May 23, 2001 -- One of the biggest hearts in sports was broken twice
last year when Joe Torre skipped over David Cone at Shea Stadium in
July and stayed with Denny Neagle in October after toying with the
idea of starting Cone against the Mets in the World Series.
Tonight the Yankees hope to tear into various body parts belonging to
the their former teammate, union representative and clubhouse leader.
Such is life when you come to The Bronx dressed in road gray with
"BOSTON" on the chest.

At 38, Cone isn't the pitcher he was before he joined the Yankees in
1995. And there are questions as to how much he has left in a
borderline Hall of Fame career that includes last year's 4-14
nightmare.

But when The Bombers see Cone peering in from the mound with the cap
pulled low, their respect level will be the same as it is for Pedro
Martinez, whom they face tomorrow. You watch somebody for as long as
the Yankees watched Cone and you believe, even if the data gives you
reason not to.

"You still respect who he is and what he has done," said Chuck
Knoblauch, who is a career .310 (9-for-29) hitter against Cone. "You
never take him lightly."

By now you know how Cone's six years in pinstripes ended: the Yankees
talked in generalities, never made a concrete offer and watched him
sign with the Red Sox for $1 million guaranteed and a chance for
another $4 million in incentives. The Yankees? They replaced him with
Mike Mussina.

Now, one of the most popular players in New York sports history comes
"home" as not just an enemy, but a member of the Red Sox, the team
which leads the AL East by 11/2 games over the second-place Yankees.

In addition to a huge heart and big-time guts, Cone will lug a tool
box full of every sort of trick to the mound tonight against players
he knows very well.

"It'll be different. We won four World Series together. He was a guy
who was a big part of that. It's different to see him in a Red Sox
uniform, in another uniform altogether," said Tino Martinez, a .182
(4-for-22) hitter against Cone.

Shut down by a tender shoulder in spring training, Cone has made one
start this year, going three innings last Thursday against the Twins
when he allowed two runs, two hits, a homer, four walks, hit a batter
and fanned two.

One of the reasons Red Sox manager Jimy Williams stayed with Cone for
tonight's start after last evening's game was rained out is so
Martinez can pitch three times against the Yankees in 11 days.
Martinez goes tomorrow, next Wednesday at Fenway Park and June 4 at
Yankee Stadium when last night's game will be made up

And don't forget, Williams has Tim Wakefield (last night's scheduled
starter) available to pick up for Cone, who can't be expected to go
more than five innings in his second outing.

One of Cone's biggest problems tonight will be channeling his emotions
as he takes the mound in a ballpark in which he celebrated
championships, won his 20th game in 1998 and hurled a perfect game in
1999.

"It was a great run here, great teammates and I have the utmost
respect for Joe Torre and Mel Stottlemyre," said Cone, who was 64-40
as a Yankee.

Of the nine batters he will see tonight, only six have faced him.
Collectively, they are hitting .242 (36-for-149) against Cone. Paul
O'Neill is at .333 (12-for-36), Bernie Williams .278 (5-for-18), David
Justice .174 (4-for-23) and Scott Brosius .095 (2-for-21). Derek
Jeter, Alfonso Soriano and Jorge Posada never have faced Cone other
than in spring training batting practice.

"I want to get off to a good start," said Cone, who one scout said
threw better against the Twins than at any point last year. "A lot of
those guys I have faced."

Knoblauch admits it will be strange to see Cone on the other side. But
he believes the setting will be stranger for Cone.

"It will be a little funny, but it's probably more weird for him,
since he's the one coming back," said Knoblauch, who will try and
shake a 3-for-19 (.158) against Cone.

According to Martinez, a crowd of 40,000-plus will treat Cone with
respect and save their wrath for another Red Sox uniform.

"What he did here, you've got to give him a lot of credit for pitching
the way he did. He carried this team for years, pitched through
injuries and never made excuses," Martinez said. "He's a great
teammate, a great Yankee, and I think they're gonna reward him for
that. I think they're going to treat him well."
susan peters ~ [email protected]

May 23, 2001 -- Say this for David Cone: If Benedict Arnold had owned
Cone's captivating communication skills, he'd be considered more of a
patriot these days than Mel Gibson. Cone came back to The Bronx last
night talking about Red Sox pride and how much he wants to help
deliver a World Series to the Yankees' most hated rival and, as
always, he captivated the media with his thoughtful words.

It will be fascinating to see if Cone can captivate the fans as easily
tonight at Yankee Stadium when he makes his first start against his
old championship team as a Red Sox. Before meeting with the media,
Cone, 38, lifted his embattled right arm high and cracked, "I'm still
reaching up from the grave."

As for that most unholy sight of trading Pinstripes for Boston red,
white and blue, Cone, who was out of a job this winter before Boston
came calling, said, "It's a good-looking uniform. Obviously. it's
going to take a little getting used to. I know a lot of fans are going
to feel that way when they see me in this uniform; nevertheless, I'm
happy to have it on right now."

Even though his words sounded so right on this rain-soaked night, Cone
looked so wrong in that uniform. For Yankee fans, this is Roger
Clemens in reverse.

