Why Yankees will lose

Yankee pride won’t put away M’s
Title run ends in ALCS against more rested, talented foe

        If this is the last hurrah of the New York Yankees — and there’s a good chance it is — it is one to remember. They limped and staggered across the country, hauled their creaking bones onto the field for one more mighty effort, poured a first-inning deluge across the plate, and then held on for dear life.
It is hard to imagine they can scrape together another effort over seven games against Seattle to match the one they gave over five games against Oakland. It is never a sure thing to bet against the Yankees, but it is even less sure to suggest they can somehow collect themselves and find a way to win another series.
       The Yankees needed everything they had and then some to beat the A’s. They needed Andy Pettitte to struggle through less than half the game on three day’s rest. They needed Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson to emerge from the depths of the bullpen to get outs. They needed Orlando ‘El Duque’ Hernandez to retire a batter just two days after he won Game 3. They needed to parole Chuck Knoblauch from internal exile and they needed to find life in the dead bats of Paul O’Neill, Dave Justice, and Tino Martinez.
        They got it all — most of it in the first inning when they scored six of their seven runs in a 7-5 victory. And when they had, they didn’t bother to worry about the long plane ride home and the Mariners, who will be waiting for them, fresh and young and rested, Tuesday night in the Bronx. First there was a celebration to attend to, a celebration that may be the last of a season and an era.
       But reality will impose itself soon enough when Denny Neagle, whose only action in the division series was to warm up in the bullpen, will have to start Game 1. No one knows what he will give the Yankees, but if you go on his last couple of months, it won’t be enough to win a game.        Then it has to be El Duque, who threw 130 pitches Friday and then warmed up twice and threw to two batters Sunday night. Hernandez learned to pitch in Cuba under even greater demands on his arm, but he’s years removed from those days. He’s the Yankees’ best pitcher, but he’s also a question mark.
        Then it’s Roger Clemens, who hasn’t been Mr. Reliable in the playoffs. He’s had two starts so far this post-season and he’s lost both. Manager Joe Torre will repeat what he always says about the greatness of the Rocket, but Yankee fans would be more surprised to see a great October performance out of Clemens than they would to find a graffiti-free subway train.
       The way the rotation sets up, Pettitte, the team’s second most reliable starter, will pitch only once against the Mariners and if it goes to a seventh game, Clemens will have the ball. It’s not the sort of situation that makes a fan want to run to Las Vegas to bet the house on the Yankees.
       Just getting to a seventh game may be too much to expect. Yes, Knoblauch, who led off as the designated hitter, got on base and scored, but outside of one good inning and a solo home run by David Justice, the Yankees again had no offense. They aren’t hitting the ball hard and they aren’t hitting it often.
       Watching the Yankees let their crew cuts down and the champagne flow gave you the idea they know what a miracle it is that they have made it this far and how much more a miracle it will be to get to yet another World Series. A year ago, they didn’t celebrate because they said they hadn’t won anything yet. This year, they may have won all they’re going to win.
        You never count them out. But you also can’t forget it was all they could do to win a five-game series. How can they possibly survive seven?