Post by musicradio77 on Apr 5, 2005 19:03:37 GMT -5
From the Daily News:
Matsui Means the Most
Hideki grab catches attention of Big Unit
The team was 6-10 shorter yesterday but the celebration continued without Randy Johnson. While no one had to complain to the cops about the noise in the Yankees' clubhouse - the noise left in October, 2000 - a 1-0 record has never sounded quite as loud.
The champagne will need another seven more months on ice, and there are a few small concerns - Kevin Brown's back, Kevin Brown's next problem - but the Yankees got off on the right foot and a strong left arm Sunday night. Just what they hoped for, just what they're paying for. And today it's righthander Carl Pavano, another important investment, who can give the world champions something else to worry about.
"I'm sure (Carl's) anxious like Randy was," Joe Torre said at the end of yesterday's workout, "but if he does the things that worked in the past, I don't see why they won't work now."
The manager probably used the same line last year, when the Yankees added a trio of starting pitchers, patted themselves on the back, and lost six of their first seven games against the Red Sox. And didn't clear .500 until the last day of April. That wasn't the plan.
This year's three new starting pitchers - Johnson, Pavano and Jaret Wright - can only do better. Offense will not be the problem. Oh, sure, the Yankees may lose a few games before the All-Star break, nothing should be taken for granted, but the plan this season is so much simpler. All they're being asked to do is keep their heads above water until Johnson is back on the mound.
Several sweet story lines were introduced in the Opening Night romp over Boston. Hideki Matsui, for instance, who was standing in left center in the second inning when Kevin Millar followed David Ortiz's leadoff double with a fly ball to left. "Easy catch," Matsui remembers thinking. "It looked like a pop-up," he told his translator. "But it carried. I had time because it was hit so high."
Matsui is too modest. He reached over the wall, and removed a sure home run from the box score. There may not be a better catch out there this season. And Johnson - who is supposed to lock out the rest of the world when he's pitching - made sure to ask the translator how to say awesome in Japanese. The word is saikoh, pronounced psycho.
"Saikoh" became the pitcher's thank you to the left fielder. Who came through with three hits, including a two-run homer. Matsui hit .361 against Boston last year and was even better in the playoffs - .412, 10 RBI. If there was a Yankee MVP in that series, well, forget it, that player didn't exist.
His success against Boston? There's "nothing I can attribute it to," he said. "As far as I know I take the same approach."
That approach, if he can spread it around the league, might require the translator to come up with the words that mean Most Valuable Player.
Another appealing story line belongs to Tino Martinez, whom the fans can't seem to get enough of. They gave him the loudest ovation when the players were introduced, and were at it again when he came into the game to replace Jason Giambi in the seventh. His dive behind the bag, to stop Johnny Damon's almost-certain double, ended the inning.
Martinez left the Yankees four years ago with four World Series rings. When he first came here, in 1996, he committed the unforgivable crime of replacing Don Mattingly. The fans weren't Tinophiles. "The people sat on their hands for the longest time," Torre said. He averaged almost 30 homers a season and 115 RBI, and became a favorite.
As good as he was during the game, he might as well have been a piece of lox in the clubhouse.
Interviewing him was close to painful. He wasn't rude, but he never spoke in paragraphs.
Now, at 37, this is a different Tino. He was asked about his first game back, the fans' generous response, and he wanted to make sure we knew how special it all was.
"Definitely a night I'll never forget," he said. "It felt like a playoff game. To play here again is definitely at the top of the list." And the Sunday game, the applause, his three innings, "It goes up there with all the World Series games."
Hear that? "All the World Series games." It's only 1-0 but it never sounded quite as loud.
Matsui Means the Most
Hideki grab catches attention of Big Unit
The team was 6-10 shorter yesterday but the celebration continued without Randy Johnson. While no one had to complain to the cops about the noise in the Yankees' clubhouse - the noise left in October, 2000 - a 1-0 record has never sounded quite as loud.
The champagne will need another seven more months on ice, and there are a few small concerns - Kevin Brown's back, Kevin Brown's next problem - but the Yankees got off on the right foot and a strong left arm Sunday night. Just what they hoped for, just what they're paying for. And today it's righthander Carl Pavano, another important investment, who can give the world champions something else to worry about.
"I'm sure (Carl's) anxious like Randy was," Joe Torre said at the end of yesterday's workout, "but if he does the things that worked in the past, I don't see why they won't work now."
The manager probably used the same line last year, when the Yankees added a trio of starting pitchers, patted themselves on the back, and lost six of their first seven games against the Red Sox. And didn't clear .500 until the last day of April. That wasn't the plan.
This year's three new starting pitchers - Johnson, Pavano and Jaret Wright - can only do better. Offense will not be the problem. Oh, sure, the Yankees may lose a few games before the All-Star break, nothing should be taken for granted, but the plan this season is so much simpler. All they're being asked to do is keep their heads above water until Johnson is back on the mound.
Several sweet story lines were introduced in the Opening Night romp over Boston. Hideki Matsui, for instance, who was standing in left center in the second inning when Kevin Millar followed David Ortiz's leadoff double with a fly ball to left. "Easy catch," Matsui remembers thinking. "It looked like a pop-up," he told his translator. "But it carried. I had time because it was hit so high."
Matsui is too modest. He reached over the wall, and removed a sure home run from the box score. There may not be a better catch out there this season. And Johnson - who is supposed to lock out the rest of the world when he's pitching - made sure to ask the translator how to say awesome in Japanese. The word is saikoh, pronounced psycho.
"Saikoh" became the pitcher's thank you to the left fielder. Who came through with three hits, including a two-run homer. Matsui hit .361 against Boston last year and was even better in the playoffs - .412, 10 RBI. If there was a Yankee MVP in that series, well, forget it, that player didn't exist.
His success against Boston? There's "nothing I can attribute it to," he said. "As far as I know I take the same approach."
That approach, if he can spread it around the league, might require the translator to come up with the words that mean Most Valuable Player.
Another appealing story line belongs to Tino Martinez, whom the fans can't seem to get enough of. They gave him the loudest ovation when the players were introduced, and were at it again when he came into the game to replace Jason Giambi in the seventh. His dive behind the bag, to stop Johnny Damon's almost-certain double, ended the inning.
Martinez left the Yankees four years ago with four World Series rings. When he first came here, in 1996, he committed the unforgivable crime of replacing Don Mattingly. The fans weren't Tinophiles. "The people sat on their hands for the longest time," Torre said. He averaged almost 30 homers a season and 115 RBI, and became a favorite.
As good as he was during the game, he might as well have been a piece of lox in the clubhouse.
Interviewing him was close to painful. He wasn't rude, but he never spoke in paragraphs.
Now, at 37, this is a different Tino. He was asked about his first game back, the fans' generous response, and he wanted to make sure we knew how special it all was.
"Definitely a night I'll never forget," he said. "It felt like a playoff game. To play here again is definitely at the top of the list." And the Sunday game, the applause, his three innings, "It goes up there with all the World Series games."
Hear that? "All the World Series games." It's only 1-0 but it never sounded quite as loud.