While most fans point to the bottom of the ninth of Game 7 when thinking of that World Series, the inning in which the Yankees lost a one run lead and the championship , Sam always thought of Game 4, when Tino Martinez' hit a game tying home run in the bottom of the ninth, and of Game 5, when Scott Brosius did the same thing. The Yankees won both games in extra innings. They were lucky to get to Game 7 and Sam knew it. Steinbrenner was correct. The Yankees had problems which the Yankees' owner attempted to solve with expensive names.
The first move was to sign pitcher Steve Karsay, whose salaries for 2002-2004 would be $4 million, $5 million, and $6 million. Karsay had pitched 88 2/3 innings in 2002, developed arm problems, missed all of 2003 and pitched 6 2/3 inning in 2004. The Yankees paid more that $157,000 for every inning Karsay pitched. While injuries are part of the game, the Yankees knew that Karsay had missed two full seasons and had undergone two arm operations, including "Tommy John surgery." They took a big chance.
The same day they signed Karsay, they traded David Justice to the Mets for Robin Ventura, who would replace the retired Scott Brosius until Drew Henson would be ready to take over third base. Ventura was not the player who had batted .301 with 32 home runs and 120 RBIs in 1999, which everyone but the Yankees seemed to know. The Ventura the Yankees got batted .247 with 27 home runs, most of which came in the first half of the 2002 season. Henson not only couldn't replace Scott Brosius at third, he retired from baseball to become a Cowboy and couldn't even replace an over the hill Vinnie Testaverde at quarterback.
