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'Winners never quit'
Steinbrenner shrugs off humiliating 22-0 defeat, says Yankees won't quit following worst loss in team history
BY MIKE CASEY
Newsday.com
September 1, 2004, 12:41 PM EDT
One day after the Yankees' worst loss in team history, the Boss finally broke his silence.
George Steinbrenner issued a brief statement Wednesday, in which he shrugged off Tuesday's embarrassing 22-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians.
"Sure, we got punished badly last night, but winners never quit and quitters never win," Steinbrenner said. "We all know that New Yorkers never quit, and we reflect the spirit of New York."
It was the first comment from the Yankees owner on the humiliating defeat, which the Boss witnessed alongside a Yankee Stadium crowd of 51,777. Steinbrenner held general manager Brian Cashman and other front-office members for nearly an hour after the game, but left Yankee Stadium without speaking to reporters.
The Yankees have lost seven games on their AL East over Boston lead in the last 16 days. They now lead the archrival Red Sox by just 3 1/2 games.
It was the Yankees' largest margin of defeat (the previous high was 18 runs, twice, most recently on July 29, 1928) and their most runs allowed at home. It tied the record for the most-lopsided shuout in major-league history, the Pirates' 22-0 rout of the Cubs on Sept. 16, 1975.
Staff writer Ken Davidoff contributed to this story.
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