NEW YORK — Tonight begins the quest for excellence, something which has evaded the New York Yankees since Game 7 of the 2001 World Series. Oh, there have been spurts of brilliance, there have been winning streaks, and there have been fast starts. But “excellence” hasn’t been around much the last two seasons. And haven’t we come to expect excellence? Hasn’t The Boss demanded it?
It’s time for a return on our investment, folks, and it’s going to have to be tonight. We’ve spent our hard-earned money, devoted much of our time and thoughts rooting for our beloved Bombers. We set a record for home attendance this year, didn’t we? Didn’t we indirectly help pay these guys’ salaries? They can’t let us go home empty-handed, can they? They owe us something, don’t they? Does Giambi know that we simply can’t accept another 0-for-4 night? Does Posada realize that he has to have more hits that strikeouts? Does Bernie understand that he’ll have to sacrifice his body in order to field the ball tonight? Does Pettitte comprehend that he’s pitching for next year’s salary tonight? Can they feel the pressure?
“Excellence” is what happens when these guys respond to the pressure, when they put their best foot forward, when they take their best swing at the plate, when they launch the best throw they’ve made all year. When they look adversity right in its ugly face and chase it away. Look out Twins, tonight the excellence returns…
Pitching Matchup: Andy Pettitte (21-8, 4.02) goes against Brad Radke (14-10, 4.49). The key to this game is Andy Pettitte. If he shuts down the Twins long enough, the Yankees will find a way to get and keep a lead. You can bet the house on it. Pettitte, who sports a lifetime 10-7 postseason record, would have to be a statue to not realize this could very well be his last start as a Yankee. He’ll have to prove that he’s a warrior, that we can depend on him. That means putting up zeros on the scoreboard, and give the offense a chance to relax and get into their “game”, which is to make Radke throw lots of pitches. Radke is the type of pitcher that thrives on control, on location. He’s not a hard thrower, so the Yankee batters don’t need to swing for the fences, which is what happens when they’re down a few runs. He needs to keep the ball down, and the Yankees seem to be better at going down and hitting the low ball, especially when it’s not coming in at 95 miles an hour, than they are swinging at balls around their letters.
Wishful Thinking: Andy Pettitte comes out to the mound with his cap pulled down real low, completely oblivious to everything going on around him, totally focused and committed to hitting Jorge’s glove every time, which is always targeted to be down and in on all the Minnesota hitters…Alfonso hits Radke’s first pitch into the left field bullpen for a 1-0 Yankee lead…Yankee fielders play error-free baseball for nine innings…The Bombers score as many runs as they leave runners on base…the Yankee bullpen not only becomes dependable, but actually dominates the opponent…Radke is knocked out by the fifth, and the Twins bullpen comes back down to earth and serves up a couple of gopher balls to the heart of the Yankee order…Bernie gets an assist…Posada blocks the plate…ok, maybe the last two are a little bit more than “wishful thinking”…
Enjoy the game, I’ll be back on Saturday……
Let’s Go Yank-ees!! (clap clap….clap clap clap)
Steve Bruno writes a preview of every upcoming Yankees series for Bronx-Bombers.com, and periodically submits feature stories.
