Put Your Track Shoes On

Time for the Yankees to distance themselves from the Sox




By: Russ Rose
Special to Yankees Talk Shop
June 16, 2004

The haunting month of April seems to be a distant memory now. You all remember when Boston beat the Yankees six out of seven times and all of Chowdville was declaring the king was dead, long live the king? There were even doubts amongst the Yankee faithful that maybe the Red Sox time had finally arrived. Maybe the Babe was starting to feel sorry for his old team and had decided to abandon the curse that had for so long dogged the team occupying Fenway Park. How silly were we? What were we thinking?

In the month of April the Yankees started out colder than a July day in San Francisco. The team amassed a record of 12 wins and 11 loses. Six of those loses were to the Boston Red Sox who started out hotter than a July day in Phoenix. The Sox pounded the Yankees enroute to a 16-6 record, with three rainouts. The Sox had every reason to feel good about themselves. They were rolling through teams, playing great baseball. But like the winds of war things would eventually change.

With their 12-11 record the Yankees were in third place behind Boston and Baltimore. Derek Jeter was in the midst of his career worst slump, Alex Rodriguez hadn’t found his stroke and Gary Sheffield wasn’t producing either. The only guys who were consistently putting the bats on the ball were Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui. The offense was a shambles. Even the most loyal of Yankees’ fans had to be questioning the resolve of this team. But starting on May 1st the spring thaw slowly, but steadily began. Jeter showed signs of breaking out with a hit here and there. Bernie Williams, who missed most of spring training, was moved to the front of the batting order and started producing. Alex Rodriguez started hitting home runs and Gary Sheffield finally got his offense going. By the end of May the Yankees had caught the Red Sox and were setting dead even with them in the standings. The Orioles dropped like an anchor in water, falling five games behind the Bombers and Sox.

The months of May and June have been brutal months for the Yankees. They have had to make three west coast swings (they’re in the midst of one now), playing Oakland, Seattle, Angels and a very improved Texas Rangers squad. The Yankees have weathered the storm very well. In May the Yanks posted an 18-8 mark and so far in June they’ve gone an amazing 11-2. Once they finish in Arizona and Los Angeles the Yankees will not have to travel past Arlington, Texas for the remainder of the season.

Boston on the other hand has had the easier schedule thus far and have squandered their hot start. Since May 1st the Red Sox have posted a 20-20 record to fall 4.5 games behind the Yankees. Their road gets tougher as they have to play Atlanta, Oakland, Anaheim, Seattle, Philadelphia and the Yankees. With Curt Schilling’s immediate future unknown due to a severely bruised heel and Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe being up and down when starting the Red Sox are on the verge of painting themselves into a very familiar corner. The next time Boston and Yankees hook up the Sox will see a completely different team than the one they faced in April. The two teams will play each other 12 more times, with six games being played in the others' park.

Although nothing is ever guaranteed now is the time for the Yankees to put on their running shoes and get some more distance between them and Boston. The Dog Days of Summer are coming when all teams hit a wall and fall back a little bit. The more of a lead the Bombers can put in the bank now the more dividends will be paid later. The Yankees are the masters of their destiny. How they rise or fall will depend on how they approach the rest of the season. So far I like what I see. See you at the park!

PLAY BALL!



© 2004 Yankees Talk Shop @ ezboard.com

Redistribution, rewriting, rebroadcast, or republication of this story is prohibited without the prior written consent of Yankees Talk Shop and it's affilitates

Back Where They Belong -- On Top

Yankee Bats Heat Up in May

By: Akino Yamashita
Special to Yankees Talk Shop
June 2, 2004

© 2004 Yankees Talk Shop @ ezboard.com

Redistribution, rewriting, rebroadcast, or republication of this story is prohibited without the prior written consent of Yankees Talk Shop and it's affilitates

Now that the month of May (and a third of the regular season) is over, it seems that the Yankees have gotten over the scare the Red Sox gave them in the head-to-head matchups in April, and are firing on all cylinders again. In a turnaround that proves the old adage that you just can't predict baseball, the Yankees bats first came to life in the April 27-29 series against Oakland, beating the trio of Hudson, Mulder and Zito to sweep the A's at Yankee Stadium. The three-game sweep started an eight-game winning streak as the Yankees swept the Royals, then went on the road to beat Oakland twice on the road.

