Chuck Knoblauch and I were chatting near his locker at Legends Field. It was his first spring with the Yankees, 1998, and, at some point, I mentioned, “You know, you’ve got to win tomorrow.”
He chuckled, but saw me not laugh with him. “You’re playing the Devil Rays tomorrow,” I pointed out.
“Big deal,” Knoblauch said. So I had to explain that George Steinbrenner did not like Devil Rays owner Vince Naimoli. George was a Tampa resident and came to see these Yankees-Devil Rays matchups as bragging rights in the city, just as much as a regular-season game since the regular-season games took place in St. Pete.
And so I told Knoblauch to expect the main starting lineup to be used and to be kept in the game beyond the normal period for an exhibition.
It was a welcome to the George Steinbrenner Yankees for Knoblauch, one that many others experienced as they learned The Boss’ various passion points.
Today so much has changed. Naimoli no longer owns the Tampa baseball team that now simply goes by the name Rays, the Devil no longer in the details. The ballpark that discussion took place in now is called George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Legends having gone the way of the Devil.
But what has changed the most will be overt tonight when the second half begins at Yankee Stadium.
Yankee games against the Rays no longer need the artificial feud of owners to gain magnitude. And for the first time since the 1972 season ended, the Yankees will play a game without Steinbrenner atop their organizational masthead.
Steinbrenner’s death, and, to a lesser extent, that of Bob Sheppard, now add to the subtext of this weekend and the rest of this season.
The Yankees rallied around the concept of winning one more for George last year, which turned out to be a goodbye present to their domineering owner, who died Tuesday after a massive heart attack.
Now they will try to make this season memorable in Steinbrenner’s memory, to become the first repeat champions since the three-peat Yankees of 1998-2000.
We will see if this plays out as motivation or pressure for this team. And we will begin to see the first clues tonight.
The Rays are not just the second-place team in the AL East. They are the second-place team to the Yankees in all the majors at 54-34. The last time these teams played was May 19-20 in The Bronx, with Tampa sweeping two games by stealing six bases in the first games, hitting four homers in the second and scoring 18 runs in all.
That was part of a period in which the Yankees lost five of six and fell a season-high six games out of first, behind the Rays.
At that moment, the Rays felt like a team of destiny, zooming perhaps toward a 110-win campaign. They made the Yankees look weaker, slower and old.
Since that date, however, only the White Sox have played better than the Yankees’ 30-14 (.682) and Tampa has been just a .500 club (22-22). Nevertheless, the Rays won eight of nine to close the first half, and that included a three-game sweep of the Red Sox. Of course, no story of the AL East would be complete without Boston.
For what makes the division so perilous is that, at most, only two of the AL East titans can make the playoffs. In the game of postseason musical chairs, at least one from among the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox will not have an October seat, even though the trio currently could claim to be the majors’ three best teams.
That is why the three games this weekend are so precious. Add that it is the first Yankee home game since Sheppard died, the first game of any type since Steinbrenner’s passing and that Old-Timers’ Day is tomorrow and, well, you suddenly see a weekend that needs no Naimoli, Legends Field or further explanation to accentuate its importance.