1. Peter Abraham
The Journal News
NEW YORK — The clubhouse
was open at Yankee Stadium yes-
terday for any player who wanted
to stop by and pack up his belong-
ings.
Hideki Matsui,
his left knee still
bandaged after sur-
gery, was there,
folding blue T-shirts
into a box and
throwing old maga-
zines in the trash.
Andy Pettitte made
a quick appearance,
looking at his watch
as he answered a
few questions. Jose
Molina lugged a few
duffel bags of gear
out to his car.
Outside of a few
rookies, that was it. The other
Yankees had cleaned out their
lockers earlier this month after it
became apparent the team would
miss the postseason for the first
time since 1993.
“It’s a little embarrassing, to tell
you the truth,” closer Mariano
Rivera said in Boston on Sunday.
“We should be a better team than
we are.”
A late series of victories in
meaningless games gave the Yan-
kees an 89-73 record. Only three
teams in the American League fin-
ished with more vic-
tories, but two of
those clubs — the
Tampa Bay Rays
and Boston Red Sox
— are members of
the AL East.
“It was a failure,”
team captain Derek
Jeter said on Sun-
day after the final
game of the season.
“We didn’t get to
where we wanted to
be. We didn’t ac-
complish any of our
goals.”
Before heading to
his home in Florida, Joe Girardi
reflected on his rocky first season
as manager and the team’s plans
for the future. Speaking in a cold,
barren room in Yankee Stadium,
Girardi said he was disappointed
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Business
INSIDE:
Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News
Albertus Magnus’ Brittany Kehoe, left, and Westlake’s Nicole Papa
battle for ball control yesterday.
Westlake junior’s
late goal thwarts
Albertus Magnus 2-1
Jeff Gold
The Journal News
THORNWOOD — It’s pretty
much a given that Amy Marron is
going to score. The question is
how many goals, at what juncture,
and what style the Westlake jun-
ior star is going to come through.
Yesterday, she had “only” one,
but it came with 12 minutes left to
break a tie on a header off a corner
kick and lifted Westlake to a 2-1
win over Albertus Magnus.
“The consistency that she has
shown has been remarkable,”
Westlake girls soccer coach Bob
Bendlin said. “No matter what is
thrown her way, she finds a way to
do it for us.”
The winning goal came when
Marron, who led the section in
goals each of the last two years,
found a little room inside the box
on a corner kick taken by Brittany
Connick. She actually had to low-
er her head to convert the pass,
knocking it down from just a few
yards out.
Unlike most opponents, the Fal-
cons didn’t mark Marron all over
the field with a single player,
Marron uses her
head for winner
Longtime swimmer,
meet official takes
role modeling to heart
Rachel Stern
The Journal News
To say Paul McClintock is in-
volved would be an understate-
ment, as he and swimming have
become practically synonymous.
McClintock is omnipresent,
dabbling in all Westchester swim-
ming has to offer.
And then some.
Come Thursday, McClintock, a
Valhalla resident, will join the
likes of Arthur Ashe, Elton Brand
and Lou Gehrig — a list that
makes him a bit uneasy — when
he is inducted into the Westch-
ester Sports Hall of Fame in a cer-
emony at the Mamaroneck Beach
and Yacht Club.
“He is uncomfortable with the
type of people he is joining,” said
Brian McClintock, Paul’s eldest
son. “He has such a respect for
what they have done — he didn’t
think he necessarily merited an in-
duction.”
Fortunately, Brian knew other-
wise. The former Iona College
swimmer nominated his father, in
his words, “whether he wanted it
or not.”
Born in Tarrytown, McClintock
has won more than 130 Empire
State Games medals in swimming,
more than 60 of them gold, in 25
consecutive years of competition.
With recent additions.
McClintock has
desire to inspire
Please see HALL OF FAME, 3CPlease see SOCCER, 3C
STAYING HOME IN OCTOBER|METS AND YANKEES CLEAN OUT
Frank Becerra Jr./Journal News file photo
Rangers equipment manager Acacio Marques found he
couldn’t plug skate sharpeners into the outlets in Europe.
Season-opening games
require lots of work
from Rangers’ crew
Sam Weinman
The Journal News
Strange as it sounds, when it
comes to the Rangers’ season-open-
ing trip to Europe, the players might
be the ones who have it relatively
easy.
Sure, they’ll play four games in six
days sandwiched between two
transatlantic flights. But when it
comes to everyone else charged with
making this historic journey a reality,
it’s been far more complicated than
just a couple extra bags of luggage.
Equipment managers have been
forced to organize and transport
some 6,800 pounds of gear. Team ex-
ecutives have overseen everything
from arena renovations to making
sure players get the right desserts
with their pregame meals.
