Yankees – Page 230 – Keefe To The City

Apr 16, 2010

The 2010 All-Animosity Team

The Yankees’ series win over the Angels felt too easy. It was strangely and almost eerily easy. Sure the Yankees nearly blew both their wins over the Halos with a shaky bullpen and some shakier

The Yankees’ series win over the Angels felt too easy. It was strangely and almost eerily easy. Sure the Yankees nearly blew both their wins over the Halos with a shaky bullpen and some shakier managing, but they came away with the series win despite those things. Even though the Yankees won their third series in as many tries to open the 2010 season, I feel like they could have and should have swept the Angels. And if Javier Vazquez didn’t lay an egg against Joel Pineiro, maybe they would have.

I think the Angels are close to forfeiting their title as an elite team in baseball. Now this isn’t as sure of a thing as it was for me to put the finishing touches on David Ortiz’s career as “Big Papi” last week, but I believe we are watching the Angels’ slow fall from grace. This doesn’t mean that the Angels won’t wind up winning the West – a division in which even the A’s have a chance – it just means they are no longer the threat they used to be.

I used to look at the Yankees schedule and search for series the Yankees could win, series they could split and then series against the Angels. The Angels were their own separate entity on the Yankees’ calendar and they deserved to be. The most wins you could pencil the Yankees in for against the Angels in a three-game set was one, and then hope they get lucky and win a second game.

Mike Scioscia might very well be the best manager in baseball and the Angels might run one of the best fundamentally sound organizations in the game, but they have slowly pulled key pieces of their franchise out like blocks from a Jenga tower, and their carefully constructed foundation looks ready to crumble.

Prior to the Yankees’ ALCS win over the Angels last October, I would have rather had the Yankees play any team other than the Angels. I would have gladly gone through the physical and emotional grind of another Yankees-Red Sox seven-game series if it meant the Yankees wouldn’t have to face the Angels. But after the Yankees beat the Angels in relative ease in October, it became obvious that the team built to expose every flaw of the Yankees over the last decade was no longer capable of doing so.

Howie Kendrick’s three days in the Bronx best summed up the state of the Angels. Kendrick, a career .409 hitter against the Yankees in 31 games, left town after going a miserable 1-for-11 with a walk. Over the last few years, Kendrick had become the biggest Yankee killer since Ortiz, and as a favor to the pure fastball hitter, the Yankees always made sure to give him a steady diet of middle-of-the-plate heaters.

Kendrick wasn’t the only Angel who consistently hurt the Yankees though; it was the entire lineup one through nine, the starting rotation and the bullpen. I grew to despise Chone Figgins, Garret Anderson and Vladimir Guerrero and was pessimistic about the Yankees facing John Lackey and Francisco Rodriguez. But all those players have left, leaving the Angels with a completely different cast of characters to try and keep the Halos as the best in the West.

There is no one on the Angels I fear the way I used to, and because of that, there is no one I have a strong dislike for on the team anymore. With the Angels looking like they will experience a decline in success, my animosity has turned to other players around the league that aren’t just Red Sox. Here is my All-Animosity Team in the majors:

Catcher: This is the only lineup in which Jason Varitek gets to start for, so I’m sure he would be happy to be a part of it. During Varitek’s freefall over the last couple of seasons, the fact that he was more of an automatic out than National League pitchers wasn’t an issue in Boston because Bostonians were made to believe that he could call a great game, and that was enough to offset his atrocious abilities at the plate. Now that he has been relegated to a job formerly held by Doug Mirabelli and Josh Bard, we will no longer have to see Varitek stand up behind the plate for a high fastball, or see his uniform with “C” on it with any frequency.

First base: Kevin Youkilis plays the game hard, and he is the textbook example for a guy you’d love on your team, but hate to see playing against your team. His entire look, demeanor, unorthodox batting stance and approach to the game is worth despising, and that’s before you factor in his .317 career average against the Yankees. Youkilis has taken over as the most feared hitter in the Red Sox lineup, becoming one of the toughest outs in baseball, and therefore my disgust with him has grown ten fold.

Second base: Everything about Dustin Pedroia’s game says that I should like him. His blue-collar style of play, knack for big hits and bigger defensive plays are the qualities anyone would want in a player on their favorite team. But he falls under the same category as Youkilis as a player you hate, but would love if they were on your team. Pedroia is the last person I want to see at the plate for the Red Sox in a big spot, and for that, he gets the nod at second base.

