NOTES

John Wetteland may have been the MVP of the World Series, saving all four games, but never was he more scared in his life after the final out.

Wetteland was buried under a sea of players on the mound.

“I was screaming and telling them to get off because I thought my ankle was going to break,” he said. “It was scary.

“I probably wouldn’t have felt it, anyway. It was absolute elation and mayhem and a tremendous feeling.

“Then, all of a sudden, I felt this shooting pain in my ankle. They just thought I was yelling and kept piling on. Rock Raines heard me and tried to throw some people off.

“It’s a tremendous feeling. That’s the way it should be.”

*

Yankee Manager Joe Torre returned home from dinner late Friday night. The message light on his phone was blinking. He played the machine, and thought it was prank or a cruel joke.

He finally called the hospital.

Sure enough, it was true. His brother, Frank, had called him from the hospital about 14 hours after undergoing heart transplant surgery.

“He asked me for six tickets,” Torre said, laughing.

Was Frank Torre watching the game from his hospital bed?

“The doctors told me that if he can watch these games with an old, worn-out heart,” Joe Torre said, “he can certainly watch it with a new one.”

*

Bob Watson, embattled Yankee general manager, assessing his job performance this season:

“I had a great year. Vindication will be when we win.”

*

Yankee starter Kenny Rogers finished the postseason with the highest ERA of any pitcher in history.

The highest ERAs in postseason history:

Rogers: 14.14 ERA, seven innings.

Greg Maddux, 1989 Chicago Cubs: 13.50 ERA, 7 1/3 innings.

Tommy Greene, 1993 Philadelphia Phillies: 13.11 ERA, 11 2/3 innings.

Eric Show, 1984 San Diego Padres: 12.38 ERA, eight innings.

Todd Stottlemyre, 1993 Toronto Blue Jays: 12.38 ERA, eight innings.

Ed Figueroa, 1978 Yankees: 10.56 ERA, 7 2/3 innings.