On his way to the clubhouse for the final time this season, Bobby Cox stopped in the dugout and threw up his hands.
The Atlanta Braves manager was mainly upset about being ejected from the game, but he might as well have been expressing himself for the whole World Series.Saturday night, the so-called team of the 1990s completed one of the great collapses in Series history with their fourth straight loss to the New York Yankees, 3-2, before a rock concert-like crowd that taunted the Braves with a mock tomahawk chop at every opportunity.
"Oh man, it's been a long season," Chipper Jones said in a somber Braves clubhouse. "This is a bitter taste. It's going to stay in our mouths for a while."
Atlanta, which looked nearly unbeatable in winning the first two games by a combined score of 12-1, was a beaten team long before Cox was thrown out in the fifth inning for arguing a call at second base.
The collapse likely started on Wednesday night when the Braves, seemingly on their way to a three games to one lead in the Series, squandered a six-run lead and lost on a bases-loaded walk in the 10th inning. They never seemed the same after that.
"I think that was probably the turning point of the World Series," said Mark Wohlers, who gave up a three-run homer to Jim Leyritz that turned the tide in Game 4. "I've got some big shoulders. I can take it. If I live my life and that's the worst thing that happens to me, I'm a pretty (darn) fortunate guy."
Added Fred McGriff, "We let Game 4 get away. That gave them some confidence, gave them some momentum. . . . It let them back in the Series."
Atlanta went 17 innings without scoring a run. They lost Thursday when Gold Glove center fielder Marquis Grissom dropped a fly ball to set up the only run of the game. And they didn't even have their manager around when the final out was made Saturday.
"We had our chances," McGriff said. "We just didn't get it done. It's as simple as that."
In Game 6, Grissom was once again at the center of attention. With the Braves trailing 3-1, he reached on a one-out hit and broke for second when a pitch to Mark Lemke bounced a few feet away from Yankees catcher Joe Girardi.
Television replays showed Grissom beat the throw, but umpire Terry Tata called him out. Grissom exploded in anger, coming close to bumping Tata before two Atlanta coaches pulled him away. Cox ran onto the field to continue the argument and, on his way back to the dugout, was ejected by third-base umpire Tim Welke.
"You've seen the replay," Grissom said. "I don't need to explain that."
But Grissom was quick to admit that it was a lot more than one blown call that doomed the Braves in this Series. The team that describes itself as businesslike failed to take care of the most basic points of the game, like bunting and hitting the cutoff man.
"Terry Tata is a good umpire," Grissom said. "Things happen. You've got to keep going. I don't think that was a turning point in the ballgame. We don't need to make any excuses. We didn't get guys in. That's the bottom line."
Every move by Cox seemed to backfire. In the fourth game, he ordered an intentional walk to load the bases, then watched Steve Avery walk in the winning run.
On Saturday, he made the dubious decision to start Terry Pendleton as the designated hitter, even though the 36-year-old third baseman looks ready for retirement. Ryan Klesko, who hit 34 homers during the regular season, was on the bench and Pendleton, with only three hits in his last 43 at-bats, was inexplicably in the lineup.
In the fourth, when the Braves had their best chance to get back in the game, Pendleton came to the plate with the bases loaded, one out and a run already in. He worked the count to 3-1 against Jimmy Key, then hit a three-hopper right to Derek Jeter for an easy double play.
"It was stupid on my part," Pendleton said. "I should have made Key go to 3-2. Basically, I screwed up."
Of course, Klesko popped up as a pinch hitter to end the sixth with runners on first and third. But that was only fitting; Atlanta pinch-hitters were 0-for-22 in the postseason.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Players complete details on new deal
NEW YORK (AP) - Baseball finally has a labor deal, at least in principle. Now it's up to the owners to decide if they're going to ratify it.
Players union head Donald Fehr and management negotiator Randy Levine said Saturday they had completed the details of a new collective bargaining agreement on Thursday in Atlanta.
The five-year deal, which covers 1996 and runs through the 2000 season, would allow for interleague play in 1997. Players would have the option to extend the deal through the 2001 season.
If ratified, it would replace the collective bargaining agreement that expired in December 1993 and put an end, at least for the next few years, to the labor disharmony that caused a 232-day strike in 1994 and 1995.
Players have already given their executive board authority to ratify the agreement, but it's unclear if the required 21 of 28 owners will vote for approval. Acting commissioner Bud Selig has not yet scheduled an owners' meeting to hold a vote.