Third base: I could write an entire piece on the daggers Chone Figgins has dealt the Yankees in his career. Figgins had been the most important hitter to get out in the Angels lineup for opposing teams and allowing him to reach base meant stolen bases and runs scored. Without Figgins the Angels are a different team, and with him the Mariners are as well. The Yankees have yet to get a taste of Ichiro and Figgins hitting back-to-back, but I’m sure when they do it will include a lot of pitches, infield singles and stolen bases.

Shortstop: If Jose Reyes didn’t play for the Mets, I probably wouldn’t mind him, but he does, so I do. My dislike for Reyes began when Mets fans began the debate as to whether he was better than Derek Jeter, and they even believed they had sufficient evidence to support their case. But Mets fans will believe anything, including the idea that their one-man rotation can keep them in contention this season.

Left field: I didn’t even want to look up Manny Ramirez’s career numbers against the Yankees for a fear of flashbacks and cold sweats, but I know he is the right person for left field. Manny’s removal from the AL East was as relieving as Dom’s removal from Entourage, and his departure immediately destroyed the middle of the Red Sox lineup. Seeing Manny share a dugout and high fives with Joe Torre has only added to his career of torment for Yankees fans.

Center field: Vernon Wells’ demise since signing that albatross contract should be enough for me to forgive him for his clutch hits and web gems throughout his career against the Yankees. Wells appears to have found the talent that J.P. Ricciardi thought was worth giving $126 million, and the Yankees don’t see the Blue Jays until midsummer, but something tells me that Vernon will solidify his spot in this lineup at some point.

Right field: With 20 home runs and a .311 average against the Yankees, Magglio Ordonez and his floppy flow is an easy pick for right field on the All-Dislike Team. It was Magglio’s home run in Game 4 of the 2006 ALDS that got the ball rolling for the Tigers offense as they put an end to the ’06 Yankees. Now Magglio is hitting behind former Yankees prospect Austin Jackson and former Yankee Johnny Damon and ahead of Miguel Cabrera in the Tigers lineup. There will be plenty of more opportunities for me to increase my animosity for Magglio.

Starting pitcher: The 2003 World Series is plenty for any Yankees fan to forever hold a distaste for Josh Beckett. Then he went to the Red Sox and that just made everything worse. Even though I am not as worried about him on the mound as I am with Jon Lester or John Lackey, since the Yankees seem to hit him around (5.51 ERA in 18 starts), there is just something about Josh Beckett that makes me not a fan. I don’t think it’s the oddly uneven dirt patch on his chin, the 53 necklaces he wears during starts or the fact that he is always getting bailed out from taking a loss, but it’s something. I’m just not sure exactly what it is.

Closer: When The Departed came out, I liked the song “Shipping Up To Boston.” I even had downloaded it on iTunes. I haven’t played it since Jonathan Papelbon began using it as his entrance song, and after “Sweet Caroline,” it is the only other song that makes me cringe now. Papelbon’s stare and infield dance routine are bad enough, but him thinking he is somehow greater than or equal to Mariano Rivera only makes his personality less appealing. Papelbon hasn’t been as lights out as he was when he first took over as closer of the Red Sox and his fastball seems to have lost a step. I can only hope it loses all the steps.

Manager: For Joe Maddon it’s a combination of things. It’s his glasses, his “I’m 56 years old, but I manage a team of 20-somethings, so I’m going to act hip” attitude and his cockiness about the Tampa Bay Rays organization. Maddon is the creepy old guy that is a regular at popular colleges bars, and becomes a school wide icon and a fixture in the background of Facebook photos. It’s time he lost the Drew Carey glasses for some normal old-guy glasses and became more worried about the fact that he has only one lefty in his bullpen and it’s Randy Choate, and less worried about being hip and cool with his player.

Blogs • Yankees

Apr 8, 2010

A Yankee Fan at Fenway, Part II

In 2003, Pedro Martinez allowed just two extra-base hits off 0-and-2 counts prior to Game 7 of the ALCS. But when Hideki Matsui doubled off Martinez on 0-and-2 in the famous eighth-inning comeback, he became

In 2003, Pedro Martinez allowed just two extra-base hits off 0-and-2 counts prior to Game 7 of the ALCS. But when Hideki Matsui doubled off Martinez on 0-and-2 in the famous eighth-inning comeback, he became the second hitter in three at-bats to hit an extra-base hit off Martinez with Derek Jeter having doubled on 0-and-2 pitch to lead off the inning.

