SAN FRANCISCO — It’s difficult to put an exact number to the amount of chances Shane Spencer has had to prove to the Yankees that he belongs in the heart of their lineup.
After all, when you spend eight full seasons and parts of 10 in the minors, there are opportunities to show the front office you can play. Then there was September of 1998 when Spencer turned on New York with a power display that drew comparisons to Mickey Mantle. Last year, whatever chances he got were short-circuited by illnesses and a ticket to Columbus.
Now, due to Darryl Strawberry being suspended for the year and Jim Leyritz being tabbed as the backup catcher, Spencer is getting a chance to be the Yankees’ DH.
While he would prefer to be the starting left fielder, the 28-year-old Spencer gladly accepts what he can get. And the early plan is that Spencer will get all he can handle since Joe Torre is leaning toward hitting him against righties and lefties.
Having spent all 10 years of his professional career with the Yankees, he understands how quickly things can change. Without saying it, Spencer knows a slow April will have the team seeking alternatives to him. So, in a lot of ways this could be Spencer’s last chance.
Still, he feels no pressure, or at least he says he doesn’t. Nor does he appear to be stressed out. Not even the .205 spring training batting average he brought into last night’s final exhibition game against the Giants at PacBell Park had Spencer fretting.
Never known as the weight-room warrior like Paul O’Neill, Spencer is in the best shape of his life and ready for the opportunity that may never have come if it weren’t for Stump Merrill pitching him to George Steinbrenner.
“I am going to be excited,” Spencer says with eyes dancing when asked about starting the season as ther DH tomorrow night in Anaheim. “It’s going to be a good feeling. The pressure won’t bother me. If I was going to bothered by pressure, I wouldn’t have done anything in the [1998] playoffs.”
If Merrill, who managed Spencer at Columbus, hadn’t told The Boss to give Spencer a legitimate big-league look, Spencer likely would be with another organization.
“They were in a meeting and George was asking people what they thought of Spencer,” a Yankee source said. “He asked Stump and Stump said, ‘You’ll never know unless you give him a chance.’ Well, George tells Stump in a firm voice, ‘I am not running a tryout camp here.’
“Stump then repeated what he told George. A few minutes later, George says, ‘You are right, we will never know if we don’t give him a chance.'”
While admitting that he was a supporter of Spencer, Merrill refused to confirm the meeting and what he told The Boss. Now a special assistant to GM Brian Cashman, Merrill has been around the Yankees’ tumultuous galaxy long enough to know men in his position are better off seen and not heard.
Last year, due to salmonella poisoning and an irregular heartbeat, Spencer failed to build on his sensational September of 1998. By the time the Yankees were finishing the regular season, Spencer openly talked about his days in Pinstripes being over.
“I’ll be the talk of another city next year,” Spencer said in the final week of the season, long after Ricky Ledee had put a choke hold on the left- field job.
