The Futility Infielder

Got a Mind to Ramble

Call me a smug Yankees fan for saying so if you want, but the meaningful part of the Yanks' regular season is over. I had the pleasure of attending the finale Wednesday night, as the Yanks, behind a two-run opposite-field homer from Jason Giambi and a gritty performance by Andy Pettitte, beat Derek Lowe and the Boston Red Sox 3-1. The win clinched both the three-game series and the season series over the Sox, dealing Boston a mortal blow that had Lowe doing the math. "If they play .500, we'd have to go - what? - 21-4?" he said afterwards, referring to the Sox chance of tying the Yanks for the AL East lead.

Not that the race is completely over, of course The Yankees are apparently putting their clichés on one pant-leg at a time. "We feel good about it, but it's not over," says Yankee reliever Steve Karsay. "You have to take one game at a time until we clinch. You can't look forward to next week or you will find yourself in a position you don't want to be in." Uh-huh. Tune in tomorrow, when the pitching staff pledges to throw strikes and stay within their abilities, while Joe Torre promises to get everybody some at-bats while giving people some rest so they stay... zzzzzzzz.

Wednesday night's game was a satisfying one. Pettitte struggled early, allowing three hits and one run on his first eight pitches, the key hit being Johnny Damon's bloop bunt. It sailed past the pitcher to a vainly charging Soriano, who short-hopped the ball and made a wild throw to first that was already too late. Dandy Andy labored his way out of trouble repeatedly, throwing 49 pitches in the first three innings and not posting a 1-2-3 inning until the 6th. But he finished strongly, retiring 12 out of the last 13 hitters--not bad for a guy who'd missed his previous start due to back trouble. Pettitte and Karsay (who earned the save by pitching the final two innings) used the Sox ageless DH Carlos Baega as their inning-ending escape hatch; Baerga grounded out with two on and two out in both the first and third innings, and struck out with a man aboard to end the eighth. Yankee outfielders Bernie Williams and Raul Mondesi made a couple of fine catches to bail Pettitte out on sharply hit balls by Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez, respectively.

The Yanks threatened Lowe early, Alfonso Soriano leading off with a single and Derek Jeter catching the Sox off guard with a bunt single. But Lowe struck out Jason Giambi looking and wriggled his way out of the jam. Giambi exacted his revenge in the third. Juan Rivera doubled, Lowe hit Soriano with a pitch (perhaps in retaliation for Pettitte hitting Shea Hillenbrand in the top of the inning?), Jeter grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, and then Giambi poked a sinker that didn't sink over the leftfield wall. Two pitches later, Lowe had Bernie Williams 0-2, but plunked him on the wrist, then bounced his next pitch past catcher Jason Varitek. One pitch later, Jorge Posada lined a single to left-center, scoring Bernie with their third and final run.

The most telling moment of last night came on the subway ride home. A well-dressed man switched cars at 86th Street, boarding the one my pal Nick and I were riding. He took one look at us in our Yankees caps, and closed his eyes in disgust, grimacing and throwing his hands up in mock surrender as a shock of recognition hit him. It was our friend Gabe--a Brooklyn-residing Red Sox fan--finding himself in exactly the wrong place for sympathy. Nick and I needled him (albeit rather gently) as we discussed Boston's slow fade and the two ballclubs' strengths and weaknesses on the ride home.

Anyway... following Thursday's win over Detroit and Boston's loss to Toronto, the Sox are now down 9.5 games and the Yanks' magic number is 15. None of this would be worth mentioning except for the fact that neither of the two teams faces an above-.500 club for the rest of the regular season; the Yanks meet (meat?) Detroit (6), Baltimore (7), the White Sox (3), and Tampa Bay (7), while the Sox draw the O's (7), the Jays (3), the Rays (7), the Other Sox (3), and Cleveland (4). This should leave Boston fans with a glimmer of hope for gaining ground in the Wild Card race. While the Sox play the aforementioned patsies, the red-hot Oakland A's, surging Anaheim Angels, and sinking Seattle Mariners spend the last three aweeks of the season jockeying for position.

The Yanks do have some very real questions to answer over the next few weeks, centering around--what else?--pitching. Mariano Rivera, on the DL for the third time this season with shoulder-itis, expects to be ready for the playoffs, but he has yet to resume throwing. In his absence, the bullpen-by-committee approach starring Karsay, Mike Stanton and Ramiro Mendoza has done admirably, converting nine straight since Mariano went down the third time. Five pitchers besides Rivera have combined for 19 of the Yanks' 46 saves. Nobody can fault the Yanks for wanting their ace back, but Joe Torre is stoically shoring up his troops for a worse-case scenario.

On a brighter note, the starting pitching is starting to resemble the guys in the catalog, with Clemens sticking the bat in the collective Sox, Pettitte rebouding emphatically from his latest health scare, and Orlando Hernandez working his crafty repertoire against the lowly Tigers. David Wells' back has held up admirably; he's only 4.1 innings off Mike Mussina's club lead in addition to his 15-7, 4.12 record. Moose keeps showing up for work, and has shown signs of shaking his slump, pitching two very good games over the Mariners and the Red Sox in between three bad ones. My hunch is still that El Duque is the odd man out in the postseason, barring injury to another of the Yanks' starting five--simply because he's the only one who's pitched any relief at all this season. And also because I don't trust the Yanks to embarrass a pitcher to whom they've got a long-term commitment by sending him to the bullpen for the postseason (i.e., Mussina), in favor of a more difficult one whom they might look to dispose of (i.e., Hernandez).

Speaking of off-season considerations, Bob Klapisch points out the big decisions the Yanks are facing, especially with regards to Clemens. Klapisch reports that in addition to the $10.3 million in deferred compensation due Clemens next season, the Rocket is likely to seek $15 million--which is especially steep because it may influence the team's thinking on Pettitte's $11 million option. Given that Pedro Martinez and Boston Globe writer Dan Shaughnessy have both floated thought balloons in recent days on bringing Clemens back to Boston, it's practically a given that George will pay whatever it takes to foil the Sox plans (unless of course this is some of that reverse psychology, as the Sox conveniently scheme to bloat the Yanks' already bloated payroll...).

Mariano Rivera has an opt-out clause after the season, though he's not likely to risk an $8.5 million while his value is depressed due to his injury problems. Mike Stanton and Robin Ventura are two other key free agents. The bullpen--not to mention the postseason in general--seems unthinkable without the lefty setup man, who's been a constant for the Yanks since '97 and who hasn't missed a postseason since 1990 (excepting the '94 strike, of course). Ventura, who's already topped 25 HR and 90 RBI while hitting .258 AVG/.376 OBP/.483 SLG, has certainly earned a return invitation, especially given highly-touted prospect Drew Henson's lack of, um, seasoning. Henson made his major-league debut on Thursday, pinch-running for Bernie Williams in the 8th inning.

One Yank who could be purged in the offseason to save money is leftfielder Rondell White, who despite staying relatively healthy has hit a pathetic .235/.286/.355, including a .130 August. Rookie Juan Rivera was activated on August 30 (recovered from a bizarre golf-cart accident) to keep him eligible for the postseason roster; he will apparently get a long look this month as the Yanks assess whether he can help them in October or next season. The kid whacked an 0-2 Lowe pitch for a double on Wednesday, starting their three-run rally, but he apparently missed a hit-and-run sign which led to Jeter grounding into a double-play prior to Giambi's homer. Oh, those rookies.

And hey, speaking of rookies...(At this point the yammering writer rambled off to bed )...