Yankees purr like a Big Red Machine - 1998 New York Yankees playing like 1970's Cincinnati Reds in the World Series - Column - Brief Article

I pitched against the Big Red Machine in the 1970s, and I lost more than I won against that team. It was one of those situations where you had everything to gain and nothing to lose.

I compare these Yankees to those teams. These Yankees can get to you with power, speed, running, hit-and-running, walks--the Big Red Machine did all that. But the Big Red Machine was not one Big Red Machine--it was different teams over an era. They had pennant-winning teams in 1970 and 1972 and some changes in personnel when they won World Series in 1975 and 1976. Ken Griffey and Dan Driessen weren't there in those early years, but they were in '75 and '76. Joe Morgan and George Foster were there beginning in '72. Johnny Bench was there throughout. It wasn't just one team, just like this Yankee team won't be exactly the same team next year. So it's fair to compare.

The type of offense the Yankees have this year, it does the same type of things that the Cincinnati offense did. The Yankees are very versatile in the way they score runs. They have lefthanded and righthanded hitters who can beat you, they can beat you by moving runners and by slamming the ball out of the park. Their starting pitching is outstanding, and so is their bullpen. You have to be very good and a little bit lucky to get through nine innings against them.

Other thoughts while watching this World Series:

* I think it's good that players like Orlando and Livan Hernandez don't know about pitch counts before they get to this stage. They never worried about them in Cuba. I wish our guys didn't know about them. I think they're good for internal information, but not good for pitchers. It's not important for pitchers to know how many pitches they throw. They need to just get guys out.

It starts in the minor leagues, and you get guys thinking they can't do something that they can do. They get to a certain number of pitches and talk themselves out of pitching. They get in a good rhythm, and there's no reason they should have to stop. I'd like to see us think more like they do in Cuba.

* Unfortunately for the Padres, the first two games showed you how things you do one night affect the next game.

Bruce Bochy had Joey Hamilton and Mark Langston warming up in Game 1, and when he brought in Donne Wall instead of Hamilton to replace Kevin Brown in the big seventh inning, I think that was a costly decision. Bruce went away from a ground-ball pitcher to a fly-ball pitcher, and Chuck Knoblauch's fly over the left field wall wiped out a big lead.

I know Bruce was wanting to go with a guy who's more frequently used in that situation, and that a lot of times Donne strikes you out. But when he doesn't strike you out, they hit fly balls. And the fly ball killed them. Hamilton would have been more likely to walk someone if he didn't get a ground ball.

Interestingly, later that inning Bruce went to a guy who's more familiar with starting instead of relieving--Mark Langston instead of Randy Myers. It's almost like Bruce said, "Well, I'm going to do it a different way now." When you get into that state and you think, "Maybe I can do this or maybe I can do that"--that's when you get in trouble. What you really want are the strength of your convictions and not have any second thoughts about it. But when they fail, you start to have second, thoughts. Tino Martinez hit the big grand slam.

Had Bruce used Myers in Game 1, he could have used Langston early in Game 2--when Andy Ashby struggled--almost as a starter. Perhaps he could have kept it close enough so they could make a comeback. After that, the Padres really needed the off-day to get back on track.

* Joe Torre made maybe the best decision of the Series in deciding to start rookie Ricky Ledee in left field in the first two games.

Sometimes inexperience can be an ally. When you become a veteran, you realize how difficult it is to get here, and it could put a little pressure on you. That might not help.

As a manager, you have to have absolute control of the clubhouse and the support of your players if you're going to play a rookie over a (veteran) who really wants to be in the World Series. Otherwise, you're going to get a lot of players whispering to each other. If you put a guy in and he gets hits, you're golden. If he doesn't, then you have to be a guy who commands the respect of your team. And Ledee came up big both nights.

Larry Dierker managed the Astros to their second consecutive postseason in 1998 and is back as The Sporting News' exclusive World Series analyst. E-mail him at dierker@sportingnews, com and look for his game-by-game insight and replies at www.sportingnews.com.

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