6B
STAR DIRECTOR
PADRES
Sportsball Club
World Series
Vanities
Wednesday October 21, 1998
Yankees win game No.3
A N.Y. win tonight would seal series
The Associated Press
SAN DIEGO — A change of scenery didn't change a thing for the San Diego Padres.
Scott Brosius made sure of it
New York's Brosius hit his second homer of the game, a stunning three-run shot off relief ace Trevor Hoffman in the eighth inning, and the Yankees moved within one win of a World Series sweep with a 5-4 victory in Game 3 last night.
Out of the Bronx and inside a ballpark that serves up fish tacos, palm trees and beach balls, the Yankees are looking for their first sweep since 1950.
On a night when everything seemed to be going right for San Diego — great plays, clutch pitching by Sterling Hitchcock and key hits from Tony Gwynn — Brosius
Andy Pettitte will start for the Yankees in Game 4 tonight, most likely against Kevin Brown.
No team in baseball history has overcome an 0-3 deficit in the postseason, and now the Padres must try to do it against a club trying to cement its place as the best ever.
and the Yankees ruined it.
Hitless for five innings, against David Cone, the Padres took a 3-0 lead in the
sixth on a burst started by Hitch cock's unlikely single.
Yet with 64,667 crazed fans roaring and the cranked-up rock music blaring, these Yankees would not break.
Brosius led off the seventh with a home run against Hitchcock, MVP of the NL championship and a member of the Yankees' rotation with Cone in 1995. New York closed
to 3-2, but shortstop Chris Gomez made an eye-popping catch to start an inning-ending double play.
But in the eighth, there was no one left to save the Padres.
Slumping Paul O'Neill drew a leadoff walk from Randy Myers once again, the Yankees' patience at the plate paid off and then manager Bruce Bochy made an early call to the bullpen.
It was Trevor Time, and Hoffman walked in as AC/DC's "Hell's Bells" sent the crowd into a frenzy. Hoffman had been successful on 53 of 54 save chances during the regular season, though a blown chance in the NLCS against Atlanta perhaps was a bad omen.
Hoffman wound up with the loss while Ramiro Mendoza won in relief. Mariano Rivera held on for a save, working around a pair of two-out singles by Carlos Hernandez and pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney by striking out Andy Sheets with runners at the corners for the last out.
Padres' Swinging Friar has a mysterious past
SAN DIEGO — He is a cute, pudgy man of God who cracks a mean bat. He is the Swinging Friar, a Padres mascot and a man of mystery.
The Associated Press
In fact, the mascot goes back so far nobody really knows when the little guy was born. In a town crazed by baseball, though, fans are just glad the short, balding holy man still supplies the blessings.
"I like the friar because he's always smiling and hitting it over the fence," said fan Susan Baird. "He represents San Diego: Nice people, but we can kick butt when we have to."
The cartoon figure has been associated with the team at least since 1958, when the Padres were in the minor leagues. And while it seems a natural choice for a mascot — San Diego was built around Spanish missions settled by Franciscan friars to convert Indians to Christianity — no one is sure who had the idea.
"I went back to 1939 and looked at programs and didn't see him," said Glenn Turgeon, assistant historian at the San Diego Hall of Champions, where the city's sports history is preserved.
Padres representative John Schlegel believes the mascot was named and designed as part of a
contest.
What is certain is that at least for the past 40 years the friar has always worn the garb of a medieval beggar — sandals, dark hooded habit, rope around the waist. And, of course, a grin.
He lost his halo as he grew up during the 1960s. He swung to the left for a few years, then to the right, and he even wore a glove for a season.
He disappeared in 1984 after the Padres made their only other appearance in the World Series. The cuddy clergyman was replaced with a corporate, baseball-shaped logo with pinstripes and the Padres name stretched across, but fans continued to wear their Swinging Friars T-shirts.
The friar was reborn in 1996 as part of the Padres' 60th anniversary and a marketing plan by the team's new management, majority owner John Moores and president Larry Lachino.
He was given a more rounded head, a bigger smile and the color of his robe was changed from brown to plum. A costume was designed to bring the Swinging Friar to life at games, a fuzzy character who wanders the stands and inspires the crowd.
He is so popular, the Friar was added to the team's uniforms last year, and he is prominently featured on the team's Web site and publications.
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