OAKLAND – When Yankee center fielder Bernie Williams returned from a seven-game absence yesterday, he had Jose Canseco next to him in left field. It’s a situation Williams may see more of.
“I guess I am getting there,” Canseco said on whether he can play left field on a semi-regular basis.
Canseco’s start in left was his first at that position since July 9, 1999 for the Devil Rays, for whom he made six starts in left a year ago. Since joining the Yankees, Canseco has been working in the outfield to strengthen his arm and legs as well as taking off about eight pounds.
Wary of overextending Glenallen Hill’s right knee, manager Joe Torre switched Canseco and Hill prior to yesterday’s 10-6 win against the A’s, inserting Canseco in left and Hill as the DH.
Canseco responded by hitting a line-drive homer to center and catching the only ball hit to him. With the Yankees leading, 9-2, after they hit in the fifth, Torre hooked Canseco.
“He hasn’t been playing a lot because Glenallen Hill has been hot but he was ready to play today,” Torre said of Canseco. “I asked him to play the outfield, which is something we really don’t want to do. He came in the other day and said he was ready to do that when I needed him and today was that day.”
Said Canseco: “I’ve lost about eight pounds since I have gotten here – I was just too big. I went to spring training 260 and lost 10 pounds while I was on the DL.”
As for the switch-hitting Williams, he was in the lineup against lefty Mark Mulder but might not play today against righty Gil Heredia since the strained rib-cage muscle isn’t completely healed. Williams went 1-for-2 against Mulder and batted right-handed against the A’s bullpen, going 0-for-2 with a walk.
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RF Paul O’Neill missed his third straight game with a hip pointer that isn’t improving. “I have no chance to play [today],” O’Neill said. Clay Bellinger, who filled in very well for Williams, shifted to right and later left.
David Justice, who missed three games earlier in the week, was out of yesterday’s starting lineup with a lingering problem in the right side of his neck. But he entered the game in the sixth inning and played right.
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Torre, responding to a question, acknowledged it would be hard to leave David Cone off a postseason roster,
However, as is his custom, Torre will go with the players who give him the best chance at victory.
“Emotionally, it would be but I have to do the right thing,” Torre said of the 3-11 right-hander who was spanked for six runs in three innings during Friday night’s 8-1 loss.
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Torre said Chuck Knoblauch will miss a day or two with the bruised knee he suffered Friday night playing for Tampa (Single-A) in his first rehab game.
