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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Hal Bodley
Aired November 04, 2001 - 08:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: After blowing two ninth-inning leads, game six of the World Series goes to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-backs brought out the whipping sticks -- that's right, whipping sticks -- last night against the New York Yankees. Every Diamondback, including the pitcher, Randy Johnson, got a hit in the third inning as the D-backs broke the game open with eight runs on 10 hits. The final score: 15 to two. It was the worst spanking the Yankees have ever had in the pro season.
The Arizona Diamondbacks, only in their fourth season of existence, hope to put an end to the Yankees' three-year reign as world champions tonight. Joining us from Phoenix to talk more about the big game tonight is "USA Today" sports writer Hal Bodley.
Good morning to you, Hal.
HAL BODLEY, "USA TODAY": Good morning, Martin, how are you?
SAVIDGE: I am very good, thank you. Tell me, now what is it? Is it the water in Arizona? Is it the altitude? The time change? The Yankees just get into that area and seem to have a problem.
BODLEY: Well, you know what, I think it's the aura of this World Series, or maybe the mystique of this World Series. I've been looking at about 40 of them, and I've never seen one quite as incredible as this. Anything can happen.
But the one thing I would like to say about last night, when we start game seven tonight, forget about last night. It was a blowout, and the players will look at it as a new start tonight.
SAVIDGE: Now, how much of the tragedy that struck New York City -- and elsewhere in the nation, but particularly in New York -- plays into the attitude on the field and the rooting of the fans?
BODLEY: I think it had an awful lot to do with those three games in New York. They were remarkable, dramatic, and really unbelievable. The fans in New York were very much cognizant of what happened at the World Trade Center, and it was very important. We're in a different area now. I don't think it's as close to home as it was in New York, obviously. And I don't think it's quite as big.
Right now, the fans here are trying to get the Arizona Diamondbacks to win the World Series. And I think that will be the big thing tonight.
SAVIDGE: If the Diamondbacks succeed and win tonight, how significant is that for the city?
BODLEY: I think it really is. It's very important for this franchise for a lot of reasons. First of all, it will be the quickest franchise ever to win a World Series -- an expansion team. Secondly, we're going into a World Series tonight with a ball club that's somewhat old, a team that has spent a tremendous amount of money to get where it is. The team has had financial problems. So winning this World Series maybe will help those things out a little bit.
SAVIDGE: Now, win or lose for the Yankees, they are going to probably undergo a significant change in post-season. What do you think is going to happen?
BODLEY: They really will. There's a lot of players on the team -- you've described Brosius, Paul O'Neill -- a lot of players that are not going to be around next year. They're going to have to make some really tough decisions. And I think when you look at the Yankees hitting in this World Series, that they're going to have to go out and get a hitter. They need more offense for next year. The pitching has been superb, but they haven't been hitting at all.
SAVIDGE: So lay the groundwork for us strategy-wise. How are both teams going to come out tonight and play this game?
BODLEY: Well, you know what, Martin, I think the big, big thing tonight is Curt Schilling -- whether or not he can come back for the second time on three days' rest and be effective. There was a lot of speculation a couple of days ago that he was spent, that his arm was tired and he wouldn't be able to do it.
But last night I asked him. I said, You know, years ago, in the early 1990s you walked into the trainer's room in Houston and you talked to Roger Clemens. He became your mentor. Could you ever write a script for this World Series where you -- who kind of got back on track, thanks to Roger Clemens -- would be placing him in the seventh game of the World Series? He said, Never ever could I have dreamed of that.
SAVIDGE: You've covered many of these in the past, as you mentioned there. They're all memorable in their own way; but what do you think will be the real highlights that fans will take away from this particular World Series?
BODLEY: Martin, I think a lot depends on what happens tonight. If the Yankees win, it will be the mystique of the pinstripes, the mystique of the Yankees, the team that seems to always find a way to win. Because they won those three games in New York, they were blown away last night; and then if they come back tonight and win, that will be very, very important. It will go down as a classic.
If they don't, it will be the end of a great, great streak. You know, pioneered and piloted by Joe Torre.
SAVIDGE: All right, Hal Bodley, I envy you. I wish I was there with "USA Today"...
BODLEY: Well come on out. It's only about -- it's only about 6:00 in the morning here. Come on out, we'll have breakfast.
SAVIDGE: Maybe I can do that. I'd look forward to it, Hal. Thank you very much.
BODLEY: Thank you.
SAVIDGE: We wish good luck to both teams tonight.
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