Bronx, N.Y., July 31, 2003 — Well, Cashman and the braintrust win the argument, at least for one day. The discussions among Yankee fans in the big city Thursday were consumed by the late moves, where the Yanks traded a prospect pitcher they had to this point refused to part with for a third baseman, a young veteran who will at best match the guy preceding him with the glove, and who, it must be admitted, should give them some more offense, even if just a little bit.

So, what happens to this first-place team, battling to hold that spot against a team that has been improving (or trying to improve) itself continuously with moves over the last few weeks, if they get the starting pitching that is their forte, and add just a bit more offense? Well, with the new third baseman not yet in uniform, and the horses that toe the rubber at each game’s beginning continuing to carry the day, the Yanks and their fans almost got an object lesson in what happens to teams that pitch well and don’t score runs this night.

The game’s template was on display early. David Wells set his tone right away, not by striking out Garrett Anderson to close the first (it was his only whiff in facing 28 Angels batters), but by throwing less than one ball for each two strikes in the first inning, and improving that ratio to one in four in the second. The Boomer had a difficult day in Fenway last Friday with his back, and surrendered five walks in one game when he had given only around the same amount during the whole year, but he was “back,” if you’ll pardon the expression, this night.

And it was a good thing too. The Yankee foursome of Mussina, Pettitte, Clemens and Wells were superb during a Yankee four-game sweep over the Indians a week and a half ago, and Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens put up some pretty daunting numbers in winning the first two games of this series as well. Lefty Pettitte got the Yanks off with a 6-2 win Tuesday, and perhaps the only numbers that were more impressive than his nine strike outs without a walk and his 25/7 first-pitch strikes-to-balls ratio were that he won his eighth straight and that he achieved a better than three-to-one strikes-to-balls thrown number. Two to one is the Holy Grail for starters, and if that sounds simple and commonplace, consider that the four Angels who pitched in this game missed the zone 94 times while hitting it with only 96 pitches.

And it would be hard to fault Roger Clemens’s 8-0 shutout Wednesday. Throwing a complete-game shutout for the first time since 1999, his 18/13 first-pitch strikes mark and 71/44 advantage in numbers of strikes over balls weren’t exactly “Boomer-esque,” but they were more than acceptable, even if he didn’t match the three to one strikes count that Wells matched Pettitte with (67/22).

The toughest job on this West Coast trip so far (at least until Mussina, Weaver and Pettitte take the mound in Oakland against their Big Three starting Friday night) fell to David Wells in this contest. The Yanks of Joe Torre have always had trouble with this Angels team, both the one with “Anaheim” as its first name now and the one that was identified by “California” in 1996 and before. The Yankee team that finished in first place in the strike-shortened 1994 season swept a four-gamer from the Angels shortly before that season’s abrupt close, and they haven’t swept a series from them since, until Thursday night. In fact they entered the season down to the Angels 41-48 since ’94, a number that crept to 44-51 earlier this year. The prohibition against sweeping this team was so strong that when the Yanks got off to their incredible 2003 start, and their starters went 18 games without a loss, the game that ended that streak was the one on April 24 when the Angels beat Pettitte in the final of three in Anaheim. When the “rock” of Yankee starters winning night after night after night struck the “hard place” of their inability to sweep the Angels, it was the Yankees starters’ streak that came to an end.

And despite the fact that Wells threw a beaut, he did give up an early run after catcher Molina doubled first baseman Robb Quinlan to third with one out in the second, resulting in a 1-0 lead when Benji Gil bounced to Jeter up the middle. The Angels, on the other hand, were in a generous mood, and when Aaron Sele walked Derek Jeter on four pitches with one out in the first, it was his first of five allowed, and three of the next four would lead off innings, with the fourth coming with no one out and a man on first. Little did we realize that when Derek Jeter delivered new Yankee right fielder Dave Dellucci with the first of five singles the Yanks would manage in regulation it would be the only one of six lead-off walks the Yanks would plate all night.

And the score was tied, 1-1, and the game continued just as it had begun. Thus, by the time Sele left after six with the score still knotted, he had thrown almost as many balls (49) as Wells had thrown pitches (57). The Yanks’ attack that had prompted the trade for “a little bit” more offense managed to score only one of the eight consecutive leadoff batters who reached from the first through the ninth innings. So even though Wells was still superb in the eighth, he was removed after Eckstein’s leadoff single because the pesky Angel shortstop represented the winning run.

Which brings us to the other current platform of Yankee controversy. The team has responded to crises in its bullpen by acquiring a 46-year-old lefty specialist and a righty setup man from across town whose generally good numbers have been largely framed and defined by his spectacular failures, not his successes. Playing for the lead run, the Angels bunted Eckstein to second against the lefty Orosco, and the Yankees walked Garrett Anderson, the most dangerous bat in the Angels quiver. Armando Benitez did not disappoint the naysayers as he not only walked pinch hitter DeVanon to fill the bases once he replaced Orosco, he was clearly upset by the call on the 3-2 pitch that got him into that predicament.

Yankee fans cringed as the Rally Monkey they associate with their unexpected early exit from last year’s playoffs in Anaheim was shown around Edison Field and on TV and the hometown fans screamed in favor of switch-hitting pinch hitter Ed Spiezio, and he looked to have Benitez right where he wanted him. He fouled off the first, second and third strikes Armando delivered as the ball count rose to two, two pitches from forcing in the go-ahead run. But Benitez delivered a killer splitter on the second 2-2 pitch, Spiezio swung in vain, and when Molina popped the next offering softly to second baseman Soriano, the Yankee fan nation heaved a sigh of relief.

Yankee nemesis Troy Percival then replaced the hard-throwing Brendan Donnelly, and even though he allowed yet another three-ball count to start the 10th, this one to Jason Giambi, the Yanks looked to regret their missed chances provided by the wild Sele, Rodriguez and Donnelly (who had walked nine among them) when Percival struck Giambi out. But both Bernie Williams and Hideki Matsui waited out six-pitch walks, Posada fouled out to left, and Nick Johnson, newly returned from the Disabled List, strode to the plate as the 14th Yankee to come to bat with runners in scoring position. Derek Jeter had delivered as the first guy in that spot way back in the third, and the next 12 had failed. Nick worked the count to 2-1, and then lined a decisive single to left center to deliver Bernie.

Angels closer Percival whiffed Dellucci (who had a good first Yankee night with a walk, a hit, a fine running catch and a run scored), but Troy’s 10th inning matched the nine innings his teammates had fashioned before him. He threw 15 strikes, but the 14 balls led to the two walks and the run. Yankee closer Mariano Rivera, on the other hand, dispatched the three Angels in order in the bottom of the 10th, and only threw 18 pitches (12 strikes) doing it, despite the five consecutive fouls Anderson stroked before flying to right to end it.

It’s a great way to spend the year’s hotter months, watching baseball. And being a hot-weather game, baseball memories are often interspersed with some great summer music. Looking back over the years and some inspiring pennant races through that prism, we find the charts on July 31 in years gone by populated by such hits as the early rock classic Rock Around the Clock from Bill Haley and His Comets (1955), disco queen Donna Summer and Bad Girls (1979), Carole King’s It’s Too Late (1971). And California and the surf were all the rage in 1963, with the Surfaris’ Wipeout coming in third on the charts, behind Surf City by Jan and Dean. How does that one go again?

And we’re goin’ to Surf City, ’cause it’s two to one.
You know we’re goin’ to Surf City, gonna have some fun.
You know we’re goin’ to Surf City, ’cause it’s two to one.

Yeah, that’s right. Two to one, Yankees, in 10 innings. What fun!

BTW,TYW

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!