They insist last year’s Angels nightmare has been deleted from their psyche. Now it’s all about the underdog Twins in the ALDS that opens today with Game 1 at Yankee Stadium. Yet, if the Yankees are telling the truth they are the only 25 people in the baseball universe who have forgotten the meltdown in the first round last year.
And this is guaranteed: If it’s repeated this year, nobody will forget it for a long time because there will be sweeping changes throughout the organization.
On paper and in Las Vegas, the Yankees are 12-14 favorites. No matter how the six-time AL East champions spin it that the Twins aren’t the same team they went 7-0 against this year and have won the past 13, the numbers don’t lie. The Yankees have a huge edge in postseason experience, a stronger lineup, and Mariano Rivera. And if the best-of-five series goes the distance, three tilts are in The Bronx.
Still . . . the Angels were supposed to be a cute little team with no chance, either.
“I won’t be out there [today] saying, ‘I don’t want it to end up like last year,’ ” captain Derek Jeter said.
The Yankees give the ball to Mike Mussina (17-8; 3.40) today and the Twins turn to Johan Santana (12-3; 3.07), a 24-year-old lefty who hasn’t made a postseason start and has never worked at Yankee Stadium. Mussina is 20-2 lifetime against the Twins and 2-0 this year. He hasn’t lost to the two-time Central champs since Aug. 9, 1998.
Game 2 is Thursday night and features Andy Pettitte (21-8, 4.02) against Brad Radke (14-10, 4.49).
When the Twins weren’t taking batting practice yesterday, they were answering questions about the 13-game streak, how they approach the mighty Yankees, the discrepancy in payroll and life as the underdog.
“We are not coming here afraid,” said Ron Gardenhire, whose club upset Oakland in the first round last year. “We are coming here to have fun and play baseball. That’s what it’s all about. There are only four teams left and we are one of them.”
In the aftermath of last year’s early exit, Jorge Posada sounded off that the Angels wanted it more than his club. Now, a year later Posada was asked if the leadership that was a big part of the Yankees winning three straight World Series (1998-2000) was in place with this club.
“We are going to find out,” Posada said. “We have no idea until we win something.”
This is Jeter’s eighth trip to the postseason. Four times he has been fitted with a ring. In his world, the other three experiences were failures.
“We don’t play to get to the postseason, we play to win,” Jeter said. “Our season isn’t considered a success unless we win a championship.”
In order to eliminate the Twins, the Yankees’ starters must pitch better than they did last year. While the Twins don’t have a 40-home-run hitter, their lineup is dotted with pesky hitters who are free swingers. One key is containing leadoff hitter Shannon Stewart, who batted .323 (87-for-269) in 64 games after being acquired from the Blue Jays on July 16.
Another important area for the Yankees is the bridge between starters and Rivera. Joe Torre has a plethora of options, including Jose Contreras, who doesn’t have much relief experience.
“I don’t think we take anybody for granted,” Jason Giambi said. “We didn’t take Anaheim for granted. They just beat us.”
YANKEES LINEUP
1. Alfonso Soriano 2B
.291 Avg, 37 HR, 89 RBI
2. Nick Johnson 1B
.288 Avg, 14 HR, 47 RBI
3. Derek Jeter SS
.326 Avg, 10 HR, 52 RBI
4. Jason Giambi DH
.250 Avg, 41 HR, 107 RBI
5. Jorge Posada C
.281 Avg, 30 HR, 101 RBI
6. Bernie Williams CF
.263 Avg, 15 HR, 64 RBI
7. Hideki Matsui LF
.286 Avg, 16 HR, 106 RBI
8.Aaron Boone 3B
.267 Avg, 24 HR, 96 RBI
9. Juan Rivera RF
.269 Avg, 7 HR, 26 RBI
Mike Mussina P
17-8, 3.40 ERA
TODAY’S WEATHER
66 degrees and mostly sunny
DID YOU KNOW?
Derek Jeter has more postseason hits (101) than any player in major league history. David Justice is second with 88.
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?
Here’s a look at how the Yankees have fared individually in the postseason, listed in order of games played:
Yankees
Batters
Player G AB H HR RBI AVG
Bernie Williams 87 323 87 17 56 .269
Derek Jeter 82 322 101 11 28 .314
Jorge Posada 56 172 39 6 18 .227
Alfonso Soriano 21 75 18 3 9 .240
Jason Giambi 14 45 15 2 8 .333
Enrique Wilson 13 22 4 0 1 .182
Ruben Sierra 11 47 12 3 12 .255
David Dellucci 9 11 4 1 2 .364
Juan Rivera 4 12 3 0 3 .250
Nick Johnson 3 11 2 0 1 .182
John Flaherty 2 4 0 0 0 .000
Totals 302 1,044 285 43 138 .273
Pitchers
Player G IP W L SV SO ERA
Mariano Rivera 53 80 6 1 25 63 0.90
Jeff Nelson 47 47.1 2 3 0 54 2.66
Andy Pettitte 25 152.1 10 7 0 84 4.49
Roger Clemens 22 132.2 9 6 0 124 3.46
David Wells 20 90 6 6 0 68 3.40
Mike Mussina 11 70.2 4 4 0 76 2.93
Felix Heredia 7 9 0 0 0 9 4.04
Chris Hammond 3 2.2 0 0 0 2 6.75
Totals 188 584.2 37 27 25 480 3.27
Bold indicates leader
