21.   Gooden, having pitched in division races with the Mets as well as two league championship series and one World Series, should be sufficiently immune to such pressure.

22.   He followed that remarkable performance by holding the Yankees to two hits in seven innings after the Yankees had won the first two games of the league championship series.

23.   He also hit Edgar Martinez in the last game of the league championship series.

24.   He spoke about being on the mound in Yankee Stadium in the dazzle of the league championship series.

25.   He must have made the right hunch moves in the division and league championship series.

26.   He was in eight league championship series and four World Series with the Reds and the Royals.

27.   How those qualities have contributed to reaching a sixth game of a league championships series is hard to measure.

28.   If victorious the Knicks would eliminate the Pacers and advance to the league championship series against the San Antonio Spurs.

29.   In the last two games of the league series against the Cardinals, the Mets scored in seven different innings.

30.   It meant benching Tony Fernandez, the hero of the league championship series thanks to a home run that clinched the pennant over the Baltimore Orioles.