"I am still stubborn enough to think that I can do this," said Cone,
who is in his 21st year of pro ball and coming off his worst season
(4-14). "I didn't want to give up and I certainly didn't want to quit
on last year's numbers."

One reason Cone went to the Red Sox was because of this rivalry.

"I understand the nature, the passion for baseball on the East Coast
in Boston," he said. "I also know what the payoff would be if we could
break through, win a world championship. As naive as this might sound
for a newcomer to Boston, I think we have a chance to do it.

"I'm very confident in the team that I'm on right now. That's the
payoff, the golden nugget at the end. To me, that would be one of the
most exciting parts of my career, to be on the team in Boston that
finally went to the World Series."

For the record, the Yankees have won 26 since World Championships
since the Red Sox last won one in 1918.

"I also wanted to pitch at Fenway," said Cone, who is 5-1 lifetime
there, 36-18 at Yankee Stadium. "Fenway Park is what I consider one of
the great baseball parks of all time."

The competitor in Cone wouldn't let him retire. There was no offer
from the Yankees, so he gladly signed a one-year deal with the Sox for
a $1 million base salary. Tonight he will try his hardest not to let
emotion overcome him as he makes only his second start of the season
after battling shoulder problems.

"The one thing I'm concerned about is trying to contain my emotions,"
Cone said.

Driving here late yesterday afternoon, Cone's eyes, as usual, were
drawn to the championship years that are emblazoned on the Stadium.

"Knowing that block of four championships on the right-hand side was a
big part of not only Yankee history, but was a big part of my life, I
always take a look at that when I come to Yankee Stadium," Cone said
in an almost reverent tone.

This 2001 season, Cone hopes, will belong to his new team.

"I think we have arguably the best pitcher in the game in Pedro
[Martinez], probably the best hitter going now in Manny [Ramirez] with
big hopes for Nomar [Garciaparra] coming back, [we have] a real
veteran team," Cone said."This team reminds me in terms of depth of
our '98 team."

That was then - when Cone was a Yankee. Now he's Red Sox proud. Win or
lose, this will be a night to remember.

susan peters ~ [email protected]

Jon Heyman

DAVID CONE IS BACK on the big stage tonight, back in the middle of the
Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. And that is how it should be. Cone disdained
offers to pitch in Texas and Kansas City for Boston because he lives
for the big moments, for moments like these.

Cone was born and raised in Kansas City, Mo., but that is nothing more
than a geographical fluke. He is no more Midwestern than Mayor
Giuliani. Everything about Cone is New York except the accent. Even
his nickname, Coney, sounds like New York. This is Coney's town, and
Yankee Stadium is Coney's turf.

"To be in this situation means everything to me," Cone said.

Cone gets the call tonight against his Yankees at his Yankee Stadium,
and most everyone there will want to reach out and touch him, to thank
him for 5 1/2 mostly great years in the Bronx. Red Sox manager Jimy
Williams could have elected to move back Tim Wakefield to start
tonight's game after last night's rainout and skipped Cone. Williams,
a man who uses grunts for words, is usually no fan of the story. But
even he knew that bumping Cone out of tonight's start was no real
option, not unless Williams wanted to fall well below Judith Nathan in
public disapproval ratings.

The anticipation has been building for a week, for Cone and for all of
us.

He looked fairly relaxed last night. That is his way. Or maybe it
hasn't sunk in yet that he is on the wrong side now. Cone didn't feel
like a visitor back in his Upper East Side apartment Monday night,
ordering up from a favorite deli. Although he mostly lives in Tampa,
this is his true home.

Cone said he expects a mixed reaction, and there's little doubt there
will be a strong one. In truth, tonight he deserves only cheers.
Yankee fans came through by not retaliating for the misbehavior in
Minnesota. Let's hope they come through again.

In talking about his days in the Bronx, Cone called it "a great run
here," and that is underselling it. Cone did so many wonderful things
here it is difficult to recount them now, from the World Series
heroics to the comeback from the aneurysm to the perfect game.

From the way he became the team spokesman and handled all the tough
questions to the way he tried to take Kenny Rogers under his wing and
tried to make him a New Yorker when he was here. Well, Cone couldn't
do everything.

If Cone did make a mistake here, it was the decision to pace himself
in the winter and spring of 2000. He never got up to speed and he
still is desperately trying to find his old form. The velocity is
coming back. He hit 90 mph three times in his no-decision,
no-conclusion Red Sox debut in Minnesota last week, giving him hope.

But not confidence. That is different than hope. "I still feel I have
enough in the tank," Cone said. He didn't say it with conviction,
though.

Cone had velocity but little staying power in his debut. His arm is
better than his head now. In a candid moment, Cone said, "I've won
with less stuff than I'm taking out there right now. Before, I just
knew I'd find a way." It's a hero's job just to get back to a
major-league mound after where he's been and how he's felt. When his
shoulder blew up this spring, he went into instant depression.
"Certainly, you wonder if it's time to hang it up," he said. "But I'm
still stubborn enough to think I can still do this. I didn't want to
give up. And I certainly didn't want to end on last year's note.

