Subways Aside, Yankees Will Prevail in 2000 Fall
Classic
by Tom Rathkamp
Note to readers: If you want to read about the romanticism of
the upcoming New York-New York World Series, don’t look here. If you’re
looking for endless dribble about the last time two Gotham City teams
squared off in the fall classic (1956), I’d be happy to direct you to
countless volumes. If reading a sad-sack story about how "torn"
a New York baseball fan might be, floats your boat, forget it.
In the simplest terms, baseball is about matchups between pitchers and
hitters. This year’s World Series is no different. Henceforth …
Yankees Hitters vs. Mets Pitchers: The Mets will open with their
two aces, Mike Hampton and Al Leiter. The lefty-righty matchup thing is a
wash, mainly because the Yankees have a fairly even mix of right-handed
and left-handed batters. Furthermore, the Yankees’ two best left-handed
bats, Bernie Williams (albeit a switch hitter) and David Justice, can hold
their own against southpaws.
The Yankees won’t strike out as much as the Cardinals did, so Mets
hurlers will have to go deeper into counts. This will favor the Yankee
hitters, especially against Leiter, who rarely gets past the sixth or
seventh inning anyway. One statistic in the NLCS that was staggering was
the Cardinals high strikeout tally (39) and low walk total (11). The
Yankees will do much better at putting the ball in play.
It’s difficult to pinpoint a key in the Yankee lineup because so many
of their hitters have come forward when others have underachieved. Hampton
and Leiter must satisfy their "ace" roles because I don’t
think Bobby Jones will duplicate his success in the NLCS.
Mets Hitters vs. Yankees Pitchers: The Mets are loaded with
right-handed hitters. The two best Yankee starters, Roger Clemens and
Orlando Hernandez, are right-handed. Although I do not believe the lefty-righty
concept will be a deciding factor (mainly because the Mets pounded two of
the Cardinals righties, Daryl Kile and Pat Hentgen), the Mets will be
hard-pressed to duplicate their hitting prowess against these two guys.
In the NLCS, the Mets didn’t have to face one of the Cardinals best
starters, Garrett Stephenson (injury) and also benefited from the
implosion of young Rick Ankiel. They won’t gain either luxury against
the Yankees.
The Yankees Will Win If: They get 7+ innings from at least two of
the three among Clemens, Hernandez and Andy Pettite. If the Mets rely on
success against Joe Torre’s bullpen, the Yanks could win it in six,
maybe even five.
The Mets Will Win If: They can knock out Pettite in game one, then
do the same against either Clemens or Hernandez thereafter. The Mets must
make Joe Torre use Denny Neagle in relief early in the series, so as to
render him tenuous as a possible spot starter later on. They can’t rely
on another Timo Perez teaser at stardom. Piazza, Agbyani, Alfonzo, et al,
must succeed in this series to give Bobby Valentine’s crew a shot.
Random Thoughts: After stinking up the end of the regular season,
the Yankees proved to the naysayers that the playoffs to them is like
Archie Bunker’s chair was to him: comforting and familiar.. I too
thought that the Yankees were ultra vulnerable coming into the
post-season. But their experience and ability to tough-out games
shined through once more. After squeaking by the A’s in the divisional
series, I was convinced that the Mariners would be an even tougher foe for
them It didn’t turn out that way.
At first glance, you might give the nod in the "intangibles"
department to the upstart Mets, who weren’t expected to be here.
Individually, Timo Perez is their main intangible, but don’t be
surprised if more familiar names on the Yankee squad (take your pick from
O’Neill, Brosius, Sojo, or Knoblauch) upstage him. It’s hard to bet
against the Bronx Bombers because we have come to expect somebody – anybody
– to be the latest hero on this team.
Whatever happens, the 2000 Fall Classic guarantees to be a barnburner,
and not because there are two New York teams (as most of the media will
surmise). The Yankees overcame a sub-par regular season and the Mets
crawled out from beneath the three NL division winners. My Prediction:
Yankees 4, Mets 3
Sporting Briefs …
*** Alonzo Mourning’s illness is unfortunate and we wish him a speedy
recovery. As for the NBA’s Eastern Conference, the race is even more
wide open now. Of course, the Los Angeles Lakers remain the clear
favorite, no matter how many power forwards the Portland Trail Blazers
accumulate.
*** No diss to Yankee reliever Mariano Riveria, but 33+ consecutive
scoreless innings would be much more impressive from a starter.
*** I sincerely hope that Alex Rodriguez re-signs with the Seattle
Mariners. If he goes to a New York or Chicago or Atlanta, Bud Selig and
the MLB braintrust will have (as Ricky Ricardo would say) a lot of "splaining"
to do.
*** The rest of the NFL’s only hope to prevent a St. Louis Rams Super
Bowl repeat is a major injury or two. Don’t hold your breath.
Any comments, criticisms, or condemnations on this sports column or
previous ones? Feel free to email me at
andydan@milwpc.com
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