I had never seen, in person, the Yankees win consecutive games in the same series at Fenway Park. One win was hard enough to come by, but the second win in a row had been my 0-and-2 against Pedro. That is no longer the case as the Yankees took down the second and third games of the opening series to ride a two-game winning streak into Tampa Bay this weekend. Let’s just hope they can continue their winning ways without me on hand.

Aside from the “Yankees suck” chants and the “You did steroids” chant directed at A-Rod which is ironic coming from a fan base whose team has David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre and Mike Cameron on the roster, it was a rather smooth two nights at Fenway Park. I probably could have done without a soggy Fenway Frank bun that looked like it was dipped in water and prepared for Joey Chestnut or Kobayashi, but you can’t have it all, and I will gladly take the two Yankees wins over a dry hotdog bun.

Judging by the atmosphere at Fenway, the rivalry hasn’t lost a step in Boston and with the Yankees fresh off the 2009 championship, the rivalry has gained steamed as Bostonians returned to second-rate citizens in the AL East. While the rivalry continues to have a strong foundation and key players that help fuel the hatred between Yankees fans and Red Sox fans, one player is being left behind as the battle for AL East supremacy carries on.

In left center at Fenway Park, there is a scoreboard screen that lists the lineup of the team batting and an asterisk denotes the hitter currently at the plate. During Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS, I remember looking at the screen in extra innings and trying to figure out how long the Yankees had until the asterisk made its way back to the heart of the order to Ramirez and Ortiz. And when the duo was due up in the bottom of an inning, I kept thinking to myself, “The Yankees have to score now.” Sure enough, it was Ortiz who had the game-winning hit off Esteban Loaiza in the 14th inning.

I now find myself hoping the asterisk finds Ortiz as quickly as possible because with Jason Varitek on the bench, Ortiz has become the easiest out in the Red Sox lineup.

There was a time when David Ortiz was the symbol of fear for Yankees fans. Extra-base hits were expected from him and when he was held to only a single, you felt like you just passed a cop going 80 mph but didn’t get pulled over. Ortiz wasn’t fazed by anything in the box (mainly because the Yankees never tried to move him off the plate) and he just waited for Yankees pitchers to miss their location by a centimeter before making them pay.

From 2003-July 31, 2008, David Ortiz was a rock star in Boston, and probably could have defeated Ted Kennedy for a seat in the Senate if he wanted to. He received the loudest ovations when he was introduced as the hitter, his jersey was the most popular among Red Sox fans and kids across New England began spitting on their batting gloves in between pitches to mimic the slugger Theo Epstein revived off the Twins’scrap heap. But since Manny Ramirez left Boston, the cheers for “the designated hitter, number 34, David Ortiz” have become almost derisive, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis have taken over the jersey sales, and I’d imagine little league coaches are strongly advising against Ortiz’s routine and habits at this point.

Since August 1, 2008 (when Ortiz began playing without Manny), Ortiz has hit .261 with 37 home runs and 142 RBIs in 202 games. It has taken him basically a season and a third to produce the same power numbers he did annually from 2004-2007, and those years he hit .301, .300, .287 and .332. He wasn’t hitting .261, which is 20 points below his .281 career average.

On Tuesday night after David Ortiz went hitless again, he wasn’t the happy and smiling face from his days as one of the league’s best sluggers when he flipped out on reporters.

“You guys wait ’til [expletive] happens, then you can talk [expletive]. Two [expletive] games, and already you [expletives] are going crazy.

“What’s up with that, man? [Expletive]. [Expletive] 160 games left. That’s a [expletive]. One of you [expletives] got to go ahead and hit for me.”

As my Red Sox friend Hurley pointed out, everyone always assumed that Ortiz played babysitter to Manny in Boston, but maybe it was the other way around?

I have long waited for the day David Ortiz was no longer able to hit a baseball consistently or with authority, but now that the day has come, it’s actually pretty sad. Don’t get me wrong, the only thing I hate about Fenway Park more than “Sweet Caroline,” which is also the only time I wish my name wasn’t Neil, are the “Papi” chants that pollute the air when David Ortiz steps in with runners in scoring position. But David Ortiz has been the heart of the Red Sox order for so long and is one of the few remaining players on the Red Sox from the heated battles of 2003 and 2004 that it’s almost like a piece of the rivalry dies as his power does too.

