Yankees fans of a certain age will never forget the iconic shot of Paul O’Neill standing in right field in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2001 World Series, visibly fighting back tears as the fans chanted his name – a scene that was going the whole game, but intensified as it got into the latter stages.
While it had not been made officially official at that point, the fans seemed to know what O’Neill knew: this was his last game at Yankee Stadium, win, lose, or draw, as he was retiring following the season.
Indeed he did, but for more than 20 years, what fans DIDN’T know is that The Warrior almost came back in 2002 – didn’t know until now, as he reveals it in his new book “Swing and a Hit: What Nine Innings of What Baseball Taught Me,” co-written with YES colleague Jack Curry and available everywhere Tuesday.
In an excerpt acquired by the New York Post, O’Neill reveals that “to this day, I am still honored and flabbergasted” by the fans’ reaction at Game 5 – and then, after going through the end of that year’s Fall Classic, he makes the money admission:
Rested and retired in June 2002, I was trying to act like a reporter (and probably failing at it) while working for the YES Network. I was hanging out in the Yankees’ clubhouse and talking about hitting with some players. That’s when a serious-looking Joe Torre, my old manager, approached and asked to see me in his office. Oh, no — had I broken a media rule or something?
Hardly. It was something much more intriguing than that.
“How long would it take you,” Torre asked, “to get ready to play?” I laughed because I thought Joe was joking, but he repeated the same question and added, “We’ve got some issues we need to address here.”
The Yankees were using Shane Spencer, the 1998 superhero, and John Vander Wal in right field and they weren’t satisfied with their production. When Spencer injured his wrist and Torre had to use infielder Enrique Wilson in right, Wilson looked unsteady. That angered owner George Steinbrenner, who told reporters, “We may make some changes.” I guess I was part of that potential change.
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O’Neill goes on to say that he took a glove with him on vacation the next day, and spent some time on the beach long-tossing with his son, just in case – and then he got a phone call from Gene Michael, the GM who had acquired him prior to the 1993 season, who also supported the idea, and had O’Neill lined up to head to the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate in Columbus, right near The Warrior’s home, to ramp up.
As it goes, the Yankees didn’t wait on O’Neill and instead acquired Raul Mondesi, who spent roughly a calendar year patrolling right in the Bronx (along with a parade of others after he was dealt at the 2003 trade deadline) before the team signed Gary Sheffield in December 2003.
And, in classic O’Neill fashion, he still wonders what could have been, with his signature jocular twist:
In retrospect, I have always wondered what it would have been like to come back and compete after a layoff. My mind and my body were both so relaxed. The comeback never happened, but I treated the idea seriously. I never advanced to the point of getting into a batting cage, so I’m not sure how rusty or how smooth my swing would have been.
Who knows? I could have trained for a few weeks to make this grand return and been billed as a savior of sorts. And, knowing me, I probably would have started out 0-for-10 and remembered how maddening it is to be in a slump and said, “The heck with this. I’m going back on vacation.”
The return never materialized, and soon, it will be officially, officially official, as the Yankees will retire O’Neill’s No. 21 this August.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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