NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, May 18th 2007, 4:00 AM
CHICAGO - For years the Yankees dreaded playing the Mets simply because of the overhyped media attention and their role as prohibitive favorites, a combination that created the feeling they weren't allowed to lose - at least not without a certain amount of shame attached.
Ah, but times have changed, and now the Yankees should dread this weekend's Subway Series for a different reason. At a point in the season, when they desperately need to string a few wins together, the Mets loom as big trouble, a hot ballclub with the type of bring-it-on swagger that these Yankees can barely remember.
Yesterday provided the perfect illustration: the way the Yankees are going, it's impossible to imagine them pulling off the type of miracle rally the Mets used to stun the Cubs at Shea.
Indeed, while the Mets were scoring five runs in the ninth, the Yankees were slogging along here in a 4-1 loss to the White Sox, not only mired in their team slump for another day but showing off some of the worst situational hitting you'll ever see.
Makes you wonder if there is something more going on here. Is it karma? Maybe it's time to sacrifice a live chicken or something to the Bull Durham gods.
Or how about a team head-shaving ritual? Oh, wait, the Mets did that, and it seems to be working out pretty well for them.
It's hard to imagine the buttoned-up Yankees engaging in such a college fraternity-type form of bonding anyway - who's tougher to picture as bald, Jeter or A-Rod? - and maybe that's part of the problem.
However, Andy Pettitte, who knew far better days during his first stint in pinstripes, insists the problem isn't a matter of chemistry.
"This is a great group of guys," he said yesterday. "Everybody's frustrated, but we're not going to show it in front of the media. We've just gotta play better than this. We're too good not to."
Maybe it would help if there were a Paul O'Neill on this team to break some furniture or something in a slump-busting rage. Maybe these Yankees worry too much about their image.
Joe Torre
Of course, Johnny Damon, the free spirit of this bunch, wasn't in the lineup yesterday, and that was probably a mistake on the manager's part. At times like this, Damon is probably the one regular you'd pick to lift a slumping team by the force of his personality.
Joe Torre, however, looked in other directions in trying to spark his underachieving superstars. He liked what he saw from Melky Cabrera during Wednesday's doubleheader, particularly the nightcap, and decided to keep him in center field yesterday.
"Melky gave us some energy," he explained. "And we're looking for a jump-start."
Fair enough, but if you're looking for energy, Bobby Abreu hardly seems to be the right guy to bat leadoff. His mild-mannered disposition and patient hitting style fit in nicely among all the star power last year when the lineup was clicking, but in times of crisis, he doesn't seem to be the guy you want leading the troops, Braveheart-style.
Still, Torre thought he saw the light go on for Abreu in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader, when he had a couple of hits, including a home run. So he moved him from the No.7 spot to leadoff, and in the two games at the top of the lineup, Abreu is 1-for-9 with three strikeouts.
So now he's hitting a quiet .236, with his two home runs, and is surely the single biggest problem in the lineup. After all, if he were doing his job as the original No.3 hitter, connecting the dots between Jeter, A-Rod and the hot Jorge Posada, surely the Yankees would not be scratching for runs every day.
Of course, Damon hasn't hit much himself while battling back and leg injuries, but he wanted to be in there yesterday.
Then again, nothing seems to matter at the moment, as the Yankees look helpless to end their funk. Breaking out Wednesday night by pounding a mop-up reliever in the late innings proved to have no effect yesterday, as they failed repeatedly against White Sox starter Jon Garland with runners on base.
In consecutive innings, in fact, they couldn't convert leadoff doubles into so much as a run, failing both times to get the runner at least to third base with one out.
It doesn't mean the Yankees won't pull themselves out of the quicksand, as they have the last couple of seasons, especially as their pitching continues to get better. But as they flail around, it does change the context of the Subway Series.
Torre yesterday made the case that nothing has changed, saying, "The Mets obviously have proven over the last couple of years they're a first-place type ballclub, but I still think the Yankees are the Yankees. We always seem to be the team that has the most to lose."
For a long time that was true in a figurative sense. The problem now is that it's all too literal.
jharper@nydailynews.com
Our picks
Mark Feinsand
Mets 2-1
Andy Pettitte gets the series off on the right foot for the Yankees, but Tom Glavine silences the Bombers' bats Saturday and the Mets offense proves too much for Tyler Clippard on Sunday night.
Adam Rubin
Mets 3-0
Mets will send Yanks into double-digits back of Red Sox.
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