New York – Shoeless Jim provided levity for the clueless Tigers.
With the Detroit players still confused about where they were staying, when their bus was leaving and what time today’s game was starting, manager Jim Leyland emerged from his office with no shoes, no socks and his dress jacket pulled awkwardly over his bare chest.
“Vance, you got an extra shirt?” barked Leyland to backup catcher Vance Wilson. “I only packed for two days.”
Leyland will need his uniform again as baseball officials made the surprising decision to postpone Game 2 of the playoff series between the Yankees and Tigers, shifting to a 1:09 p.m. EDT start today at Yankee Stadium. Detroit players and their families were scrambling when the clubhouse opened to reporters, wondering where they would spend the hours leading up to the game.
“I am starting, so I already told guys that I get the couch,” said Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, who played catch for 15 minutes but insisted he never warmed up with any intensity, leaving him unaffected for today. “The anticipation has been tough. I am ready to get out there.”
The Yankees were noticeably calmer. Pitcher Mike Mussina monitored the rain on Weather.com and communicated his concerns to manager Joe Torre. His point? There was only going to be an hour window with clear weather, so why bother starting at all?
“I never got hot. I never warmed up,” Mussina said.
At issue was whether the Yankees knew more about the decision to delay the game and received the information sooner. All the VIP members of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner’s box left 10 minutes before the postponement was announced. And Mussina never loosened up.
“With human beings, I can’t say they simultaneously knew because cellphones don’t work in the bottom of this building,” said Jimmie Lee Solomon, executive vice president of Major League Baseball. “We sent people to both clubs and let them know what our thinking was. The forecast indicated that we could get in two, three innings tops and stop again. We didn’t want to burn up two pitchers if we had (bad weather) coming through.”
Quirk in the Rangers’ mix?
Rockies bench coach Jamie Quirk could soon surface as a candidate for the Texas Rangers’ manager job, an opening created by Buck Showalter’s firing Wednesday. Quirk coached for the Rangers in 2002 and got to know current Texas general manager Jon Daniels.
Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine is also familiar with Quirk from his time in the Rockies’ front office.
“Jamie is certainly deserving, but they haven’t called and asked for permission yet,” said Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd.
Texas has two strong possible successors in-house with popular hitting instructor Rudy Jaramillo and bench coach Don Wakamatsu. The Cubs, meanwhile, have narrowed their sights on Lou Piniella, given the pressure on general manager Jim Hendry to win next season. Joe Girardi also is a candidate, and could soon move to the top of the Washington Nationals’ list if the Cubs hire Piniella.
Money matters
It’s hard to create a compelling argument against the value of money when analyzing the Yankees’ lineup, which is flush with $20 million-a-year players. The Yankees’ team payroll sits near $200 million.
The good news for Rockies fans is that the price for a postseason berth went down this season – Minnesota ($64 million) and Oakland ($62 million) advanced from the bottom third. Last year, the minimum outlay was $70 million. That said, the Rockies’ payroll, at $42 million last season, is expected to be around $52 million next season, $10 million less than any team still playing.
Ellis out, Jimenez in
Former failed Yankees prospect D’Angelo Jimenez, who was cut by the Rangers this year and spent most of the year at Triple-A Sacramento, will start in place of injured Oakland second baseman Mark Ellis. Ellis fractured his right index finger when hit by a pitch Wednesday and is expected to miss the remainder of the postseason.
Shortstop Bobby Crosby was left out off the ALDS roster because he’s not yet healthy.
