More than ever, the AL Division Series becomes a showdown of youth vs. age. Will Oakland’s inexperience matter before 55,000 hostile spectators in The Bronx? Will the older Yankee bodies grow even more weary with the effects of one and possibly two cross-country flights?
By the time this weekend is complete, we will know the answers because we will know the winner of this best-of-five series, which resumes tonight at the Stadium with A’s ace Tim Hudson facing Orlando Hernandez, who has been one of the most successful post-season pitchers in history. The series is tied at one game apiece.
The diminutive Hudson was huge in September to help the A’s secure the AL West title. He embodies a club comprised mainly of twentysomethings that have shunned timetables and payscales to reach this October moment. About the last hurdle for this group is to prove it can go into enemy territory at this time of year and not be cowed by the surroundings.
“The New York scene is a very unique scene,” Yankee GM Brian Cashman said. “There is no experience that equals a post-season game at Yankee Stadium.”
The A’s can expect a full house of pain; row after row of verbal abuse and – unfortunately – possibly worse based on a battery-throwing history. This young club has not experienced anything like this and how Oakland handles the hostilities could determine if it can extend this magical season.
“I’d like to believe Yankee Stadium gives us an edge,” Joe Torre said. “This is a special place in the postseason.”
The two home games are vital for the Yankees. By winning 4-0 behind Andy Pettitte at the Coliseum on Wednesday, the Yankees did more than avoid the possibility of earning unwanted straight A’s. It switched home-field advantage to the Yankees, who really need to seize upon that edge and avoid having to fly back to Oakland.
Even with a Game 2 victory, the Yankees who attended a mandatory workout yesterday were hardly of the smiley-face variety. They grumbled in during the late afternoon, still tired from a flight that did not land at LaGuardia until 6 a.m.
Paul O’Neill led a contingent that refused to talk to the media, claiming this was an off-day. You can imagine how much sunshine will fill the Yankees’ lives if they have to play Game 4 tomorrow night and a Game 5 becomes necessary, forcing another cross-country flight that would get the team to a Bay-area hotel early in the morning Sunday with a decisive showdown at night.
Under the best-case scenario, the Yankees would not only close out the A’s tomorrow, but have Seattle finish off the White Sox. That would mean the ALCS would begin Tuesday in The Bronx and the Yanks would not have to play Sunday and Monday, and not have to fly again until Thursday.
Under the worse scenario that does not include losing this series to the A’s, the Yankees would need to fly to Oakland after Saturday night’s game, play Sunday night, fly back to New York after that game, work out Monday, play Tuesday against the Mariners and have to go cross-country again on Thursday. That would mean five cross-country flights in 13 days for a club that showed its weariness late in the season.
Also, if Yankee Stadium is a veteran team’s edge, then turning this into a more grueling battle with additional travel would favor the younger, fresher club for Game 5. So, the Yanks will want to avoid that.
Torre thinks the only way the crowd becomes a big factor for the Yankees is if they take a lead early and Hernandez is pitching well. Hernandez has a 1.02 career ERA for the playoffs, the sixth best ever by a pitcher with at least 30 innings. He is 5-0 in the postseason and 4-0 lifetime against the A’s.
“They’re not as experienced as we are,” Torre said. “But I really don’t think that’s going to amount to a whole lot because they have accomplished so much this year in spite of people not thinking they can do it. Right now, they’re on bonus time. They’ve having a lot of fun. I sense they are very confident, even though we beat them [Wednesday].”