The New York Times
Mussina Can Smile After Fourth Start of Spring
By PAT BORZI
Published: March 19, 2007
TAMPA, Fla., March 18 — Five days turned grouchiness into sunshine. Mike
Mussina stood in the Yankees’ clubhouse at Legends Field on Sunday afternoon
with ice wrapped around his right shoulder and with a grin on his face, eager
to discuss his first effective outing of the spring — one, he felt, that had
been too long in coming.
“A day of relief,” Mussina called it after he pitched five scoreless,
three-hit innings in the Yankees’ 8-1 exhibition victory over Pittsburgh.
“This start was important for peace of mind — Joe’s peace of mind, Cashman
’s peace of mind, Guidry’s peace of mind,” Mussina said, meaning Manager
Joe Torre, General Manager Brian Cashman and the pitching coach, Ron Guidry.
“That’s why I was so frustrated the last time. By your third time, you
should show some semblance of being a baseball player.”
Instead, that third start — against the Reds last Tuesday — left him
frustrated and frazzled. After giving up three runs (two earned) and five
hits over three innings in a 6-3 loss, Mussina grumbled about his lack of
precision.
That Mussina, who ranks fifth among active players in victories (239) and
winning percentage (.641, tied with his teammate Andy Pettitte), felt so
worked up about a poor start in March gives a clue to his mental preparedness.
It is not as if he has to make the team or earn a spot in the rotation. Torre
mentions Mussina with Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte as candidates to
start opening day, which Mussina finds flattering but superfluous. He says
Wang and Pettitte are the leading candidates, and when Torre announces his
decision this week, Mussina expects it to be Wang. “He deserves it; he
earned it last year,” Mussina said.
But by Mussina’s mental checklist, by his third spring-training start he
should have been spotting his fastball and regaining the feel of his breaking
pitches. When that did not happen, he reacted angrily.
“After a while, it’s about getting people out and being able to do what you
should be doing,” Mussina said. “I was frustrated because I was at that
point and couldn’t do it yet.”
Catcher Jorge Posada said: “He’s tough on himself. That tells you a little
about the guy, how every day is important for him. Being hard on yourself is
good, because you want to keep everything you’re doing right. He was
frustrated things were not coming out right.”
So between starts, Mussina concentrated on slowing his delivery. That helped
his timing and, ultimately, his control. “I just wasn’t giving myself more
time to get my arm where I needed it to be,” Mussina said. “Every throw was
work before today. It was more smooth and it didn’t take as much out of me.”
Sunday, Mussina quickly sensed improvement. He fell behind the leadoff batter
Chris Duffy, 3-0, before coming back to strike him out, and went on to retire
the first six hitters. “The very first hitter I had to make adjustments,”
Mussina said, “and I was able to do it.”
Mussina gave up two hits in the third, but got out of the inning when Duffy
bounced into a force play and Luis Matos popped out to shortstop Derek Jeter.
Mussina struck out two, walked one and threw 44 strikes out of 67 pitches.
“Today, he pitched,” Torre said. “It was a lot more comfortable for me to
watch, and not because that’s required. On the mound, you could see he
looked a lot more compact and consistent.”
“I got a lot of fly balls, a lot of popups,” Mussina said. “I was getting
the ball where I wanted to and had them a little bit off balance.
“Today was a big day. It was important today, to make an adjustment, to make
an improvement, to feel more like I’m pitching than standing out there
throwing.”
That left Mussina in a much more jovial mood. “My whole problem with spring
training so far is, the weather’s been too good,” Mussina said, smiling. “
It usually rains when I pitch. Anybody notice that? You never noticed that?
Six years in a row it rained every day. Sometimes with boats and animals and
stuff.”
INSIDE PITCH
JASON GIAMBI, who had been 5 for 30 (.167) this spring after his off-season
operation on his left wrist, hit three balls hard in a 2-for-4 day, including
a grand slam in the seven-run fourth inning off ZacH Duke. “I’m excited
where I’m at,” Giambi said. “I thought it would take a little bit longer
to get my swing back.”
This spring, MARIANO RIVERA has shown no signs of the right forearm strain
that kept him out for 22 games last September. On Sunday, he needed only six
pitches to work a perfect sixth inning; he threw 10 more in the bullpen. He
has allowed only three base runners in six spring innings. “That’s a joke,”
Mike Mussina said.
BOBBY ABREU (strained right oblique muscle) will see his first game action
Tuesday night against Philadelphia as the designated hitter, JOE TORRE said.
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