Brosius Has Fans in the Clubhouse

This time last year, Scott Brosius said he was “sitting home . . . getting too full with pizza,” while watching the baseball playoffs.

These days, the New York Yankee third baseman has a different perspective, having finally participated in a postseason after seven fruitless years with the Oakland Athletics, and now the only thing he’s devouring is opposing pitching.

Building on his impressive regular season, when he hit .300 with 19 home runs and 98 RBIs while batting eighth and ninth, Brosius is 10 for 30 (.333) in nine playoff games, with two homers and a team-leading nine RBIs.

Tuesday night, he hit a three-run homer in the third inning, giving the Yankees a 6-0 lead over Cleveland in an American League championship series game they eventually won, 9-5, to clinch their 35th World Series berth.

“That was the biggest home run of my career,” said Brosius, who hit .203 with 11 homers and 41 RBIs in 1997 for the A’s. “The postseason definitely means more than the regular season. The game can be humbling sometimes. I’m just very happy to have another chance.”

In a lineup that includes Derek Jeter, Paul O’Neill, Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez, there are some in the Yankee clubhouse who believe Brosius is the team’s most valuable player.

He hit .372 with runners in scoring position during the regular season and displayed a flashy glove Tuesday night, throwing Sandy Alomar Jr. out in the sixth inning and Enrique Wilson out in the ninth after making diving stops of each of their grounders.

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Cleveland is no stranger to disappointment. The Indians reached the World Series in 1995 and ‘97, losing to Atlanta in six games in ’95 and extending Florida to seven games before losing last season. With Tuesday night’s loss, their World Series championship drought grew to 50 years.

“It’s like getting a knife stuck in your heart,” said Indian shortstop Omar Vizquel, whose rare error in the sixth inning Tuesday paved the way for a three-run, game-clinching Yankee rally. “Your body goes stone cold.”

Cleveland has won 25 playoff games over the last four years, but with a third layer of playoffs added in 1995, the Indians have no rings to show for all their postseason success.

Manager Mike Hargrove said his 1998 team was more talented than the ’97 team but acknowledges the Indians need to strengthen their rotation, the back of their bullpen and the second-base spot to compete with the Yankees.

“I don’t think there has to be a whole lot done with this club,” he said. “Just a few tweaks here and there, and we’ll be OK.”

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This exchange occurred in the Yankee clubhouse Tuesday night when coach Don Zimmer, whose head is as bald as a baby’s rear end, doused Manager Joe Torre’s head with a bottle of champagne.

Torre: “Why are you doing that?”

Zimmer: “Because it helps you grow hair.”

Torre: “It didn’t work for you.”