Well, since Spring Training continues to be a relatively quiet affair,
I am going to take a look back at a dark moment in the Yankees’ past
and submit a “What If?” scenario that some (many, most … all) may
find more foolish than my thinking that the Nationals will be pretty
good this season.

This “What If?” has to do with Game 7 of the
2004 ALCS, a game I watched mostly by myself in the dark in the room of one of
my college housemates (My room was on the first floor. I needed to get to high ground). I did not go out to a bar to watch the
game with my fellow Yankees fans. I did not e-mail my professor to tell her I
was skipping class even though it was going to cost me half a letter
grade because I had to watch the game, like I did during Game 7 of the
2003 ALCS. For this game, I went into my friends’ room, turned off the
lights, turned on the TV and waited for the loss that I fully expected
to happen.

Now, as a Yankees fan, I have had very, very few
instances where I have been pessimistic. The team has won five World
Series titles and seven AL pennants since I was born (’83), they’ve
been in the postseason almost every year and they consistently field (some of you may say buy)
one of the top teams in baseball. Yes, there’s the occasional Kei Igawa
start or Cody Ransom at-bat during the regular season where I don’t
expect anything good to happen (because it won’t), but mostly I’ve been spoiled by the likes of Derek Jeter, A-Rod, CC Sabathia,
Mariano Rivera, etc. Every time the Yankees have made the playoffs,
even if, like from 2004-07, they didn’t exactly have the world’s
greatest pitching staff, I’ve convinced myself that they were good
enough to win the World Series. In the previously mentioned Game 7 of
the ’03 ALCS, I fully expected them to come back and win that game,
even when they were down 5-2 going into the bottom of the eighth
inning. However, when it comes to Game 7 of the ’04 ALCS, this game was
one I knew was not going to begin (or likely end) well. I wasn’t
pessimistic because the Red Sox had managed to bounce back from a 3-0
deficit to tie the series, or because the Yanks were unable to beat
Curt Schilling and his bloody sock (Real blood? Only Gary Thorne
knows), I was pessimistic for one reason and one reason only:

Kevin Brown was starting the game.

For
the majority of his career, Brown was an elite pitcher. He finished
with a 211-144 record over 19 seasons, won 21 games in ’92 and 18 in both
’98 and ’99, but by the time he came to the Yanks he was pretty much
shot (He went 10-6 in ’04 with a 4.09 ERA, which isn’t terrible in the
AL, but he did not exactly inspire confidence that year. I demand
inspiration from my pitchers. He also broke his hand punching a wall). He pitched a great game in his one start
of the ALDS against the Twins, but he got lit up by Boston in the
never-ending Game 3 (two innings, five hits, four runs — three earned)
and he did not seem like the pitcher who was going to stop David Ortiz,
Johnny Damon and the rest of “the Idiots” on their way to
curse-breaking glory. Now, the Yankees options here were limited. Their
best pitcher, Mike Mussina, had pitched two days before, so you
couldn’t throw him out there. The only other option to start in the
game was Javier Vazquez, but he had also been lit up by Boston in Game
3, giving up four runs in 4 1/3 innings of relief. So, with that said,
who should the Yankees have started that game? What is my “What If?”
scenario for Game 7 that, had it worked, would have gone down as one of
the most memorable moments in baseball history. And, had it not worked,
would have got Joe Torre fired (or at least offered a one-year deal he
could not accept)?

In Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS, the Yankees should have started Mariano Rivera.

You
see, since I believe Brown had no shot of winning this game, I think
the Yankees should have pitched this game backwards. You bring in Mo
(even though he hadn’t started a game since 1995, his rookie season),
have him pitch two or three innings, and, while he may give up a run or
two, it is highly unlikely the Yanks are down 6-0 after two innings (I realize, had Rivera been successful in Game 5 this all could have been avoided anyway. However, this is my randomly updated MLBlog. I make the rules!)
Then you bring in the rest of your bullpen and, if you need him later in the game, maybe if you get a 10-run lead, Brown.

Because this move makes little baseball sense, I’m going to
have to play up the psychological ramifications this would have had on the two
clubs and the crowd. It would have been like a pro wrestling event!
“Bah Gawd! Mariano is gonna start! What’s going on here?!” Obviously,
Torre would not have let this plan be known before the game. You have
Brown head to the bullpen like he’s going to start, make everything
look normal, and, while Brown is nearing the end of his warmups, have
Rivera warmup alongside him — it only takes Rivera a few pitches to
get himself ready to enter a game. The TV cameras would obviously
notice this and let everyone at home know what’s going on, and I’m sure
the Red Sox would pick up on it pretty quick, but, even with cell
phones, the majority of the crowd isn’t going to find out before
Rivera’s ready to head out of the bullpen to start the game.

And can
you imagine what the crowd would have sounded like when “Enter Sandman”
started if this were to have happened? Mayhem! Yes, I’m aware some people would
be screaming “What the HELL is he doing?!” But, even if it was a
complete failure, it would have gone down as one of the memorable
moments in baseball history (and really, could it have gone worse?).
And, had it worked … you’d be seeing “Yankeeography: How Mariano
Rivera’s greatest save happened to be a start” every week on YES until
the end of time.

Or, to quote Chad Ochocino: “Child please!”