TAMPA – Shelley Duncan is a likeable lug, made even more so by his Crash Davis-esque scratch-and-claw excursion through the minors.
He is, Reggie Jackson said admiringly, “like someone who made the team out of the stands.” This reflects Duncan’s enthusiasm, his spunk, his gung-ho essence; his anything-to-get-here, anything-to-stay-here nature. This is what is so tricky in dealing with Duncan; you don’t want to rein in the very passion that enabled him to finally escape the clutches of the International League, the fire that infused so much life last year to the previously snoozing Yankees.
But the Yankees know now that they must smooth rough edges or else Duncan will imperil his health and reputation, and also potentially endanger higher-profile Yankees. The tutorial already has begun.
“A lot of veteran guys have talked to him,” Johnny Damon told The Post yesterday. “We are telling him to keep playing hard, but keep the spikes down and the shoulders in (when sliding). This way people see you are playing hard, but no one can question you.”
The veterans can’t let it slide any longer, not when Duncan’s slides in particular have navigated from aggressive to egregious. He was borderline last year, going down late or coming in high. He was clearly over the border Wednesday when he spiked Tampa’s Akinori Iwamura, inciting an on-field melee.
Duncan said there was no “malicious” intent. But as Mike Mussina told The Post, “he was right at the bag, spikes high and out by so much that it looked all the worse.” Doug Mientkiewicz, Duncan’s teammate last year and a Pirate this season, added, “He hasn’t been around long enough to do stuff like that.”
It is possible Duncan might just know one gear that blends desperation and inspiration, and perhaps a touch of gangly awkwardness that keeps his brain from editing his actions at full speed. However, Duncan must discover some moderation or risk finding that the opposition, the umpires and the Commissioners Office will never give him the benefit of the doubt. He may even find diminishing love in his own clubhouse if his more boisterous activities motivate retaliations.
“You don’t want to get key guys in trouble on a daily basis,” Mientkiewicz said. “Derek [Jeter] and Alex [Rodriguez] already get hit enough.”
“I can’t get mad at the guy,” Damon said. “He’s young. We just need to talk to him and tell him to tone it down and tell him to watch out. . . . We love the hard play, but the hard play can’t involve spikes and it can’t involve cutting someone up. When he goes high, it will not just be talk around here. Guys around the league are going to talk.”
Mussina agreed.
“I’m all for playing hard, but you have to know what happens in such situations,” Mussina said. “The whole season now there is going to be a cloud over it with everyone waiting for the next whatever to happen. He kept the ball rolling [in a growing feud against the Rays]. You like the energy and how he plays, and you believe experience will help him make good decisions.”
Joe Girardi spoke to Duncan, but you have a better chance of Elliot Spitzer revealing intimate moments about Client No. 9 than of the Yankees manager divulging the details of the chat. Clearly, though, what the Yanks want is for Duncan to better appreciate the fine line between relentless and reckless, with both his actions and words. The Rays, after all, found his pregame comments provocative. Duncan already was more hesitant and tepid in responses yesterday. You can understand why. He has incredible ardor for being a Yankee, total revulsion of returning to the bus rides of the minors. He doesn’t want to talk his way to Scranton.
But part of what makes him valuable to the Yankees is the full-motor approach that has him working so hard to refine his fielding, toughen his at-bats and be a player, Mientkiewicz said, who “definitely brings attitude and intensity that you absolutely love on your team. I equate Shelley to a goon on a hockey team. You have to have him and he loves the role. It is so perfect for him.”
Duncan would reject the goon analogy, embrace just the all-out spirit inferred by the job. But can Duncan be all-out, yet not out of control at the same time?