‘Team of Decade’ Claim Comes Later

The Atlanta Braves have won eight division titles, five National League pennants and one World Series title in the 1990s. The New York Yankees have won three division titles, three American League pennants and two World Series titles in that span.

“So whoever wins this World Series,” Yankee designated hitter Chili Davis said, “deserves to be the team of the decade.”

But don’t expect that to be a rallying cry in the Yankee dugout when they begin the World Series against the Braves on Saturday night in Atlanta.

“With this much time between games, you guys obviously have to write about something,” right fielder Paul O’Neill said Wednesday after an optional workout in Yankee Stadium. “But we’re trying to win a World Series, not make a mark on Yankee history. Those things are not on your mind right now. Game 1 is what’s on your mind.”

General Manager Brian Cashman said the Yankees are simply trying to be the team of 1999.

“The media and fans will decide after the Series who the team of the decade is--right now the jury is still out,” Cashman said. “I don’t know what it means to be the team of the 1990s. Are we the team of the century?”

That’s a no-brainer. The Yankees are shooting for their 25th World Series championship since 1923; the Cardinals and Athletics are tied for second on the World Series title list with nine each.

“Our intention is to win the World Series because it’s the World Series, not because we’d be the team of the decade,” Manager Joe Torre said. “What the Braves have done during this decade has been incredible.”

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Their brief Angel careers were undistinguished, but Yankee pitchers Allen Watson and Jason Grimsley had no qualms bashing their former employer.

Asked how a Yankee team with six former Angels--Watson, Grimsley, Davis, Chad Curtis, Luis Sojo and Jim Leyritz--could be so good, Watson didn’t mince any words.

“It’s because [the Angels] made all the wrong moves, and it shows,” said Watson, who went 4-1 with a 2.89 earned-run average in 24 relief appearances for the Yankees. “Guys get hurt and they get rid of you. Look what they did with Mike James [who was released in September while recovering from elbow surgery]. They don’t give you a chance to come back. You don’t just get rid of guys who throw 90 mph like Jason. It’s ludicrous over there.”

Watson was released by the Angels after a disappointing 1998 season, in which he went 6-7 with a 6.04 ERA, missed almost two months because of an elbow injury and suffered a severe cut on his hand opening a beer bottle.

Grimsley was released after going 5-7 with a 6.84 ERA in 1996, but after spending 1997 and ’98 in the minor leagues, the journeyman rebounded strongly in 1999, going 7-2 with a 3.60 ERA in 55 relief appearances for the Yankees.

“They’re always trying to fix the leaks in Anaheim, patch them up,” said Grimsley, who is not on the Yankees’ postseason roster. “Instead of fixing things right, they always used duct tape.”

Noting that Angel general manager Bill Bavasi and manager Terry Collins resigned in September, Watson said, “What goes around comes around.”

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Torre did not name his World Series rotation, but Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, who is 4-0 with an 0.97 ERA in five playoff starts, is expected to start Game 1 Saturday, followed by David Cone, Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens. Atlanta will probably counter with Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Kevin Millwood and John Smoltz. . . . Cashman said the Angels have not asked permission to speak to Yankee batting instructor Chris Chambliss or third base coach Willie Randolph about their managerial job.