The Futility Infielder

It took me twice as long as usual to make it to Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night, an hour and a half as opposed to 45 minutes. The Lexington line subway was all fakakta, with a new excuse at every stop -- signal malfunction, sick passenger, incident at 161st St. -- but while I was underground, the 97-degree heat broke, taking the edge off of a sweltering day. Nonetheless, my pal Issa and I didn't make first pitch, and I was jotting down the events in the top of the first as I bobbed and weaved through the tier-level concourse, listening to the play-by-play and catching glimpses of the internal video feed at each concessions stand.

From the get-go, Yankee starter Al Leiter was in trouble, yielding singles to the first two Twins, and escaping only due to some nifty fielding by Derek Jeter, who got the first out by forcing Shannon Stewart at third base. But before the Gold Gloves could be handed out, Jeter flopped on a Torii Hunter ground ball up the middle, stopping it and perhaps saving a run but loading the bases. It was going to be that kind of night.

Leiter wriggled out of that jam, and another bases-loaded situation in the second. But he persisted -- always, with the base runners, oy -- putting two men on in the third. Joe Mauer singled, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Bret Boone drew a two-out walk, and then Justin Morneau drove one into leftfield, a sure double. Mauer scored, but Hideki Matsui, who'd brutally butchered his first carom, played this one perfectly, and the relay throw cut down Boone at the plate to preserve the 1-0 score.

Meanwhile the Yanks could do little against Twins ace Johan Santana. The defending Cy Young winner hasn't been as sharp this year; he came in sporting a 3.89 ERA. But he looked like the guy in the catalog to the Yankees, at least based on the zeroes he kept posting on the scoreboard. Their best chance against him came in the bottom of the third, when Jeter and Robinson Cano put together back-to-back one-out singles. Gary Sheffield scorched a hard shot up the middle. Too hard, in fact, as Hunter quickly got the ball and gunned down Jeter at the plate. The Yanks would put a runner on against Santana in each of the next four innings, all to to no avail. That kind of night.

Leiter kept up the Houdini act through five innings, escaping the last one with a double play on pitch #115. "Room service, room service," I shouted as Justin Morneau's ball reached Cano to start the double play. "Room service?" asked the couple next to me once the play finished. "Just what we ordered," I explained. They nodded with the satisfaction of understanding, "Room service indeed."

Leiter departed having yielded seven hits, five walks and a hit-by pitch but just one run, an outing he referred to as full of "MacGyver" moments. Fourteen of the 26 batters he faced started with "ball one." Had the beer not been so cold and the company so good, watching him would have been maddening. Given the shellshocked state of the Yankee rotation (which went ahead and signed Hideo Nomo yesterday, sending him to Columbus to get his shit together), it was admirable instead.

The score stayed 1-0 until Tanyon Sturtze came on in the seventh, taking the baton from Felix Rodriguez. Then all hell broke loose. Mauer greeted Sturtze with a double, and Hunter drove him in, advancing to second on the late throw home. Hunter stole third, but couldn't score on a Boone grounder. Sturtze intentionally walked Morneau to face Michael Cuddyer, another Twin having a subpar season. He walked to laod the bases, then Shannon Stewart doubled two runs home, 4-0 Twins. "Nerts to Sturtze," groaned the couple next to me.

From there, Yankee manager Joe Torre broke out the bullpen's junior varsity, with unimpressive results. Scott Proctor got two outs before yielding a Hunter single, then Jacque Jones drilled a two-run homer to left-center, 6-0.

The Yanks saw a glimpse of hope once Santana departed for Juan Rincon in the eighth. They finally broke through on a bases-loaded walk by Jason Giambi, then added two more on a throwing error by Boone. With two out and two on, closer Joe Nathan came on in relief, and Bernie Williams just missed tying the game with a ball down the rightfield line that landed foul. Williams struck out.

Alex Graman, another JV reliever who will likely have a different address in a week, yielded a solo shot to Morneau, his second big hit on the night. In this week's Hit List, I noted that Morneau had hit only .184/.282/.321 since May 14, but he's had four extra-base hits over his last three games and looks to be back in the swing of things. That homer wrapped up the scoring at 7-3. As a gentle rain fell, the Yanks went quietly in the ninth, with Alex Rodriguez, celebrating his 30th birthday, striking out looking to end the game. Nerts.

• • •

A-Rod had an undistinguished night, going 0-for-3 with two walks and a near-miss of a home run, but as ESPN points out, he's accomplished plenty in his career thus far. Rodriguez has hit 409 homers by Age 30, more than any other player and the only one to top 400 by that point. The leaderboard:

Alex Rodriguez   409
Ken Griffey Jr   398
Jimmie Foxx      379
Mickey Mantle    374
Eddie Mathews    370
Hank Aaron       342
Frank Robinson   314
Willie Mays      285
Babe Ruth        284
Ernie Banks      269
Barry Bonds      254

That's great company. Even better, Rodriguez is in the midst of a great year, Wednesday night be damned. His 28 homers are tied for the league lead, and while his 1.013 OPS wouldn't be a career high (he's topped the firgure four times, going as high as 1.045), its been accomplished while playing in a park much less favorable to hitters than his previous addresses, the Kingdome and the Ballpark at Arlington. Baseball Prospectus' Equivalent Average stat, which takes that into account, places him at .341, five points off of his previoius best, done in 2000 in Seattle. So long as the Yankees remain in the playoff hunt, he's got an excellent shot at his second MVP award.

What I'd really like to see, over the next several years, is for A-Rod to make a run at the all-time home run record. Barry Bonds' tainted pursuit of Hank Aaron's 755 homers has left a sour taste, and anyone with half a shot to diminish his memory (I will establish a trust fund so that my great-grandchildren may piss on his grave) is worthy of the adulation of baseball fans everywhere.