Bronx, N.Y., September 12, 2002 — It was easy to be distracted in the Stadium Thursday night. The uncharacteristic winds that blew through on 9/11 were gone, but many of the American flags and much of the “God Bless America” fire remained. Fans were slow to arrive, so that even though the 33,000 who eventually showed made for a respectable crowd, we viewed the early innings in a vast spread of empty seats. A possible confrontation between the Yankees and an umpiring crew that has not been friendly, and who tossed two the night before, never came about, as a new crew arrived to officiate the fourth of four against the Orioles.
Even the focus was fuzzy. The esteemed and venerable announcer Bob Sheppard has been mourning the loss of fallen “heroes” in the guise of City Policemen and Firemen for years. He was as devastated as any by last year’s tragedy, and by yesterday’s anniversary, but honoring these servants of the people and commisserating with their familes is something with which he is familiar, and he has handled it beautifully. The loss to heart attack of Johnny Unitas yesterday, on the other hand, unnerved him a bit it seems. I have listened to his professional delivery for years in good times and bad, but Thursday night is the only time I have heard him relate how a loss affected him personally. He shared with us how he was the public address announcer in Yankee Stadium way back in 1958 when Johnny U’s Colts beat the New York Football Giants in what some claim remains the greatest football game ever played, in the NFL Championship. Johnny impressed Bob, and that impresses me.
No Yankee pitcher has been more businesslike in his approach and focussed in his demeanor during his starts (at least, once he takes the mound) than David Wells, but fans seemed more interested to see if they could notice any bruises and whether the loss of teeth and the trauma would have any visible effect than whether or not he would once again deliver a quality start, following the physical attack David suffered after his last start. And perhaps it was a season ticket phenomenon, with repeat attenders taking a breather against the O’s (a team in disarray) and before October, and lending or selling their tickets to the less initiated, but there appeared to be more buzz about the Joe Torre Bobblehead dolls than the game at hand, at least until Jeff Conine powered a two-out drive over the left field fence on a 1-2 pitch in the first after having fouled off four pitches.
The fact that the Yanks were trailing the Orioles seemed to give much of the crowd a bracing, slap-in-the-face, wake-up call temporarily, but the five spot with which the Yanks responded in the bottom of the first, and the way the Orioles’ defense helped, lulled the crowd right back to La La Land. The fans were willing and eager to be interrupted with deeds of derring-do, but they would spend the time in between such feats discussing the kids going back to school, Aunt Tildie’s gall bladder operation and the foul balls caroming wildly all around the tier and field levels.
But one person’s demeanor was unaffected by all the hype. I have attended David Wells starts where he was sharper, but he approached this game in a professional manner, and he was not about to squander the bounty of the home half of the first inning. Anyone paying attention realized just how fortunate we were that we managed to score five. Jeter’s one-out grounder barely evaded second baseman Jerry Hairston for a single, and Jason was hit on his right wrist on the 2-2 pitch. Bernie’s soft hopper to first moved both guys into scoring position, and Rondell White’s first-pitch liner to right-center clearly had too much loft to fall in, and by rights we should have been back on the field trailing the O’s 1-0 (as it would turn out, for a considerable amount of time). But center fielder Mora shied away from right fielder Matos at the last second and Rondell had himself a two-run double. Playing now with the house money, Nick Johnson followed Rondell to the plate, and despite stumbling in the box when he swung at the 0-2 pitch, he powered the ball rows deep into the right field bleachers, for three, and a 5-1 lead.
Ironically, after reaching — and scoring two — on a sure out in the first, White was robbed of a sure hit through the shortstop hole in the third by Mike Bordick, who turned it into a 6-4-3 double play. The Yanks were limited to three hits from the first until the seventh. The first and third were removed on 6-4-3’s struck by Rondell; the middle one saw newly hot rookie Juan Rivera get picked off on what I scored as a 1-4-3-1.
But David was dealing too, and he knew what he was doing. He surrendered seven hits over eight innings, all seven in separate frames. He gave up two homers but that was all, and he kept his pitch count manageable, breaking over 100 in the eighth. His first-pitch strike ratio wasn’t great (18-13), but his control was. He walked none, went to a three-ball count only twice, and a two-ball count only seven times among 31 at bats.
On the offensive side, Raul and Jorge were rested, and Jason left after three with a right wrist bruise. Nick continues to demonstrate he’s back as he added a single and another run scored to his three-run homer, and Juan Rivera hit three singles. None were to right as has been his habit lately, but two were right up the middle, which is just as good. And Bernie put a halt to his suddenly plunging batting average with two singles and a hard liner to deep left.
September 12 is a good baseball history day, but not for the Yankees, or Orioles either. It’s former Tiger great Mickey Lolich’s 62nd birthday. The Indians attracted the biggest American League crowd ever (86,563) to a double header sweep of the Yanks on this day in their glorious 1954 season, and Carl Yastremski notched hit no. 3,000 on September 12, 1979, off former Yankee hurler and Expos GM Jim Beattie. Doc Gooden did set the rookie strike out record at 251 on this day in 1984, but that was for the wrong New York team. And in a record noted when many great strike out pitchers post a classic performance, Washingon Senator Tom Cheney struck out 21 Orioles in a 16-inning game 40 years ago, September 12.
But with available distractions aplenty, the Yanks have so far managed to avoid their recent history and have performed well in September. Despite another Tampa late-inning collapse vs. the Red Sox, the magic number dipped to nine. The 65-inning no-walks streak that ended in controversy Wednesday when Angel Hernandez called a ball on el duque for going to his mouth has been supplanted by a new one Boomer started tonight.
But most important, the Yanks lost a World Series last year in a series where the home team won all seven games. Home-field advantage has become even more critical, in all three postseason series. The Wicked Witch of the West, actress Margaret Hamilton, would have been 100 years old Thursday. And this year’s “Wicked Witch” (in my nightmares anyway) will come from the West too. But which witch will be that witch? Anaheim outlasted the A’s and tied their race Thursday, and with our win we have a two-game lead over both for best American League record.
It’s crucial that Joe continue to get the rotation humming (and it is), to get Mo in here and find out if he leads us again, to get the pen set whatever that outcome. The outfield parts need to be fine-tuned, Shane needs to be either healthy or not (and soon). Juan Rivera must be given time to prove that he is the goods, and now. But there are two top jobs really. First we need to clinch. Nine games, the sooner the better. And if they must all be Yankee wins, so be it. But second, as the wicked stepsisters out West go at it tooth and nail, we need to avoid the feeling that the giveaways, the attendance and whether some part-time fans would rather wave than cheer are important things. We have best record, and the home field until we stop playing. We must retain it. It improves our chances at winning. And besides, Jerry Colangelo tells me that opponents just love to hear Frank on “New York, New York” after we win. I wouldn’t want to let him down.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!