Lou Piniella likes the Seattle Mariners’ pitching. He likes their hitting and their defense. But the one thing the Mariners’ manager likes best about his team is not as easily quantifiable.
It’s their greedy nature.
“This team doesn’t like losing,” Piniella said after a Monday workout at Safeco Field. “The reason that we won 116 is, yeah, we have good talent, but at the same time they don’t like losing.”
This could be another New York Yankees autumn, the fourth in a row they have won the World Series. However, it doesn’t feel like it will be.
You write off the Yankees at your own risk. The memory is fresh from a year ago when newcomer David Justice and old hands Paul O’Neill and Tino Martinez rescued the Yanks after they finished the regular season with two victories in their last 15 games. But still there’s no way to deny the wall-to-wall superiority of the 2001 Mariners.
They scored the most runs in the AL while allowing the fewest. They led the league in fielding. They have two MVP candidates in Bret Boone and Ichiro Suzuki, mortal locks for manager and rookie of the year (Suzuki) and a guy deserving to finish behind only Roger Clemens in the Cy Young race, Freddy Garcia.
“I can’t see this team losing,” Texas manager Jerry Narron said.
We’re with Narron. Despite the Yankees’ history, there’s no way to pick anybody except Seattle this year.
Before the Yankees will get a chance to bring the Mariners to earth, they first must get past an Oakland team that went 58-17 after the All-Star break, the second-best second half ever. The A’s are baseball’s hottest team, closing with a 29-4 run. Narron says the Yankees will need to be “the team of the century” to knock off Oakland and Seattle.
Narron gives the Mariners an edge over the A’s because of their bullpen (an AL-best 3.04 ERA) and ability to manufacture runs in tight games. Suzuki, Mark McLemore and Mike Cameron were in the AL’s top six in stolen bases.
The only foreseeable trouble is the fielding of McLemore, who starts at shortstop because Carlos Guillen is out with pulmonary tuberculosis.
“Everybody knows McLemore is an outstanding defensive player,” Narron said. “But he’s not really a shortstop.”
Here’s how the other playoff teams stack up behind top-seeded Seattle:
No. 2: Athletics. This is a team that believes it will win. It very well might. But it’s hard to know how No. 1 starter Mark Mulder and a bullpen full of question marks will react when the heat is on at Yankee Stadium. Jeff Tam, who led a marginal bullpen with 70 appearances, didn’t pitch last week because of a sore shoulder, another concern.
But if Mulder beats Clemens in Game 1, look out. Tim Hudson, Barry Zito and the underrated Cory Lidle give Art Howe a chance to run the table. The 3.72 ERA of Oakland’s starters led the AL. Oakland second baseman Frank Menechino is playing with a broken heart after losing a lifelong friend who was a New York firefighter.
No. 3: Yankees. With Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina as the backbone, they have a chance to get that fourth consecutive Series ring. But there’s a lot of bad karma swirling around the pinstripes, including the uncertain status of GM Brian Cashman–his midseason moves almost all backfired–and manager Joe Torre.
If Andy Pettitte and Orlando Hernandez bounce back from late-season injuries, the Yankees could win on starting pitching and icy palms alone. But the margin for error is much thinner than it was a year ago, when New York was pushed to the brink by Oakland and tested by Seattle.
No. 4: Cardinals. Although Sunday’s loss to Houston was a disappointment, it took about one minute for Tony La Russa to begin reminding the St. Louis players how the New York Mets went to the World Series as a wild-card team last year. Even with Mark McGwire fogged in like a seal on the Monterey Peninsula shoreline, this team went from being sellers on July 31 to the best team in the National League at season’s end.
Unlike Arizona, the Cardinals aren’t built around two men. They went 36-14 after Aug. 8 on the strength of a five-man rotation. Matt Morris (22-8) and the white-hot Woody Williams (5-0 with a 0.94 ERA in his last six starts) could neutralize the Diamondbacks’ Curt Schilling-Randy Johnson tandem.
No. 5: Diamondbacks. Mark Grace’s chance to get to the World Series rests as much with 19-game loser Albie Lopez, Miguel Batista and a bullpen that includes fossils Mike Morgan, Bobby Witt and Greg Swindell as with the great Johnson-Schilling duo. In an era of three-tiered playoffs, two guys carry a team only so far. Playoff starters working on three days’ rest are 1-5 with a 9.82 ERA over the last three years.
No. 6: Braves. There’s little pressure on a team that won only 88 regular-season games. Atlanta’s pitching, always its key, is in excellent shape with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine rested and ready to go. New closer John Smoltz, who is as tough as they come, wound up with 10 saves after moving into the role Aug. 17. He could become a rallying point for a team that has gone to the World Series five times since 1991.
No. 7: Astros. Houston disintegrated quickly in the playoffs after winning the NL Central in 1997, 1998 and 1999. This year the Astros didn’t wait until the playoffs, falling apart after ace/rookie Roy Oswalt pulled his groin at Wrigley Field about two weeks ago. Manager Larry Dierker is doing little to hide his team’s desperate condition, starting second-year pitcher Wade Miller on three days’ rest in the opener against Atlanta. The first couple of at-bats could be crucial for Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, who have combined to hit .130 over 77 previous at-bats.
No. 8: Indians. Cleveland used up its magic when it came back from a 12-run deficit in the seventh inning to beat Seattle 15-14 Aug. 5. Unless Charlie Manuel can convince the umpires to do more to the Mariners than make them take off their jewelry, it will be a short run. Not that they don’t have a good game plan.
Asked if the Indians had a better chance to win if they kept Suzuki off base, Jim Thome said, “Yeah, I think if you keep him and everybody else [off base].”
Hey, it worked for Don Larsen.
Ranking the contenders
Tribune baseball reporter Phil Rogers ranks the eight playoff teams.
NO. TEAM W-L
1. Seattle Mariners 116-46
2. Oakland A’s 102-60
3. New York Yankees 95-65
4. St. Louis Cardinals 93-69
5. Arizona D’backs 92-70
6. Atlanta Braves 88-74
7. Houston Astros 93-69
8. Cleveland Indians 91-71
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