Wang will make 'em sinker swim
1 out shy of distance, rise to ace is complete
Monday, June 18th 2007, 10:09 AM
HE SEEMED to just appear from nowhere two years ago, from Tainan City,
Taiwan, by way of the Columbus Clippers. And when Chien-Ming Wang came to the
Bronx in 2005, he was little more than an amiable curiosity item to those who
do not spend their leisure time poring over Baseball America.
He had a unique personal history, raised by his aunt and uncle rather than by
his biological parents. He was guileless, but not frightened by the pressure
or the big print. Wang was just supposed to be Randy Johnson's little mascot
at first, except that the rookie had this remarkable sinker and a four-seam
fastball that rode in on hitters and traveled 95 mph.
By now, we know that Wang is more than just another East Asian import. He is
the club's ace, the most dependable performer in the Yankee rotation. After
all the fuss about Roger Clemens this past month, it is Wang who matters
most. If he doesn't quite intimidate opponents like Clemens, then he can
still overpower and dazzle them, as he did last night in an artful 8-2
victory over the Mets.
Joe Torre says Wang "pitches to contact," meaning he gets guys to ground out
while keeping his pitch count down to a reasonable number. But then against
the Mets, Wang was different. He was fooling the Mets with changes and
sliders, pitches he has grown confident in throwing only recently. He bent
the Mets in pretzels, striking out a career-high 10 batters in 8-2/3 innings
for his seventh win of the season.
"He kept us off balance," David Wright said. "When you're looking for a 94 or
95 mph sinker and he throws a slider, it's tough to react."
He shouldn't have been this good last night. Wang had slept the wrong way and
woke up yesterday morning with a stiff neck on the right side. He had spent
time in the trainer's room yesterday afternoon getting ultrasound and heat,
but said it didn't help.
"Still tight," Wang said. "I pitch as good as I can pitch."
He was never really in trouble. Wang was perfect through three innings before
Jose Reyes knocked a seeing-eye single that barely eluded Derek Jeter at
short. An inning later, Jose Valentin laced a clean double down the line, but
really the game was a done deal by then. Alex Rodriguez had launched one of
his space shuttles into the left-field bullpen again, a two-run shot in the
first, and that was all that Wang required.
Torre let him come out to pitch the ninth, then pulled him at the oddest
time, with nobody on base and two outs after a double play. Wang was not
thrilled about that.
"I wanted to," he said, when asked if he thought he should go the whole way.
Torre insisted 113 pitches were just enough.
This is Wang's third season in the majors, and by now it is clear the only
thing that can slow the 27-year-old righty are the ticky-tack injuries that
occasionally have kept him from his turn on the mound. He has problems with
the middle fingernail on his pitching hand and he had a hamstring problem
earlier this season. Nothing major. If the Yankees make it all the way back
into the playoffs after their rotten start, they will surely use Wang as
their No. 1 starter in October.
That is a long way off, of course. The Yanks have won 11 of their last 12,
while the Mets have dropped 11 of their last 13. But if you are a Mets' fan,
you don't trade places quite yet.
At the moment, the Yanks are the better club. They have three, top-tier
veteran starters in addition to Wang, who never seems to sweat. Rodriguez is
on a tear again. Torre's disruptive platoons at first and in the outfield
have more or less ended since Jason Giambi left.
The Mets, meanwhile, have been a punchless, losing machine. But streaks are
just that - streaks. In the end, this is less about talent and more about
location, location, location. The National League stinks.
The AL already is 14 games ahead of the NL in interleague play. The Mets have
survived a lengthy collapse, still atop their division. Once they get out of
June, their schedule takes a softer turn.
Nothing soft about Wang last night, even with those changes. He threw lights
out, won the rubber game of the three-game set with the Mets. He has bigger
games ahead of him.
fjbondy@netscape.net
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