"The underlying thing for me is I have to keep trying. I know a lot of
people would say, 'You're in denial. You can't do it anymore.' No one
wants to see a washed-up pitcher who used to be pretty good. But in my
mind, I can't quit. I've got to go out there again. I've got to keep
trying." Late yesterday afternoon, Cone stepped onto the sod at Yankee
Stadium for the first time since becoming an enemy again. He threw
darts to Chris Correnti, the Red Sox's physical therapist, on a mostly
wet and virtually empty field, warming up for the big night in the
drizzle and the darkness.

Orlando Hernandez wandered out for his side throwing session, and he
greeted Cone with a hug. Mel Stottlemyre, identified as one of Cone's
true heroes at the news conference, did the same. So did some grounds
crew members and a cameraman or two. Cone is the kind of guy everyone
feels he knows. It's going to be a warm feeling for everyone in the
house tonight.
susan peters ~ [email protected]

05/22/01
BY JEFF PASSAN
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
He will walk through the tunnel with the same strut he has used
hundreds of times. He knows the bowels of Yankee Stadium the way he
knows a fastball grip. This time, though, it's different. The uniform.
The cap. The dugout.

The only thing that will be the same for David Cone, Boston Red Sox
starting pitcher, is the importance of a series between the Red Sox
and Yankees.

Cone, a six-year Yankee who was not re-signed after a poor 2000
season, will start the second game of the series tomorrow night.

"I'm looking forward to it," Cone said. "I don't know what to expect.
I really don't. But this is one of the best rivalries in all of
sports. Not just baseball."

Cone wonders how the fans will react to his return, if they will give
him a hero's welcome or a traitor's catcall. "Yeah," he said, "it
would be real nice to beat the Yankees."

And at the same time, he wonders how much of his old form he can
regain in his comeback.

It's still somewhere inside Cone, lurking beneath the doubts. The
confidence, the arrogance he possessed when he stepped to the mound to
unleash his right-handed bullets.

Cone convinced himself he would win each time he pitched. He knew his
slider would bite like a mosquito in June. Batters feared him, and
with reason.

But this is a different Cone, different than the man who won eight
career playoff games and the 1994 Cy Young award.

He just hopes his chronically injured right shoulder will last through
each start with the Red Sox.

"All my thinking is short term," Cone said yesterday after the Red
Sox' exhibition against their Double-A affiliate, the Trenton Thunder,
was canceled due to rain. "If I have a good start, I try to build on
that. If my shoulder feels good, I try to keep a positive attitude."

That's what kept Cone coming back.

After going 4-14 with a 6.91 ERA with the Yankees last season, Cone
said he questioned his ability as a major-league ballplayer.

Could he win those games? Make that slider bite? Instill fear in those
batters?

"There were some doubts. Plenty of doubts along the way," Cone said.
"But I wasn't going to give up yet.

"Some people would say it's denial. I've always been kind of
stubborn."

So he stretched his shoulder. And kneaded it. And hired an
acupuncturist to stick needles into it.

Anything to get rid of the tendinitis. Anything to get his shoulder
back into pitching shape.

Boston found his shoulder fit and signed him Jan. 11. With limited
expectations, of course.

"We were hoping for a pitcher that could go in the rotation," GM Dan
Duquette said, "and we're going to find out if he's healthy and ready
to pitch."

Everything looked fine during Cone's first two spring training starts.
But in his third start March 13, Cone felt a shooting pain in the
shoulder and had to remove himself from the game.

He nursed the shoulder through the rest of spring training and once
the pain subsided went to Class-A Sarasota on a rehab assignment.
After one start, the Red Sox recalled Cone and inserted him into their
rotation.

Duquette said he could have waited for three more turns around the
rotation and then called up Cone, but he chose to take Cone as soon as
he could.

So out stepped No. 36 last Thursday against Minnesota. His line blew
no one away: three innings, two earned runs, two hits, four walks, two
strikeouts and a no-decision on 76 pitches.

Forget that, catcher Scott Hatteberg said. The lack of a grimace on
Cone's face -- the same grimace Hatteberg saw during spring training
-- served as the telltale sign.

"He was better than I expected," Hatteberg said. "I thought he had
better velocity, better command. He seemed to be more aggressive, and
that's the sign of a guy who's not in pain."

Cone threw his fastball in the high 80s and reached 90 mph against the
Twins. His pitch count, he admitted, was far too high for three
innings.

Either way, Red Sox manager Jimy Williams said, Cone brings the
experience Boston could use to complement Pedro Martinez in its
rotation.

"He knows how to pitch big games. He knows how to win big games,"
Williams said. "He's won a lot of games. He's an outstanding
competitor and he's a winner. I say put him out there and let him go."

susan peters ~ [email protected]

Wednesday, May 23, 2001
By TARA SULLIVAN
Staff Writer

NEW YORK -- David Cone swears he is all Red Sox now, his career path
squarely turned toward bringing an elusive World Series title to a
Boston franchise bereft of glory since 1918.

That vow during an afternoon news conference Tuesday at Yankee Stadium
had to pierce the hearts of Yankees fans who still see Cone only as
the man in pinstripes who pitched them to four World Championships in
his five-plus years in the Bronx.

Tonight, Cone's road grays and Red Sox cap will be impossible to
ignore. Not even a rained-out game Tuesday is going to interrupt his
dramatic return to Yankee Stadium. Cone will keep his scheduled spot
in the Red Sox rotation to take on the Bombers' Andy Pettitte. It will
be just Cone's second start of the season since returning from the
disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis.

