Tampa, FL, March 3 — There were quite a few startling differences between the two teams that assembled at George M. Steinbrenner Field to play a game Tuesday afernoon. But the most jarring thing is what the two had in common. Shortstop Derek Jeter.
Veteran Spring Training watchers (and Tampa is a great place to find them) know that March 3 is a good time to begin building starters’ pitch counts, to give veteran players a re-taste of the competition playing a fraction of the innings, and to give relief pitchers intermittent frames to work into and out of trouble. And position players competing for just a few spots get a chance to prove their mettle in the sunny Florida heat more so than they are likely to in the heat of regular-season battle.
This day’s opposition, the American team competing in this year’s World Baseball Classic, is operating under entirely different time pressures. Thus, starter Roy Oswalt pitched into the fourth inning, with 49 pitches and several throws to first once Yankee center fielder and resident pest Brett Gardner singled in the first and third frames (he would steal in the latter). Setup submariner Brad Ziegler relieved and use 30 pitches to get through five, and then four relievers posted the more usual early March outings of an inning apiece.
But the talented American team offensive players showed the real difference. Four guys in the Yankee lineup left after five-plus innings and three more after six. None finished. But Davey Johnson’s World Classic squad fielded five star players who went all nine innings, and three more played into the seventh.
This Spring Training season did start a week early, so the Yankees are in week two, not one, it’s true. Prospect Phil Hughes pitched into a third inning. And lefty reliever Phil Coke did carry the action through five, as had the visiting crew. But Coke got through the fifth because he retired seven straight hitters after a single while throwing the ball just 28 times. Hughes struck out three and was sharp, but the World team then sprung their big weapon when he tired in the third. Once a hit by pitch put two on, Yankee Captain Derek Jeter, playing against his team for the first time in 15 years, singled to score two, eclipsing an early Yankee lead.
It was entirely usual that Jeter received the loudest cheers all day, but not that he did so playing against the Yanks. Jeter embraced the role so completely that he emerged from the third base dugout after pregame infield practice and actually signed autographs for several minutes. And he had a good day, singling twice with a walk, a run scored, and two rbi’s. He played the whole game and made a fine stab on a Cody Ransom grounder up the middle in the fourth. The funniest moment of the day followed, as any “Youks” calls Boston first baseman Kevin Youkilis thought he had heard to that point quickly turned to “boos” when he failed to handle Jeter’s throw.
The American team looked very good, though no one matched Jeter’s two hits, even if Boston’s Dustin Pedroia hit the ball hard, and he and David Wright of the Mets made fine plays too. Matt Thornton of the White Sox struggled in a three-run fifth, but the other five hurlers looked ready. Heath Bell faced three and whiffed them all.
The Yanks were good too. Gardner had three hits, while Melky Cabrera battled through 10 pitches before singling in a just-short rally in the ninth. Cody Ransom had two hits, and Nick Swisher delivered a two-out, two-run double in the sixth.
The Yankee team suffered through another typical Spring Training experience in that frame’s top half. It happens all the time. Everyone plays well except one young pitcher has a tough inning, turning a win into a loss. Young righty Eric Hacker played that role this day, in Oscar-winning fashion. He surrendered a single, walk, walk, an Angel Berroa error, single, and hit by pitch, failing to retire any of six batters. The four runs ballooned the American team’s lead to 6-1, and it could have been worse, but young lefty Michael Dunn stopped the scoring cold, retiring five of six, three on K’s.
After Swisher had tightened the game’s score with his double, Colin Curtis and Cabrera singles and a Doug Bernier sac fly closed it to 6-5 in the ninth. Shelley Duncan rocketed a liner deep to right center, but Curtis Granderson ran it down, and the game was over.
It was played under a cool breeze and bright sunny skies, with temps reaching 63. The Yankees honored righthander Tom Sturdivant, who passed away, before the game. Tom won 36 and lost 25 for the Yanks in the 1950s, and he won the World Series game over the Dodgers that preceded Don Larsen’s Perfect Game.
But this game was all about who played shortstop, and who didn’t. Who’s at Short? How about Lou Costello? The brilliant comic died 50 years go this day.
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!