As the Yanks tossed and turned their way through the first two months of the season, I watched them sink deep into an abyss of their own making. They sported their worst June winning percentage in 15 years when they bottomed out at .428.
My heart said they were gone… kaput… zayt gesunt. They had as much chance to make the playoffs as my cousin in Yonkers had to lose those 30 pounds. I was calling for the head of the manager, the GM, most of the players, and a few of the peanut vendors. (Skippy the clubhouse attendant was still in good graces...for the time being.)
But my brain whispered otherwise. Surely they had the talent to turn things around. The Pythagorean record said so. So did the roster. So did recent history. The Yanks have made an art form out of starting out of the gate slow but rebounding to win the division. Would it happen again?
Well, as our good friend Suzyn Waldman would say: "Goodness Gracious" …now all systems are go for a playoff run. With the wild card clearly in site and 101 games left in the season, the Yanks are on the upswing.
Outside of Phil Hughes (may he get well really soon) none of the young starting pitchers have been able stick in the rotation. But then came Tyler Clippard. Last
Tuesday night Clippard further solidified his place in the rotation when he defeated the Chicago White Sox. Clippard raised his record to 3-1. More impressively, all three victories came after Yankee losses.
Granted, on Sunday he looked very sloppy, mostly because the Pirates decided to take some pitches. But when you compare Clippard to DeSalvo and Wright, et al., he certainly deserves another start.
Jorge Posada appreciates Clippard's combative spirit. Jorge says "He keeps coming at them. If he falls behind, he doesn't slump his shoulders, he keeps going after it. He keeps competing." It would be nice if Torre would let Clippard go longer into his games, but perhaps that will come in time.
Chien-Ming Wang is also rounding into form very nicely. The man who placed 2nd in the 2006 A.L. Cy Young award is 4-1 with a 2.50 ERA in his last five starts. He is back to missing the fat part of the bat with late-breaking, filthy stuff.
Chicago centerfielder Jerry Owes said about Wang's offerings: "You see a pitch in a zone you want to hit it in, you swing, and by the time your bat gets to the ball, the pitch is in a different place because of how much it moves. It's tough to adjust to, especially because of the velocity - 93 or 94 miles an hour. He kept the ball down and got a lot of ground balls. He pitched to his strengths really well."
Wang is showing further evolution as a pitcher as he is relying on much more than his sinker. He's mixing sliders, change-ups, splitters and four-seamers, as he diversifies his repertory. "It helps me a lot to change timing for hitters," Wang said.
Andy Pettitte continues to be sharp, as evidenced by his stingy .311 ERA, the best among Yankee starters. Fussy Mike Mussina even joined the party Thursday in Chicago when he pitched his best game of the season. Mussina took a 1-0 lead into the 7th before he was pulled by Joe Torre after surrendering a dribbling single and a booming double. Scott Proctor allowed the tying run to score, costing Mussina the win. After the game, Mussina seemed much more concerned with his own plight than the team's victory.
"Why am I upset? Because I threw 80 pitches and I think I could have thrown 110. It was the first mess I had. I just felt like I could have kept going. I understand his [Torre's] thinking, but seventh inning with 79 pitches? I know I haven't been pitching that well, but oh well. Gotta earn it back, I guess. Gotta earn it back."
Mike Mussina whining? Ya, the Yanks truly are in mid-season form. As long as he pitches like he did Thursday, most Yankee fans will let it slide.
Of more interest to me than Fussy Mike's hissy-fit was the Rocket re-launch. Clemens pitched well in his first 2007 start. He gave up 3 runs but it might have been just one if Bobby Abreu had tracked Jack Wilson's 2-out, 2-run double better. (Abreu continues to struggle defensively on fly balls that are hit within 30 feet of the wall; it's really becoming rather tiring to watch him flail about like a drowning man when he pursues deep flies.)
The presence of Clemens is exactly what this team needs. Of course he can not single-handedly propel the Yanks into the playoff hunt. But his jolt of energy alone makes the team feel more alive, as if they expect something good to happen. This sort of addition can not be calculated. It's inherent.
After Roger's quality start, he told reporters: "I expect to get stronger each time from here out."
Torre poured it on: "This is the start of something we hope will be very special for us the rest of the way, at a point in our season where we think we're making a statement. He certainly can enhance that. We get caught up in Roger the guy and the competitor. That's what I think the guys are excited about today, the fact that he's back here. When he's on your side, you just feel like you have an advantage, and that's what we have."
Offensively, Johnny Damon is looking spry in the DH slot - those legs are getting enough rest to contribute. Robby Cano and Bobby Abreu have shaken off their slumps and their batting averages and on base percentages are on the rise. Abreu, in particular, has raised his batting average more than 40 points since he started shooting that outside pitch to left field. Sunday's game was a case in point, 4-4 and confidence overflowing. Suddenly, Abreu is reverting to his career norm: offensive excellence.
Damon at DH has opened a regular spot for Melky Cabrera in centerfield. Melky provides solid defense and he is hitting .390 (16-for-41) over the last 11 games. Take it from A-Rod, who said: "I don't think we would be on this winning streak without Melky. Melky's a difference-maker on both ends of the ball. There's so many things he's doing to help us win."
[Author's note: There is no need to mention A-Rod in this article because the best player in baseball continues to roll along. Major League Baseball can't wait for A-Rod to break Barry Bonds HR Record in seven or eight years. For this year, he'll have to settle for his 3rd MVP in 5 years. He is on pace this year to smash 64 home runs and knock in 168 comrades. Yet there are still some Yankee fans who would rather have Scott Brosius. weird.]
Perhaps most importantly, Mariano Rivera is finally getting some steady work and his numbers are showing enormous improvement. In his last 12 appearances, he has pitched 13 innings, giving up just seven hits and one run. He has issued only two passes while striking out 14.
Yankee fans couldn't ask for better news.
All systems are now go for a fun summer; the playoff race is on.
Clemens observes: ``This is a great ball club.It's not a good ball club, it's a great ball club.''
Now the Yanks are on the verge of proving it.
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