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There is some major-league teeth-gnashing going on this week, all the way from Seattle to Boston. You can hear it. You can feel it. There are curses being muttered, too. Disgust drips from the lips of baseball fans in Kansas City and Oakland and Tampa Bay.
Yeah. You probably saw it coming.
The Yankees are back ... again. Dammit.
This is not good news for underdogs. This is not good news for small revenue, high-hope franchises. This is not good news for anyone who would like to see any team but the Yankees win the American League East again.
But it's happening. The high-paid hitters are starting to hit. The pitchers
are warming up. The Yankees, saints preserve us, are on a roll. Lock the doors.
Hide the women and children. The best team that $183 million can buy is on a
rampage.
"I just like the way we feel right now," manager Joe Torre told reporters Sunday after the Yankees won their sixth straight game.
It was only last week, remember, when the New York papers were giddily ripping the Yankees. The New York fans were booing the team's captain, steady Derek Jeter. The Yanks had just been swept by the -- egads! -- Red Sox. Peeking in the dugout, anyone could tell this was one messed-up team.
Then came an improbable inning and an unlikely sweep of the A's and their three stud starters. And then came three straight wins over the Royals, a team many picked to win the AL Central.
The Yankees began last week hitting .217, 29th in the league. After the six-game sweep of the A's and Royals, they're batting .239. That's still 29th, but it's a heck of a lot better than .217.
Everything started to turn for the Yanks last Tuesday, in the eighth inning of the first game with the A's. Down 8-4 and looking more like $1.83 than $183 million, center fielder Bernie Williams led off with a hard single to right off reliever Jim Mecir. Then Alex Rodriguez dribbled one through the hole on the left side of the infield. Jason Giambi walked. Gary Sheffield reached on an infield single. Jorge Posada shot one through the infield. Hideki Matsui walked.
See where this is going?
A couple of batters later, pinch hitter Ruben Sierra smacked a double off reliever Ricardo Rincon, scattering chalk everywhere on the left-field line. The Yanks scored six runs, brought in closer Mariano Rivera to slam things shut and walked out with a 10-8 win. They've been a terror ever since.
"From the eighth inning on of that Oakland game," pitcher Mike Mussina told reporters, "is what we expect of this team."
In their first 19 games (during which they went 8-11), the Yanks had averaged a little more than four runs a game. In the past six games, not only did they hit better (.310, averaging 10 hits a game), they scored better (7.1 runs a game). And they pitched better (3.33 ERA, while holding opponents to a .240 average). Yankees hurlers have walked only six batters in their past six games.
What's more, they have closed the gap in the AL East. The Rangers completed a sweep of the Red Sox on Sunday, helping the Yanks climb within two games of the AL East lead.
Sigh.
Even as we heaped dirt on them last week, everybody probably knew that the Yankees would rise again. They're just too talented. Too rich. Too everything. Even when they're playing badly, they're often good enough.
Jeter had three hits Sunday, but he's still hitting under .200. Mussina won Sunday -- only his second win of the season and only his first in his past four starts -- but he still has an ERA near 6.00. Williams still is batting under .200. Rodriguez is coming around -- he had a 12-game hitting streak halted Sunday by the Royals -- but he's still not close to what he should be.
Yet the Yankees are back. It can't be denied. They can't be ignored.
As much as we might like to do both.
• Rickey Henderson is trying to come back again ... You know, I just cut and pasted that sentence from something I wrote three years ago.
• New Giants catcher A.J. Pierzynski exchanged some smack talk with his batterymates last week. (Several teammates anonymously criticized his work ethic.) After he smacked around the Marlins on Saturday, though, everything seemed better. It'll stay that way, too, until the team hits the skids again. Or Pierzynski does.
• That Cardinals-Cubs series has been a doozy. A total of seven runs in three games for each of the teams. Down to the wire in two of the three. Awesome. Monday, it's wrapping up with two ex-Braves going at it -- Chicago's Greg Maddux and St. Louis' Jason Marquis.
• So Pedro Martinez says he'll test free agency after not getting any love ($17.5 million in 2004?) from the Red Sox in contract talks. Gut feeling: much of Red Sox Nation is willing to let Pedro go ahead and test the waters. Hey, we'd all like to be un-loved like that.
• How come Milton Bradley complains about Eric Wedge's credentials (39 big-league games as a player) but evidently loves playing for Jim Tracy (87 games)? Is 50 games or so that big of a difference?
• Nobody turns a surefire, no-doubt-about-it extra-base hit into a silly looking single better than a strutting Manny Ramirez. What, me hustle?
Every Friday we run a huge E-bag, with all sorts of comments and observations from our astute readers. And, yeah, some from our not-so astute ones, too.
Here on the bottom of the Pitch every Monday, we give you a taste of what's to come, and a chance to prime the Friday pump a little. Have at it. (The form! Use the form!)
How long can Indians fans put up with this MINOR league manager? The talent is here both ways in pitching and hitting. He is a disgrace to the city. What do we have to do? Help. -- Ted Evans, Cleveland
Man, I half expected that letter to be signed by "M. Bradley, L.A." Ted, I take it you're talking about Eric Wedge, the Cleveland manager. Wedge, as we all know, won the fight with Bradley, but the Indians' manager -- and the Indians as a whole -- have a lot to prove. I don't agree that they have everything they need to win the AL Central. But they're getting closer, and in that division, it doesn't take much to go from bottom to top. Wedge has to keep the pressure on the good, young talent they have there (Jody Gerut, C.C. Sabathia, Alex Escobar, etc.). If the Indians aren't producing at this time next year, or the young players start regressing, you can complain. Until then, it may be time to chill a little.
With all of the changes the Braves made, do you think they will win another NL East championship? Or have the Marlins or anyone else finally caught up to the Braves' level? -- Marcus, Atlanta
Marcus, all I can say is I hope your last name isn't Giles. Your question is the one that's being asked all over the South. But, you know, we've been asking that question for years. And the Braves always win. Always. This year? Well, I don't think they're are as talented as the Phillies or Marlins. Certainly, Mark DeRosa and Adam LaRoche aren't showing their best yet. I think the Braves can hang, but those guys have to start hitting, Chipper Jones has to get healthy and the staff has to pitch over its head. Even then, I think this is the year the Braves go down.
With Barry Bonds chasing Babe Ruth this year, do you think the Giants decided not to spend money to reload on talent because they knew fans would come to SBC Park regardless of the won-loss record? How else do explain the losses of Tim Worrell, Kurt Ainsworth, Joe Nathan, Damien Moss, Benito Santiago and Rich Aurilia with no one notable to replace them? -- Taha Champsi, San Francisco
I don't think so,
Taha. The guy can hit home runs all he wants, but if the team's not winning,
the stands won't be filled. I think GM Brian Sabean let all those players go
because he felt he couldn't afford all of them, what with all the money the
franchise owes on the ballpark and the $18 million Bonds is earning this season.
Now, I don't have access to the books, so I can't say for sure that's the reason.
But I think, given Sabean's track record of success, you have to give him the
benefit of the doubt.
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