IT is only May, much too early for the insatiable owner to panic, but right now, George Steinbrenner, a 5-2 loser again yesterday to the Blue Jays, has a whole bunch of Mr. Mays on his team. And we don’t mean Willie.
It is never too early around these parts to issue a Missing Persons Report for a baseball team that plays in The Bronx.
Twenty-five men wearing Pinstriped uniforms. One of the 25 is Japanese. He might be being followed by a horde of Japanese cameramen and reporters. The man who leads them may be carrying a cup of green tea. The man likely next to him is bald and has a chubby, cherubic face. The tall, thin, athletic-looking fellow is usually the object of hysterical shrieking from teenage girls. There’s one heavy one who could be half-drunk. It may be difficult to recognize any of them because they no longer walk with a swagger.
They were last seen wandering in a disoriented manner in the vicinity of River Ave and 161st. If you spot them, please call authorities immediately, because they look like a team in trouble, and here’s why:
1. PITCHING: Andy Pettitte is in the worst slump of his career. Jeff Weaver has hardly reminded anyone of a young Mike Mussina. Mussina has shown signs of mortality lately, trying to make the perfect pitch. David Wells, chased in the sixth inning yesterday following four consecutive doubles, is 40 years old, and perfect he’s not. Roger Clemens goes for No. 300 tomorrow, but how many more wins can possibly be in that 40-year-old right arm? Ramiro Mendoza doesn’t live here anymore. Neither does Mike Stanton.
2. NO BERNIE: Bernie Williams (knee) is gone for six weeks. That means Juan Rivera, who turned the wrong way and fell down on a Carlos Delgado double yesterday, in left and Hideki Matsui in center. So Cory Lidle found the Yankee lineup without Bernie much to his liking.
3. HOLE IN THE BAT GANG: This is the perfect time for Jason Giambi, who popped out with Derek Jeter on third and no outs in the ninth, to break out of his funk and carry the Yanks on his back. The Yankees should do themselves a favor and stop waiting for Jeter to straighten everything out just by showing up at shortstop. The league has tapes on Godzilla now. The only Bronx Bomber yesterday was Alfonso Soriano, and he got picked off second in the first!
4. MYSTIQUE AND AURA: Curt Schilling was right, after all. The Yankees have lost 10 of their last 11 at the Stadium, and hit .215. The Yankees are not allowed to put on their pinstripes one leg at a time in The House That Ruth Built, are they?
5. THE BOSS: He didn’t like the work ethic of Joe Torre’s coaches? He didn’t like Broadway Derek? Following two years without a parade down the Canyon of Heroes, he likes this less. That means this team’s mental toughness is bound to be tested the way The Boss tested that iron-willed Billy-Reggie-Thurman bunch.
Thankfully, Torre, who called a team meeting before the game to tell whomever’s wearing those uniforms to relax and stay positive, remains the perfect buffer. Since winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing for the old football coach/owner, there is the clear and present danger that it will inevitably become clear that Teflon Joe doesn’t live here anymore either.
6. LUCK: The baseball gods seem to be taking delight in tormenting and temporarily disabling key Yankees. Jeter . . . Mariano Rivera . . . Steve Karsay . . . Nick Johnson . . . now Bernie.
7. THE RED SOX: They’re due.
When the Bombers started 18-3, people started to wonder whether we were watching the ’27 Yankees. These are not your grandfather’s Yankees. These Yankees are 11-17 over their last 28 games. These Yankees bleed.
“We’ll come out of it,” Wells said.
They wake up today 1½ games behind the Red Sox. It is too early for anyone to suggest that it is getting late early in The Bronx.
But something’s missing.
The Yankees are missing.
WHERE ARE THE YANKEES?
HOME SICKNESS
A look at the Bombers struggles at Yankee Stadium this season:
* Lost six straight at home, their longest home losing streak since they lost five straight from June 15 – July 4, 2000.
* Last time they lost six straight at home Aug. 24 – 29, 1989.
* Lost 10 of last 11 at home. Worst stretch at Yankee Stadium since 1986 when they lost 10 straight games in The Bronx.
* Are 11-13 at home this season.
