Yankees' Jeter MVP

By Stephen M. Silverman

10/21/1997 at 12:00 AM EDT

As the clock struck midnight Thursday, the New York Mets got their third out in the ninth inning when Mike Piazza's fly ball was caught. And with that, the New York Yankees captured World Series 2000, reportedly making them the first team since the 1972-1974 Oakland A's to take the title three years in a row. The score for this fifth game (held at the Mets' Shea Stadium) was 4-2. And the Most Valuable Player of the Series? Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter, 26, who'd hit the game-tying homer Thursday. On Wednesday, the very first at bat, he got a homer on the very first pitch. "This kid, right now, the tougher the situation, the more fire gets in his eyes," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "You don't teach that. It's something you have to be born with."