The ball takes its slicing hops in the grass, but then Brosius' bare hand pops open into a perfect baseball-sized claw, snares the ball in mid-hop, and slingshots the ball across the diamond, across Brosius' still-tilting body, to nail the runner. The play became so regular, so routine, that after a while it no longer made the nightly highlights.

Oh sure, once in a while he'd miss one. But rarely when there was a game on the line, especially a big game. And then the highlight reels would capture it once again, and etch it further into our minds.

Those highlight reels are now the only place to see Scott Brosius make that play. At age thirty five, after playing nine years in the majors and bringing home three World Series rings, he is hanging up his spikes and leaving the game on his own terms, retiring as a Yankee and ensuring he will forever be remembered as one of the key men in the Torre pinstriped dynasty.

His baseball career began modestly, as it does for so many cold-weather kids, and every step of the way he had to battle. Born and raised in Oregon, Brosius played football, baseball, and basketball in high school and went to Linfield College in McMinnville, OR (where he and his family reside today). He never attended a major league game until he was playing in one. He was drafted by the A's in 1987 and began to work his way through the farm system, advancing a rung a year and playing all the infield positions. Heck, in 1988, at Class-A Madison, he even played a few games in the outfield. Brosius' march up the ladder to the bigs was marked by the same ups and downs he would experience his entire career.

In 1991 he got his first call up to Oakland on August 4, and debuted three days later against Seattle, playing right field, where he made four putouts. In his first at bat, he doubled. In his second, he homered. That season he would start in the outfield nine more times, at third seven times. In 1992 he was on the A's Opening Day roster after a spring where he led the club in hits (27) and batted .260. But a bruised hip put him on the DL in mid-April and he was sent back to Tacoma and split his time between the farm and the big club. In 1993 the story was much the same, with Brosius going back and forth from Tacoma to Oakland and playing six different positions as well as DH.

In 1994, Brosius finally came up and stuck for a whole season at third base for the A's. His first career grand slam came off Aaron Sele (then with the Red Sox) and although he hit only .238, his reputation as a clutch hitter began to emerge as he hit .344 with two outs and runners in scoring position. But in 1995, the A's once again used him all over the field, playing every fielding position except pitcher and catcher and batting him at every slot in the order. He batted a season high .330 in August but fell after an 0-for-30 slump at the end of the season to finish at .262.

1996 was one of Brosius' best years, as he was once again a regular third baseman, and he batted his career high .304 (second on the A's to Mark McGwire) and led the league hitting .365 with runners in scoring position. The year would have been even better if not for a slump in September when he batted only .213 and made 8 errors, finishing with a .969 fielding percentage, fourth in the A.L. at third base. In 1997, though, the A's were disappointed by Brosius' bat. The team grew impatient, and after starting him at third most games in the first half of the season, began moving him and his .200 average around the field again. He finished 1997 with a .203 average and the A's unsure what to do with him.

Brosius came to the Yankees in the November of that year, while the Yankees were still stinging from their elimination from postseason play at the hands of Cleveland. The Yankees traded disappointing pitcher Kenny Rogers to Oakland for "a player to be named later." At the time Brosius was doing what many big leaguers do in November--go to Disney World with his family--and had no idea he would soon be headed to New York. His name was leaked in the press, however, so by the time Brosius was told of the deal, all of New York was waiting for him.

Many players come to the Yankees and crumble under the media scrutiny and the weight of expectations. Others rise to the occasion and immediately blossom. Brosius certainly benefitted from the clarity of the Torre regime and the certain knowledge that third base was his.

So it was that the 1998 season, his first in pinstripes, was his career year, as he became part of a team of overacheivers who set the then-record for AL wins in a season at 114 (surpassed by this year's Mariners at 116) and went on to sweep the San Diego Padres in the World Series and rack up 125 total wins on the year (surpassed by nobody). Brosius hit .300 and racked up 98 RBI, tops among A.L. third basemen. He was picked for the All-Star team, and again led the league batting .372 with runners in scoring position. Brosius became known as a clutch player throughout Yankeeland with such performances as his top of the ninth, two out, game-winning three-run home run (off former Yankee John Wetteland) against Texas on August 22.

That was just a prelude to the World Series where Brosius took MVP honors, hitting two home runs in Game Three, including a three-run shot off San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman that led to the Yankee win. Scottie batted .471 in the series with two home runs and 6 RBI in the four game sweep, and made the final out of the series on a one-hopper. It was no surprise when the Yankees signed him to a three year contract that November, to keep him in pinstripes three more years.

In 1999, a Gold Glove finally came his way, but injuries and the death of his father played a part in another year of ups and downs at the plate. He had the second longest cold streak of his career, an 0-for-29 slump, but also had quite a share of game-winning clutch hits throughout the season. Like on July 3, with Baltimore leading 6-5 going into the bottom of the ninth, Brosius became the first Yankee to win a game with a walk-off homer since Darryl Strawberry in July 1996. Or September 30, when the Yankees clinched the East by beating the Orioles and Brosius contributed with two home runs, the eleventh multi-homer game of his career. In the postseason, the Yankees again went all the way to the World Series where Brosius batted .375 and earned his second championship ring in two years. It was Brosius' third single of the night off Greg Maddux that ignited a four run rally, driving Maddux from the mound and handing the Yankees a 4-1 victory in Game 1.

In 2000, Brosius made his third Opening Day start in a row for the Yankees, but went on the DL the next day after a rib injury sustained in batting practice. The clutch hitter went 4-for-4 upon his return, but was never able to get into a consistent offensive mode, ending the year with a .230 batting average, but a third World Series ring and a career World Series BA of .391, fifth all time among players with 40 or more World Series at bats. He committed only eleven errors all year.

During the off-season that winter, Brosius finally collected himself regarding his father's death from cancer, and let himself rest a bit. He came into spring training determined not to repeat his dismal performance at the plate and be more consistent. In 2001, the results were instantaneous, with his average above .400 most of April, and hovering around .300 the entire season until a slight September drop off (after the attacks of September 11) to .287. Where Brosius slipped this year was in the field, doubling his error total to 22, but rarely costing the Yankees a game in the process.

In the postseason, he proved--along with the entire Yankees team--that even when they were down, they could still be clutch. No one in New York is likely to forget anytime soon the home run he hit in Game Five of the World Series. Two outs, bottom of the ninth, Byung-Hyung Kim on the mound. The 22-year-old Korean born closer had given up a game-tying (and then later the game-winning) home run the night before in this same situation and it seemed unlikely lightning would strike twice. But in this, Brosius personified the championship grit of the Torre Yankees. Kim's funky sidearm-submarine delivery didn't matter when Brosius connected to pull a slider that hung waist high on the inner half of the plate over the left field wall.

If only the tired, heartsore Yankees had been able to win Game One or Two in Arizona. Game Five could have been their clincher on a fourth straight World championship. Instead it was the miracle game that put them up 3-2 in the series and provided the last magical night of baseball in terror-struck New York for the season. Not too shabby. When Brosius announced his retirement, he said he'd accomplished everything he could want to do as a player. When you look at the shots of his face taken after he connected with that home run ball, you'll believe him.

(See the homer at Newsday.com:)

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-scotthomer2.photogallery?coll=ny%2Dsports%2Dheadlines&index=1

Online Chat with Brosius from April 2001 in a Christian chatroom:

http://chat.crosswalk.com/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID74448%7CCHID198424%7CCIID505382,00.html

ALCS Interview October 19, 2001

http://www.asapsports.com/baseball/2001alcs/101901SB.html