Commentary
Felser: Yankee turnaround from spring was amazing
Remember the "Amazin' Mets," founded in the early '60s to replace the Dodgers, who had fled Brooklyn for Los Angeles, leaving a baseball void and a lot of heartache in New York? They were so inept in their formative years that their original manager, Casey Stengel, forlornly asked, "Can't anybody here play this game?"
The amazing part came in the 1969 World Series when the formerly comical Mets upset the Baltimore Orioles. There was a small part of amazing in this year's Yankees, who emerged from dire predictions and a less-than mediocre start to win the World Series this week.
By mid-September, there was near-consensus in baseball that the Yankees were the best team in the game, but to completely appreciate them you have to put it in reverse and consider what they were from the start of the season to just weeks before the All-Star break.
Only their most rabid loyalists considered them anything special, a contender of sorts but one with many holes and serious question marks.
Coming out of spring training the Yankees looked old, except for the essential free-agent signings of the initialed starting pitchers, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, along with first baseman Mark Teixeira. Alex Rodriguez needed surgery and little had happened to resolve the worry about age.
Outfielder Johnny Damon and designated hitter Hideki Matsui were 35. Catcher Jorge Posada was 38 and becoming injury prone, not rare for his position. Valuable outfielder Bobby Abreu had been lost to free agency because of the heavy load on the Yanks' payroll.
Most of all, there were some very unappreciative analyses about their longtime leader, shortstop Derek Jeter, who turned 35 in June. Jeter, claimed scouts from enemy teams, didn't have the old pop in his bat or the same range in the field. There were even some claims that he had become a liability on defense. The opposition wasn't the only source for these thoughts. Yankee management had similar worries.
Beyond age there were other worries in the Bronx. Second baseman Robinson Cano had much to prove and Andy Pettitte, the lefty they needed to solidify the pitching rotation, hadn't signed as reporting day for pitchers and catchers approached. Too much, it seemed, had been expected from young Joba Chamberlain, who had been slated to become a starting pitcher but with a limited pitch count.
Joe Girardi, the second-year manager, was looked upon with doubt mainly because he wasn't Joe Torre, his predecessor. The pressure worsened when Torre quickly steered the Dodgers to the best record in baseball. Brian Cashman was a GM in charge of vast sums of money but hadn't done enough with it, according to the critics.
Then July arrived. Maybe it was the hot weather, healing old bones. Or maybe it was just the familiarity of the AL East race heating up.
Whatever it was, the Yankees bats were smoking by the time the All-Star Game was played. Joba was never a factor, but it didn't matter. Girardi managed soundly, using a cast of role players, especially from his bullpen, and Cashman's work turned out to be Yankees worthy. Cano developed. Jeter was light years from being a liability, recapturing some of his youth, adding to his Hall of Fame resume. A-Rod regained his form.
In five months the champions will assemble again with their ages a worry once more. Cashman will have wielded the company purse again, maybe to sign John Lackey, the Los Angeles Angels' sturdy right-hander. They'll probably still be the team to beat.
Larry Felser, former News columnist, appears in Sunday's editions.
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