The Futility Infielder

Friday evening found me at a wedding in New Jersey, one where I knew hardly anybody (including the bride and groom) and which featured several questionable aesthetic decisions (a 45-minute shuttle bus ride to the reception through rush hour traffic?). As I grumbled my way through a thoroughly lackluster salad, I turned to my wife and shouted (because the 10-piece band was already blaring), "The Yankees are probably getting pounded 11-2 right now, and you know what? I'd rather be watching that than sitting here."

The wedding soon improved into a fun time (even if we did spend the night in Mahwah), but I wasn't too far off of that prediction, as the Yanks, forced to start Tim Redding and his 9+ ERA, fell behind 12-1 by the fourth inning and ended up losing 17-1. Still, it was impossible to be upset by the loss, coming as it did on the heels of a rousing victory the night before, and with 16 of the 17 runs allowed by a trio of pitchers -- Redding, Darrell May, and Jason Anderson -- whose pinstripes are being worn on borrowed time.

But the Yanks still needed a win on Saturday to insure themselves of a split in the series, and behind their only other able-bodied starter, Randy Johnson, they got it. Looking more and more like the pinstriped model of Roger Clemens, Johnson gutted his way through another ugly outing, allowing four runs in 6.1 innings while striking out 10. The Big Unit nearly squandered a 6-0 lead to which the Yankee offense had staked him, but the Yanks held on.

Those six runs came at the expense of Sox starter Matt Clement, an All-Star last week despite his unsightly beard. Clement, who was a free agent in the offseason, pitched more like Carl Pavano crossed with Jaret Wright (ouch), walking five and throwing 83 pitches just to get eight outs. Most memorable was a two-out, 2-1 pitch that got away from Clement, sailing behind the back of Gary Sheffield. It didn't look like a purpose pitch (and Sheffield later discounted any malicious intent) but Sheff scowled and broke out his can of Whoop Ass just the same, lashing the next pitch off the Green Monster for a double. Alex Rodriguez then crushed Clement's very next pitch over the Monster for a two-run blast, echoing Thursday night's homer. Choke on that, A-Rod haters.

The fun didn't end there. Consecutive walks to Hideki Matsui and Jason Giambi were followed by an RBI single off the bat of Bernie Williams. Tino Martinez walked to load the bases, and then John Flaherty, a man with all of 11 hits and three RBI on the year, banged a double off the Monster for another pair of runs to spell the end for Clement. Derek Jeter, batting for the second time in the inning, greeted reliever Jeremi Gonzalez with an RBI single before Gonzalez could put out the fire.

But six early runs aren't enough to keep the Sox offensive machine down, and they patiently clawed their way back into the game. Solo homers by Mark Bellhorn in the third and Manny Ramirez in the fourth got them on the board, and a Ramirez double keyed a two-run inning in the fifth as Johnson huffed, puffed and offered mediocre stuff. The Big Unit's fastball has lost some of its bite; that .317 batting average he's yielded on balls in play is a commentary on just how vulnerable he's become in front of a still-shoddy Yankee defense. But Johnson at 80 percent is still a better (and healthier) pitcher than the Yanks can otherwise offer, and he hung tough until the bullpen could arrive. The Yanks added an insurance run in the seventh thanks to an A-Rod walk, a balk, and an error by David Ortiz, not known for his glovework and in fact playing the field against an AL team for only the second time this year.

With Joe Torre trying to preserve Tanyon Sturtze for an emergency start in case Kevin Brown can't go on Monday, Tom Gordon went 1.2 innings, throwing more balls than strikes, including an eephus curveball on his first pitch that had Manny ducking. Flash got the job done, and then Mariano Rivera came on for another 1-2-3 save, using just 12 pitches in the process. Schweeeeeet.

