Allan “Bud” Selig made the rounds here Tuesday night, which just might mean he is the ideal temporary commissioner for a sport permanently going in circles.
“We have to be concerned about baseball’s future,” he said. “I mean, without taking anything away from these teams, it’s no accident that we have the two No. 1 payrolls in each league left playing.”
Game 3 of the World Series. And how fitting that, as if to honor Selig’s presence, the desperate New York Yankees called on David Cone, one of this struggling industry’s celebrated mercenaries.
More Top Picks Cleaning
He is a big-game pitcher who commands big money from the highest bidder. Sometimes he wins. Sometimes he loses. Always, when contending clubs size up their chances for a happy October, he is on the most-wanted list.
Tuesday night, Cone showed why he need extend no apologies for his bankroll, his mobility or his record. He outpitched Tom Glavine of the Atlanta Braves 5-2. A certain suspense has been restored to this tournament by a hired gun who feared he was out of bullets.
Talk about a comeback of the year. Cone won on Opening Day in April for the Yankees, a cold day that left his fingers numb and discolored. He figured it was the weather. It wasn’t. After he beat the White Sox with a five-hitter on May 2, he saw the doctors and they saw trouble.
“An aneurysm in my right shoulder,” Cone said. “Didn’t know what the word meant or how to spell it. I learned.”
During three hours of surgery, the damaged portion of his artery was removed and replaced with a graft of a small vein from his thigh. Cone thought his magic number would be 1997, if possible. But he rehabilitated so swiftly that he took the ball in Oakland on Sept. 2 and pitched seven no-hit innings.
The scouting report on Cone was that he’d lost considerable pop on his fastball since his arm problems. He must rely more now on finesse and guile. That’s what the Braves thought. But he made some nasty pitches on them and carried the Yankees to the seventh inning with a lead.
That’s the Yankees’ game. It took them a while to find it, and it evolved in a National League park where American League rules don’t apply. The starter fires until it’s time for Mariano Rivera, who then turns the ball over to John Wetteland. If Cecil Fielder plays first base like a 260-pound ballerina, it’s an unexpected bonus from a juggled lineup.
“We were a little embarrassed in New York,” said Cone.
So the Yankees are breathing again. Now, they have to keep Kenny Rogers from hyperventilating. He’s their Game 4 starter, and he’s an odd duck. But is he goofy enough to win? That’s the $67 million payroll question.
If the Yankees came here feeling down about what happened back home, they did not wear depression on their sleeves. Especially Don Zimmer, a coach who had an especially close view of Greg Maddux when they were together with the Cubs.
“Oh, they were right about him,” said Zimmer, sarcasm dripping from his many chins. “When the Cubs let him go as a free agent, they must have known he was starting to lose it.
“What’s he got, four Cy Young Awards in a row? Six? He’s the best pitcher in baseball. I said that when I got fired by the Cubs in 1991, and he showed it again against us last night.
“It ain’t supposed to look that easy. I don’t know what went on with him and the Cubs after I left. I know when Jim Frey was general manager, he told his bosses up at the big tower to upgrade Maddux’s contract, make him happy.
“Seems to me if you got a guy like Maddux, you do whatever it takes to keep him and save elsewhere. Don’t buy as many pencils at the newspaper. You still use pencils? Where’s your pencil?”