YA GOTTA HAVE HEART : YANKEES ARE CHAMPS, RETURN FROM OBLIVION NEW YORK 3, ATLANTA 2.

Byline: Ben Walker Associated Press 

The World Series trophy is back in the Bronx, delivered by a team with barely a big name - no Ruth or Reggie, no Joe D. or Mickey.

This one belongs to a New York Yankees team that never gave up and never lost heart.

Together, they pulled off the ultimate comeback.

Given no chance after two humbling losses at home, the Yankees won their first World Series title since 1978 with a 3-2 victory over the defending champion Atlanta Braves in Game 6 Saturday night.

This marked the Yankees' 23rd title, most in history and surely one of their most remarkable.

``There are so many moving stories on this Yankee club,'' owner George Steinbrenner said.

None more so than manager Joe Torre, who won his first World Series championship the day after his brother, Frank, received a heart transplant at a New York hospital.

There's the one of Jimmy Key, who missed most of last year because of a torn rotator cuff but returned to win the clinching game against Atlanta.

And the ones of David Cone, who came back from a career-threatening aneurysm in his shoulder to start the Yankees' rally in Game 3, and Darryl Strawberry, rescued from the minors by Steinbrenner and a key contributor in the postseason.

``Sometimes it looked like we were sleepwalking a little bit, but once we get it in gear, we have a lot of heart and go after it,'' Torre said.

Key worked the first 5-1/3 innings and then Torre turned it over to his vaunted bullpen to clinch it.

John Wetteland, the fifth New York pitcher, became the first reliever to record four saves in a Series - earning him the MVP award - despite giving up a run in the ninth.

Marquis Grissom's RBI single with two outs pulled Atlanta within a run and put runners at first and second. Mark Lemke fouled out to third baseman Charlie Hayes to end the game and start a celebration marked with a massive pileup of Yankees on the mound.

The Yankees beat Greg Maddux in becoming the first team to win a game at home in this Series.

Two days after a 1-0 win, New York again put together enough hits to win by a run - in baseball's Year of the Homer, there were none in the final two games. The Yankees won four in a row in the Series after having won three straight over Baltimore in an American League Championship Series best remembered for some help from a 12-year-old boy.

For the 56-year-old Torre, it brought redemption in his first year as Yankees manager. He had played and managed in 4,272 games without reaching the Series - the longest streak in major-league history - and once was fired as Atlanta's manager.

``I never had any doubts about this club,'' Torre said. ``When you get as old as I am, you learn to appreciate it. It might come only once.

``My brother Frank with the heart yesterday. My brother, Rocco, too. I know he was with me tonight,'' Torre said, referring to the brother who died of a heart attack during the season.

For veterans like Wade Boggs and Cecil Fielder, it brought them their first World Series championship.

Boggs celebrated by climbing aboard a police horse and riding around the outfield while his teammates took a victory lap to the standing ovation of the 56,375 fans. In 1986, he was within one out of a title when Boston lost the Series to the New York Mets.

``Our heart is as big as the Twin Towers right now,'' Boggs said.

The Braves, who had ``Team of the 90s'' inscribed on their championship rings after last year, have reached four of the past five World Series but won only one title.

Braves manager Bobby Cox, whose team overcame a 3-1 deficit to beat St. Louis in the NL playoffs, was not around to watch his team's last loss. He was ejected in the fifth inning.

``If you have to lose, I don't mind losing to Joe Torre. He's a class act,'' Cox said. ``After going two up, you figure you're going to win one or two at home. They came right back and showed us what they're made of.

``We have nothing to be ashamed about. We're a winning team.''

They almost came back in the ninth.

Ryan Klesko and Terry Pendleton singled with one out and pinch-hitter Luis Polonia struck out. Grissom singled before Wetteland retired Lemke.

Atlanta looked ready to become the first NL team since the Big Red Machine in 1975-76 to win consecutive championships following 12-1 and 4-0 wins at Yankee Stadium.

But it was not to be.

Key gave up five hits and one run. He beat the Braves while with Toronto in the 1992 World Series in the clinching Game 6. David Weathers relieved Key and got one out and Graeme Lloyd, booed off the mound at Yankee Stadium after being traded to New York from Milwaukee in August, also got one out before setup star Mariano Rivera pitched two innings.

Lloyd turned out to be a Series star and cleared general manager Bob Watson, who thought his job was in jeopardy when the deal didn't look too good at the start.

``Vindicated? I wouldn't say that,'' Watson said. ``Let's just say I feel real good right now.''

Gimpy Paul O'Neill, who made a running catch that finished the Yankees' win in Game 5, hit a double that began a three-run burst off Maddux in the third.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Yankees reliever and Series MVP John W etteland, center, leads the postgame celebration at the mound.

(2) Joe Girardi gets a high-five from third-base coach Willie Randolph after his triple scored Paul O'Neill in the third inning.

Associated Press