The drama couldn't be thicker. "One of the things I'm concerned about
is containing my emotions on the mound," said Cone, 38, who is just as
apprehensive about finding the control that was absent in his first
start against Minnesota. "But this is one of the reasons I came to
Boston -- to be in the middle of this rivalry."

Cone seemed caught somewhere between identities Tuesday, wearing a Red
Sox uniform while sitting in front of a Yankee-blue banner adorned
with rows of trademark interlocking Ns and Ys. While comparing the
depth of this Boston squad to the 1998 Yankees, Cone confused his
pronouns. The Yankees became "we," as in "We had Tim Raines and Darryl
Strawberry on the bench," and the other team became strangers, as in
"I believe Boston has that potential this year."

But really, who could fault Cone for reverting to his glory days in
New York? There is so much to hold on to: his riveting return from a
frightening arm aneurysm in '96; the perfect game in '98; his
incomparable big-game ability; his role as media darling; and his
far-reaching respect in the clubhouse. But even with all that stored
in his memory, the negativism of last season prevailed. Cone could not
get past his 4-14 record in 2000, his negligible role on another
championship team, and his repeated injury misfortune.

"You certainly wonder if it's time to hang 'em up, but I'm still
stubborn enough to think I can do this," he said. "I certainly didn't
want to end on last year's note. . . . There was a lot of confusion
and wondering what happened and I'm still going through that. One
thing I know is I have to go on. I know a lot of people are saying
it's time to walk away, that you're in denial, that nobody wants to
see a washed-up pitcher. I have to keep trying." Even if it's for
Yankee fans' most hated team.

Cone said he would love to reverse the World Series formula used by
Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs, who left the Red Sox to win in New York.
"I know what the payoff would be if we could win in Boston," Cone
said.

That's why those critical whispers don't penetrate. "I'm not concerned
with that as much as I am with the notion of walking away too soon,"
he said. "I can take those sorts of statements that I should have
quit. What I can't take is in my own mind knowing that I still had
something left."

There is no better barometer for Cone than the Yankees and no more
appropriate site than the building where he glanced up at the World
Series years painted on the facade and swelled with pride at the four
he helped win.

"There is the sense that my career is on the line, that this might be
the last chance," Cone said. "I still feel like I've got enough."
susan peters ~ [email protected]

by Michael Silverman
Wednesday, May 23, 2001
NEW YORK - In these days when players switch uniforms more frequently
than their long-distance provider, there is a bit of the ``dog bites
man'' angle whenever a player comes back to play his ex-teammates.

Yet the return of David Cone to Yankee Stadium tonight holds no
ordinary appeal.

Especially to his former teammates. It must be something about those
four world championship rings they won with him.

``It's going to be strange,'' said first baseman Tino Martinez before
last night's rainout. ``Stranger than most times. This day and age,
with so many guys getting traded, you face old teammates all the time.
But when you go through what we've been through together and win four
championships together, it's totally different.

``It's not just like we hang together as teammates and that was it. We
won championships together, we became very close friends. He's a great
friend of mine and one of my greatest teammates of all time.''

With the prominent exception of last season, Cone was a leader both on
and off the field in the Bronx. He went 64-40 over 5 seasons, 60-26
before last year's disastrous 4-14 mark. In the postseason, he was
6-1, with two of those wins coming in World Series games.

Throw in his perfect game in 1999, and you've got a career's worth of
highlights for most players.

``It's news when somebody's been as prominent as he was here, and as
successful as he was,'' said Yankees right fielder Paul O'Neill.
``David Cone was a person who was very well-respected by the
organization here and the players. To look out and see him playing for
Boston is going to be a different feeling.''

Real different.

``It's going to be strange when the game starts,'' said Martinez. ``He
is going to try to get me out and try to win the ball game.''

And even close friends have a limit to rooting for friends on opposing
teams.

``As long as we have the lead over the Red Sox in our division, I hope
he wins every game,'' said Martinez.

Seeing Cone in a different uniform will be ``very weird,'' said
catcher Jorge Posada. Throw in the ``Boston'' on the front of the
shirt, and it's practically a ``Twilight Zone'' episode.

Strange as it will be, his former teammates fully understand why Cone,
who could have signed with a few other teams, opted for the Red Sox.

Once you've had a taste of playing for a city that lives and breathes
baseball, it's hard to leave.

``It didn't surprise me that he went to Boston when he wasn't coming
here. It didn't surprise me he went to a team that has a chance to be
in the playoffs every year,'' said O'Neill. ``I don't think he's
playing just to play, I think he's playing because he has a chance to
win.''

Martinez barely raised an eyebrow at Cone's move.

``I can understand that,'' said Martinez, ``because once you play
here, for Boston, for the Mets, for teams where fans are so into the
team and have high expectations . . . Each year, it's hard to go play
somewhere fans don't really care or aren't really into it whether you
win or lose. It's hard to go to that situation.''

Manager Joe Torre understands Cone, too.

