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Rightwingers
Email:
Harold
Friend
Website: Suite101
Harold is a science teacher who
loves baseball. Actually, he is a
self described "baseball fan who
became a science teacher because
he couldn't hit or throw." He has
been involved with the New York
City Education system in various
capacities since 1962 and he
received his doctorate in science
education from NYU in 1968. He
credits Casey Stengel with being
responsible for his first
baseball "degree," and in 1998,
Joe Torre and Don Zimmer saw to
it that he received the advanced
version. For that he says, "I
cannot thank them enough."
IT'S
ONLY a
little more than a month before
the start of spring training and
there have been many questions
raised about the New York
Yankees' pitching staff, most of
which deal with the fact that the
Yankees do not have a left handed
starting pitcher. It has been
seven years since a World Series
winner did not have at least one
lefty starter, which had led many
to conclude that the Yankees must
add a southpaw to the staff. But
it must be recognized that the
Yankees right handed starters are
quality pitchers who can win
important games and that there
are left handers on the
staff.
The starters
average age is 32 years. They are
experienced under pressure and
have demonstrated that they can
win important games. Despite the
fact that Yankee Stadium favors
left handed batters, the Yankees
main competitor for the pennant,
the Boston Red Sox, have only
three pure left handed batters in
their formidable lineup.
Good
pitching usually beats good
hitting and we must no lose sight
of the fact that the right handed
starters are among baseball's
best.
There has been a
greater emphasis on relief
pitching in recent years, a fact
that should help the Yankees
immensely since they have an
improved bull pen with some fine
left handed pitchers. The fact
that most of the Yankees'
starters do not rely on the curve
ball as their "out" pitch takes
away a major advantage that left
handed batters have against them.
Good pitching usually beats good
hitting and we must no lose sight
of the fact that the right handed
starters are among baseball's
best.
Health is the
main issue. If the staff can
remain healthy enough to win the
pennant, it will be quite
formidable against the National
League opponent in the World
Series. If the health of one or
two starters becomes an issue, it
could become a long season, but
that is the situation with any
staff that is aged. The Yankees'
pitching coach will have his work
cut out for him.
Another factor is
experience as a Yankee. Three of
the projected starters have not
pitched for the Yankees. How will
they react to the pressure from
the fans and management that is
longing to once again becoming
World Champions? There must be a
blending of natural ability and
mental toughness.
The last team to
win the World Series with an all
right handed pitching faced a
World Series opponent whose
batting order had two excellent
left handed batters, one of whom
batted .340 that season and the
other whom is now in the Hall of
Fame. The series went seven games
and the right handers held their
opponent to a .246 team batting
average with 4 home runs, only
one by a left handed batter.
Quality right handers can get out
left handed hitters.
The rest of the
Yankees team is strong,
especially at shortstop and in
the outfield. The bullpen is
excellent and the bench is
improved over last season. It has
been a few years since the last
World Championship for the
Yankees but despite their recent
success in the American League,
it has been much longer for the
Red Sox. The starting pitching
staff of Reynolds, Bevens,
Chandler, Shea, and Raschi should
make 1947 a banner season for the
future World Champions.
Post Script: The
1947 Yankees went on, with only
right handed starters, to beat
Brooklyn in the World
Series.
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