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Champs at the crossroads
Will the real New York Yankees please stand up?
Posted: Wednesday June 21, 2000 09:04 AM
By Lonny Krasnow and James Quintong, CNNSI.com
With 11 weeks down and 15 weeks to go in the 2000 season, it's still rather difficult to get a good read on the defending world champs. Sure, they're currently in first place by a tenuous half-game over the Red Sox and one game over the surging Blue Jays, but all is not well in the Bronx. Last weekend, the White Sox blew into Yankee Stadium and blew out the Yankees, winning four straight by a combined score of 42-17. Yet on Monday, the Yankees traveled into very hostile territory of Fenway Park and bombed the Red Sox 22-1. Who knows what next to expect from the Bombers? And the questions continue to pile up ... Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez was bombed Sunday, and it was discovered he had a sprained elbow. The team insists the injury isn't serious, but Hernandez is off to visit Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion - and that's never a good sign. Chuck Knoblauch's bout with Steve Sax syndrome flared up again as he committed three throwing errors and could have had a couple of more but for the generosity of some official scorers. There's some talk of moving him to DH to keep him in the lineup as much as possible. Only one team in history has had two non-knuckleball pitchers 37 or older make 30 starts apiece: the 1984 Phillies, with Steve Carlton and Jerry Koosman. Roger Clemens and David Cone, both 37, may not approach that goal, thanks to injury and inconsistency. Both have struggled this season, really showing their age. Clemens has landed on the DL with a groin injury. As for Cone, after a horrible start, he has pitched well in his last two appearances (although one doesn't count because it was washed out by rain). With all these questions and concerns, it's no surprise that George Steinbrenner wants to make changes. While talk of trades for Sammy Sosa and/or Juan Gonzalez continue, the Yankees are also looking for help in the rotation. Pitchers such as Hideo Nomo, Brad Radke, Ismael Valdes, Steve Trachsel and Andy Ashby are among those rumored to don pinstripes. If these problems continue, the Yankees might not be able to use the wild card as a backup plan. The Yankees are 7-8 in June. The Red Sox are 6-11. The Blue Jays (9-7) are creeping up. The Indians should get better once they actually get healthy, while the AL West is stronger than it's been in a few years. It appears for the first time since baseball expanded the playoffs, the AL East will not gain the wild card berth: Yankees (1995), Orioles (1996), Yankees (1997), Red Sox (1998) and Red Sox (1999).
 | Chicago Hope
The White Sox continue their amazing run by hosting the Indians and Yankees this week, the same teams they swept on the road last week. | Rocker
He's back and the Braves need him badly as the Mets series looms. | Chuck-eee
The mind games are getting to the former Gold Glover. He can't seem to find Tino Martinez's glove, made three errant throws to first last Thursday, then beaned Keith Olbermann's mom 10 rows deep on Saturday. | Tap the Rockies
Are the Rockies for real? They woke up in first place Monday morning for the first time in four years after after winning 22 of their past 31 games. Colorado has won 20 of 24 at Coors Field and is a major league-best 25-8 at home. |  | New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox, June 23-25
The Bombers will be looking for revenge after the Good Guys put up 42 runs last weekend.
| Colorado Rockies at Arizona Diamondbacks, June 23-25
The first-place Rockies must prove they're for real by actually winning some games outside of Coors Field.
|  | | Jeff Kent. He leads NL in RBIs and has knocked in at least one run in club-record 10 straight games. |  | | Reds scare. Cincinnati has lost a season-high six straight and finished the road trip 1-8. The Reds also have lost four straight series -- their longest streak since dropping five straight in July 1998. |  | | Strom Thurmond. The South Carolina senator met with Bud Selig last week, asking that Shoeless Joe Jackson's lifetime ban be ended so he can become eligible for the Hall of Fame. You don't suppose Strom and Shoeless Joe were buddies? | | | Billy Wagner. More reason why the Astros have struggled badly this season. The demoted closer had three appearances last week, recording five walks, three earned runs, two blown saves and a loss. | | | Albert Belle. Heating up with the weather, as usual (.409, 11 HR, 30 RBI in June) | |  | Hero -- Bobby Higginson:
The Tigers' left fielder proved you can actually hit at Comerica Park with a 12-for-22, five-homer, 12-RBI effort. | Bum -- Reggie Sanders:
The Braves' left fielder went 3-for-22 last week and is now hitting .173 in 162 at-bats | Hero -- Frank Castillo:
This right-hander has seen his career resurrected in Toronto after going 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 10 strikeouts. | Bum -- Chad Kreuter:
Where's your hat? Where's your batting average? The Dodgers' catcher went hitless in 15 plate appearances. | Hero -- Chan Ho Park:
The Los Angeles right-hander is finding his groove again, going 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 13 K's. | Bum -- Russell Branyan:
The Indians' rookie slugger had some growing pains, going 2-for-18 with 10 K's. | Hero -- Gary Sheffield:
The Dodgers' right fielder went 13-for-24, 3 HR, 9 RBI. | Bum -- Tim Wakefield:
Hitters had a blast as the Boston's knuckleballer pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing a whopping 12 earned runs and five homers. |  | | James Baldwin is 18-3 with a 3.14 ERA since Aug. 1, the most wins in the majors in that span. | | The Giants' Armando Rios leads the majors with a .485 batting average (16-for-33) with runners in scoring position. | | The New York Mets optioned right-hander Bobby J. Jones to Class AAA Norfolk and recalled lefty Bobby M. Jones on Tuesday. | | Cristian Guzman has 11 triples, putting him on pace for 26, the most since Kiki Cuyler had 26 in 1925. | | Eighteen batters are on pace to reach 200 hits this season, which would be the highest total since 1930. | | David Cone is 3-11 with a 4.69 ERA since pitching a perfect game against Montreal last July 18. | | The Oakland A's are 16-3 in June and have spent 17 days in first place this season, one more day than they spent atop the AL West in the past five seasons combined. |  | "When you're really going good, you're never that good. ... When you lose nine in a row, you're not that bad."
-- Texas manager Johnny Oates, trying to put his team's nine-game losing streak in perspective. |
Statistics are through Sunday's games unless otherwise noted.
The Baseball Week at a Glance appears every Tuesday.
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