Ortiz drove in the only run for the Red Sox on Wednesday, but it was his only hit of the series in 11 at-bats. When the “Papi” chants began in the bottom of the eighth inning on Wednesday in a 1-1 game with Ortiz stepping in to face Chan Ho Park, for a second it felt like three years ago as the Fenway crowd tried to push the calendar back to 2007 hoping for some late-game heroics from Ortiz. But Ortiz’s alter ego “Big Papi” no longer exists, as Chan Ho Park needed just three pitches to strike out plain old David Ortiz and end the inning.

At some point in the very near future (I have the over/under set for May 1), David Ortiz won’t be the full-time DH for the Red Sox. At some point Theo Epstein and Terry Francona are going to have to let Mike Lowell play.

Maybe Mike Lowell hit on Terry Francona’s wife at the Christmas party or ran over Theo Epstein’s dog for them to treat him so poorly, but eventually they are going to have to realize that they are wasting $12 million on the bench while David Ortiz wastes at-bats. I love the mistreatment of Lowell that goes on with the Red Sox because it means less doubles off the Green Monster for the Red Sox and more strikeouts for the Yankees. But you’d have to think eventually enough will be enough.

This is the last year of Ortiz’s contract with the Red Sox with the team holding a $12.5 million option for 2011 that is unlikely to get picked up. As new faces Curtis Granderson, Randy Winn, Adrian Beltre, Mike Cameron, Marco Scutaro and John Lackey enter the rivalry to begin another chapter in Yankees-Red Sox history, the chapter on David Ortiz looks to be coming to an end. And even though he will take a piece of the rivalry with him, it’s safe to say he won’t be missed.

Blogs • KTTC Archive • Yankees

Apr 7, 2010

A Yankee Fan at Fenway

This column was originally posted on April 7, 2010. When I got off the Amtrak regional train at Back Bay station in Boston, the first person to make eye contact with me was a man

This column was originally posted on April 7, 2010.

When I got off the Amtrak regional train at Back Bay station in Boston, the first person to make eye contact with me was a man wearing a Dustin Pedroia shirt, and he obviously noticed my Yankees hat. He mouthed something to me, but with Eddie Vedder hammering out the chorus to “Corduroy” on my iPod headphones I couldn’t hear what he said, though judging by his enthusiasm and facial expression, it wasn’t something the FCC would approve of. But I didn’t care what he said. I was actually happy he was so agitated by me wearing a Yankees hat because it was a sign that baseball is back.

You can wear Yankees apparel 365 days a year in Boston and for 356 of those days, people will either look at you like you are walking down the street naked, or the real rebels will crack a joke or give you the old “Yankees suck.” But for those nine days of the year when the Yankees are in Boston, wearing a Yankees hat in Boston is like eating at Boston’s South Street Diner sober. You just don’t do it.

After Joe Girardi ruined Easter by holding bullpen tryouts on Opening Night rather than spring training, I couldn’t wait to get to Fenway Park. Even with the Yankees well below .500 in games I attend at Fenway, I was eager for my first game of the season.

Seeing the Yankees win in person at Fenway Park isn’t something I have been fortunate to see a lot. The majority of Yankees games I attend at Fenway end catastrophically and I’m pretty sure I have been to every game at Fenway that NESN uses for Red Sox Classics telecasts. Even with the Yankees having a remarkable record in home games I attend (including a perfect regular season and postseason record in 2009), Fenway Park has been to me what lefties have been to Curtis Granderson. I don’t know how many times I have seen the Yankees play at Fenway, but to give you an idea of what I have endured, here are some of the games I have attended:

May 18, 1999 – Joe Torre returns to the Yankees after missing the beginning of the season to battle prostate cancer. David Cone and Pedro Martinez go toe-to-toe, but trailing 3-2 late, Jason Grimsley can’t keep it close as he gives up three runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Oct 18, 2004 – Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS, which also happens to be the third-worst night of my life. The second being Game 6 and the first being Game 7.

April 14, 2005 – Randy Johnson gets lit up for five runs and Tom Gordon turns a 5-5 tie into an 8-5 loss with an embarrassing eighth inning. And to top it all off, Gary Sheffield brawls with some fans in right field.

May 1, 2006 – Johnny Damon returns to Boston as Friendly Fenway’s center field gets littered with money. Tied 3-3 in the eighth, Tanyon Sturtze gives up the go-ahead run. With two men on and David Ortiz due up, Joe Torre calls for the Mike Myers, the lefty specialist and the man the Yankees acquired for the sole purpose of facing Ortiz. Ortiz cranks a three-run home run into the New England night.

