Welcome to baseball's most bipolar team, the world champion Yankees -- who are in first place in the American League East, but act and sound as if they're in a Def Con One crisis.
Of course, most franchises would consider first place as nirvana, but the Yankees live by a different standard. And make no mistake: this is not 1998, when the AL had surrendered by July and the Yankees were on their way to a 125-win season. It's not even looking like 1999, when the Yankees won 98 games and then went 11-1 in the postseason.
|  | | With a 6-3 record and 3.58 ERA, Ramiro Mendoza has provided a big lift to the rotation. |
These days, the Bombers are so vulnerable they actually have a better record on the road (19-14) than in the Bronx. (17-16). They don't have anyone among the AL's top ten in wins or ERA, nor are there any Yankees among the leaders in batting average, home runs, runs or slugging percentage.
More? The Yankees have six Cy Young Awards between Roger Clemens and David Cone and the best postseason starter of the past two years in Orlando Hernandez, but the most reliable starter is Ramiro Mendoza -- and he's only on loan from the bullpen until The Rocket comes off the disabled list.
The Rocket is waiting for a pulled groin muscle to heal, but in reality, it's his ego and delicate psyche that are in need of repair, not to mention his 4.76 ERA.
No wonder Joe Torre calls this "a crazy summer." What he means is, it's been a lucky summer. The Yankees went through a recent stretch where they won 10 of 25 -- including a 2-6 homestand during which they were swept four straight by the White Sox -- and still picked up a half-game in the standings.
So here they are, older and creakier and more vulnerable than at any time since the early '90s, yet still ahead of the Red Sox and Blue Jays, if only barely. Give Torre credit for his honesty, though, acknowledging the era of Pinstripe domination is close to ending and that, in his words, "no one is going to run away with this division."
That's a huge concession, considering it's been only two years since this very core of Yankees set the AL's single-season record with 114 wins. Now it's a struggle for the Yankees to stay above .500, hoping their pride, their adrenaline and any leftover we-are-the-champs, we-fear-no-team machismo will carry them into October.
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Indeed, Torre
admitted the four straight losses to Chicago -- and the Yankees' fall from grace -- was
"a real blow to the organization." |
As Paul O'Neill put it, "It's hard to tell this group of guys that our run is over, because we've won a lot of games together. It has to end, obviously. Whether it's this year or next year, it can't last forever. But our job is to hang on as long as possible."
Not surprisingly, George Steinbrenner isn't waiting for the pendulum to swing away from his Bombers, accelerating talks with the Cubs and Tigers for Sammy Sosa and Juan Gonzalez. Depending on which rumor you believe, a trade is either imminent or weeks away, but it's a fact the front office is split over its preference. Torre and GM Brian Cashman remain convinced Gonzalez is a better fit in the Bronx. Steinbrenner loves Sosa and may well prevail by sheer veto power.
Actually, winning the first two games of the four-game series at Fenway this week helped lower the temperature around the Yankees. Still, there was still plenty of residual psychological damage from the previous homestand where, where everyone agreed, the White Sox had humiliated the Bombers.
Chicago outscored the Yankees 42-17 during the sweep, which all but cemented the point that a pitcher, not Sosa or Gonzalez, is needed as a savior. In the absence of any available talent, the Yankees had to lean on rookie Jake Westbrook to take Clemens' spot last Saturday, and the 22-year-old never made it out of the second inning in an eventual 10-9 loss.
Of course, a nervous kid couldn't really be expected to hold down the American League's best team, but who would've believed Orlando Hernandez could be even less effective the following day?
El Duque was charged with nine earned runs in just 2/3 of an inning, and reported elbow pain after the Yankees were finished being flogged, 17-4. He'll miss at least one start, while the desperate hunt for pitching continues.
"You're never as bad as you look, but right now, we're stinking up the joint," Cashman said after the game. Indeed, Torre admitted the four straight losses to Chicago -- and the Yankees' fall from grace -- was "a real blow to the organization."
But just when the Yankees appeared ready to evaporate, they were reborn in Boston. First, Mendoza smothered the Sox in a 22-1 pounding -- the worst defeat Boston has ever absorbed in Fenway.
Then, 24 hours later, Andy Pettitte outpitched Pedro Martinez, 3-0, in a showdown as dramatic and meaningful to the Bombers as Game 5 of the 1996 World Series, when Pettitte beat John Smoltz, 1-0.
So can one really understand the path the Yankees are following? Maybe Torre is right when he says, "We've all been spoiled by how many games we've won over the last few years." Maybe there is no understanding this slump because ... well, maybe this is all the Yankees are capable of in 2000 -- good but not breathtaking baseball, which they hope will at least get them to the postseason.
If it is, the Bombers still think they have weaponry to prevail in a short-series format. They might be right. It's foolish to ever bet against Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams and Mariano Rivera.
But if the Yankees stumble in September and fail to make the playoffs with a $90 million payroll, watch out. One rival AL general manager said, "You can't even imagine how ugly it'll be this offseason."
Bob Klapisch of the Bergen (N.J.) Record writes his Baseball in the Big Apple column throughout the season. | |
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