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Mr. Clutch Postseason pressure brings out best in Yankees' Jeter
Bob Lorenz: Sports Illustrated baseball writer Tom Verducci joins me now. Tom, I think it’s pretty safe to say that without Derek Jeter, the Yankees would flat out not be in the ALCS. He’s been terrific so far. What makes him so good this time of year? Tom Verducci: Well, obviously it begins with talent but there’s been a lot of players with a lot of talent in October who haven’t come through. We’ve seen that in recent years with people like Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell and Barry Bonds. But Derek Jeter, ever since he was a rookie, is very confident and very relaxed. The tougher the situation, it seems, the more relaxed he is and this goes back to 1996 -- Game 3 against the Braves when the Yankees were down two games to none. It was a tough situation with runners on base and there was a meeting on the mound. Derek Jeter as a rookie went up to Joe Torre and said, "Don’t worry Skip. We’re going to win this game." Now, that’s Derek Jeter. Lorenz: Nice to take the heat off of your manager and make Joe Torre feel a little better! It’s amazing, these playoffs and Jeter’s playing days are both far from over but already you’re hearing people put Jeter’s postseason career in historical reference. If you do that Tom, where does it belong right now? Verducci: I’d have to say he’s one of the most clutch players we’ve seen in October. It’s very tough for even the good players to match their regular season numbers but Derek Jeter has done that, series-in and series-out. The guy has never had a bad series. He’s had a lot of clutch hits. The big plays on defense obviously. He’s got more postseason hits than anybody. He passed Pete Rose and he’s done that at the age of 26 and you could say, "Yes, now we have another layer of postseason series with the Division Series," but the fact is, this guy just keeps getting on base and getting his hits. Lorenz: You mentioned Joe Torre and after Jeter eased his fears, he went on to lead the Yankees to four World Series titles and a lot of that is great pitching and great players but it’s not all about that. How has he been able to sort of manage this ship and steer it so successfully? Verducci: He’s been very, very good at putting the right people in the right position. I will say that he’s helped by having someone like Mariano Rivera at the back end of his bullpen. As we saw against Oakland in the Division Series, Rivera is the rare closer who can come in and get two innings of outs for his manager. That really shortens the game but what Joe Torre does leading up to Mariano Rivera is to put people like Ramiro Mendoza and Mike Stanton, two guys again who have been lights out in the postseason, in the right situations. Getting Stanton in against the left-handers and Mendoza against the right-handers. Time and time again we’ve seen him push the right buttons on the lineup. A David Justice sits and then comes off the bench and hits a pinch-hit home run. Paul O’Neill sits for a few days and then Game 1 of the ALCS, hits a home run. That’s where I think his strength is.
Lorenz: People talk about experience this time of year and as you mentioned, a lot of guys on the Yankees roster have a lot of postseason experience. In the meantime, the Mariners don’t. How much of a difference does that make? How important do you think that is? Verducci: I think the biggest pressure on the Mariners is not so much the fact that the Yankees have a little more postseason experience but the fact is that they won 116 games during the regular season. Now that has become a burden because if they don’t get to the World Series and perhaps even win the World Series, those 116 are not forgotten but they are diminished. The name of this game is not to post the most wins in the regular season but it’s to get yourself a ring. The Mariners playing from behind against the Yankees will feel that pressure. They have not hit the ball the way they did during the regular season, not against Cleveland and not against the Yankees. Lorenz: Well another team that has certainly felt the pressure in the postseason for a long time now is the Atlanta Braves. They’ve won an astounding 10 straight division titles but in that time only one World Series and people around this time of year say, "Are they a dynasty or a disappointment?" What should they be considered now? Verducci: I think they get unfair criticism. I think if it’s not a dynasty, it’s the next closest thing. They haven’t finished it off enough to be called a dynasty but this run of excellence that they’ve been on is really incredible. It’s interesting to see what’s happened to the Braves in this postseason. After years and years of being the heavily favored overdogs, a team that really should have cashed in on more than one chance to win a championship, they came in now a No. 8 seed in this baseball tournament and I think they relished that role. I think, as they said, "Nobody expected us to be here." I think they enjoy that ... playing under the radar. Lorenz: And we’ve seen some fire and emotion from a guy like Tom Glavine, who normally is very stade and even-keel. Did the Braves maybe see that the window of opportunity for them is closing? Guys like Glavine, Smoltz and Maddux? Verducci: I don’t think so because I think those pitchers that you mentioned still have a lot of good years ahead of them. They’re all healthy. They’re stuff is just as good as it always has been but the fact is, I think the pressure on them is to get more than one world championship. Because if they don’t and if this run continues and they get their division championships but fail to get the ultimate goal, than I think they will be remembered in history as the team that should have one more than one world championship. So there is a little pressure there. Lorenz: Does Bobby Cox maybe feel pressure that he needs another World Series win to sort of cement his place in managerial history? Verducci: I don’t think so. Bobby Cox has always been a guy who’s very comfortable with what he’s done and very proud of what he’s done, getting the Braves to 10 straight division championships. I actually think he’s done enough now already to be in the Hall of Fame. He’s been that good and that consistent. There have been a lot of managers who have won a lot of games, some that have won more than Bobby Cox but for him to do it year in and year out and never let this team slip up is amazing. That’s a Hall of Famer.
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