April 22, 2007 – After losing the first two games of the series, the Yankees take a 3-0 lead in the rubber match on Sunday Night Baseball. But after holding the Red Sox scoreless for the first two innings, rookie Chase Wright allows Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek to go back-to-back-to-back-to-back on him to take a 4-3 lead. The Yankees would take the lead back in the sixth only to have Scott Proctor give up a three-run home run to Lowell in the seventh.

April 24, 2009 – The Yankees lead 4-2 in the ninth with two outs and Mariano Rivera on the mound and Kevin Youkilis on first base. Jason Bay hits a 1-0 pitch over the wall in center to tie the game. In the 11th, Damaso Marte gives up a home run to Youkilis that landed just yesterday.

April 26, 2009 – Hoping to salvage the final game of the series, Andy Pettitte falls apart in the fifth. Tied 1-1, Pettitte wakes David Ortiz up by allowing Ortiz to double home the go-ahead run. With Jacoby Ellsbury on third and Ortiz on second following the double, Ellsbury steals home on Pettitte and Jorge Posada and steals Pettitte’s pride, dignity and self esteem in the process.

So when Marco Scutaro doubled off Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning on Tuesday, it only made sense that I texted Hurley, my Red Sox friend, “Any more hits or base runners and I’m out of here.” But Mariano escaped the double unscathed and the Yankees got into the win column for the first time in 2010. It was a good night at Fenway and the win extended my personal Fenway winning streak to two (a career high).

It only took the Yankees until their second try to defeat the Red Sox this season and there is always sense of relief knowing that the Yankees are going to leave an early season series at Fenway with at least one win. Here are three things that I took away from Tuesday, and the Yankees’ first W of the season:

1. Watching A.J. Burnett pitch is harder to watch than the scene in Casino where Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) and his brother Dominick are beaten within an inch of their lives by baseball bats and then buried alive. Sure it’s only one start, but it’s not like we didn’t also see this last year. Burnett is either going to come within reach of a no-no or have a start that includes that one letdown inning. On Tuesday, he had the latter and the letdown inning was the fifth. It is good to see that he isn’t complaining about Jorge Posada catching him and the two seem to be working out whatever problems they had a year ago.

2. On Sunday we saw Starter Joba disguised as a reliever. On Tuesday we saw Reliever Joba, and it felt good to have him back. Joba stranded the potential tying run at second base in the eighth inning, and did it with his fastball, slider and the attitude that disappeared following his first start in 2008. Just 48 hours after Chan Ho Park had the worst Opening Day debut in Yankees history, Joba fixed the bridge to Mariano by taking care of business and ending his night with a fist pump that probably made Goose Gossage cringe. But as long as 2007 Joba is on the mound, I don’t care if he fist pumps or Riverdances as long as he puts up zeroes.

3. I was waiting for the few notes of “Billie Jean” to come across the Fenway PA system when Robinson Cano hit his solo home run on Tuesday, as he swung, made contact and dropped his bat like it was on fire all in one smooth, flawless motion before gliding out of the box. Cano has looked really comfortable batting in the fifth spot and even though his home run was a solo shot, his approach with runners on also looks to have improved. Cano’s approach in RBI situations used to be to swing at the first pitch no matter where it was, but it looks like he is growing out of his bad habits and undisciplined hitting. I feel more confident with him up in big spots and believe that he will be able to hold on to his spot in the order over the course of the season.

Despite Burnett’s inability to consistently throw strikes and Damaso Marte’s pickoff move, it was an overall solid night from the Yankees. But knowing that Chan Ho Park is currently the difference between having already won the three-game series and needing to win the rubber game on Wednesday to win the series is upsetting. Winning April and May series at Fenway for the Yankees is unheard of, but on Wednesday they have a chance to do just that.

As I left Fenway Park on Tuesday and walked down Yawkey Way across Van Ness Street and over to Boylston Street, a man playing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” on the flute stopped playing midsong to greet me with a profanity-filled tirade.

Baseball is back.

Blogs • Yankees

Mar 31, 2010

Opening Day Butterflies

The Yankees will no longer be world champions on Sunday night They will be defending world champions. And the only thing harder than winning a championship is winning back-to-back championships.

This column was originally published on WFAN.com on March 31, 2010.

