Bronx, N.Y., May 19, 2003 — The solution was so simple, it was laughable. Here we were, losers of three series in a row. We had gone from a start of 18-3 to a span of games during which the record slipped to 9-13. Our starters, unbeatable a few short weeks ago, couldn’t buy a win. And the offense had gone completely south.

Our No. three hitter’s batting average had continued to flirt with the .200 mark as June approached, the batting average of our leadoff hitter had slipped more than 60 points in a matter of weeks, and our cleanup hitter had not only lost his stroke, he had bounced into rally-killing first-inning double plays for three games running. We were swept at home by a last-place club during a depressing 1-5 homestand, a stand appropriately concluded by a loss on a complete-game three-hitter to a pitcher not good enough to be retained on the 2002 New York Mets pitching staff.

And now we were headed to Boston. They have been our only divisional competition for five years running, and have more often than not represented the biggest obstacle to our drive for league, conference and division championships (as the years have passed, and the definition of what it takes to have a successsful season has become more and more multi-tiered, and complicated). And they have hung in gamely during this season’s first seven weeks, while having problems of their own. There was a time the only competition they could have waged with the Yanks was the “Who has the worst bullpen?” stakes, but they have managed enough offense to keep within striking distance while we played like one of the immmortals, and to close in and to tie us once the team came crashing down to earth. It was only natural, I suppose, to fear the consequences of a trip to Fenway Park the way things were going.

The solution, of course, was to “turn back time,” as in the song by ageless pop diva Cher, who celebrates a birthday Tuesday (this gentleman will never tell which one). We have the better team. We have the better starting nine, and most of all, we have the better pitching, top to bottom. But if we seemed vulnerable with all that, we still had history on our side. Red Sox fans have “the Curse”; we have the 26 World Championships. And for those who are reluctant to consider all that history (positive on our side, obsessively negative on theirs) as a real factor, I would suggest they heed the words of wisdom attributable to Yankee all star Yogi Berra, as he spoke to the Yanks’ team back in 1999, when we were about to face the Red Sox in the ALCS: “Those guys? We’ve been beating those guys for more than 50 years,” Yogi said. “They can’t beat us.”

Of course, if one decides to choose past victories on which to build present-day wins, you need to be careful. Sherman and Peabody from classic Saturday-morning cartoon television used to rev up the Way-Back machine every week. And they could pinpoint the biggest problem for you: How far do you go back?

The answer is clear. With apologies to Yogi and the gang, we needed to find a game to build on that the guys on this team played. And that is exactly what they did. They went back 20 days for this game’s template. The game took place April 30, 2003, against the Seattle Mariners, another team having a lot of success of late, but also a team that the Yankees, when push has come to shove, have beaten when it counts.

Yes, there were differences, and aside from the historical (the Seattle franchise was nowhere to be found when the Red Sox and Yankees first became rivals), there was this: The Yankees were home, and they were facing a wily old veteran pitcher who has had a lot of success against them. On May 19, 2003, we were in hostile territory, and we were facing a young lefty.

The lefty Jamie Moyer got the start vs. the Yankees for the Mariners on April 30; the lefty Casey Fossum tonight. Seattle got off to a great start in their first inning, as one of the league’s fastest guys, Ichiro Suzuki, reached second base with no one out on the game’s third pitch, as his bouncer glanced off shortstop Erick Almonte’s glove and rolled into short left, an E6. Johnny Damon’s Red Sox were already way down when he came to the plate in this game’s first inning, but he got to second on three pitches too, a double down the line. Ichiro stole third on the next pitch. Damon got there on Nomar’s one-out single. Ichiro never scored, as a game Andy Pettitte rose to the occasion and struck out the side. Damon scored, but his team was already way behind.

But the similarities are greater, and wierder, looking at the Yankee offense, and the performances of the Yankees’ opposing pitchers. On April 30, the Yanks loaded the bases on a Zeile single, a Bernie Williams walk, a run-scoring Matsui ground single off Carlos Guillen’s glove and a walk to Jorge Posada. Tonight, the sacks were filled by a Soriano single, Jeter double, Giambi two-run-scoring single, Matsui single and walk to Jorge Posada. On April 30, Raul Mondesi capped the inning’s scoring when he blasted a grand slam home run to left on the inning’s 27th pitch. Raul would bring tonight’s score to an identical 5-0 mark when he stroked a bases-loaded triple to left on the inning’s 26th pitch.

Moyer threw 40 pitches in the first April 30. Fossum was stretched to 39 this night in Boston. Moyer reached within himself for something extra, took one for the team, and used an assortment of off-speed pitches to blank the Yankees though the next five frames three weeks ago, throwing 106 pitches and holding the Yanks to five runs in six innings. Fossum shrugged off the bad breaks of the top of the first, started mixing hard fast balls with hard sliders, kept the Yanks off balance, and held the Yankees to five runs through six innings while throwing 108 pitches. Jamie faced 27 Yankees to get his 18 outs; Casey faced the same number.

And what of Raul? His triple thumped hard off the Fenway Monster tonight, so he only got three rbi, while the salami provided four on April 30. Monday night he followed his first inning heroics by flying out, taking a called third strike, and singling following Jorge’s walk in the eighth. Against the Mariners his post-first-inning at bats produced a called third strike, a fly out and a single after Jorge was hit by a pitch in the eighth. On April 30, the Yanks scored five in the first, and then three in the eighth. In Boston, Raul was caught by Manny Ramirez trying to stretch his single (a guy against whom I would try to run, by the way). Had Raul settled fir the single, the Yanks would have put up three in the eighth and eight for the game in Fenway, too.

Of couse there was more to the April 30 win than Raul’s heroics and a five-run first, and there was more to the Fenway win than that too. Andy Pettitte threw seven innings against the M’s, and David Wells, who turns 40 Tuesday, was masterful in this outing, if tentative early. YES reported that he started with a 2-7 first-pitch strike ratio first time though the order, which was close (it was 3-6 actually), but he didn’t “throw” this win, he “pitched” it. If you want to talk first-pitch strikes, how about the fact that by the time he handed the ball to Joe with two outs in the seventh after Nomar’s second single, he had recorded strikes on the first pitch to 14 of the last 16 Red Sox to face him?

So one of 19 games with the Red Sox is behind us. And flat or no, scratching for runs or no, we scored early and often, and we won. The starting pitcher was signed almost singlehandedly by our “maniac” owner, and it was George’s intrusion into the team’s post-season affairs that is most credited with the retention of Mr. Mondesi as well. Raul has played superbly, and his few bumps in the road have been when he has failed to harness his passion for the game (as in a huge overthrow on the weekend that he almost duplicated in this game). But that’s at least two 2003 victories for which he is largely responsible.

Now we face Pedro, and I suggest we take the Way-Back machine just a bit further this time, as this team has succeeded in frustrating him at every turn during his Red Sox years. The Yankees have been fabulously successful over the years, and the “how to beat Pedro” template is already well established. Jeff Weaver has to throw well, and his performance in the back-to-back losses to Tim Hudson and the A’s (followed by a big win vs. the Angels) is a great starting point. Pitch well, Jeff. Keep us close. We scored two off their pen in the eighth this time, and could have scored more.

Keep us close with Pedro, and we’ll do it again.

BTW,TYW

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!