THE WORD that was most commonly associated with the Yankees this spring was “vulnerable” and the first road trip this season did not dispel that concept of susceptibility. There were pre-season worries if the lineup was too short, the rotation too old and the communication between the catcher and pitching staff too fragile.
One road trip into the 2000 schedule, the questions remain legitimate.
Thus, the Yankee home opener arrives – after a one-day postponement – tomorrow against Texas with pomp, circumstance and dubiety. They remain the team to beat, yet beatable. This club will be hailed in pre-game ceremonies with rings and remembrances. Yogi Berra will tie it all back to a glorious legacy by throwing out the first pitch. And then ceremony will be replaced by scrutiny.
We will watch David Cone on the mound and how Jorge Posada handles him from behind the plate. We will look to see if the Yankees can stay on top with an uncertain bottom of the lineup. For a team of stunning accomplishment, these Yankees have the feel of a work in progress. They have an unsettled quality. At the back of the batting order, rotation and bullpen. Never have we seen their playoff berth so tied to their date of birth.
In recent years, they have shown us not to make much of small samplings. In 1996, they grew from Clueless Joe’s team to champions. In 1998, they went from 1-4 to a record 125 wins. In 1999, they seemed to sleepwalk more than cake walk before walking all over everyone in October. Today, Bob Sheppard will call to the first-base line a roster that remains the envy of the sport, deep in talent and character and know-how when it comes to the art of winning.
All of that tells us to ignore a 3-3 record after six games. One player went as far as to say, “We are tired. This road trip was ridiculous. We’ll get our rest and start beating up on people.” And George Steinbrenner should think twice before accepting a few bucks more to send his team on another Yankees Across America Tour such as the Tampa to Houston to San Francisco to Anaheim to Seattle to LaGuardia junket his team just experienced. Sell a few more junk bonds, George, if you need the money this badly. In the trip-finale 9-3 loss to Seattle on Sunday, the Yanks sure looked as if they wanted to get on a plane home as they managed one hit in their final 18 at-bats.
The frequent-flier reward now is 18 of the next 27 in The Bronx and six off-days. We should find out more during this period whether those doubts that lingered through the first road trip are real. It begins tomorrow with Cone throwing out more clues about his 37-year-old arm.
Cone did not get out of the third inning in his first start in Anaheim as the deception so central to his achievement was missing. He says his health and pitches are fine. But should that raise worry in itself, that Cone thought he had good stuff and still could not subdue the hardly fearsome Angels?
Fellow 37-year-old Roger Clemens has allowed 10 runs, but just one earned in two starts. Is that bad luck or the inability to overcome others’ mistakes any more? Maybe rather than legendary, Clemens has taken the step back to just very good now. Joe Torre keeps saying The Rocket is “trying to do too much” to pick up teammates. That would be fine if he still had “too much” to give. Maybe he doesn’t.
If that it is the case, that Cone and Clemens are a notch less effective than in their starry past, they will need more shepherding than ever. But it was revealed over the weekend that pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, whom both veterans consider a mentor, has a cancer of the blood. He’s expected to be able attend the rescheduled opener but could miss time in the future. Who knows, with a disease like this?
And if Stottlemyre is not present for insight and inspiration more will fall to Posada. Last season, it was no secret Clemens, Cone and Andy Pettitte preferred pitching to Joe Girardi. He is gone, and Pettitte’s Friday night of confusion with Posada in Seattle was not reassuring. Right now, the only rotation member flourishing is Orlando Hernandez, who seems buoyed by his fiery relationship with Posada.
Torre has always said the Yankees are about their pitching, specifically their starters. If that were not to be the case, the Yanks would need more from their bullpen and batting order.
Aside from Paul O’Neill, no Yankee hit the ball hard with regularity on the trip, specifically in the clutch. The Yankees batted .211 with runners in scoring position. This is a team that has not relied on the long ball, but rather the relentless assault of their lineup. However, they scored 25 runs in the six games and 14 (56 percent) came via homers.
Usually, the tenor of the lineup is set up top. But leadoff man Chuck Knoblauch had just four hits and, more surprising, just one walk in the six games. Jeter finished the trip at .296, almost because it is impossible for him not to hit. But he never took a game over. The Yankees did not score in the first inning of any game.
Yet, the pedigree for Knoblauch and Jeter is so good that worry is minimal. More troublesome is the bottom of the lineup. The encouraging factor for Shane Spencer is he has three homers. The discouraging factor is he has four hits. Is he Rob Deer? Ricky Ledee went from an uplifting spring to a 1-for-12 start. Alfonso Soriano, filling in for injured Scott Brosius, has two homers and his first three career hits are homers. Can he stay in the lineup, though? He has two errors and no assists.
Slowly we will discover the true character of these Yankees, the home opener tomorrow providing more fodder. We will watch if the transition really is from venerable to vulnerable.