It was Old Timers' Day at The Stadium and The Moose made them all proud.
Mike Mussina went seven dazzling innings and Wilson Betemit, Bobby Abreu, Jose Molina (yes, Molina) and Alex Rodriguez all went deep as the
Yanks overpowered the Angels 8-2 in the Bronx. The Halos took an early 2-0 lead and Jered Weaver struck out the first four batters he faced, but the Bombers regrouped and stormed back for the victory.
The Good:Mike Mussina. The old man continued to hold off Father Time. The Moose ran into a bit of trouble in the second by loading the bases with one out and almost worked out of it. Jeff Mathis grounded to third in what looked like an inning-ending double play, but Gary Matthews went in hard at second and forced a bad relay throw from Betemit. Two runs scored on the error. That was as good as it would get for the Angels. The 39-year-old Mussina went on to retire the next 16 hitters and pick up the victory. Age is just a number, Mikey. Mussina improved to 14-7 with this: 7 IP, 2 H, 2 R (1 earned), 2 BB, 5 K.
Jose Molina. Who said this guy can't catch every day? Molina was penciled into the lineup for the first time since the acquisition of Ivan Rodriguez and responded. The husky catcher recorded three hits and also belted his first home run of the season. It's amazing what a few days off can do for a player. It looks like Molina will be Mussina's personal catcher the rest of the way and if these are the results (for both guys) no one is going to argue. Molina finished 3 for 3 with 3 runs scored and an RBI.
Bobby Abreu. Another day, another long ball for Abreu. The Candy Man continued his torrid hitting with a solo shot in the third to give the Yanks a 4-2 lead. It was the fourth homer in the past four games for Bobby and his 15th of the season. Abreu can be streaky and right now the streak is set on hot. He's batting a sizzling .409 in his past five games with four round-trippers and eight runs batted in. Keep the good times rolling, Bob. Abreu finished 1 for 4 with a run scored and 2 ribbies.
The Bad:Melky Cabrera. The Yanks banged out 11 hits on the afternoon, but The Melk Man didn't join the parade. In fact, Melky was the only regular who didn't reach base with either a hit or a walk. Cabrera had a decent July (.272), but he has never really found a groove this season. At least he hasn't taken his offensive problems into the outfield. And who knows, maybe he's due for a bust-out month at the plate. Cabrera finished 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
Getting old. It was the final Old Timers' Day at the "old" Yankee Stadium and it turned into the biggest gathering of former Bombers in the history of the game. Rickey Henderson, Buck Showalter and Tony Fernandez were among those that made their "debuts" at the game and the staples of Yankee lore, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Reggie Jackson, were also in attendance. The Bombers also welcomed back Willie Randolph and he received one of the loudest ovations of the afternoon. Michael Kay can go overboard from time to time (no, it's true), but he was right when he said that no other organization can assemble a group of All-Stars, Hall of Famers and Legends like the Yankees. Some
organizations don't even try anymore. So, what's so ugly about all this? The fact that guys I grew up watching are now participating in this game! The golden era of the mid and late 90s may be ancient history to many (people have short memories), but those days still seem like yesterday to me. Now Tino Martinez, Jeff Nelson, Ramiro Mendoza, Tim Raines, Paul O'Neill, Graeme Lloyd and Homer Bush are the old men. I've come to grips with watching guys like Wade Boggs, Darryl Strawberry, Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly (who was really missed on Saturday) take the field since I was a kid when their careers started, but now the players I watched as a young man are involved. It's too bad we gotta get old. Then again, I guess that's what makes these occasions so special.
The Yanks will go for the split and send Darrell Rasner (5-8, 4.92 ERA) against John Lackey (9-2, 2.93 ERA) Sunday afternoon. Lackey went 3-1 in July despite a 6.06 ERA in five starts. But Lackey was excellent in his last start against the Boston Red Sox, coming within two outs of hurling a no-no at Fenway Park. Lackey is 4-7 with a 4.81 ERA in 13 career starts against the Yanks. Rasner pitched reasonably well in his last start against the Orioles, but picked up the "L" in a 7-6 Bomber loss. This will be The Ras' first look at the Angels.
H.P. Lovecraft said, "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."
Maybe I'm being a tad dramatic (a tad), but maybe Rasner being an unknown to the Halos will work in his favor.
Hey, it's worth a shot.
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