During the game, the Yanks acquired Al Leiter from the Florida Marlins to start on Sunday, and the price tag shows just how far Leiter's stock has fallen. Florida gave up this rotting Fish for no more than a $400,000 discount on what they owed off of his $8 million contract for the rest of the year -- not even a player to be named later in return. Then again, with Leiter's 3-7 record, 6.64 ERA and 52/60 K/BB ratio, the lefty gave Florida only slightly more leverage than Brian Cashman had. I can't blame Cashman for grasping at this straw, as he costs nothing but pocket change. But I'm not terribly optimistic it'll turn out well. A lefty flyball pitcher in Fenway sounds like a ticket to another double-digit shellacking; it's good thing they're playing with house money after Saturday's win.

Leiter is possibly the best baseball analyst I've heard in recent memory; his postseason discussions of the finer points of pitching are a must-hear. But the flip side of Leiter's ease in front of the mic is that he's something of a poor man's Curt Schilling, a clubhouse lawyer who's very calculating when it comes to media relations (recall the very public drama of the Mets declining his option seven months ago). Red Light Al is tough to like.

Suffice it to say that if Leiter keeps his ERA around 5.00 long enough for the rest of the staff to get healthy and put him out of a job, I'll be damn impressed, and so, I'll wager, will the Yanks. They've used 11 starters, the most in the AL, and their #5s (Wright, Sean Henn, Redding, May and Sturtze) have been even worse than Leiter:

            GS  IP   K/9  K/BB  HR/9    ERA
Yankee #5s  10  40  4.95  0.81  2.92  11.48
Leiter      16  80  5.85  0.87  1.01   6.64

Avert your eyes, children. Leiter started his career with the Yankees, and this is likely the end of the line for him. If he can't better that shoddy performance, he's got no place in the big leagues. The bar isn't exactly high, but that's a minor matter at the moment. The Yanks deserve a hand for holding serve under these adverse circumstances.

• • •

Speaking of the Red Sox, many of you from both sides of this rivalry are aware that I contributed two chapters, one on David Ortiz's career and the other on Pedro Martinez's lack of success against the Yankees, to a forthcoming book for Baseball Prospectus. I'm pleased to announce that Mind Game: How the Red Sox Got Smart and Finally Won a World Series, which will be published at the end of August, is now on sale via Amazon.com for a mere $11.16 plus shipping. On Friday, Steve Goldman, who edited the book, provided a chapter-by-chapter rundown of its contents as well as this overview:

Mind Game is a book about the Boston Red Sox and how intelligent team design helped them to surpass the Yankees, sustain the winning effort despite all the obstacles and setbacks typically encountered by every team during the championship season, and lay to rest nearly a century of self-defeating mismanagement. Mind Game is a deconstruction of the Theo Epstein-era Sox--where they came from, where they’re going, and how they got where they are, to the title of World Champions.

Before visions of the 6,782 Red Sox championship-exploitations that came out back in April blow your mind, be assured that Mind Game is not another onanistic knock-off along the lines of “Cursebreaker: How My Shamanistic Rituals Won the World Series for Red Sox Nation", by Johnny Damon’s cousin’s ex-boyfriend. Mind Game is something new. We’ve brought the full roster of Baseball Prospectus authors to bear on the Red Sox and the 2004 season, using it as a prism through which we can throw light on the real lessons of the championship.

...Because we’re Baseball Prospectus and we can’t stop writing when we’re this excited, we’ve added “extra innings,” supplementary discussions of everything from the non-curse of Tris Speaker, the strange case of Dan Duquette, Calvin Schiraldi, and much more. We've also included appendices with multiple leader boards for every BP statistic and for the first time anywhere, a comprehensive list of bench-clearing brawls in baseball history, thanks in large part to the work of the late, great Doug Pappas, who had "BP author" as one of his many titles. All of this is served up with BP’s customary insouciance and humor.

If I weren't already receiving a complimentary copy, I'd buy that, especially for less than the cost of two beers at Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park. I'm proud to be associated with it and really looking forward to seeing its reception.