Yankee 21
07-25-2003, 10:45 AM
The next time the Yankees step on a ballfield, they won't have a pretty good pitcher named Sidney Ponson to worry about. Ponson was yesterday's problem and yesterday's over. The Yankees don't believe in yesterday.
The problem tonight, in Boston, where two teams think they belong in first place, is that nice man (as long as you're not holding a bat) Pedro Martinez.
The last time Martinez had the Yankees to worry about, and vice versa, July 7, he threw a first-inning pitch that made Alfonso Soriano jump and shout. The ball slammed against the handle of his bat, and caught just enough of Soriano's body to put him on the bench for the rest of the day.
The next batter was Derek Jeter, and Martinez, who lives near the corner of Inside and High, hit the shortstop on the wrist. Jeter left the game as well.
Jeter was asked before yesterday's 5-3 loss to the Orioles and Ponson, who came within one out of finishing a six-hitter, if he thought Martinez was trying to move him off the plate, or flat-out intended to hit him.
"Ask him," Jeter said. That wasn't a smile on his face.
And when he was asked if his wrist still hurt, he said, "Uh-huh."
So why does that make Martinez anything close to nice? Because a year ago, when Soriano's mother, Andrea, was waiting for her son to leave the Stadium, she spotted Martinez and introduced herself. Martinez told her then he would never, ever, scout's honor, hit Soriano with a pitch.
That doesn't mean Soriano will walk up to the plate tonight humming a happy tune. Martinez, as the Yankees well know, can't be trusted. If the Red Sox open this series with a win, they move within 1-1/2 games of first place. That is close.
What is it with these Red Sox? They're being uncommonly stubborn this year. Don't they understand it's the last week of July, time for them to start buckling? Time to remember that the AL East title belongs a few blocks west of the Grand Concourse.
"Offensively, they're better than they've been," says Joe Torre. No question about that. They lead the majors with a .296 batting average, and are averaging almost a run a game more than the Yankees. It's when the other team is swinging the bat, however, that the Red Sox become the club most likely to fade.
"Is their pitching good enough? Deep enough?" Those are Torre's questions. "That's what's hurt them in the past: the depth of their pitching staff."
The Yankees lead the league in pitching depth. They have three starters on pace to win 20games. And to give them an even better chance of getting there, they made the kind of moves recently, adding Armando Benitez and Jesse Orosco, that have sent the Yankees into the World Series for more than 50years.
And as bad as yesterday was - "It felt like we were behind by more than five - it felt like 10-0," Torre said - the manager doesn't sense any kind of hangover. Yesterday, for him, was over before he left the ballpark.
So he refused to worry - out loud, anyway - about Roger Clemens' short and awful piece of work yesterday. Even made a small joke.
He was talking about the location of Clemens' pitches when he said, "They weren't too high and they they weren't too low. They were just right" - here it comes, the joke - "right down the middle."
Because the Yankees were rained out of a game this week, Clemens had an extra day of rest after his last start. It hurt more than it helped, Torre said. Clemens gets another five-day pause before he pitches against Anaheim, but the manager insisted that isn't a concern. He didn't say why. The truth is, he seemed more comfortable dealing with questions about tonight. So did his team.
"It's a series everybody looks forward to," said Jeter, who continues to be the club's hottest hitter.
Bernie Williams, who's been Mr. Cold since coming off the disabled list, left six runners on base against Ponson. Didn't get the ball out of the infield. But that was yesterday.
Boston, he said, "is a big series. I'm certainly looking forward to it."
This is called being on the same page, and it makes for pretty boring stuff until the game starts. So there was nothing else to do, when GM Brian Cashman showed up in the clubhouse, except ask him how he felt about the Knicks moving out Sprewell for Van Horn. "I'm not a basketball guy," Cashman said.
It might have been yesterday's only straight answer.
The problem tonight, in Boston, where two teams think they belong in first place, is that nice man (as long as you're not holding a bat) Pedro Martinez.
The last time Martinez had the Yankees to worry about, and vice versa, July 7, he threw a first-inning pitch that made Alfonso Soriano jump and shout. The ball slammed against the handle of his bat, and caught just enough of Soriano's body to put him on the bench for the rest of the day.
The next batter was Derek Jeter, and Martinez, who lives near the corner of Inside and High, hit the shortstop on the wrist. Jeter left the game as well.
Jeter was asked before yesterday's 5-3 loss to the Orioles and Ponson, who came within one out of finishing a six-hitter, if he thought Martinez was trying to move him off the plate, or flat-out intended to hit him.
"Ask him," Jeter said. That wasn't a smile on his face.
And when he was asked if his wrist still hurt, he said, "Uh-huh."
So why does that make Martinez anything close to nice? Because a year ago, when Soriano's mother, Andrea, was waiting for her son to leave the Stadium, she spotted Martinez and introduced herself. Martinez told her then he would never, ever, scout's honor, hit Soriano with a pitch.
That doesn't mean Soriano will walk up to the plate tonight humming a happy tune. Martinez, as the Yankees well know, can't be trusted. If the Red Sox open this series with a win, they move within 1-1/2 games of first place. That is close.
What is it with these Red Sox? They're being uncommonly stubborn this year. Don't they understand it's the last week of July, time for them to start buckling? Time to remember that the AL East title belongs a few blocks west of the Grand Concourse.
"Offensively, they're better than they've been," says Joe Torre. No question about that. They lead the majors with a .296 batting average, and are averaging almost a run a game more than the Yankees. It's when the other team is swinging the bat, however, that the Red Sox become the club most likely to fade.
"Is their pitching good enough? Deep enough?" Those are Torre's questions. "That's what's hurt them in the past: the depth of their pitching staff."
The Yankees lead the league in pitching depth. They have three starters on pace to win 20games. And to give them an even better chance of getting there, they made the kind of moves recently, adding Armando Benitez and Jesse Orosco, that have sent the Yankees into the World Series for more than 50years.
And as bad as yesterday was - "It felt like we were behind by more than five - it felt like 10-0," Torre said - the manager doesn't sense any kind of hangover. Yesterday, for him, was over before he left the ballpark.
So he refused to worry - out loud, anyway - about Roger Clemens' short and awful piece of work yesterday. Even made a small joke.
He was talking about the location of Clemens' pitches when he said, "They weren't too high and they they weren't too low. They were just right" - here it comes, the joke - "right down the middle."
Because the Yankees were rained out of a game this week, Clemens had an extra day of rest after his last start. It hurt more than it helped, Torre said. Clemens gets another five-day pause before he pitches against Anaheim, but the manager insisted that isn't a concern. He didn't say why. The truth is, he seemed more comfortable dealing with questions about tonight. So did his team.
"It's a series everybody looks forward to," said Jeter, who continues to be the club's hottest hitter.
Bernie Williams, who's been Mr. Cold since coming off the disabled list, left six runners on base against Ponson. Didn't get the ball out of the infield. But that was yesterday.
Boston, he said, "is a big series. I'm certainly looking forward to it."
This is called being on the same page, and it makes for pretty boring stuff until the game starts. So there was nothing else to do, when GM Brian Cashman showed up in the clubhouse, except ask him how he felt about the Knicks moving out Sprewell for Van Horn. "I'm not a basketball guy," Cashman said.
It might have been yesterday's only straight answer.