E-Mail This Article to a Friend Tipping my cap to the Yankees By Christopher Young

What I am about to write will be perceived as bordering on blasphemy in these parts, but I can’t help myself. And while I cannot actually believe that I am about to type these words (given my past, ahem, history in print regarding the Pinstripers), it needs to be said: the 2005 Yankees are truly deserving of great respect and admiration.

There, I’ve said it. For the purposes of this column, I’m going to stay away from any snide comments about the New Yorkers’ stratospheric payroll, their blowhard owner, and their, um, feisty fans, and instead hurl accolades and hoozahs. For what the Yankees have accomplished this season is nothing short of remarkable, and they are, like it or not, deserving of the AL East title that will be decided this weekend.

That’s not to say that the Empire Staters will take two of three over Boston to clinch the East, or even take one of three to force a one-game playoff in the Bronx on Monday. But to find Joe Torre’s lieges in first place at this late juncture, considering their starting rotation’s season-long trajectory, is flat-out amazing.

Of course, finding the Yankees atop the division heading into the weekend doesn’t surprise the spring-training prognosticators, who as a group saw the Yanks as the team to beat (again) in the AL. But that was when New York had a starting rotation that included such high-priced additions as Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, and the Randy Johnson who won four Cy Youngs for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Added to a rotation that already included a pair of grizzled veterans (Mike Mussina, Kevin Brown), the Yankees were indeed loaded in terms of mound-savvy gunslingers. The team also upgraded at 2B (adding Redbird Tony Womack) and set-up man (Felix Rodriguez) on a squad that was two outs away from winning the pennant in a four-game sweep.

But a funny thing happened along the primrose path. Wright missed four months to injury, and in the 12 games he did pitch he accumulated an ERA of nearly six. Pavano? He hasn’t pitched since June 27 because of shoulder problems. RJ? On July 4, he owned a record of just 7-6, with a 4.24 ERA and just one — one — double-digit strikeout game. And Brown? Don’t make me laugh. This ludicrous 2004 pick-up from LA pitched in just 13 games this year, amassing an ERA of nearly seven and a pedestrian 4-7 record; he too has been on the shelf since July with back trouble and no hope of returning. If those travesties weren’t enough for the Steinbrenner AC, take a look at what Womack did as the new second-bagger (.248, 0 HR, 15 RBIs in 107 games) and Felix Rodriguez contributed out of the pen (33 appearances, a 4.99 ERA).

Calamities galore for the Pinstripes, and even Mussina missed more than three weeks with elbow troubles during a critical late-summer stretch when only the Big Unit remained in the Yanks’ original projected rotation and Boston could have put away the division. (And Gary Sheffield has been playing hurt all year as well.)

So how did they do it? How does New York come to town needing just one win to clinch a tie for the AL East crown?

Low-cost replacement personnel, that’s how. GM Brian Cashman traded for Colorado’s Shawn Chacón, who was 1-7 for a putrid Rockies team. Nice addition, huh? Well, putting on the stripes transformed Chacón into the kind of pitcher the team expected Pavano to be, going 7-2 with a sterling 2.76 since mid August. Then you’ve got the Cinderella boy, Aaron Small. All the seven-team journeyman of 12 years’ service did was step into the rotation in late July and win his next 10 decisions without a loss, dropping his ERA nearly two full points to 3.20 along the way. What?

And let’s not forget New York’s often-denigrated farm system: this year it sprouted such surprises as step-in starter Chien-Ming Wang (8-4, 4.02 ERA) and second baseman Robinson Cano (.294, 14 HRs — many of them clutch), both of whom performed admirably when all hope was seemingly lost.

The Yankees still have only two starting pitchers remaining from their Grapefruit League rotation, but RJ has stepped it up significantly (9-2 in his last 15 starts, including five straight wins), and the offense has flourished despite ranking behind the Red Sox in every statistical category (except HRs).

When I hear some people say that Torre and Cashman will be out of a job if the Yankees don’t make the playoffs, I have to snicker. Those two may have been a little lucky with some of the things that happened, but you can’t argue with the results. The Yankees are again on the precipice of winning the East for the eighth-straight year, and for that situation, the GM and skipper should be toasted, not roasted.

It’ll all come down to this weekend, but you’ve got to admit: the Yankees showed their mettle this year, high-priced roster or not. Grit your teeth and give ’em their props; they deserve it.

Beginning next week, Sporting Eye will appear as a blog at BostonPhoenix.com. Christopher Young can be reached at cyoung[a]phx.com.