Something about this spring training coming to an end just doesn’t feel right. This spring has that feeling you get when you leave your house and feel like you forgot something, but you convince yourself you didn’t, and then when you are too far away from your house to go back, you remember what you forgot. I have figured out what has been missing from this spring training, and it’s the distress of the last eight springs.

From 2001-2008, no matter what situation the Yankees faced, I believed they would prevail in the end. But that was me being spoiled and stupid as a Yankees fan, trying to hold onto the magic from 1996-2000. Up until Luis Gonzalez fought off a cutter into shallow right field, I honestly thought the Yankees would never lose again. Winning had become routine and losing wasn’t even considered an option anymore. It’s hard for anyone who is not a Yankees fan to understand this, and trying to explain the concept to non-Yankees fans is like Ron Washington trying to explain to the Rangers front office why he failed a drug test. However, it wasn’t until they hit rock bottom in 2004 that I was able to admit that I was unsure of the next time the Yankees would be world champions.

In 2004, I didn’t even care that the Red Sox won Game 4 because I knew the series would end in Game 5. But when I left Fenway devastated after having wasted nearly all my spending money for the semester on a ticket to Game 5 with my friend Jim, thinking we were going to see the Yankees clinch the pennant in Boston, I still believed the Yankees would finish the Red Sox off in Game 6. And if not, they would certainly get the job done in Game 7.

The Yankees failed in every imaginable way from 2001-2008, and with each year removed from 2000, the offseasons lasted longer and the anxiety for another title grew larger. The Yankees slowly evolved into what the Patriots have become in the NFL, and it wasn’t until November that they were able to rid themselves of their fading image.

Every spring for the last eight springs, I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out where the holes on the team were and how Brian Cashman could fill them in order to bring the team back to glory. But this season, there are virtually no holes. The No. 4 starter had a 2.87 ERA in the National League in 2009, and the No. 7 hitter hit 30 home runs a year ago. The only thing to complain about right now is why the Yankees are opening and closing the season in Fenway Park. Aside from that, the team has an answer for everything, or at least it appears that way.

There might not be much to worry about with this team, but there is always something to worry about with every team. Any fan who is completely content with their team is lying to you and lying to themselves. To me, there are two crucial components to the success of the 2010 Yankees. While I’m not all that worried about them, there is still a cause for concern since the margin for error in the AL East is zero, and the difference between these two things working out and not working out is the difference between championship No. 28 and a third-place finish.

1. The production from 2, 20 and 42
The same way I don’t want to believe that Eric Taylor of Friday Night Lights isn’t really a high school football coach at East Dillon, I don’t want to believe that Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera will one day be bad at baseball.

Jeter is going to be 36 in June, Jorge will be 39 in August and Mariano turned 40 in November. At some point these three won’t be the same players they are going to be remembered as being. Let’s hope that never happens, but more importantly, let’s hope it doesn’t happen this year.

The Yankees are in a position in which the success of these three will likely dictate the success of the team. Since 1996, the team has made the playoffs in 13 of a possible 14 seasons. The only season they didn’t was the year when Posada appeared in only 51 games. When they are healthy the Yankees win, and it’s as simple as that.

Eventually Father Time is going to catch up with the trio, but their demise has been falsely predicted each season for the last few seasons. This year, many analysts and “experts” are jumping on the bandwagons of the Red Sox and Rays, banking on old age finally catching up with the old guard. But the “experts” have been wrong before and will likely be wrong again.

I don’t think we are at the end of the road with these three, but eventually we will be and no one knows for sure when that will be. Not only does that deeply sadden me, but it also scares me since a decline in production from Jeter, Posada and Rivera will mean the end of an era and a year without postseason baseball.

2. The bridge to Mariano
The first time I saw Joba Chamberlain fail in person was May 6, 2008. Aside from the midges in Cleveland, it was the first time Joba had every failed in the majors. Joba allowed a go-ahead three-run home run to David Dellucci at the Stadium, and then leaned over on the mound in disbelief, appearing as though he was going to throw up on his spikes after what happened. The entire stadium felt the same way. Joba had been untouchable in his career up to that point, and seeing him blow a lead was like seeing Brian Bruney hold a lead.

In 2007, the only run he allowed in the regular season was a solo home run to Mike Lowell. When Ron Guidry went to the mound to check on him following the homer, Joba reversed roles with the pitching coach. Joba patted the Gator on the back and sent him back to the dugout, assuring him that he was fine and that it wouldn’t happen again. That was the personality of Joba Chamberlain before he became a starter and before the Joba Rules were created.