While the Yankees came back to earth somewhat in the middle of May after the winning streak was broken on May 6th against the A's, they still won the next three series of games played, winning two out of three at Seattle, two out of three against Anaheim at home, and two out of three against Seattle at home. After losing a road series against the Texas Rangers, the Yankees swept Baltimore and won two out of three against the Devil Rays, putting up impressive offensive numbers while doing so. The Yankees beat up the Oriole pitching like a set of drums, scoring a total 41 runs in the three-game sweep at Baltimore, and averaged about 6.5 runs per game for the month of May -- 2 runs higher than the April average of 4.5 runs per game.

As might have been expected from the off-season acquisitions, the Yankees' offense so far has been driven by power. Currently, the Yankees lead MLB with 72 home runs and 273 RBIs. Although the team BA at this point is in the middle of the pack at .267, the slugging percentage is fourth in MLB at .458, while the OBP is third at .359. Alex Rodriguez, who had somewhat of a slow start to his first season in New York, has warmed up enough now to be tied for third in the league with twelve home runs. However, the offense is based on more than the longball, and there have been a number of contributors when it comes to RBIs. Hideki Matsui leads the Yankees in RBIs with 32, but Jorge Posada has 29 RBIs, while Gary Sheffield has 29. Surprisingly, even Derek Jeter, who seems to be finally coming out of his extended slump, has 26 RBIs, despite having a .233 BA.

Key Yankees can also be found high up in the rankings for the OPS number (which represents OBP + SLG, and is thought by many to be a better way to evaluate offensive performance than the traditional Triple Crown stats of BA, RBIs, and HRs). Jorge Posada ranks third in OPS at 1.052, while Hideki Matsui is sixth with .980, and A-Rod
is 12th at .918.

The high offensive output has been enough to make up for some hiccups by the starting pitching, though Kevin Brown and Jose Vasquez have, for the most part, not needed it. Brown, who has an ERA of 3.59 and a 6-1 record, has given up 3 runs or less in most of his starts. Vasquez has a 5-4 record but has a solid 3.88 ERA. Mike Mussina appears to have regained his form in May, winning five straight starts (including the June 1 start) and giving up three runs or less in four of those wins, lowering his ERA to 4.96.

The main reason for concern in the Yankee rotation, as usual, is at the back end. Jose Contreras had a strong start in Texas in his first outing back after his demotion to Tampa, giving up only one run in six innings, and had a solid start in Baltimore, giving up three runs. However, tonight in Yankee Stadium against the Orioles, Contreras didn't even last an inning, being pulled after giving up five runs in 2/3 innings (though two Yankee errors meant that only one of the runs was earned). Fortunately, the Yankees rallied to win 6-5, thanks to home runs by Sheffield and Jeter, some good examples of small ball such as Ruben Sierra's go-ahead RBI fly, and a shutout performance by the bullpen.

At this point, the best that can be said about Contreras might be that he is consistently inconsistent. He might be a .500 pitcher at best this season, and is a definite fifth starter behind Jon Lieber, who has a 4-2 record and 4.43 ERA, and has pitched well for the most part after starting his first Yankee game on May 1st. At this rate, don't expect Contreras to get a chance to even sniff the pitcher's mound during the playoffs -- especially if the Yankees match up against the Red Sox again.

So, one-third of the way into the regular season, the Yankees seem to be sitting pretty, though the neck-to-neck race with Boston may last well into the fall months. The Red Sox record was barely over .500 in May, but they have kept up with the Yankees despite the extended DL stints of both Nomar Garciaparra and Trot Nixon, and losing Bill Mueller for five to six weeks as well.

While the Yankees and the Red Sox will not meet head-to-head again until June 29th, that next New York-Boston series may be a pivotal one. Let's just put it this way; if you thought the first two series had a "playoff atmosphere", you ain't seen nothing yet.