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Rothschild: Yanks are as good a team as he's seen
By MARC TOPKIN © St. Petersburg Times, published September 26, 1998 That's according to Rays manager Larry Rothschild, and he should know since his team went into play Friday 1-8 against the Yanks. "A lot of things have to go right for that to happen, but I think it speaks volumes about the players, the manager and the coaches," Rothschild said before the game. "To do it you really have to push yourself every game and they obviously have been able to do that." Rothschild said the Yankees are not just a good team, but a complete one. "They're as good a team as I've seen in every facet," Rothschild said. "There's not one area where you can say, "If we get to this we've got a chance.' You have to play nine innings of good solid baseball and a lot of things are going to have to go right to beat them." SAFE AND SOUND: Finally, third-base coach Orlando Gomez could relax. His 82-year-old mother, Ana, safely survived Hurricane Georges in their hometown of Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico. Gomez had been unable to reach any family or friends on the island since Monday but was able to get through to his sister, Lucy, on Friday afternoon at the hospital where she works. "She said Mama was okay," Gomez said. "There was a little damage to our house. The storm hit our town hard." ... RHP Roberto Hernandez also got good news -- his relatives and house in Puerto Rico were fine and his parents were safe in the Dominican Republic and planning to fly to New York on Friday night or this morning. "Everything's okay," he said. SPECIAL-T: Rothschild likes what he has seen from LHP Terrell Wade, who starts today, and that has to do with more than just Wade's fastball and slider. "He showed good presence on the mound, a competitiveness. And he showed toughness, which are things I like to see," Rothschild said. Wade missed 15 months due to elbow and shoulder problems but looked good enough in his 1998 debut Monday that the Rays want to give him another chance today. "He's not a rehab but he won't be all the way back until next year," Rothschild said. "But he's certainly come a long, long way." The Rays could use Wade as a starter or reliever, and he said he didn't have a preference. "I think he's more valuable to the organization at this point in time as a starter," pitching coach Rick Williams said. "He's young, he's strong and he's left-handed." PITCHING IN: Rothschild hasn't settled on a starter for Sunday, but it apparently won't be Julio Santana, who is 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA in five September starts and allowed 43 hits in 24 innings, or knuckleballer Dennis Springer, who has pitched sparingly. Rothschild plans to use the bullpen staff in what could be almost a spring-training setup, with each pitcher working one or two innings. That's partly because he wants to see certain pitchers throw one more time and "the fact that we're a little short starting-wise," he said. LINING UP: Wade Boggs didn't start at third due to sore knees, so rookie Scott McClain, who had 34 homers and 109 RBI at Triple-A Durham, got the call. "I wanted to give Scott a chance to start and get some at-bats," Rothschild said. ... OF Randy Winn, immersed in a 4-for-45 slump, was out of the lineup. "He probably got a little bit worn down," Rothschild said. "There's been some adjustments made in the way he's been pitched that he has to make adjustments to and he hasn't done it yet." STAT CHAT: One consideration Rothschild is using in making the lineup over the final days is whether players are close to any statistical goals. Fred McGriff went into play Friday needing one homer to reach 20 for the 12th straight season and Quinton McCracken one big game from finishing the season with a .300 average. "Truthfully, there's not as many on this club as most clubs I've been on, but that would be expected," Rothschild said.
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EW YORK -- It takes a lot to win an American League record-tying 111 games in a season, and the Yankees have it and more.
