Bleacher Creature Feature
#14: T.R.'s Battle for San Win Hill
29 May 2002
Theodore Roosevelt Lilly finally got a win last night. It's only the second one of the season, even though he's arguably been the Yanks' most consistent starter all year. He's only really been hit hard once, but the Yankees -- who are first in the majors in runs scored (and last night became the first team to break 300 runs) -- have barely been able to scrape together more than two runs a game for Lilly. Here are his stats after last night's virtuoso performance against the White Sox (the team behind the Yanks in runs scored, just for the record):
10 G, 7 GS, 1 CG, 0 SHO, 50 IP, 31 H, 17 R, 16 ER, 5 HR, 13 BB, 42 K, .173 OPP BA, 2.88 ERA
The complete game, if memory serves, was the one-hitter against Seattle that he also lost, and is a microcosm of his season. Lack of run support pretty much cost Mike Mussina the Cy Young Award he deserved last year (though Roger Clemens winning it made up for the ridiculous awarding of the 1990 Cy to an undeserving Bob Welch over Clemens), and while that's not likely to be a factor this year, Lilly, like Moose, really deserves better than this. His K/BB ratio is nearly 4-1, if you combine his hits and walks allowed, it's still less than his innings pitched, and his ERA is in the same neighborhood as Pedro Martinez (2.93), Curt Schilling (2.89), and Kazuhisa Ishii (2.90), and better than that of Greg Maddux or any of his elite teammates. Not bad for someone who couldn't even crack the rotation...
The last two outings, in particular, seemed to doom Lilly to Sal Maglie status (Maglie was the guy who gave up only two runs on five hits in a magnificent pitching performance against the Yankees in the 1956 World Series -- lost in the shuffle, as that was the day that Don Larsen pitched a perfect game), as he was up against Martinez as his most Martinez-like last Thursday, losing 3-1 to the Red Sox. Last night, as good as Lilly was, Jon Garland was better, handcuffing the Yankees on two hits and a couple of walks through seven.
But then the team finally decided to cut the kid a break and, y'know, score. Final score: 4-2 and a much-deserved win for a much-maligned young man.
And to think, the Expos gave this guy up for Hideki Irabu......
* * *
In the fourth BCF installment, I said the following:
"Of course, by Memorial Day, the boos will most likely be forgotten when Giambi's tearing up the league..... "
Well, as of the day after Memorial Day. Jason Giambi was second in the league in OPS, second in OBP, and tied for fifth in home runs with 12. In the month of May, he has hit .323/.432/.667, which gives him an obscene OPS of 1.099, with 8 homers, 10 doubles, and 20 RBI.
Incuded in that package was a cheerfully dramatic extra-inning grand slam to give the Yankees a win after they fell behind. Not too shabby.
In the first few games we went to this year, many were saying they wanted Tino Martinez back. I doubt they're saying that anymore.
NEXT: Weaver's Legacy
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