See if you can identify which major-league manager made these statements:
– “We haven’t been able to get the clutch hit or the out we need.”
– “Basically, what’s wrong with this team is we have left a ton of men on base.”
– “I talked to the owner (or club president or general manager) today and he was very supportive.”
– “I know it’s early but we can’t dig a hole so deep we’ll have a hard time climbing out.”
And now for the answer to this diamond riddle?
Jim Riggleman of the Cubs?
Wrong. It was Joe Torre of the defending world champion New York Yankees, who also won 1996 Manager of the Year honors.
Torre made these remarks in the early evening Friday when he led his last-place Yankees into Comiskey Park for a four-game series with the White Sox. They arrived with what used to be known as a Woolworth record, 5-10, five games worse than .500.
According to Torre’s standards, this is about as bad as it gets. Listening to him, I was tempted to recite chapter and verse on Riggleman’s forlorn Cubs. But it is unlikely Torre would shed any tears. In big-league baseball, each man and/or team wallows in its own misery and there is always more than enough to go around.
Whatever, the Yankees erupted for a 10-4 victory over the White Sox. The victory was achieved with such ease that for one of the few times this season, Torre didn’t have to worry about his bullpen.
The Yankees’ bullpen, to this point, has been a disaster. Last year it was among their strengths because of the wizardry of John Wetteland, a veteran closer. Wetteland succeeded in 43 of 47 regular-season save opportunities. In addition, he was a perfect 7 for 7 in the postseason.
But things happen and Wetteland, who became a free agent, jumped the club and signed with the Texas Rangers, who were dying for an established closer. Wetteland did it for the dough: $24 million for four years.
According to sources, the Yankees’ front office was not overly concerned. This was because Mariano Rivera was waiting in the wings. Rivera, in effect, had been just as valuable as Wetteland last season.
He had a 2.09 earned-run average embracing 68 appearances, most by a reliever in either league. He also had 130 strikeouts and only 34 walks in 107 2/3 innings. His strikeout ratio, better than one an inning, was among the best in baseball history. That he gave up so few walks indicated he was a power pitcher with good enough control.
But there was a significant difference: Wetteland was a ninth-inning pitcher, summoned when the pressure was greatest, with the game on the line. Rivera had been his setup man and appeared anytime from the sixth inning on. He usually worked the seventh and eighth.
The Yankees’ management figured there was no problem. Rivera would replace Wetteland as the closer. But, surprise–the bullpen is now a weakness. Six of the club’s first 10 losses were charged to relievers. As for Rivera, he failed in three of his six save opportunities, a terrible ratio for a closer.
“When the year is over, Mariano will be a fine closer,” predicted Bobby Murcer, the former big-league outfielder now on the Yankees’ broadcasting squad. “He has never done it before, but obviously he has the mentality to do it.”
The biggest adjustment from setup specialist to closer is that if the setup man isn’t effective, he has the comforting knowledge that another reliever is behind him. Except in extra-inning games, which are few, once the closer appears, no one follows. He is the last man.
According to veteran starter David Cone, it’s all in the mind.
“There is the mental aspect of knowing this is the last inning,” Cone explained. “He needs to get over that hurdle. He’s coming off a great year but he’s a young pitcher still in the process of establishing himself.”
Cone said he and the other New York veterans, along with coach Mel Stottlemyre, have been counseling Rivera. Also, in spring training, Goose Gossage, a onetime Yankees star reliever, offered the benefit of his considerable knowledge.
“But he has to go out there, day in and day out, and just figure it out for himself,” Cone said. “It’s not an easy adjustment.”
Anyway, it’s good to know the Cubs and Sox have some early-season company.
