breathe in for luck
NEW YORK - Mike Mussina was wearing his pinstripes and warm-up fleece, his hat positioned perfectly on his head - all dressed up with nowhere to go. It was closing in on 4:40 p.m., batting practice's witching hour, with everyone running off to a cage or to long-toss in the outfield while Mussina was busy doing ... nothing.
It's been a full week since he reported tendinitis in his right elbow, and the 37-year-old right-hander isn't close to returning to the rotation.
Asked if he was feeling better, Mussina shook his head and said, "Actually, it's feeling worse. At least when I was pitching, it would loosen up after a while. Now, I'm just sitting around and I can feel it tightening up."
That's troubling news for a team that saw Randy Johnson blow a three-run lead to the Devil Rays on Tuesday night. With 26 games to go, the Yankees suffered what could've been their most serious setback of the summer: a 4-3 defeat that dropped them four games behind the Red Sox.
The usually upbeat Joe Torre called it a "a tough loss," adding it was "disappointing, especially at this time of the year." Then again, David Ortiz's walk-off HR and the Sox' 3-2 win over the Angels might've been a gift to the Yankees. Maybe it forces them to focus on the wild card now.
But that still doesn't excuse Johnson's inability to outpitch Casey Fossum, or the sad admission from Derek Jeter that "No matter what the score, [the Devil Rays] probably feel they can beat us."
The antidote, of course, is old-school dominance that was supposed to be Johnson's calling card this year - not the watered-down 61/3 innings that saw 10 Devil Rays reach base. The Big Unit cryptically said, "You expect to win when you give up three runs," but that was just further proof of his decline.
A year ago, Johnson would've been good enough to beat anyone - particularly a last-place team after holding a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Now he's happy just to hang on, bringing the Yankees to a critical question: If it's not Johnson, who can they really trust in October? Better question: Who's their savior in September?
It's asking a lot of Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon to carry the Yankees through these last four weeks, especially with six games remaining with Boston.
Chien-Ming Wang's shoulder has been miraculously rehabilitated by a team of doctors, and his return to the rotation Thursday will be just that - a miracle.
But the Yankees don't dare rely on this soft-spoken, breakable right-hander down the stretch.
Mussina was the Bombers' best hope, already having achieved his 14th consecutive season of double-digit victories. With an ERA under 4.00 at the All-Star break, Mussina (12-8) was more effective than Johnson, tougher than Carl Pavano, more durable than Kevin Brown.
But in mid-July, Mussina started breaking down, too. His elbow hurt in the way that makes pitchers think about a post-baseball life.
"I felt it right here," Mussina said, pointing to the inside tip of the elbow. No doctor had to tell him what was wrong. Tendinitis has a distinct signature - a searing line of pain that's as resilient as it is disabling.
There's no medical procedure to cure it. No little white pill, including an anti-inflammatory, diminishes it. No massage or acupuncture treatment can mask it. The only antidote is rest, and Mussina never considered that option.
"It was killing me three months ago, but I didn't tell anyone. I made up my mind to keep throwing," he said. "I pitched until I couldn't take it any more. I had to. Everything else was falling apart around me."
Wang blew out his arm. Pavano went down with a mysterious shoulder injury. Brown turned 40 and walked around like he was 60. And Johnson kept reminding the Yankees there's no greater gamble than committing three years (and $48 million) to a 41-year-old power pitcher.
From pitch to pitch, the Unit flitters back and forth in a time tunnel - throwing a blistering 96-mph fastball from his prime, but then flattening out his slider like an aging veteran who's lost his release point. After scoring twice on Johnson in the fourth inning, the D-Rays rallied again in the seventh with singles by Nick Green and Carl Crawford, the ninth and 10th runners of the night.
By that time Torre had seen enough. The manager took a long, slow walk to the mound, meaning there'd be no reprieve for the Big Unit. Torre took the ball, patted Johnson on the shoulder and called for Tom Gordon.
Johnson walked back to the dugout staring at his feet, ignoring the warm reception from the crowd. He never looked up, never tipped his cap, instead firing his gum into the ground. He then watched the D-Rays tie the game on Jorge Cantu's sacrifice fly.
Johnson's no-decision was soon eclipsed by subsequent failures. The D-Rays had two hits against Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning, although the killer was Julio Lugo's grounder that rolled through Robinson Cano's legs.
The Big Unit wasn't to blame for any of this, at least not according to the box score. But sooner or later the Yankees will reach their crossroad moment, and the Big Unit's mediocrity will be exposed for everyone (including George Steinbrenner) to see.
That end-of-the-world moment might occur on the final day of the regular season. One game, one win, one last chance for the postseason. If not Johnson, who are the Yankees going to trust? Mussina hopes he can rescue the rotation, but the tendinitis is winning the war with the doctors, the pills, the long, boring days of complete inactivity. So far, nothing is working.
"The longer I'm out, the longer it's going to take to come back," Mussina said grimly. "All I can do is wait and hope."
all you really need to know summed up in one quote: "Mussina hopes he can rescue the rotation, but the tendinitis is winning the war with the doctors, the pills, the long, boring days of complete inactivity. So far, nothing is working."
