Clearwater, FL, March 1 — Yankee fans have a lot of change to adapt to in 2008. Hank and Hal Steinbrenner are replacing their aging father at the helm. Joe Girardi slips into the manager’s chair, vacated by Joe Torre after 12 years. And the team opted not to trade young pitching for an older experienced stud.
But although youth will be served on the mound, and the competition to fill the bullpen will be a spirited one, the team is relatively set in terms of position players, business as usual. Hall of Fame locks in their glory years man third base and shortstop, Jorge Posada and Jose Molina arguably form the best one-two punch at catcher in the league, and star-in-the making Robbie Cano has made second base his own for years to come. Three vets and young Melky Cabrera will cover the outfield. First base is the only position that needs to be settled this month in Tampa. It is expected and hoped that incumbent Jason Giambi will rediscover his power bat, and that he will be able to field the position as well. Even in the rosiest of scenarios, however, a righty-hitting first sacker needs to be found who can at least share the position with Giambi, and perhaps more than that.
Shelley Duncan made his case against the Phillies in a 9-3 win on Saturday afternoon. A disappointment in the Philly starting rotation in 2007, Adam Eaton struggled early this day, surrendering hard singles to three of the first four Yankee hitters. A one-out Derek Jeter double-play grounder had given the Philly righty a chance to escape with a scoreless inning, if only he could retire the inexperienced Yankee first sacker following Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez two-out singles. But Duncan foiled the plan, and slammed his first pitch over the wall down the line in left field for a 3-0 Yankee lead. Eaton escaped the second after a harmless single because Ryan Howard had made a nifty grab of a Greg Porter shot down first, but Chad Durbin, in to pitch the third, was in immediate danger via a Jeter double high off the wall in dead center.
An Abreu single advanced the Yankee shortstop to third, and the Yankees gave second baseman Chase Utley fits on back-to-back plays at second. Abreu broke for that base from first on a 3-2 pitch to Rodriguez, but he stopped 20 feet short of the bag when Alex swung and missed for the first out. Utley took catcher Carlos Ruiz’s throw in front of second, and Abreu feinted back toward first. Jeter broke for home, and as Utley made a move that way, Abreu scampered into second as Jeter retreated. So when Duncan slashed a liner toward the left field foul pole, two runs scored easily, with Duncan chugging toward second. Left fielder Chris Snelling’s throw beat him there by several feet, but Shelley used every inch of his long frame to dart around the base one way, and then grabbed the bag with his other hand. He wouldn’t score but the successful slide stunned a dispirited Utley.
Yankee pitching did not quite match the job the young studs put on the University of South Florida Friday, but it was very good again, this time against major league competition. Chien-Ming Wang got the start in his first appearance since his struggles last October, and pitched like the guy who has won 19 games each the last two years. Pounding his sinking fastball, he got a first-pitch Jimmy Rollins grounder to second, but Chris Woodward’s peg to first gave Duncan an instant challenge. It was short and the bounce came up high, but Shelly adjusted and made the grab. He flagged a following grounder and touched up, and a popup to second closed the frame. Wang pitched Ryan Howard leading off the second the same, but after failing to get around on two straight fast balls, the power-hitting first baseman drilled the next the other way to the wall in left. Wang pounded the zone against Pat Burrell to 2-2, then surprised the Philly DH and many in the crowd with a high outside slider. Wang either followed with his change up or he just took a lot off his 3-2 fastball, and Burrell couldn’t get the bat off his shoulder. We were both surprised and pleased that Wang was working all his pitches so early in the year. Two weak grounders followed, and Chien-Ming’s two frames were over with the four ground ball outs you would expect in his typical midseason start.
Duncan finished a fine day in the field with a nice stab of an Utley liner in the fifth. He handled all the throws at first, and even made an acrobatic attempt at a Geoff Jenkins base hit bid to the hole in the fourth. He may have been better advised to leave this play to Woodward, who came up with the play, but Shelley made a fine attempt, and Yankee lefty Billy Traber covered first base in plenty of time.
The rest of the game was all Yankees too. Darrell Rasner, Traber, Chris Britton, Heath Phillips, Jonathan Abaladejo, Dan Geise, and Russ Ohlendorf threw an inning apiece following Wang. The home team scored single runs against Rasner, Britton, and Geise, but the second one came via an ugly Woodward error on a ground ball right through his legs. Among the spot lefties, Traber pitched a 1-2-3 fourth, but Phillips showed grit in pounding back-to-back strike outs following a Howard single leading off the scoreless sixth. Free agent invitee Abaladejo opened eyes in the seventh, not only with two straight K’s of his own, but because he coaxed several wild swings on balls that ended up kicking up dirt.
Joe Girardi wore those of us scoring the game out with his multiple NL-style moves. Of the nine guys in the lineup who were replaced as the game went by, only Jesus Montero took Molina’s defensive spot and his place in the batting order. Wilson Betemit, who homered off ex-Yank Tom Gordon in the ninth, played both first and second. Jason Lane singled as Abreu’s replacement in right field in the seventh, but finished up in left field. Outfield prospect Austin Jackson made a nice stab of a sinking line drive in center in the eighth.
So the Yanks are 2-0 in the early going, their pitchers have started off well, and their offense has produced 20 runs in 17 turns at bat. Shelley Duncan has made an early claim on some reps at first in the coming season. But March 1 is terribly early, as the organization and their fans know. It has been an up-and-down day in Yankee history too. Thirty-nine years ago today, star Mickey Mantle admitted the inevitable. It was time for him to retire. And on March 1, 1993, just as this team was about to turn a corner into annual competitiveness, George Steinbrenner was reinstated as owner following the Howie Spira debacle.
The team moved on well once George resumed control. So far, they are showing good signs as his sons take over 15 years later.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!