Joba wants to be a starting pitcher, and he has made that very clear. Why wouldn’t he want to? That is where the glory and glamour is, and the big money as well. But will knowing that he lost his starting spot after the team tinkered with his career and arm for a year and a half cause him to be a different reliever than we know him to be? Will he still possess the personality that meant a 1-2-3 inning and an emotional outburst?

When Joba returned to the bullpen during the postseason, the aura from 2007 and the beginning of 2008 was back, and so was his fastball. It was like watching the guy get the girl at the end of a movie. Everything was the way it was supposed to be, and the result was a happy ending in the form of a championship.

The world now knows two Jobas: Reliever Joba and Starter Joba. Joba might be a reliever now, but that doesn’t necessarily make him Reliever Joba. No one knows what to expect from him as he returns to his original role with the team.

This offseason seemed to go by a lot faster than years past, which is partially due to the Yankees playing until Nov. 4 and partially due to not longing for another championship. Eight springs as the hunter and not as the hunted have made me value championships more than I did the last time the Yankees won, when I took the Subway Series win for granted.

Fans of the other 29 teams will credit the 2009 World Series to the Yankees spending $429 million last offseason, but that was just part of the process. The thousands of breaks, the vast amount of luck and the tens of injuries the team dodged made up for more than half of the pieces to the 2009 World Series puzzle.

If CC Sabathia had actually been hurt when he left in the second inning of a game against the Marlins on June 21, the new Yankee Stadium would have opened the same way the old one closed. If Phil Cuzzi doesn’t call Joe Mauer’s ground-rule double foul in Game 2 of the ALDS, and if Mike Scioscia intentionally walks A-Rod in the bottom of the ninth in Game 2 of the ALCS, maybe the Canyon of Heroes goes unused for another fall.

I have tried to cherish the 2009 season as much and as long as possible because after Josh Beckett delivers his first pitch to Derek Jeter on Sunday night, the Yankees will no longer be world champions. They will be defending world champions. And the only thing harder than winning a championship is winning back-to-back championships.

Blogs • Yankees

Feb 17, 2010

Some Questions Still Unanswered

Five questions surrounding the Yankees as spring training begins.

This column was originally published on WFAN.com Feb. 17, 2010.

The first day of pitchers and catchers is the first official day of the season. It’s a day that represents the closing days of winter and the excitement for spring and summer. It grants new life to the 29 teams that didn’t finish the previous season with a win, and gives hope to clubs looking to be this season’s dark horse. Today is that day.

Coming off a world championship, Tampa should be relaxed for the first time in a decade. New York’s real baseball problems are in Port St. Lucie at Mets camp where Omar Minaya is trying to build a rotation on the fly and trying to figure out exactly who is going catch that rotation. No one in Queens is satisfied with the situation at first base or in right field, and the team’s center fielder isn’t going to be ready for Opening Day. It’s a good time to be a Yankees fan.

But even with the Yankees boasting a team as good if not better than their 103-win club of a year ago, there are still a handful of minor housekeeping matters to be taken care of over the next six weeks. Here’s five questions surrounding the Bombers at the beginning of spring:

1. Can the veterans stay healthy?
The difference between the 2008 and 2009 Yankees was 14 regular season wins and another 11 wins in October. A serious rash of injuries created this difference. Aside from Alex Rodriguez missing the first month of the season, the Yankees were remarkably healthy in 2009. In 2008, they weren’t as lucky.

The injury bug wreaked havoc on the ‘08 Yankees, landing the following players on the disabled list at least once: Jonathan Albaladejo, Wilson Betemit, Chris Britton, Brian Bruney, Joba Chamberlain, Johnny Damon, Dan Giese, Phil Hughes, Jeff Karstens, Ian Kennedy, Hideki Matsui, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Alex Rodriguez and Chien-Ming Wang. Starters landed on the DL, as did their replacements, and their replacements’ replacements. It was a disaster from Opening Day through Game 162 in what was the worst season in the Bronx since 1993.

This season, the Yankees are somewhat younger than they were a year ago after trimming Johnny Damon (36) and Hideki Matsui (35) from the roster. However, there is still cause for concern as the team’s superstars get up there in age.

Here are the current ages for the starting lineup: 26, 27, 28, 29, 29, 31, 34, 35 and 38.

Here are the current ages for the starting rotation and closer (Hughes and Chamberlain included): 23, 24, 29, 33, 33, 37 and 40.

