It's into the play-off Season and the Yanks have taken an early stumble, losing to the Twins 2-0 in their first game. Mike Mussina pitched his Ace-ly 7 innings conceding only 2 runs, but alas the vaunted Yankee offense provided a row of eggs, getting shut out. The feedback on the performance is varied in as much as the hitters feel they were hitting the ball cleanly, but straight at fielders:
"We don't have anything to hang our heads about,'' Sheffield said. "We hit the ball hard. They made the plays behind him. That's baseball.''
The Yankees kept reiterating how they hit the ball hard, as if the mere recounting of the grounders that turned into double plays and the shots to the warning track that
became outs would suddenly change them into hits. But nothing was changing about
how the Yankees looked on a lost night."Nothing has been easy for us,'' Rodriguez said. "We don't expect it to start now.''
...but as you can imagine, the New York Press is already all over them, pronouncing their post-season campaign as dead. Guys, guys, guys, and gals, I know it's the post-seaon, but it's only a loss to the leading Cy Young candidate pitcher, by 2 runs. It's not like they went hitless. 4 GIDP suggests that they certainly got their men on base and were threatening. The New York Times being all over -ARod already is pathetic:
Rodriguez hasn't been part of the cure. He needed Manager Joe Torre to soothe
his fractured confidence late in the season by moving him up to second in the batting order, a move rich in twists given how Rodriguez once mocked Jeter for hitting in such a cushy spot in the lineup. It was Esquire magazine, March 2001."He's never had to lead," Rodriguez said of Jeter then. "He can just go and play and have fun. He hits second - that's totally different than third or fourth in a lineup."
Now A-Rod sits snugly between Jeter, the savvy leadoff hitter, and Sheffield, the Yankees' most important off-season move. A-Rod has not been indispensable in a while. When Rodriguez left Seattle for big Texas bucks, Seattle improved from an adequate 91-71 team in 2000 to a 116-46 feel-good story in 2001. When he vacated the Rangers, Showalter led a band of no-names and castoffs to an 89-73 record and a chance at the wild card.
What kind of commentary is that? Is the man stupid? A-Rod had 30 Win Shares during the regular season, 1 behind Gary Sheffield, the leading MVP candidate who had 31; and 1 ahead of Hideki Matsui who clocked in at 29. With 24.4 hitting win shares, he's more than capable; and in parts did carry the Yankees through a rough season.
Here's a panicky-number from a tabloid.
So this is different, a much different dilemma than the Yankees ever have faced, different than three years ago, when they went down 0-2 to the A's but still had the bulletproof veneer worn by three-time defending champions. Different than last year, when the Twins knocked them off in Game 1 of the ALDS, when the Twins were giddy to get that much off the Yankees.
No, this time around, the Yankees already were playing with a margin of error thinner than Brittany Murphy. Now they play with none at all. Santana shut them out, and he didn't have close to his best stuff, and he's out there one more time, lurking, looming. The Yankees certainly do not want to face him again with their season on the line.
So today, the task at hand becomes a simple one. They'd better score early, and score often, against Brad Radke, and they'd better hope that Jon Lieber's September surge wasn't a mirage. They'd better get themselves back to sea level, back to even in this series before flying off to Minnesota, because there will be no duplication of the Oakland comeback of a few years ago. Make book on that.
Not with these Yankees. Not against these Twins, who now believe in this pitcher, Santana, with a fervor and a devotion only a few money pitchers can earn. As much as the Twins respect him, understand that the Yankees do, too. They've seen it up close. They understand. And they want no part of having to face him in an elimination game.
I do begroan with all at that one. Yes, the Twins did win, and 2-0 is a convincing win, but I also think the game indicators say they whistled by the the Big Cat Cage with a blood-dripping-red-meat hat. Try doing that safely everyday. :)
I'll panic a little if and when the Yankees lose tomorrow. If it goes to game 5, I wouldn't count on Johann Santana to win that one.
- Art Neuro
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