Concerned enough in the middle of spring training to call late-night sit downs with his Inner Circle to discuss perceived problem spots, George Steinbrenner watched the Yankees’ first six regular-season games with mixed emotions.
“It was OK,” the Boss said yesterday of the highest-priced ballclub in baseball splitting six games against the pitching-poor Angels and Mariners, who are improved without Ken Griffey Jr. “We never do well opening on the West Coast. Before that we dedicated a new stadium in Houston and one in San Francisco. I saw some things I liked and I saw some things that needed to be tightened up. But I have full confidence in Joe Torre that the things that need to be tightened up will be done.”
Read into that defense since the Yankees have made six boots in six games, which is alarming for a team that relies on pitching and defense to win.
Like every other Yankee fan, Steinbrenner was looking forward to today’s home opener at Yankee Stadium against the new-look Rangers. Yogi Berra was going to deliver the first pitch, the 25th World Series banner in Yankee history was poised to be raised and the Boss was anxious to see if David Cone could rebound from a brutal debut last week in Anaheim.
However, the Boss smartly paid attention to a weather report that called for rain and frosty temperatures today. Then he decided it wasn’t worth waiting for it to improve and postponed one of the best days in New York until tomorrow at 1 p.m.
After mentioning he liked Alfonso Soriano’s swing that has produced two homers in two starts, Steinbrenner stopped himself from critiquing his two-time defending World Champions, who looked good at times and old and sloppy at other times across the opening six games.
“I don’t want to say anything else because it’s a long season and it’s a tough season,” the Boss said. “But every year we seem to come through even though it’s five times harder to win the World Series today than it was even 10 years ago.”
Steinbrenner watched the Angels punish Cone for not having better location last Wednesday in Anaheim and expects the veteran right-hander to bounce back against the Rangers, against whom he is 10-3 with a 2.61 ERA in 18 games.
“It seems like he pitches this game all the time,” the Boss said of Cone, who will work his fourth straight Yankee Stadium opener. “Hopefully, he will do well. I know this, he will be up for it.”
A 3-3 record to start the season isn’t what the Yankees are all about, especially when they won two tough games against the Angels to open the season. Still, there were some hurdles to clear. After six weeks of spring training, they played two games at Houston’s Enron Field. That was followed by a game at San Francisco’s Pac Bell Park. While the Yankees supposedly received $250,000 per game to help open the stadiums, the junket was grueling on the uniformed personnel.
“This has been a tough road trip,” Cone said. “We had four four-in-the-morning arrival flights and that is fairly unusual to start out the season.”
Since they started with a 3-2 win and a 5-3 victory over the Angels, 3-3 wasn’t cutting it with Derek Jeter, who is hitting .296 (8-for-27).
Two areas the Boss was concerned about during spring training were left field and DH. Six games in, he has to be wondering if there is enough muscle in Ricky Ledee and Shane Spencer, who are hitting .083 (1-for-12) and .222 (4-for-18), respectively. Spencer, however, leads the team in home runs with three.
