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 (BRONX) Even on an overcast weekday, the optimism at Yankee Stadium was palpable everywhere one turned.
(BRONX) Even on an overcast weekday, the optimism at Yankee Stadium was palpable everywhere one turned. Freddy Sez, the inimitable Yankee fan diehard with four-leaf clover pan and sign, enthusiastically banged out a joyful beat as his sign spoke of sweeping the Diamondbacks. John Sterling’s “Thuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh Yankees win” on the scoreboard highlights was more excited than normal, as if welcoming back an old friend from an extended absence. Even Sterling’s grousing as he walked back into the tunnel from an on-field interview, “Well, that was five or ten minutes of my life wasted,” was said with a smile. As screaming kids above the Diamondbacks dugout imploringly demanded autographs from the visiting players during batting practice, even the security guard had a smile on his face. “The life is back in this place, that’s for sure,” he said. The former NYPD officer, who declined to be named, said that the mood had shifted so suddenly at the Stadium. Even his reaction to some Boston Red Sox fans inexplicably in the front row was magnanimous—as if it were the Yankees, not Boston, with an 8.5 game lead. The Red Sox fans took up arguing with each other after one was asked to take his beer off of the dugout. “Tell him to do it because he said so,” one called out to the guard. “Ever see two Red Sox fans fight—with each other?” the other one countered. At least lately, the only disharmony in Yankee land comes from the opponents. *** It’s easy to forget the victims of an extended winning streak. No, not the opposing teams. There are players who suffer, those teams rely on when the going gets rough. This is, above all, hard on the Yankees’ long reliever, Sean Henn. Henn was used regularly during the season’s first quarter, pitching in 16 games by May 10, before being sent down. But after being called up at the beginning of the month, Henn has gotten the call just once, to pick up starter Tyler Clippard in a 13-6 Yankees’ slugfest victory. “It’s a challenge, working in the pen and not knowing when you’re going to get in the game,” Henn said prior to Thursday’s game. “But I’m always ready to take the ball when we need it.” Still, Henn sees it as unlikely that he’ll be called on early in games the way he had been when the Yankee staff struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness. “We’ve got a lot of guys here who know how to win,” he said. “It’s easy to be in awe of them.” *** Tony Clark, for one, doesn’t believe in a curse for those who played first base with both the Mets and Yankees. “I think I had a good stretch here,” Clark said of his 2004 tenure with the Yankees, and his 2003 with the Mets. “You know better than that. Doug will be just fine.” Clark was referring to Doug Mientkiewicz, the Yankees’ first baseman, who was knocked out of action after an on-field collision nearly two weeks ago. Minky had been struggling to hit all season long, and finally found his stroke—only to see much of his season taken away after suffering a concussion and broken wrist. Mientkiewicz had similar offensive struggles with the Mets, hitting below .220 for much of the season, before losing his starting job to Jason Phillips in 2005. Minky was following in the footsteps of Clark, whose tenures with both clubs were marked by low batting averages (.232 with the Mets, .221 with the Yankees), and severe misfortune (2003 Mets finished last, while the 2004 Yankees blew a 3-0 lead to the Red Sox in the ALCS). The curse, if it exists, might be called “Throneberry’s Curse”, after the longtime Yankees prospect and original Met, Marv Throneberry. Throneberry made his major league debut for the Yankees in 1955—his brief big league appearance was enough to allow the Dodgers to finally break through and defeat the Yankees. In 1959, Throneberry stepped in for the injured Moose Skowron—only to see the Yankees finish with their lowest win total of the decade (79) and miss the World Series for just the second time since 1946. And of course, Throneberry’s most productive year came for the 1962 Mets—arguably the worst team in baseball history.
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