Great Scott Named Series MVP

Scott Brosius was an unknown commodity to the New York Yankees when they traded for him last November. What they got was a World Series MVP.

Brosius finished the series 8-for-17 (.471) with two homers and six RBIs in four games to earn MVP honors after New York defeated the San Diego Padres 3-0 in Game 4 Wednesday night.

And after the Yankees finished the sweep -- with Brosius throwing to first for the final out -- the third baseman was serenaded by his Yankee teammates in the clubhouse the same way the right-field bleacher fans rhythmically chanted his name all season at Yankee Stadium.

"Scot-ty, Bro-sius ..... Scot-ty Bro-sius."

"I think it's every player's dream to get to the World Series and feel like you've played a part of the team getting there and the team winning," Brosius said.

Brosius, who said he was eating pizza and watching TV when Florida won the Series last October, drove in the second run of New York's 3-0 win in Game 4 with a weak single in the eighth inning over shortstop Chris Gomez that didn't make it out of the infield.

The hit symbolized Brosius' regular season and postseason. A year ago, a ball he would have hit like that probably would have been turned for a double play.

"There's certainly some satisfaction in how this has worked out," Brosius said. "But I also just feel very lucky to be in this position, how things have changed from last year, it's just an unbelievable turnaround."

Last fall, the Yankees finally dumped disappointing pitcher Kenny Rogers off on the Oakland Athletics and got Brosius in return. There were some eyebrows raised at the deal since the third baseman wacoming off a miserable 1997 season with the A's, batting .203 with just 41 RBIs.

"I think sometimes it was harder to hit .200 than it was to hit .300," Brosius said following Game 3. "It was just a year where if anything could go wrong, it did go wrong. It was one of those things that kind of snowballed."

But from the outset of this season, Brosius fit right in with the Yankees. He batted .300 with 19 homers and 98 RBIs in 152 games. Punctuating his remarkable season and the Yankees' incredible depth is the fact Brosius often batted ninth in the order.

Forget the World Series MVP, many of the Yankees felt Brosius was their most valuable player since April because of his presence on the field and in the clubhouse.

"There's a lot of things he has done base-hit wise, defense-wise and just attitude-wise that has helped everyone on the bench also," Yankees manager Joe Torre said before Game 4.

Brosius, 32, played the postseason while his father underwent colon cancer surgery and chemotherapy. His father was in the stands Tuesday night when Brosius hit the two homers and came close to hitting a third.

Brosius was such a low-key part of the Yankees during spring training that Torre stared at the team press guide, trying to figure out why his numbers tailed off so much the year before.

"We didn't know what Scott Brosius was all about," Torre said. "The first half of the year, it didn't take long for us to see that he knocked in big runs for us, and was very important for us both defensively and offensively."

A storybook season for Brosius and the Yankees needed a perfect ending, and they got it.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Brosius fielded pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney's grounder and threw to first for the final out.

"I just think the biggest moment (of the season) is that third out," Brosius said. "Throwing the ball and knowing it was the end of the game and the end of the season. There's nothing better than coming up and seeing the player's eyes, and the sense of achievement and accomplishment and excitement."

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