(Originally published on Monday, Oct. 23, 2000; written by Thomas Hill)
Roger Clemens did not choose to hit Mike Piazza with a pitch in their high-stakes World Series rematch last night. Instead, Clemens threw a sawed-off bat toward the Mets catcher. That bit of bizarre behavior by baseball's only five-time Cy Young Award winner created entirely new feelings of antipathy between New York's baseball clubs and overshadowed a game that moved the Yankees one step closer to another championship.
Clemens contributed eight dominant innings to the Yankees' 6-5 victory over the Mets in Game 2 of the World Series before a sellout crowd of 56,059 at the Stadium.