``Sometimes we need something to stimulate us,'' said Torre. ``If
that's the reason, I'm sure a lot of thought went into it. He's one
guy, you can't look at the reading, you can't look at the numbers,
because there's more to him than that.''

susan peters ~ [email protected]

Good morning all!

Well the "debut" in the Boston uniform against our beloved team has come and
gone. Thank goodness!!

I thought David's reception was great, although he says he thought it was a
mixed reception.  From where I watched on ESPN.. I saw people standing and
applauding.  Yankee fans overall are a great bunch!

While David got the "L", I think he can walk away with his head held high.
He did a great job.

You gotta love Derek though.  Smiling at David at his first at-bat, I think
surprised our SD.  And, Bernie.. well if David had to give up the long ball
I am glad it was to him.  Bernie needs a lift.

Just wanted to share my thoughts with you all. I'll stop flooding your
e-mail boxes now that this ordeal is over... or at least until his next
start (LOL)!!!!

Susan... between you and my sister I think I have all articles written about
David-- thanks for keeping us so  well informed during this whole thing! :)

I know we will be facing David again, and it will be difficult each time,
but I think I am over it now..

Have a great Day and a wonderful Memorial Day weekend- I'm leaving for NY
this weekend.. leaving rainy Chicago and from what I hear, coming to a rainy
NY- so much for a sunny weekend :(  oh well, at least I can have some good
NY pizza.. I really miss that!

Laura

I am *so* glad it is over - now I can start trying to be friends with
everyone I probably got mad at me while this was going on!  Oh well!  It's
never going to be easy seeing him face us, but this was probably the worst,
because it was the first time.  Hopefully the next time will be better, or
at least a little less agonizing.

In the meantime, who could as for more...SD pitched decently and the Yankees
won!  I know we were all hoping for various far-fetched scenarios with 0-0
games and smacking around the relievers and all, but seriously, I'm not
overly upset by the way things went, he didn't look bad, it was that "one
bad pitch"/"one bad sequence" thing all over again.  Grrrr!  Of course, I
didn't watch most of it anyway, I went to dinner with some old friends (2
Mets fans and 2 non-baseball fans) and avoided the whole thing!  Yes, I'm a
chicken!  It's OK, what goes around comes around, I ended up feeling sick as
a dog from last night straight to this morning, so I guess I should have
stayed home!

Susan - thanks so much for the articles! :)

Laura - the sun is coming out as we speak - maybe the weekend will be OK
after all, although they are predicting rain!

Keep smiling...:)

Ally
allybear
[email protected]
IM:  allybearm

He came walking down the runway on the visitors' side of Yankee
Stadium after the top of the sixth, walking slowly, with the radio
voices of Michael Kay and John Sterling above him in the speaker near
the door to the Red Sox clubhouse. David Cone was through for the
night, after giving the Yankees three runs and six hits, after showing
enough arm to give him hope that there is at least one more summer in
that arm.

Cone, wearing his windbreaker, still had his glove on his left hand
and now he took the glove and slapped it hard against the door.

"----ing Bernie," he said, smiling as he did, talking about the home
run Bernie Williams, his old teammate, had hit in the bottom of the
third, one big and high over another dramatic night for Cone at Yankee
Stadium.

Cone stopped now, near the clubhouse door, as if he wanted to turn and
go back and get one more inning against the Yankees. Someone said,
"You pitched good."

"Better," he said. He nodded and said, "I pitched better."

Cone said, "It's a start," and then disappeared into the Red Sox
clubhouse.

He is No. 36 for the Red Sox now the way he was No. 36 for the
Yankees. At the age of 38, he tries to prove he is more than the
washed-up pitcher he was for the Yankees last season; that he is still
better than that. He only pitched three innings and change in his
first start for the Red Sox, last week against the Twins. Last night,
he gave his new team five innings against his old teammates, struck
out five, made only the one mistake to Bernie.

"I felt like a pitcher again," Cone would say in the interview room.

David Cone's past, present and what future he has are all mixed up in
last night's game. He was a 20-3 pitcher as a kid with the Mets once.
He had enough fastball to strike out 19 Phillies in a game once. He
won a Cy Young Award for the Royals and pitched a perfect game for the
Yankees and nearly pitched a no-hitter once when he was coming back
from an aneurysm. He developed a reputation as being one of the best
big-game pitchers of his time. This was another big game for him at
the Stadium last night, everybody wanting to see if he had anything
left. Everybody including David Cone.

"I couldn't quit on last year," he had said the day before, and then
talked about how he was now trying to "piece together my career."

He pieced together a professional start, a good solid start, against
the Yankees. He struck out Chuck Knoblauch in the bottom of the first
on a split-fingered fastball that knifed into Boston catcher Jason
Varitek's glove. Before the inning was over he got Paul O'Neill on a
called third strike. Cone showed a more compact delivery than you
remembered from him, occasionally showed you a fastball that the
Yankees must have remembered, before all the years and pitches and
injuries and sheer drama of his career finally caught up with him last
season, when he was 4-14.

"I'll always love him for what he gave me here," George Steinbrenner
said before the game, standing near his private box. "But I still hope
we kick the --- out of him."

