PHOENIX -- The day before the Yankees began the Division Series, Joe Torre closed the clubhouse to reporters, stood before his players and, like a college professor conducting a seminar, spent 90 minutes reviewing every last detail of the A's scouting reports.

	ESPN scouting reports
	We've done some scouting of our own for you. Before the start of the Series, check out the scouting reports available on ESPN.com: Scouting the pitchers Scouting the infielders Scouting the outfielders Also, an AL advance scout and former NL manager offer insights on ESPN Insider

It was an extraordinarily thorough and slow-paced meeting, by far the longest of the season. In fact, Torre jokingly admitted, "it (was) tough keeping some of the guys' attention" considering the A's were no strangers to the Yankees. But as the manager said, "the last thing you want is to be surprised in the playoffs."

That's exactly why there are reams of reports and videos available to the Yankees on the eve of the World Series -- written notes, electronic images and radar-gun readings on every Diamondbacks player. Whatever happens to the Bombers from this point forward, it won't be because they were unprepared.

"We've set the major-league standard for the level of commitment to scouting," said general manager Brian Cashman. "Other teams do it, obviously, but no one is as well-prepared as we are."

Cashman may or may not be right, because as Oakland GM Billy Beane says, "you can reach the point of overkill with scouting." But there's no doubt the Yankees invest more money and man-hours on pennant-race and postseason surveillance, where everyone is watching everyone.

Starting in early September, the Yankees assigned two scouts to every potential postseason opponent. As the field of opponents narrowed, the Yankees doubled their forces and during the Division and League Championship Series, the Yankees assembled a small battalion of bird dogs -- six per team.

The prey? It's that one nugget -- one tipped pitch, or one lazy swing not caught on video -- that could mean the difference between World Series prosperity and a long, lonely winter playing "what if."

"It's tendencies that you look for," said one Yankee scout. "You have to be able to say more than 'this guy's throwing 92 mph.' You have to read him, look at his face, his body language. Is he confident or not? Does he trust his stuff? That's what you're looking for."

	“	We've set the major-league standard for the level of commitment to scouting. Other teams do it, obviously, but no one is as well-prepared as we are. ”
		— Yankees GM Brian Cashman

Such observations are required in writing from each scout, who then pool their knowledge with Torre and his coaches, who then disseminate the information to the players. Obviously, the 2001 World Series will be about pitching, and there's not much the Yankees don't already know about Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling: Both throw elite-caliber fastballs and seek to intimidate hitters by pitching inside.

Still, as Torre said, "there are other guys on that team we have to face and pitch to." Unlike the Yankees' World Series opponents of the last two years -- the Mets and the Braves, both of whom are on the Bombers' regular-season, interleague schedule -- the Diamondbacks are a virtual mystery team.

For that reason, Torre will seek advice from Jay Witasick and Sterling Hitchcock, both of whom played for the Padres before being acquired by the Yankees earlier this season, and have had at least some exposure to Arizona's hitters. Not that there's any easy way to pitch to Luis Gonzalez, for example, but every little bit helps.

No doubt the Yankees will pay attention -- or at least try. But whether they'll actually implement outsiders' advice in the heat of battle is another issue. And besides, what secrets really last in this information age?

By now, every hitter knows Greg Maddux throws sinkers when he's behind in the count. And that Andy Pettitte throws fewer cut-fastballs than he used to. And that Schilling pitches up in the strike zone. And that Johnson's sling-shot delivery creates a Frisbee-like slider that'll be pure poison to the Yankees' left-handed hitters like Tino Martinez, Paul O'Neill and David Justice.

If they need a reminder, the Yankees have every pitch Johnson has thrown this year on video -- spliced and archived, easily to be rewound and freeze-framed, until it finally becomes clear why Johnson set a major-league record by averaging 13.4 strikeouts per nine innings this year.

Of course, that's no real mystery. The Big Unit struck out 372 batters this year, just 11 short of Nolan Ryan's record, because he throws hard, just like Schilling. Both throw fastballs that far exceed even a professional hitter's comfort level.

"For me, when a guy gets above 95 mph, that's when it gets to be very difficult, especially when it's up in the zone," said O'Neill. "The last thing you want to do is try to swing as hard as the guy is throwing. That actually slows your bat down, because you're muscling it."

Justice says no matter what he hears in the scouting-report meetings, he'll rely on an age-old axiom when facing Schilling.

"The harder a guy throws, the more I love it," Justice said. "But you have to stay within yourself. I keep my hands soft and quick. Pop the hands."

That might be a crude interpretation, at least to the Yankees' intelligence-gathering specialists.

But as they say in October, it's better than getting caught off-guard.

Bob Klapisch of The Record (Bergen County, N.J.) covers baseball for ESPN.com.