More than once, various members
of the organization have referred to
the trip — which culminates this
weekend in Prague with a back-to-
back season-opening set against the
Tampa Bay Lightning — as “a once-
in-a-lifetime experience.” Excuse
them if they might want such an as-
surance in writing when it’s all over.
“I’m concerned about everything,”
said Jason Vogel, Madison Square
Garden’s vice president of sports
team operations, who has been in-
strumental in organizing the trip for
the Rangers. “These people have
been great to work with, and it’s
where it needs to be. But I’m con-
cerned about everything. I just worry
about those moments where they
say, ‘Oh, we forgot to tell you. We
also had you signed up for this. ... ’ ”
Although the week-long European
trip was conceptualized while the
Czech Republic’s greatest player,
Jaromir Jagr, was still part of the
Rangers, the team’s arrival in Prague
this weekend is still being hailed as a
momentous occasion (in Jagr’s ab-
sence, the Rangers have two remain-
ing Czechs, forward Petr Prucha and
Planning European trip no vacation for team staff
SCENES
BEHIND THE
Yankees blog
Peter Abraham breaks down the
Yankees’ year at yankees.lhblogs.comLoHud.com
Just Kickin’ It
Jeff Gold discusses
the girls soccer season
at soccer.lohudblogs.com
LoHud.com
Rangers’ world tour
Sept. 27: North American presea-
son finale vs. Devils at Madison
Square Garden; fly to Switzerland
Sept. 28 and yesterday: Practice
in Bern, Switzerland
Today: Exhibition vs. SC Bern
in Bern
Tomorrow: Victoria Cup vs.
European club champion Mettalurg
Magnitogorsk in Bern
Thursday: Fly to Czech Republic
Friday: Practice in Prague
Saturday: Regular-season opener
vs. Tampa Bay Lightning in Prague
Sunday: Regular-season game vs.
Tampa Bay in Prague; fly to Newark,
N.J.
Oct. 10: Home opener vs. Chicago
Blackhawks, Madison Square Garden
Kathy Willens/The Associated Press
Instead of painting a National League Division Series logo on the field yesterday, Shea Stadium work crews left the Mets’ logo as broken as their fans’ hearts after a second straight September collapse.
It will take a leader next year. A
real leader, the kind of leader who
can rewrite a team’s legacy,
change a team’s image. It will take
the kind of leader who can make
players, coaches, executives and
fans forget about two years that
are unforgettable.
The Mets have apparently al-
ready decided they want Jerry
Manuel to be that leader for them.
That’s fine. Manuel came into a
difficult situation
this summer, replac-
ing Willie Randolph,
who was fired in a
way that would have
made medieval exe-
cutioners blush.
Manuel did good
damage control, got his players re-
focused, made a run at the post-
season that seemed like a certain-
ty with only a few weeks to go.
But then it fell apart (again) and
the Mets collapsed (again), and
now we head into a winter that
seems so much longer than it
should (again). Say what you want
about the talent the Mets have and
the ability they have and the stars
they have, but right now, the only
thing this so-called “core group”
of Mets will be remembered for is
failing.
David Wright, Jose Reyes, Car-
los Beltran. They came close in
2006, got to Game 7 of the NLCS
against the Cardinals and could
see the World Series just over the
hill. Couldn’t get there. Beltran
looks at strike three to end the
game, his bat stuck to his shoul-
der like Velcro.
Then came last year and a sev-
en-game lead with
17 to go that some-
how wasn’t enough.
And then came this
year and a 3ÿ-game
lead that slipped
away, too. Three
straight years, three
straight disappointments in front
of three straight silent Shea
crowds.
Manuel is charged with chang-
ing it, changing a culture that has
somehow infiltrated a franchise.
The Mets used to be known as
that hapless, sort-of-lovable group
of misfits across town from the
stately Yankees. They struggled,
lost a lot of games, and it was easy
Playoff hopes in tatters
Kathy Willens/The Associated Press
Manager Joe Girardi carries a catcher’s mitt as he walks down a
Yankee Stadium hallway and into the offseason.
Mets blog
The Journal News breaks down the
Mets’ season at lohud.com/metsblogLoHud.com
Inside
Alexei Ramirez’s grand slam earns
White Sox playoff with Twins, 4C
The Dodgers have embraced Manny
Ramirez as a clubhouse leader, 4C
Mets: Manuel must prove he is right
choice by rewriting ending to season
Yankees: After ‘embarrassing’ first
season, honeymoon is over for Girardi
Sam
Borden
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Please see YANKEES, 5CPlease see BORDEN, 5C
On the Web
There won’t be any
baseball in New York
in October, but there’s
still plenty to talk
about. Join Peter
Abraham for a live
video chat this after-
noon at 4 to talk about
the Yankees, the Mets
or the upcoming play-
offs. Visit lohud.com/
lohudyankeesbloglive
to join in the fun.
Brewers going with youngster to
start Game 1 against Phillies, 4C