推 onlyyou2:Myers好像蠻推崇小王 11/09 15:27
YankeesMLB JAPAN TOUR
Pitching very much on Myers' mind
BY DAVID LENNON
Newsday Staff Correspondent
November 6, 2006
TOKYO -- As a middle reliever, Mike Myers can enjoy a life of relative
anonymity in the United States, even on the Yankees. But as the world's
most famous franchise's lone representative in the Japan All-Star Series,
as soon as he slips on the pinstripes, Myers has drawn attention like a
rock star.
It doesn't help that Daisuke Matsuzaka is close to finding out which team
will own his negotiating rights and that the Yankees are among the
favorites -- perhaps even at the top of a list that is likely to include
the Mets, Red Sox, Rangers and a few others that could jump in before
Wednesday's 5 p.m. deadline.
When asked how often he is quizzed on Matsuzaka, Myers replied, "Every
day ... every day."
But the New York contingent did more than talk into microphones last night
at Tokyo Dome as the MLB All-Stars walloped the Japan team, 11-4, to clinch
the best-of-five series with two games to play in Osaka and Fukuoka. David
Wright, Joe Mauer, Ryan Howard and Andruw Jones homered and Myers supplied
1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.
Myers has felt a little out of the loop over here about the events involving
the Yankees in New York, but he was relieved to discover that the front
office is getting closer to re-signing Mike Mussina. With so much
uncertainty concerning the club's pitching staff, Myers believes it is
crucial that Mussina return.
"Our starting rotation is a question mark going into the offseason as far
as actually who's going to be there," Myers said. "We don't know what's
going to go on with [Carl] Pavano, we don't know what's going to go on with
Moose because of his option, which is a lot of money [$17 million]. He was
talking that they weren't going to pick up his option and he hoped to come
back."
(The Yankees and Mussina's agent, Arn Tellem, reportedly have made
substantial progress in their negotiations for a two-year contract that
could be worth as much as $25 million. The Yankees have until Nov. 15
to decline the $17-million option and pay a $1.5-million buyout; they
already might have done so as part of negotiations.)
Myers added, "[Randy] Johnson had back surgery. Who knows where he's going
to be? If he has a step backwards in the recovery process, who knows where
our rotation will be outside of [Chien-Ming] Wang."
The MLB All-Stars have lost only one series on the Japan tour, in 1990,
and Myers wasn't the first choice to help them continue that dominance.
The original pick was Tigers righthander Joel Zumaya, but health concerns
kept him off the roster, and league officials flipped through their folder
until they discovered Myers' application.
Myers also traveled here with the 2000 team, but this year's group - with
a young core of Howard, Mauer, Wright, Jose Reyes and Chase Utley - has made
it feel more like an international competition than an exhibition series.
"The dugout is very intense," Myers said. "I was here six years ago and it's
not what it was then. We have a lot of young guys on this team. I'm the
crafty old veteran, I guess. Seeing these guys, it's fun to watch."
Reyes did not play last night, deferring to Rafael Furcal, but Wright
slugged his second home run in four games, with the first coming in
Thursday's exhibition against the Yomiuri Giants. As the local custom
dictates, Wright received a bouquet of flowers from two little kids
after crossing the plate, and he stowed it in his duffel bag for the
tour's next stop in Osaka.
Notes & quotes: Howard belted his third home run in two games and is
7-for-10 with six runs scored and six RBIs in the series ... Today is
an off day for the series, which resumes tomorrow in Osaka and finishes
Wednesday in Fukuoka.
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