Yankees cannot be stopped - Cool, Calm and Collected

The World Series comes a bit later than normal this year. Due to the one-week delay at the end of the regular season, this year's fall classic will begin on Saturday, Oct 27. It was one year ago to that day when the New York Yankees won their third consecutive championship and fourth in the previous five years. In a couple of days, they will begin their final journey to their fourth straight.

Last week, the News-Letter had a chance to catch up with "Saturday Night Live" celebrity Horatio Sans. The comedian predicted that the Arizona Diamondbacks would prevail over either the Yankees or the Seattle Mariners. Maybe Mr. Sans should concentrate more on punch lines and less on portly prognostications. Although, to be fair, the stout star grew up a Chicago Cubs fan so he might be a little confused as to the meaning of winning.

As the Yankees and D-backs prepare for battle, one thing is for certain. The series has a chance of going to a seventh game. But this is the case only if ace Curt Schilling can muster enough courage to continually pitch on zero days rest, thereby becoming the first and last pitcher in the history of the game to start all seven games of a World Series. If this happens, my prediction is Yankees in seven.

However, if the series is played under the harsh terms of reality, the Arizona ball club will be forced to match its entire pitching staff against the Yankees hurlers. Certainly, Schilling is a worthy adversary.

He has been the best playoff performer in baseball so far this year.

The problem for the D-backs is whom they will be leaning on after they use the dandy right-hander. In the big game, Randy Johnson is six feet and ten inches of underachievement. After the "Big Unit" comes the very intimidating 19 game loser Albie Lopez, followed by Miguel Batista.

The bullpen is mediocre. Names like Greg Swindell and Brian Anderson make you wonder how Arizona got here in the first place. Byung-Hyun Kim is a good closer, but he is certainly no match for the man the Yankees can throw in that department.

Speaking of the perennial champions lets take a look at their staff, starting at the bottom. That is, if Mariano Rivera can ever be referred to as being anywhere but at the top. The Yankee stopper is the closest thing to "certain" as there has ever been in this game. Except for one blemish in the 1997 ALDS against the Cleveland Indians, over the last six years, Rivera plus playoff game has equaled a Yankee win. Joe Torre has become the Einstein of that formula.

On numerous occasions Mariano Rivera has single-handedly torn up "Cinderella scripts" written for teams like the Indians, Orioles, Mariners, Rangers, Braves, and Mets by basically ending the game in the eighth inning.

Setting up Rivera are the righty Ramiro Mendoza, and the southpaw Mike Stanton. The latter has been almost as difficult as Rivera over the last several years. Mendoza replaced Jeff Nelson, who was recently victimized by his former team, and not surprisingly has pitched effectively for the Bronx in his new role.

Here's a riddle. What do the Yankee's bullpen and starting staff have in common? Give up? They're both the best in baseball. Indeed, the Yankees can throw four starters whom would all be considered aces on many other ball clubs.

The game one starter will probably be Mike Mussina. After getting off to a shaky start, the former Oriole settled down and delivered the goods that the Yankees believed they had purchased. The "Moose" is extremely capable of going toe-to-toe with Schilling.

This year, Roger Clemens became the first pitcher in history to start a season 20-1. Clemens did receive more support from his offense than an alcoholic gets at AA meetings. That said, the big Texas idiot does have the capability of being as nasty as Mussina or Schilling.

Andy Petite is Mr. Consistency. The ALCS Most Valuable Player has been one of the most successful pitchers in baseball over the last six years. He almost always puts his team in a good position to win the big game.

The Cuban defector Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez may be the only question mark. Coming into the year, he was money in the playoffs, with an 8-1 record.

However, injuries have hampered his season and he has been rather inconsistent. I would, however, take him over Albie Lopez.

Let's review. The Yankees have a better starting staff, middle relief, and closer than Arizona. This should be rather disconcerting for fans of the snakes, considering that pitching is their strong suit by a long shot.

On the position player side, the only D-backs player that is capable of taking over a game is the classy Luis Gonzalez. Each night, Joe Torre will fill his lineup card with nine players who have this capability. I know this because I've seen it before. The usual suspects are Bernie Williams, Derek "Mr. Perfect" Jeter and Tino Martinez. Any, if not all of these stars may have great series. But the Yankees are so tough offensively because they continually get major production out of lesser-feared producers.

Paul O'Neill has been scheduled to retire for the last five years. Instead of stopping his career, he terminates other teams' seasons by getting big hits in big games. Scott Brosius was the MVP of the 1998 classic.

Chuck Knoblauch and Shane Spencer have delivered huge blows over the last several years, while rookie Alfonso Soriano practically ended the ALCS with his game four winning two-run homer. The Diamondbacks position players cannot match the Bronx Bombers' talent or clutch ability.

The ALCS was touted as a battle between two immovable forces. The Yankees were a team that seemingly won the big games every year while the Mariners were a team that seemingly won every game this year.

The results couldn't have been any clearer. The Yankees pitching stymied the best offense in baseball, continually frustrating the M's with runners in scoring position. The vociferous bats of Ichiro Suzuki and Edgar Martinez made nary a peep as the pinstriped arms rolled.

Meanwhile, the Bombers got the diversified production they needed and the series never got back to Seattle. This is a pattern that is sure to continue into World Series.

If you have read any of my insightful columns, you know that I am a Mets fan. Accordingly, I do not like the Yankees very much. Each championship parade down Manhattan's Canyon of Heroes has made me more nauseous than the one that came the year before.

But I do have both of my eyes intact and I happen to be a very intelligent young man. As much as I would love to see Curt Schilling throw 63 consecutive scoreless innings, I know that he will have either died, or actually have been signed by the Yankees, long before he threw his final pitch.

So, better on the mound, better at the plate, better in the clutch Yankees in five.