Bullpen Does Job, Keeps Yankees in Race

Not one of the Yankees’ six relief pitchers has an identifiable theme song. None of them has a flamboyant nickname, a ritual dance or a penchant for sitting on someone else’s birthday cake. In terms of achieving a high profile, this group has more in common with the men who used to drive the bullpen carts than those who ceremoniously popped out of them.

The carts, of course, have long been retired, which is fine. Steve Farr, Lee Guetterman, Steve Howe, Greg Cadaret, John Habyan and Eric Plunk (in reverse order of their usual order of appearance) all are more than capable of reaching the mound on their own power, and keeping the juice flowing once they get there.

In their own understated and cohesive manner, the six members of the bullpen have done as much as anyone to sustain the 9-4 burst the Yankees carry into Friday night’s game against the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium. Surely, dramatic home runs and 11th-hour singles often have put the Yankees over the threshold. Yet it has been the bullpen, keeping games close, that has repeatedly brought them to the doorstep.

Each of the six has clicked in the past three weeks and, in turn, made the other five better. In the past 17 games, they have a combined 5-0 record, four saves and 1.74 earned run average. They haven’t allowed a home run in 15 games.

Overall, they have helped develop this gaudy statistic: 17 times the Yankees have led after seven innings, and 17 times they’ve won. Should the relievers keep this up, they will provide a six-part answer to the offseason question: Who will replace Dave Righetti?

“This is the best bullpen I’ve ever been involved with,” said Farr, who pitched for the world champion Kansas City Royals in 1985.

The idea of a hot team drawing fuel from a strong bullpen is not revolutionary. Success generally leans on relief. What sets the Yankees apart is their collective and rather anonymous approach to such a solitary and conspicuous role.

“To date, everybody has been in every situation that you can be in -- long, middle and short (relief). When you have that flexibility, you have guys that really don’t have a concern, just as long as they get out there,” Guetterman said. “Like Steve Howe mentioned, ‘I don’t care when I pitch, as long as I pitch.’ That’s kind of a unique situation. I’ve never been in that one before.”

A reliever who thrives on activity could not find a better workshop than Yankee Stadium. The club has a starting rotation that often needs help and a manager that doesn’t mind bumper-to-bumper traffic at the mound. Stump Merrill went to the bullpen in 47 of the Yankees’ first 49 games. Cadaret alone has appeared 26 times.

The bullpen’s makeup is a manager’s dream: Three left-handers, three right-handers and no one whose psyche demands he be considered The Main Man.

“Sometimes you have to put on hold your personal goals. I’m not threatened by someone else’s job,” Howe said.

Farr added: “In fact, I don’t see any real ego problems in here anywhere; whereas with the Royals, we had a couple of major problems.”

Although Farr and Guetterman have emerged as the primary closers, neither has a monopoly on the late innings. Habyan and Howe each have two wins.

The latter’s arrival from Columbus on May 9 appears to have been a key move. He has brought a lively fastball, a good deal of experience and the sort of flexibility that has allowed Plunk to rebuild his confidence with long-relief work.

“There were tough times. I’d be lying if I said they weren’t tough. But I’m not a rookie. I’ve been around a little bit. I knew what I was capable of doing and I felt fine physically. I knew as soon as I ironed out a little (mechanical) problem, I’d be all right,” said Plunk, whose ERA in his past six outings is 0.66. Why, fans even clamored for him during Tim Leary’s uneven start Monday night.

Plunk has found a personal reason to admire the Yankees’ bullpen depth. “When I was having a tough time, those guys were supportive, and that helped a lot,” he said.

The irony of the strength-in-numbers argument is that none of the pitchers will have impressive numbers. Not one of them has more than four saves or two wins.

It is a rarity when any of them is the focus of attention. “Hey, Habes,” Howe called over to Habyan during an interview on the relief corps. “It’s a beautiful day! They’re going to give the pen some recognition!”

Renown and statistics have their limits, though. “I was 11-7 last year, second on the staff in ERA, and I think I led the team in appearances. So what? We were 67-95. As a team, we stunk,” Guetterman said. “Nobody’s going to recognize what I did. But if you go 11-7 and are second in ERA for a team that wins 93 ballgames, people are going to say, ‘Hey, this guy has made a difference.”’

Even if he never makes a commercial.

The Yankees’ clubhouse is getting louder by the day. Stereos and boom boxes have begun blasting from all corners. Volume and winning seemingly go hand-in-hand.

The stereo Dave Righetti and Andy Hawkins left behind is now controlled by Steve Farr and is reserved for rock ‘n roll. The oversized box in the middle is mostly for loud rap or loud funk or loud disco, unless Don Mattingly slips in a John Cougar Mellencamp tape every so often.

“You can’t play the stereo unless you’re winning. It’s a rule,” Farr said.

A few weeks ago, there was no reason to sing. It appeared for a while that the nightmare of 1990 might be relived in silence. The Yankees, 7-16 at their worst, returned from the West Coast 8-16 -- the worst record in the majors. And possibly the quietest.

A lot has happened since their low point, most of it positive. They are 15-11 since then and are now as close to the top of the AL East as the bottom. How did this happen? And why?

Some reasons:

Walt Hriniak’s stance: Turns out that new stance of Don Mattingly’s wasn’t borrowed from Carl Yastrzemski after all, but from another ex-Red Sox. Mattingly decided to place his bat high over his head after watching the White Sox, whose hitting coach is Walt Hriniak.

“The White Sox all had their hands up and they were getting on top of the ball,” Mattingly said. “I started it in Oakland. Ever since then I’ve been trying to get them up in the air.”

The result is that Mattingly is hitting the ball harder. He still isn’t the Mattingly of old but he’s getting closer. Since the change, Mattingly has hit .320 with three home runs and 12 RBI in 97 at-bats.

The bullpen’s zeroes: Over the past 18 games, the bullpen is 5-0 with five saves and a 1.45 ERA.

Mattingly’s leadership: For someone who always had rejected the leadership role, Mattingly’s not half-bad at it. The newly named captain started spicing things up at the end of the hideous 3-8 West Coast trip. Mattingly began storming around angrily. It was an inspiration.

“It helped. There was a direct impact when he did that,” Farr said of Mattingly’s new leadership. “He can’t do that every day. He’d be worn out, and he’s not a rah-rah guy.”

Perez’ return: Pascual Perez brought energy and life to a drab clubhouse. He brought loud clothes and a loud manner, gold chains and a golden arm. The liveliest moment came May 14 when Perez returned after a year away and beat the California Angels, 6-0.

Pat Kelly’s presence: Pat Kelly, second base prospect extraordinaire, has temporarily solved the third base merry-go-round. Instead of holding daily tryouts there, the position is set -- for now. Instead of having three relatively unhappy men there (especially Jim Leyritz), they have one happy man who can field.

And, oh yes, Kelly’s seven RBI are three more than Randy Velarde (three), Mike Blowers (one), Leyritz (zero), and Torey Lovullo (zero) had totaled.

Sanderson’s pitching: The Yankees desperately need an ace, you say. Here he is. Scott Sanderson’s 7-2 record gives him a better winning percentage than he had last year, when he was 17-11 with Oakland (.778 to .607).