This was about a quarter to 7. Cone had shown himself about 15 minutes
before, coming out of the Red Sox dugout, waving to the few fans who
were already in the Stadium waiting in the rain for the game to start.
Cone took his time walking across the outfield, took his sweet time,
moving towards the visitors' bullpen. He warmed up out there and the
Stadium began to fill up, and then about five minutes after 7, Cone
came back across the outfield, and it was here that the fans in the
Stadium got to their feet and gave him the kind of cheer he had
earned. You wondered if anybody wearing a Red Sox uniform had ever
been cheered this way, in this place.

And then, just as suddenly, the cheer for Cone was lost in a much
bigger cheer for the Yankees, who were now taking the field. By the
time Cone reached the dugout steps, it was all official that he was an
opponent now, even in a place where memory is more important than any
other sports place in this world.

"The best thing about him as a pitcher was that he always looked
ahead," Derek Jeter, who would get three hits off Cone and five for
the night, was saying before the game. "Next hitter, next inning, next
game. It's a great quality to have."

But Cone's past and his present and what future he has were all mixed
up on this night. Things were never simple for him. Williams got a
tremendous swing against him, Jeter doubled to right and singled to
left and singled to center. The rest of the time, Cone was a pitcher
again. When the Yankees had first and third in the fifth inning and
Williams was up there again, Cone got him to beat a ground ball to
second. A run scored. But Cone was better than Bernie this time. If he
pitches the way he did against the Yankees last night, he will help
the Red Sox a lot in what looks to be a Yankee-Red Sox summer.

He had tendinitis in his pitching shoulder in the spring and has
pitched hardly at all since. Six hits against him last night, three
runs, no walks. The five strikeouts. In what might be his final
season, it was another beginning for David Cone. Not the kind of
brilliant start he once gave the Yankees, when he was a great Yankee
in this place. But a start. They cheered a Red Sox uniform at the
Stadium last night, because how could you not?
susan peters ~ [email protected]

http://www.geocities.com/coney36_nyy/

Hi everyone!  Sorry this is a pretty late note, it has been one busy week!
I'm sure you all have noticed that the front page has been updated
accordingly, but more 2001 season pictures have been added as well, so
feel free to check them out! :)  As for the game, I thought David did
pretty well...I was really proud of the 5Ks and NO walks! :)  

Susan-- Thank you *so much* for all the articles...they were all so good!!
They were very emotional...  I thought the one about Jeter was really
cute, and the one about Wells was pretty interesting.  Plus it was also
neat to see all the comments from the Yankee players about David and his
choice to go to Boston...I think it's great how they can understand it so
easily, makes me wonder why some fans can't do the same...

I hope you all have a fabulous Memorial Day weekend...Can't wait for
David's next start!! :)

Take care! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                  --KC :)

Red Sox Notebook/by Jeff Horrigan
Friday, May 25, 2001

NEW YORK - Even though he showed Wednesday night that he still has
some of his old magic left, David Cone said he has to be realistic
about his professional mortality. Thus, the Red Sox pitcher said he is
approaching this season as his last.

``What I'm hoping for is to have a great finish here with Boston, win
it all, and then have them beg me to come back,'' Cone said. ``But
realistically, I'm looking at this as my final chance.''

The 38-year-old, rebounding from a sluggish debut start on May 17 in
Minnesota, threw five strong innings in an eventual 7-3 loss to his
former team, the New York Yankees, in the Bronx. After going to nine
three-ball counts out of 16 batters faced against the Twins, he
reached three balls on only one of 23 on Wednesday. Cone ran the count
full to Tino Martinez, the final batter he faced, before getting him
to fly out to end the fifth inning. He walked no batters in a start
for the first time since April 22, 2000.

``That's the way I'm going to have to pitch, because I have to be as
economical as I can,'' Cone said. ``At Minnesota, I was very
apprehensive and I didn't know what to expect. (Wednesday) night I
felt like I belonged.

``I was happy with my velocity and movement,'' he said. ``That's the
hardest I've thrown since '99 and I know it surprised some of the guys
over there. I could see it by the look on (Paul) O'Neill's face in the
first inning.''

Cone said his goal in his next start on Monday vs. the Yankees at
Fenway Park is no longer to simply pitch well.

``I need a win,'' he said. ``I need to get on the board and get deeper
into the game. I don't want to be a five-inning pitcher.''

Cone was amused to find out that Yankees owner George Steinbrenner
ordered all photos of Cone at Yankee Stadium - including commemorative
shots of his July 18, 1999, perfect game - taken down after he signed
with the Red Sox.

Thus, Cone was delighted when Red Sox director of communications and
baseball information Kevin Shea asked him not to sit down in the
postgame interview room after Wednesday's game until he removed the
Yankees banner and microphone flag, which dominated all footage and
photos from his Tuesday press conference.

susan peters ~ [email protected]

Here is a transcript of Michael Kay's interview w/David:

David Cone's return to Yankee Stadium
May 24, 2001

Prior to making his return to Yankee Stadium as a member of the Boston
Red Sox, I caught up with David Cone and spoke about facing his former
club. 

Kay: For a while there you were a hired gun, but then you were a
Yankee for a long time. How strange is it to be in another uniform
this year?

