PHILADELPHIA — The Yankees way is more than just spending money.
Mark Teixeira said something yesterday that will make every Red Sox fan cringe.
“Pinstripes are bigger than baseball,” Teixeira said at Citizens Bank Park. “So when you come and play for an organization like this, you humble yourself a little bit.”
Three more wins and the Yankees will be the biggest thing in baseball.
General manager Brian Cashman is having the best postseason of anyone in baseball. His moves have paid off for the Yankees in every way.
His two huge pitching acquisitions, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, have made World Series statements. Cashman also decided to bring back tonight’s Game 3 starter Andy Pettitte even though his ERA was higher than usual in 2008.
Once again, the ball is in Pettitte’s hands in a big Series game on the road.
Using the statistical and video research the Yankees have instituted under Cashman, they came to the conclusion that although Pettitte’s ERA was higher, that was essentially a false reading.
Pettitte was not losing his stuff, the defense behind him wasn’t as good as in the past and there were quite a few flares and ground balls hit in just the right spots. Add Teixeira to the lineup and all of a sudden, the all-around defense gets better.
Yes, Cashman spent lots of money ($423.5 million) on Sabathia, Burnett and Teixeira, but he spent it the right way.
“Cash did a great job putting this team together,” Teixeira said. “It’s always a crapshoot. You never know . . . but Cash brought in a lot of high character guys, guys who have added a lot to this team, on and off the field, and we’ve meshed very well with the guys who have always been here.”
That’s part of the process too. It’s not like Cashman is just putting a blank check in front of a player. He explained it this way:
“I don’t try to recruit people, I try to educate them,” Cashman said of his signing style. “If you make that kind of financial commitment, you don’t want to have a guy to show up here after two months and be like, ‘Man, this is not what I thought’ because now you’re stuck.”
Cashman said it’s more than a contract.
“Those types of commitments are like partnerships,” he said. “You need it to work for them and for you.”
It’s working great so far — the Yankees are only three wins away from getting to where they want to be as a team. They haven’t won a World Series since 2000.
The Yankees had a relaxed practice yesterday, they know how close they are, and they are confident because they know they will be getting a well-pitched game every night. That’s the key. Yankees starting pitching has been there all year.
“Those guys have really stepped up in the postseason,” Teixeira said of the Big Three — Sabathia, Burnett and Pettitte. “What I love about them is that they’re fearless.”
Cashman said Burnett, the Game 2 winner, has always been confident, but he is doing “the hard work behind the scenes” to be more consistent to get the breaking ball where it needs to be. Those are all factors that Cashman took into consideration before signing Burnett.
People always will look at the Yankees as the Evil Empire. That will never change. But the Yankees made some solid baseball decisions. That’s what this is all about.
That’s why they are only three wins away from their 27th world championship.
kevin.kernan@nypost.com