from the Official Site of the New York Yankees, News.

7/8/2001 11:30 pm ET

By Spencer Fordin

Yankees.com

NEW YORK -- Randy Keisler was upset about his last outing, so he poured himself into his work in the past week. The southpaw starter tried several methods to get himself back on track. These ranged from fundamentals -- working with Mel Stottlemyre on his mechanics -- to the sadistic.

The latter category meant joining Roger Clemens in his notoriously tough workouts. Keisler, who is 13 years younger than the Rocket, was amazed at the extra effort Clemens puts into each start.

"He's something. It almost makes me ashamed of myself, that I'm 25 years old," Keisler said. "He's had that long career and no-one can work harder than he can. It's almost a shame, that I can't even keep up with him. He's tremendous."

Just trying to catch up to Clemens paid dividends for Keisler. The rookie (1-2) was sharp on Sunday night, allowing one run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings. He left with a no-decision, but played a key role in his team's 4-1 win over the Mets.

"I think that's the best stuff I had since I've been there," Keisler said. "I thought I had a great curveball tonight, one of my better curveballs. I kept my changeup down, which has been a bad problem for me. If i can keep it down, it's real effective for me. I threw my fastball on both sides of the plate tonight. That helped me out."

That represented a big improvement from his previous start, on July 3 against the Orioles. In that outing, Keisler lasted only four frames, surrendering four hits and five runs.

He said he had no confidence in his fastball during that game, and that made him want to put the extra work in. He credited Stottlemyre, the Yankee pitching coach, with helping him harness control on his power pitch.

"I was working on my fastball," Keisler said. "That's what got me hurt in Baltimore, my last start. I didn't have any command of my fastball. This time, I had command because we worked on it all week."

As noted earlier, the hard work didn't end there. On Thursday, Keisler joined Clemens in his intense cardiovascular workout. On Friday, Keisler talked Ted Lilly into doing the routine with him.

"We did it. We worked on a little bit of everything," Lilly said. "Pitching, you use a lot of strength and you need endurance to last 100-plus pitches. I think he attacks all the key targets that you need to be a pitcher. A lot of good leg strength work."

"A lot of cardio, a lot of heart, agilities, running," Keisler said, describing the activities. "It's a tough workout. It takes 25-30 minutes, but it's constant. It's tough doing it, but when you're through you feel good about it."

That may be the case, but that fact didn't stop Joe Torre from jokingly expressing concern.

"I think Clemens almost killed Keisler last week," Torre said before Sunday's game.

It wasn't quite that bad, because Lilly and Keisler have been exposed to this routine before. Lilly said that they have gone through it, but that doesn't mean they are used to it.

Two weeks ago, Lilly had some digestive difficulties during the workout. He said he went with Keisler and Clemens shortly after eating, and the results were pretty predictable.

"I had just eaten a couple sandwiches, and I went out there right away with them," Lilly said. "It didn't take me very long to give them right back up."

Lilly said he learned his lesson -- don't eat before you work out with Clemens. That was especially evident after the Rocket started razzing him. Keisler also learned, but only because he knew exactly how Lilly felt.

"Roger got on him when he threw up, gave him a hard time," Keisler said. "Even if I wanted to, I wasn't going to throw up. I made sure I had plenty of water in me and no food."

That wasn't all the rookies picked up from working with Roger. They now know that pitching is about more than how hard you throw, or how much you study the opposing hitters. In baseball, much like life, you only get out what you put in. In other words, there are no shortcuts, no substitutes for back-breaking effort.

"We both understand that we're fortunate to have a guy like (Roger). It's inspiring to see him out there, 38 years old and consistently working hard every day," Lilly said. "There's no way we can get away with slacking off, after seeing what he does. He's earned his success, and not just on physical talent. He's taken his talent and taken it to another level."

By extension, in order to have long and successful careers, the pitchers know what they need to do. Watch the Rocket and work hard. In that order.

"He's a winner. Roger finds a way to win," Lilly said. "I think it rubs off."