Cone: It's strange and exciting at the same time. Boston showed a lot
faith in me and brought me up after rehab when they could've gone with
younger pitchers who were doing fairly well. So I feel very fortunate
to be here right now.

Kay: When you come back to Yankee Stadium, was it tough making the
left hand turn rather than the right?

Cone: A couple of thoughts crossed my mind when making that turn. It
was kind of slow, so there wasn't a lot of people around. It was easy
to duck in and hide and sneak into the clubhouse.

Kay: Has it been a tough adjustment not being a Yankee?

Cone speaks to the media upon his return to the Bronx. (AP)

Cone: Yeah, but I think I've been pre-occupied with my own injuries
and trying to get back and wondering if I can still do this. There's
been a lot of doubt along the way, especially when I got hurt in
Spring Training. I've had my own troubles, and everybody has their own
problems but nonetheless I still follow the Yankees. When you've been
through what we've been through together over the past five years, you
just can't stop watching.

Kay: Is there any hurt or animosity that it didn't work out. That you
couldn't finish your career in a Yankee uniform?

Cone: No, ironically honestly there really isn't. Last year was so bad
for me that a lot of thoughts went through my mind 85 Maybe it's time
for me to go, maybe it's better for the organization if I go, should I
keep playing, should I retire? 85 I don't blame the Yankees at all.
I'm the one who had the bad year last year and I'm also in the
position now to just trying to find a way to have some fun again and
contribute to a team.

Kay: Let's clear it up David. There have been so many different
stories. Did the Yankees make you an offer but you decided you didn't
want to be the fifth starter so you were not going to come back? What
precipitated you to go to the Red Sox or another team?

Cone: They're mutually exclusive of each other. Obviously when things
broke down with the Yankees, I was out there looking for a job. The
Red Sox came in late and came down to watch me throw and things
progressed from there.

As far as the Yankees go, as I said before, last year was such a tough
year for me and had a lot of thoughts go through my mind. So many
variables were involved and it sort of came down to a deadline and I
think we both had to make a tough decision. I think I had to move on.

Kay: The Yankees contended that there was an offer out there and your
side said that there wasn't any concrete offer. Is it somewhere in the
middle?

Cone: I've been on record as saying my own stubborn pride got in the
way.  Did they really want me back? Was it just a token offer? Do I
need to go somewhere else for a challenge? There are so many things to
think about especially after the year I had. There's nobody to blame.
If you want to point the finger, point it at me not the Yankees. I
blame myself for last year for not pitching better and not doing the
things I needed to do.

Kay: What did it mean after a season like that to be called upon in a
very important situation to get Mike Piazza out in the World Series.
Did that give you closure?

Cone: It meant everything. It really did. I geared my whole thought
process on being an ultimate team player in the face of a disastrous
season. Even when I started to turn it around late in the season and I
dislocated my left shoulder, I still had the mindset that if I can
just get one out in the playoffs and have a redeeming moment. That
World Series appearance was it. Believe me, I was extremely thankful
to Joe Torre for giving me that moment.

Kay: Was it a thought after going 4-14 that you were done for your
career?

Cone: Sure. Absolutely. There have been doubts all along the way. Not
only from a self-confidence standpoint but also from a physical
standpoint. Maybe I lost something and am in denial here. I tried to
be objective and a super realist on what was going on. I haven't seen
the ultimate sign that says I can't do it anymore. I still believe I
can and that's why I'm here.

Kay: There's such a thin line on not wanting to end on a 4-14 year and
whether you're hanging on. Have you ever said that you didn't want to
be one of those guys that are hanging on? And wonder if that's what
you're doing?

Cone: Sure, those are valid questions. The important thing is to push
it to an end. I need to find out for sure. I can suffer a little
embarrassment if that's what it takes. People may say that I'm falling
on my face and don't want to see a pitcher that seems to be washed up.
I can live with that. What I can't live with is walking away too soon,
not resolving some of the issues left over from last season.

Kay: Your Yankee career had so many great moments. I couldn't pick for
you what your best was. Tell me from your heart what was the one thing
you'll remember and smile about?

Cone: From a team standpoint it was Game 3 of the World Series in '96
against the Braves to turn that series around. From a person
standpoint, ironically it wasn't the perfect game. It was the game
after the aneurysm in Oakland. People thought my career was over and
that it was life-threatening situation. To miss four months and to
come back and pitch seven innings of no-hit ball in the middle of a
pennant race was the biggest moment to me personally.

Kay: When you take the field do you think you'll be cheered or booed?

Cone: Tough question. I expect a little of both. I understand the
passion of the Yankees fans and the fact that I'm wearing a Boston Red
Sox uniform changes a lot. Nonetheless, I also expect the educated fan
to show some appreciation for my years of service and the moments over
the years.  Probably a little bit of a mixed reaction and I'm ready
either way.

susan peters ~ [email protected]

May 23, 2001

David Cone's face is a roadmap of his life. The red, loose skin, the
protruding veins above his temples and the tired eyes are stamps on a
passport of too many late nights and too many innings. Cone continues
to drag his too-frequently aching arm and somewhat soft body to the
mound, looking to coax another moment, another victory out a career
that many people think is done.

