Robbie, healthy Doc creating confidence
Signing Alomar greatly improves the team’s defense and speed. Lefty Ricardo Rincon and flame-throwing right-hander Jerry Spradlin deepen an already solid bullpen.
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Quietly, the Indians became a much better team over the winter. They have no reason to run scared from the mighty Yankees, and they know it.
“I’ll tell you what, those guys, whether they admit it or not, I’m pretty sure we put fear in ’em, being up 2-1,” Cleveland’s Dwight Gooden said, reflecting on the 1998 ALCS against the Yankees. “That’s not taking anything from them. They had an unbelievable year and they should be the favorites. All the lights should be flashing on those guys. They deserve it, the year they had. But that was last year.”
And this is this year, and the Indians have Roberto Alomar and a strengthened bullpen. And they have confidence.
“When we play the Yankees it’s going to be an old Western shootout, us against you,” Jim Thome said. “Personally, I have a lot of respect for them guys. They are great players, but not only are they great players, they are great guys. [Scott] Brosius, [Derek] Jeter, Tino [Martinez], all them guys are good guys. When we go there to play the Yankees, we know we have to bring our game to the next level or they’ll bury us.”
The Indians didn’t get that elusive No. 1 starter they have needed for so long, but they improved as much as any club in the American League. Again, they represent the biggest threat to the Yankees’ chances of playing in the World Series for the third time in four seasons.
Signing Alomar greatly improves the team’s defense and speed. Lefty Ricardo Rincon and flame-throwing right-hander Jerry Spradlin deepen an already solid bullpen.
And if Thome knows whereof he speaks, the Indians’ rotation will be much better, despite no changes. Thome points to his close pal Gooden as the main reason to believe that.
“It’s just surprising how much more he’s got on his fastball than he had last year. He hit 95 [mph] a couple of times, and he was mid-90s the whole game with a good breaking ball,” Thome said of Gooden’s first spring-training start. “He’s huge for us. You see Doc have good stuff in spring training, now all of a sudden what that does is bring Bartolo Colon and Jaret Wright to the next level. They look at him and say, ‘Now I’ve got to step up my game, too.’ I’ve seen that from them already.”
Gooden said his shoulder feels as good as it has “since ’91 or ’92 on a consistent basis. All I want to do is stay healthy. With the defense we have and the offense we have, the numbers will take care of themselves.”
One number within his 1999 sights in career victory No. 200.
“How many do I need? Fifteen? Why not? The key is if I can just stay healthy and get my 30-plus starts the numbers should be right where I want them,” he said. “I have to stay off that DL. When you go on the DL, especially late in your career, you get depressed and you ask yourself if you would just be better off going home.”
Gooden boasts excitedly about the Indians’ everyday lineup, one that features an All-Star at all eight positions on the field: Kenny Lofton CF, Omar Vizquel SS, Roberto Alomar 2B, Thome 1B, Manny Ramirez RF, David Justice LF, Travis Fryman 3B, Richie Sexon or Wil Cordero DH, Sandy Alomar Jr. C.
“We have three guys who can steal you 30-plus bases at the top of the order,” Gooden said. “Then we have the boppers in the middle.”
Gooden is confident he will have another crack at a career first, a postseason victory. He holds the record for most postseason starts (nine) without a win.
He was tossed out of his first postseason start last October, against the Red Sox in the Division Series after telling plate umpire Joe Brinkman to “get in the [bleeping] game.”
“Once I calmed down I said I better call my mom and let her know I’m OK because she gets kind of worked up over things like that,” Gooden said. “She said: ‘Did you hurt your arm bad? … I turned the game on a little late and saw another guy pitching in the first inning. I thought you hurt your arm warming up.’
“My first reaction was should I just ride with this, or should I tell her because I know she’s going to go off?”
Gooden realized she would find out soon enough anyway, and confessed.
“Once I told her, oh man, she let me have it,” Gooden said.
He recovered from the tongue-lashing and is primed to have a big year for a loaded team. *CAL Ripken Jr. isn’t the only one to dispute Bobby Valentine’s version of a discussion involving a drilling.
While talking about Armando Benitez earlier this spring, Valentine said the only time he ever ordered a hitter drilled was in 1986, when Ranger catcher Don Slaught was hit in the face by an Oil Can Boyd heater. Valentine said Slaught, on his way to the hospital, told him to take care of it.
Slaught was so upset to hear Valentine’s version, he contacted The Post from his Los Angeles home to set the record straight.
“The only thing I can say is you can talk to any coach or player on that team and ask them if that’s something I would do,” Slaught said. “It wasn’t even a situation where it was on purpose. He threw me two hooks, then threw me an 0-2, up-and-in fastball that I lost. I didn’t see it and didn’t even attempt to get out of the way.”
The pitch shattered Slaught’s cheek as well as bones beneath the eye and cracked a tooth.
Just wondering, anyone else out there starting to get the impression Valentine isn’t a real reliable source?