Pinstripes Suit Veteran Leyritz

Jim Leyritz admits that wearing the periwinkle of the Angels and the Swinging’ Friar patch of the Padres while on two Southern California sojourns was an enjoyable experience, but it pales in comparison to donning the pinstripes of the Yankees.

“Last year was fun and I loved it out in San Diego, but this feels very familiar,” said Leyritz, who rejoined New York in a July 31 trade with the Padres. “Eventually, I thought, I wanted to retire here as a Yankee because I spent the first part of my career here.”

Leyritz, 35, a backup catcher and designated hitter, was also back in his element playing in the postseason.

Entering the Yankees’ division series against the Texas Rangers, seven of his 12 hits in 24 career playoff games had been home runs. His two most memorable shots came as a Yankee: the 15th-inning, game-winning two-run homer in Game 2 of the 1995 division series against the Seattle Mariners; and the tide-turning three-run bomb he hit off Atlanta Brave closer Mark Wohlers in the eighth inning of Game 4 in the 1996 World Series.

He became an Angel two months later when he was traded for a pair of players to be named later--Jeremy Blevins and Ryan Kane. After spending less than four months in Anaheim, he was shipped to Texas for Ken Hill, staying a short time before being dealt to Boston. He was traded to San Diego on June 21, 1998, facing the team that initially signed him as a non-drafted free agent, the Yankees, in last year’s World Series.

Even with his moves, Leyritz still keeps tabs on the Angels, especially with the recent clubhouse troubles and subsequent resignations of Manager Terry Collins and Vice President and General Manager Bill Bavasi.

“I think it’s going to be good for the organization in the long run,” Leyritz said of the changes. “But you don’t like to see anything like that happen to a guy like Terry Collins because for me, when I played there, we got along very well.”

But Leyritz’s more pressing issues include getting back to the World Series.

“I was with this organization when it was terrible, we were a last-place team,” said Leyritz, who was 0 for 2 with a bases-loaded walk in the Yankees’ sweep of the Rangers in this year’s division series. “To go that full circle and do what we did in ’96 was nice. And to be able to come back and be a part of it and have a chance to do it again, I’ve been more than blessed.”

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It was no secret that Rafael Palmeiro’s presence made the Rangers a better team this year. His stats--a .324 average, 47 homers and 148 RBIs--attest to that.

But Texas Manager Johnny Oates said Palmeiro, who rejoined the Rangers as a free agent last off-season after a five-year stint with the Baltimore Orioles, also helped out with intangibles.

“In our clubhouse, Rafael Palmeiro has all players following him,” Oates said of the Cuban-born but Americanized designated hitter. “We have a very bilingual ballclub. He can speak to everyone in there and . . . has become a very quiet leader. “

The Rangers had six players from Latin American countries on their 25-man division series roster: Palmeiro, Cuba; Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez and Luis Alicea, Puerto Rico; Roberto Kelly, Panama; and Esteban Loaiza, Mexico.

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Joe Torre’s first job as a manager came with the Mets, from 1977-81. So, before the Yankees’ Game 3 against the Rangers, the current Yankee skipper discussed his former team’s win earlier in the afternoon, which advanced it to the National League Championship Series against the Braves.

“I tell you what, a week ago they were nowhere in sight,” Torre said. “They needed help, let’s put it that way. To me, they’re the most relaxed club in the postseason. Right now, anything they’re doing is bonus time for them.”