The Yankee offense, a once-powerful juggernaut that used to score at will and leave opposing pitchers humbled, is malfunctioning mightily. And last night Joe Torre tinkered with the sputtering machine in hopes of getting it working again.
With the Bombers hosting Chicago and trying to break a losing streak that had reached a season-high five games, Torre juggled the lineup. Bernie Williams had moved two spots up in the order, from his usual cleanup spot to second. Shane Spencer, who hit seventh Tuesday night, got a shot in Williams’ cleanup spot.
All parties involved hoped the shakeup could jump-start an offense that had hit .195 and scored just 11 runs in the five-game slump that has faces long and frustration mounting. They came into last night 22-14 – a game behind Boston in the AL East – trying to avoid their first six-game slide since Sept. 1-6, 1997.
“Right now we’re dry. If I had my choice of a team than can hit and a team that can pitch, I’ll still take the team that can pitch. I’ll take my chances that this is something we’ll come out of,” Torre said. “The five in a row is not as important as where you are after the five. We’re a game out of first place; that’s OK.
“We always seem to win the game we need to win. We still know how to win. This is just a slump you have to deal with. When do I start being concerned? I start being concerned when your record gets a lot worse than other people’s, when you realize other people have a much better chance of getting in the playoffs than you do; and we’re not there yet.”
The always-calm Torre may not be concerned yet, but how long will that hold true for George Steinbrenner? After all, 36 games into the year his team is last in the AL in hits (317) and next-to-last in several other categories, including RBIs, runs scored and batting average. The Boss was at Tuesday’s 4-0 loss to Chicago and had a chat with his manager about the Yankees’ offense – or lack thereof.
“He was in my office. He’s concerned like the rest of us about the lack of offense,” Torre admitted. “He’s the Boss; he has a right to do whatever he wants to do. [But] I don’t see any signs he was in a panic mode. I’ve seen him anxious before.”
While there may be no panic at the Stadium, there is enough concern to shake up the lineup. The Bombers have gotten little from the top of the order, with Chuck Knoblauch and Derek Jeter taking turns getting injured and struggling at the plate. And they’ve started to press as well, trying to hit home runs and pick each other up.
“That’s normal to do when you’re struggling, and you want to get a win. You try too hard,” Knoblauch said, though denying that he was doing so. “It can be contagious. All we need is a couple hits to get it going. All we need is a big inning; then everyone can relax.”
But Jeter left last Thursday’s loss with an abdominal strain, and the Yankees’ haven’t won since. The Yankees had failed miserably to find a suitable replacement for Jeter in the No. 2 spot, so Torre moved Williams up in the order to protect Knoblauch and slid the hot-hitting Spencer – he’s 15-for-his-last-53 – into Williams’ cleanup spot.
“[I was] just trying to spin my wheels on what I wanted to do. I was toying with this the other day; Bernie’s hit second, and Spencer’s been hitting the ball well. I’ve just been playing with it a bit. [Sometimes] you just change the lineup,” Torre said. “Jeter’s not easy to replace at the No. 2 spot. You want to protect your leadoff hitter, and Bernie will do a good job of that.”
Williams said the move was both a good one and a needed one.
“I think so, of course,” said Williams, whose ninth-inning triple Friday at Detroit was the Yanks’ last extra-base hit. That was 27 innings ago. “If things don’t work one way, you’ve got to try some other way.”