from the New York Post

July 9, 2001 --

In the pecking order of the Yankees' bullpen, Randy Choate refers to himself as a wild card. Joe Torre said Choate's more like an unsung hero.

There's been so much written about the bolstering of the pen in the past few weeks, the left-handed Choate has been widely overlooked. While the additions of right-handers Mark Wohlers and Jay Witasick have strengthened the club's position in the setup role, the 25-year-old southpaw's versatility has been just as welcome.

In fact, nobody's been tougher to hit on the Yankees than Choate, who held batters to a .141 average in 20 appearances through Saturday.

"I feel I've done a pretty good job, and he's been able to go to me when he needs me whether it be in a 13-1 game or a 2-1 game," Choate said. "I can do whatever he needs and I can help the team out."

Twice over the weekend, Torre went out of his way to drop Choate's name among the stars of the bullpen: All-Stars Mike Stanton and Mariano Rivera, as well as Witasick and Wohlers. The Yankee skipper said that Choate has quietly handled a job that gets little notoriety.

With a 2-1 record and a 3.04 ERA, Choate has numbers just a shade below Rivera's and Stanton's. He has hit seven batters and walked 13 in just 232/3 innings, but he also has allowed just 11 hits while whiffing 24. What he's been proudest of is his ability to keep all 12 runners he's inherited from scoring.

"Yeah, actually that's a very big deal to me," Choate said. "I'd rather give up my own runs than give up anybody else's.

"Ever since I switched to the relief role, I kind of knew it. You kind of look at it as a starter at first, and people come in behind you and give up your runs . . .

"Until you actually do it, you don't know how bad you actually feel when you do it."

Torre sat all of his bullpen members down once Witasick and Wohlers came to town to tell them they'll have shifting roles. That means some nights Choate will be working lefty versus lefty situations that may have him facing one batter, while other nights he'll pitch two innings or more.

"What would I prefer? I'd definitely prefer to pitch to one or two lefties," Choate said. "I don't really view myself as a long guy."