>.>
no fear, though, i have the perfect solution. i'm already hopped up on medication and advil, and there's a case of corona calling my name. maybe i'll just pass out and sleep away september, and when i wake up this goddamn thing will finally be okay.
It's been a full week since he reported tendinitis in his right elbow, and the 37-year-old right-hander isn't close to returning to the rotation.
Asked if he was feeling better, Mussina shook his head and said, "Actually, it's feeling worse. At least when I was pitching, it would loosen up after a while. Now, I'm just sitting around and I can feel it tightening up."
That's troubling news for a team that saw Randy Johnson blow a three-run lead to the Devil Rays on Tuesday night. With 26 games to go, the Yankees suffered what could've been their most serious setback of the summer: a 4-3 defeat that dropped them four games behind the Red Sox.
The usually upbeat Joe Torre called it a "a tough loss," adding it was "disappointing, especially at this time of the year." Then again, David Ortiz's walk-off HR and the Sox' 3-2 win over the Angels might've been a gift to the Yankees. Maybe it forces them to focus on the wild card now.
But that still doesn't excuse Johnson's inability to outpitch Casey Fossum, or the sad admission from Derek Jeter that "No matter what the score, [the Devil Rays] probably feel they can beat us."
The antidote, of course, is old-school dominance that was supposed to be Johnson's calling card this year - not the watered-down 61/3 innings that saw 10 Devil Rays reach base. The Big Unit cryptically said, "You expect to win when you give up three runs," but that was just further proof of his decline.
A year ago, Johnson would've been good enough to beat anyone - particularly a last-place team after holding a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Now he's happy just to hang on, bringing the Yankees to a critical question: If it's not Johnson, who can they really trust in October? Better question: Who's their savior in September?
It's asking a lot of Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon to carry the Yankees through these last four weeks, especially with six games remaining with Boston.
Chien-Ming Wang's shoulder has been miraculously rehabilitated by a team of doctors, and his return to the rotation Thursday will be just that - a miracle.
But the Yankees don't dare rely on this soft-spoken, breakable right-hander down the stretch.
Mussina was the Bombers' best hope, already having achieved his 14th consecutive season of double-digit victories. With an ERA under 4.00 at the All-Star break, Mussina (12-8) was more effective than Johnson, tougher than Carl Pavano, more durable than Kevin Brown.
But in mid-July, Mussina started breaking down, too. His elbow hurt in the way that makes pitchers think about a post-baseball life.
"I felt it right here," Mussina said, pointing to the inside tip of the elbow. No doctor had to tell him what was wrong. Tendinitis has a distinct signature - a searing line of pain that's as resilient as it is disabling.
There's no medical procedure to cure it. No little white pill, including an anti-inflammatory, diminishes it. No massage or acupuncture treatment can mask it. The only antidote is rest, and Mussina never considered that option.
"It was killing me three months ago, but I didn't tell anyone. I made up my mind to keep throwing," he said. "I pitched until I couldn't take it any more. I had to. Everything else was falling apart around me."
Wang blew out his arm. Pavano went down with a mysterious shoulder injury. Brown turned 40 and walked around like he was 60. And Johnson kept reminding the Yankees there's no greater gamble than committing three years (and $48 million) to a 41-year-old power pitcher.
From pitch to pitch, the Unit flitters back and forth in a time tunnel - throwing a blistering 96-mph fastball from his prime, but then flattening out his slider like an aging veteran who's lost his release point. After scoring twice on Johnson in the fourth inning, the D-Rays rallied again in the seventh with singles by Nick Green and Carl Crawford, the ninth and 10th runners of the night.
By that time Torre had seen enough. The manager took a long, slow walk to the mound, meaning there'd be no reprieve for the Big Unit. Torre took the ball, patted Johnson on the shoulder and called for Tom Gordon.
Johnson walked back to the dugout staring at his feet, ignoring the warm reception from the crowd. He never looked up, never tipped his cap, instead firing his gum into the ground. He then watched the D-Rays tie the game on Jorge Cantu's sacrifice fly.
Johnson's no-decision was soon eclipsed by subsequent failures. The D-Rays had two hits against Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning, although the killer was Julio Lugo's grounder that rolled through Robinson Cano's legs.
The Big Unit wasn't to blame for any of this, at least not according to the box score. But sooner or later the Yankees will reach their crossroad moment, and the Big Unit's mediocrity will be exposed for everyone (including George Steinbrenner) to see.
That end-of-the-world moment might occur on the final day of the regular season. One game, one win, one last chance for the postseason. If not Johnson, who are the Yankees going to trust? Mussina hopes he can rescue the rotation, but the tendinitis is winning the war with the doctors, the pills, the long, boring days of complete inactivity. So far, nothing is working.
"The longer I'm out, the longer it's going to take to come back," Mussina said grimly. "All I can do is wait and hope."
all you really need to know summed up in one quote: "Mussina hopes he can rescue the rotation, but the tendinitis is winning the war with the doctors, the pills, the long, boring days of complete inactivity. So far, nothing is working."
>.>
no fear, though, i have the perfect solution. i'm already hopped up on medication and advil, and there's a case of corona calling my name. maybe i'll just pass out and sleep away september, and when i wake up this goddamn thing will finally be okay.