had two saves and a win in the Series, closed it out to earn the MVP award.
"I wasn't thinking about it," he said. "It just happens."
The Yankees finished off a week in which they simply overwhelmed
the club that had the best record in the majors. Along the way they also:
Became baseball's first repeat champion since Toronto in
1992-93.
Posted the first set of consecutive Series sweeps since the
Yankees in 1938-39.
Extended an incredible run in which they have won 18 of 19
postseason games. The only loss came when Clemens was beaten by
Pedro Martinez at Fenway Park in Game 3 of the ALCS.
Overcame a year of adversity, which began with manager Joe
Torre's prostate cancer in spring training and included the death
of outfielder Paul O'Neill's father early Wednesday.
And, in the last game of the 20th century, their All-Century
team pitcher perhaps ended all debate about which club was most dominant
this decade.
"We are a good team and we don't rest on our laurels," Torre said. "From 1996 to the end of the century -- wow."
For Atlanta, the loss was its record-tying eighth straight in
the Series, a string that began in 1996 against the Yankees. It
surely was a bitter disappointment for the Braves and manager Bobby
Cox.
"I think they think in their minds that they had a tremendous
year with all the ballclub went through," Cox said. "They're
disappointed just like I am."
After winning the title in 1995, they had "Team of the 90s"
engraved on their rings. Instead, they joined the New York Giants
of 1910-19 as the only teams ever to lose four World Series in a
decade.
Clemens and the sellout crowd of 56,752 fans, meanwhile, basked
in pinstriped glory after taking an early 3-0 lead in the third ininng without an extra-base hit.
"This is what we play for," Derek Jeter said in a slightly subdued celebration that was dampened by the death of O'Neill's father. "We want to be the last team on the field. People wrote us off earlier in the season, but we did it when we had to."
Past Yankees dynasties have been led by sluggers like Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson. For this group of Yankees -- the first team in 25 years to win three titles in four
years -- no player defines it more than Jeter, the happy-go-lucky shortstop who arrived at the start of this run in 1996.
"He's going to give Yogi a run for his money," general manager
Brian Cashman said, referring to Berra's 10 World Series titles.
"We're just fortunate to have him."
That's partly because these Yankees aren't really the Bronx
Bombers anymore; they didn't rely on the longball to win the World
Series. Jeter, known for his defense and clutch hitting, was one of
the players who helped make sure the Yankees didn't need many home
runs.
But Clemens was the key to Game 4.
Featuring a fastball in the mid-90s mph, Clemens struck out four
and walked two in his first World Series victory -- he got two
no-decisions in 1986 when his Boston Red Sox blew it against the
New York Mets.
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Back to Back
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Consecutive World Series champions with cumulative record: |
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Team
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Titles
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W-L
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'49-53 Yankees
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5
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20-8
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'36-39 Yankees
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4
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16-3
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'72-74 A's
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3
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12-7
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'98-99 Yankees
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2
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8-0
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'92-93 Blue Jays
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2
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8-4
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'77-78 Yankees
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2
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8-4
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'75-76 Reds
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2
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8-3
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'61-62 Yankees
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2
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8-4
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'29-30 Phi. A's
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2
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8-3
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'27-28 Yankees
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2
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8-0
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'21-22 N.Y. Giants
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2
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9-3
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'15-16 Red Sox
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2
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8-2
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'10-11 Phila. A's
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2
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8-3
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'07-08 Cubs
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2
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8-1
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Smoltz struck out three to avoid trouble in the second inning,
but could not escape in the third. Chuck Knoblauch and Jeter
opened with singles and a one-out, intentional walk to Bernie
Williams loaded the bases.
Tino Martinez followed with a hard grounder and, perhaps
screened by Williams, first baseman Ryan Klesko let the ball skip
off his forearm for a two-run single. With two outs, Jorge Posada
hit an RBI single.
That was plenty for Clemens, who took a two-hit shutout into the
eighth. The Braves then nicked him with singles by Walt Weiss and
Gerald Williams, and Jeff Nelson relieved.
After Bret Boone hit an RBI single, Rivera took over and kept
the Braves from doing any more damage. He got Chipper Jones on a
grounder with runners at the corners to end the inning, and pitched
a scoreless ninth.
Rivera ended this season with 43 scoreless innings, and extended
his postseason shutout streak to 25 2/3 innings.
The totality of this defeat overshadowed what had been an
amazing season for the Braves. They managed to win 103 games
despite losing five players to season-ending illness and injuries.
"There's no solace in scratching and clawing to get here," Smoltz said. "There's just an overwhelming feeling that we've got to win when we get here."
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Atlanta Clubhouse
NY Yankees Clubhouse
Klapisch: Clemens puts his stamp on Series
McAdam: Again Braves come so close -- and yet so far
Key at-bat: Martinez drives in two
O'Neill feels great loss amid victory celebration
Rivera closes door on Braves' season, earns MVP
Ratings for Series up from '98; still second-lowest ever
RECAPS
NY Yankees 4
Atlanta 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Roger Clemens wins his first World Series.
avi: 1057 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Jim Leyritz talks about his home run in Game 4.
avi: 1060 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
ESPN's Dave Campbell and Harold Reynolds break down the World Series.
RealVideo: | 28.8
Derek Jeter says there were 25 MVPs all season.
avi: 655 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Chuck Knoblauch talks about winning it all.
wav: 163 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
John Smoltz on the Yankees' game 4 performance.
wav: 240 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Roger Clemens says the Yankees played wonderful defense.
wav: 155 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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