There are a lot of 30s listed there, and they are all very significant players on the roster. The Yankees are going to need good fortune and a bill of health similar to 2009 to make another October run, and they are going to need to leave camp healthy.

2. Who’s going to play center field?
When the Yankees traded for Curtis Granderson, I thought they finally had a long-term solution in center field. I was also thinking that Johnny Damon was going to be back in left, but that is clearly not the case. As of now, it looks like Granderson will be in left and Brett Gardner in center, and maybe that is for the better.

The Yankees lost 24 home runs and 82 RBIs from Damon, and 28 home runs and 90 RBIs from Hideki Matsui. Granderson is going to be asked to make up for the offensive production lost with Damon. Nick Johnson will be an upgrade in the on-base department over Matsui, but he isn’t going to be able to provide the power that Godzilla gave the Yankees at DH – unless he becomes a product of the short porch.

With Granderson in left, there will be less wear and tear on his body than there would be in center, allowing him to be stronger offensively. No one is counting on Gardner’s bat anyways and any offense he can provide the team is a plus, but not needed.

If the Yankees feel that Granderson’s game has diminished in center like it appeared to be during the final weeks of last season, then Gardner is the right man for the job. It’s safe to say whatever decision is made at the end of spring training will be changed more than once throughout the year.

3. Who’s going to be the long reliever?
Joe Girardi didn’t think it was necessary to have a long reliever on the Opening Day roster last season. It didn’t take him long to change his mind.

Early on, the bullpen was overtaxed and it didn’t help that the team was asking Edwar Ramirez, Phil Coke, Jose Veras and Brian Bruney to get important outs. Chien-Ming Wang pretty much caused the bullpen fatigue for the first couple of weeks of the season, and the relievers didn’t recover until the Yankees finally made wholesale changes. The same thing can’t happen this season.

Chad Gaudin and Sergio Mitre will be the long reliever candidates since no matter what the Yankees say, the competition for the fifth spot in the rotation doesn’t include them.

When it comes down to it, Gaudin is the better option. He is more reliable (3.43 ERA in 42 innings with the Yankees) and has had previous success in the majors. Gaudin’s high pitch counts forced Girardi to have a short leash with him in most of his starts, but the ability to help the team is certainly there. I don’t know if you can say the same for Mitre.

Mitre might only be a little over a year removed from Tommy John surgery, but it’s not like he was some stud before his injury. Mitre allowed 71 hits in 51 1/3 innings with the Yankees last season, and posted a 1.63 WHIP, which was only worse than the pitcher formerly known as Chien-Ming Wang’s 2.02 and the always-exciting Edwar Ramirez’s 1.96. I would like to think that the best team in baseball would have someone more reliable than Mitre in the bullpen and serving as the long reliever. Give it to Gaudin.

4. Which A.J. Burnett will show up?
The difference between winning 95 games this season and 105 games depends on which A.J. Burnett comes to pitch.

There’s no doubt that Burnett has No. 1 stuff, but many times, he pitches like a No. 5. His potential no-hitters can quickly turn into four-run deficits, and when his game begins to south, there is no way to right the ship until five days later.

Burnett proved himself in the postseason after finishing the regular season with just 13 wins in 33 starts. His performance in Game 2 of the World Series made up for all the eggs he laid throughout the summer, but it wasn’t enough to fully gain his trust.

When Burnett takes the mound, you hope that you get the guy who allowed one hit to the Red Sox over 7 2/3 innings in August and not the guy who allowed a grand slam to Jason Varitek in April. The season won’t be won or lost because of Burnett, but he has the ability to make the Yankees untouchable in the division and the league.

5. How will the Yankees handle Derek Jeter’s contract situation?
A lot of newspapers will need to fill space between now and the end of the season, and they will argue about the contract status of Derek Jeter to do so.

When Jeter, Casey Close, Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner sit down to hammer out a new deal for the face of the franchise and the face of the game, they are going to give Jeter what he deserves: whatever he wants.

Jeter isn’t going to be given a low-ball offer filled with incentives like Joe Torre was, and he isn’t going to be left hanging in the balance like Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada were. Jeter is going to be given a multiyear deal for a lucrative amount of money, and there is no other way it will happen and there is no other way it should.

Speculation can be justified when it comes to the contract statuses of Mariano and Girardi, or with Posada at the end of next season, and that’s because they are not Derek Jeter. There is only one Derek Jeter, and because of that, he ‘s going to get treated and taken care of in a way that no other player will or should. End of story.