But Cone is not about image. He has admitted he is going to have to be
dragged off the pitcher's mound. He is not Joe DiMaggio, a man who
refused to taint people's memories with a player that was not perfect.
If Cone gets embarrassed on the mound, well, he gets embarrassed. For
him, the game is mother's milk. He needs the fix, not only on the
field but off. The life of a baseball player is hard to give up and
Cone is honest enough to realize that nothing in his post-baseball
life will come close to fulfilling the considerable jones the game
creates.

Cone accrued a dismal 4-14 record last season with the Yankees (AP)

Selfish? Maybe, but so what? David Cone owes us nothing. I have long
laughed at people who protest when an athlete hangs around too long,
whining, "I don't want to remember him that way." The classic example
of that player is Willie Mays. We're always told that Mays tainted his
career by flopping around in the outfield during the 1973 World
Series. Again, so what? And if anyone worships Mays, they remember the
greatness, not the ugly finish. If they choose to remember the 1973
Series, well, then that's their bad.

Same deal with Cone. If he goes out to the mound tonight and gets
hammered by the Yankees at the Stadium and then gets slapped around
five more times before being released, does that erase the gusty
147-pitch effort against the Mariners in the Division Series in 1995?
Or the gritty Game 3, must-win victory over the Braves in the '96
Series? Or the incredible seven-inning no-hitter against the A's after
coming off the DL with an aneurysm? Or the perfect game? On and on it
goes, an incredible pallet of a wondrous career.

The great thing about Cone is he is savvy enough to recognize the risk
he undertakes by looking for one more game, one more month, one more
season. And he doesn't care. David Cone has never been about
conventional ideas. He has always been in tune with what's right and
what's wrong but never always on board. If life is lived to a rap
beat, Cone might choose Zydeco as the soundtrack to his years and
laugh about the disparity.

That's why Cone is hanging on. He always said he would. He does not
want 4-14 to be the last line under his name in the Baseball
Encyclopedia. He wants more. Not for those who judge him, but instead
for he himself.

"I gotta keep trying," Cone said. "People say you gotta walk away and
that no one wants to see a washed up pitcher going out there but I
couldn't go out off last year. But I really have no problem being beat
up out there, people thinking the old man is getting embarrassed. I
can live with that. What I can't live with is leaving anything on the
table."

The great thing about Cone is he is savvy enough to recognize the risk
he undertakes by looking for one more game, one more month, one more
season. And he doesn't care.

Over the next few weeks, we will see if Cone has anything left in that
balky shoulder. The Red Sox would love to have unearthed and polished
this pitching gem. Imagine Cone pitching well down the stretch,
helping Boston to beat out the hated Yankees.

Likely? Probably not. The shoulder hangs by a thread. Each pitch might
be his last. His fastball no longer jumps and he finds it harder and
harder to massage the corners. The slider now lives up to its name,
sliding, rather than having its former vicious snap.

But if any pitcher can invent success, somehow muster something from
very little, it's Cone. He is fearless, both in life and in baseball.
His entire time on this planet he has walked a high wire very few dare
to tackle. If his arm somehow allows him to throw a ball 60 feet, six
inches without excruciating pain, he will get people out. If he can
out-think the hitters and the ball responds somewhat to his artistic
commands, then this whole season might be a blast as the veteran
righty re-invents himself, a 21st century Frank Tanana.

And if he bombs, then David Cone walks away with his head high. Sure
it means he didn't get his 200 wins -- he's 16 away -- but, in his
words, he "didn't leave anything on the table."

Not a bad way to go.

susan peters ~ [email protected]

Pitcher David Cone said that this season will probably be his "last
chance" as he attempts to rebound from a rough 2000 season. . . .

SCOUTING REPORT

At the ripe age of 38, Cone is no secret to many scouts or batters in
the game. After two starts this season, however, Cone has shown that
there may yet be new life in an old arm.

The Red Sox can only hope that he lasts until September and
preferably through October. Cone can throw nearly every breaking
pitch outside of a knuckleball, and he has shown early that movement
is not an issue with him, only control of it.

The break on his slider has been impressive, and he has also thrown a
split-fingered fastball that is dropping and swerving to the point
where batters have been getting hit.

In his first start, Cone walked four in three-plus innings, while
throwing 76 pitches, much too high for his own good. In his second
start against the Yankees, he threw 85 pitches and walked none in
five full innings in which his emotions ran high as he returned to
his scenes of greatest glory. Of the 23 ex-teammates he faced, just
one saw three balls.

In that first start against the much less patient Twins lineup, nine
of 16 batters saw three balls. Cone is determined to leave the game
on a positive note after an awful 2000 season (4-14, 6.91). Once he
gets past his third start, also against the Yankees, Cone is looking
forward to settling down and returning to at least 1999 form. Given
his early results, he should not be counted out.
susan peters ~ [email protected]

PLEASE Vote for Clay as the Utility Player. :)
http://www.artechtopia.com/clippersbaseball/ballot

http://www.geocities.com/coney36_nyy/

Hey everyone...Well, there isn't a whole lot to say about tonight's
game...I am very grateful that David didn't get the loss, though!  I'm
just looking forward to his next start...let's hope for a win next time!!

The front page has been updated, and the pictures page will be updated
later this week...

Take care ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
                  --KC :)