CHICAGO – When Roger Clemens comes roaring into The Bronx tomorrow, he will bring the usual mega-dose of intensity to Yankee Stadium. He will stalk the clubhouse, weight room and get the interest of the packed ballpark.
What he won’t have to do, according to manager Joe Torre, is wear the hat of savior. That’s because Torre’s club has won six of the last eight games and finished a grueling 10-game, three-city trip with a 6-4 ledger.
“I am sure he will be sky high,” Torre said of Clemens’ scheduled 2007 debut. “But right now, he can fall in line and be one of the guys as opposed as to be one guy trying to change things. I don’t care how long you have played, that’s still a lot to put on one guy.”
When Clemens signed a pro-rated $28 million contract on May 6, the Yankees were in the middle of a 5-0 win over the Mariners and were 5½ games behind the Red Sox. That deficit grew to 14½ before the current stretch of solid play reduced it to 10½ lengths.
While the 44-year-old Clemens can’t be expected to pitch deep into games and the chronic right groin problem will have to be monitored, the future Hall of Fame pitcher will make the Yankees feel like they have a chance.
That hasn’t been always the case this year when they’ve been forced to use Chase Wright, Darrell Rasner and Matt DeSalvo due to injuries and ineffectiveness.
“It gives us a guy to go with Andy [Pettitte], Moose [Mike Mussina] and [Chien-Ming] Wang,” Johnny Damon said of adding Clemens.
According to Torre, when the phone didn’t ring with news about Clemens’ condition yesterday, he assumed everything was ready to go tomorrow. “I haven’t heard anything,” Torre said. Clemens threw what amounted to a simulated game Wednesday in Tampa. His status hinged on how he came out of the workout.
The team Clemens joins is different than the one he saw from George Steinbrenner’s box. Jason Giambi and Doug Mientkiewicz are on the disabled list, Melky Cabrera is the center fielder and Damon is the designated hitter. The last two moves, however, have worked out wonderfully and changed the dynamics of the team.
“Right now they both are pretty special,” Torre said of Cabrera and Damon. “Being the DH keeps Johnny’s legs healthier.”
Now, the club can get to work on making its record look healthier. The Yankees are 27-31 as they welcome the Pirates to the Stadium this interleague weekend, and need to get back to the .500 mark before they can seriously consider making a legitimate run at either of the two playoff berths.
But Torre – ever the optimist despite his recent job insecurity – is looking at the glass as half-full.
“When you realize how quickly we dropped behind,” Torre said, “there is certainly no reason to think you can’t get it back quickly.”
