Tigers may have been out of loop

NEW YORK -- There was some controversy last night, as the Yankees appeared to know Game 2 of their Division Series was going to be postponed long before the Tigers did.

The Yankees' scheduled starter, Mike Mussina, didn't warm up, but Detroit's Justin Verlander got up and threw about 10-15 long tosses before a member of the Yankee Stadium grounds crew came over and informed the rookie there was no game.

According to Verlander, no problem. ``I just played catch and long-tossed. It won't affect me one bit making my start [today at 1 p.m.]," Verlander said, after the game was called.

Verlander and pitching coach Chuck Hernandez figured something was up when they didn't see Mussina coming out for his warm-ups by 9:45 for what they were told was going to be a 10 p.m. start. Hernandez told Verlander not to get ``hot," a term for warmed-up completely, because of the possibility the game was going to be called.

Although Mussina said he'd rather have had the game postponed as opposed to having it start and then stop after a few innings, he knew better than to warm up.

Jimmie Lee Soloman, MLB's executive vice president of baseball operations, said he tried to be fair to both teams in advising them. ``Both teams wanted to get a full nine innings in, which is understandable. We all wanted to get that in. We did consult with both teams," he said. ``They were willing to do whatever we thought proper, and in this case we all decided it was not proper to continue."

There was some discussion the Yankees might have known of the postponement before the Tigers, but if they did it wasn't for long. ``I can't say it was simultaneously, but cellphones don't work at the bottom of this building. So we sent people to both clubs and let them know what we were thinking at the same time."

Based on weather service reports, Soloman said the game could have started, but ``we would get in two, three innings tops and would have to stop again for an hour and a half, two hours, and we didn't want to burn up two pitchers if we had that coming through."

Verlander skipped his final start of the season because the Tigers were concerned about the workload for the top Rookie of the Year candidate. Verlander (17-9, 3.63 ERA) said he didn't expect it would be difficult for him to get back up for today's start.

``A game of this magnitude? No way. I'll be fine," he said. ``It's definitely tough to gear up mentally to start and then have it called, but we're all in the same boat. No excuses."

Joe Torre declared Randy Johnson fit to pitch Game 3 in Detroit tomorrow night after the Big Unit threw approximately 30 pitches in a side session yesterday afternoon.

``Everything seemed fine," said Torre. ``He's ready to go, so we're on for [tomorrow]."

Torre spoke in the afternoon, hours before DeLeon Sheffield (Gary's wife) sang the national anthem.

Johnson, who is suffering from a herniated disk, did not have to sit around the dugout, instead leaving for Detroit after his session. Johnson, 43, was thought to be out of the playoffs until team doctors gave him an epidural last Friday, which seemed to relieve the pain.

Johnson was 17-11 with a 5.00 ERA in 33 starts this season and is 20 wins shy of 300 wins for his career. However, Johnson is only 7-8 with a 3.28 ERA in 18 postseason starts (spread among seven postseasons). ``He's still trying to find his niche as far as being consistent," Torre said. ``When you've pitched as long as he has and you're used to throwing the ball 97, 98 miles per hour all the time, there comes a time when you realize you're going to have to win with less velocity. And I think he got to that point this year."

Torre mentioned how Johnson learned a lot in that area from pitching coach Ron Guidry, another lefthanded power pitcher who had to adjust his pitching approach as he aged. ``Fact of the matter is that their relationship has really flourished, and I think Randy has faced the reality of the fact that the quality of starts is not going to be judged on how many strikeouts he has," Torre said.

Johnny Damon doesn't think about Boston too much anymore, but he still has friends on the Red Sox with whom he speaks to by phone. He's also baffled by the Sox parting ways with hitting coach Ron Jackson.

``I loved the guy," Damon said. ``A lot of us loved him. Big Papi [David Ortiz], Manny [Ramírez] . . . We all believed that he was as much a part of the success of the offense that led us to the World Series as anyone. I guess when things don't go well teams look for scapegoat, but I'm sure with Papa Jack's reputation he'll have his choice of places to coach."

When told about a Providence Journal report last week in which anonymous players complained about Jackson, Damon rolled his eyes and said, ``I don't think there's any coach in baseball who has 100 percent approval rating with his players. The biggest hitters in the game -- Papi and Manny -- swear by him."

Damon started two rallies in the Yankees' 8-4 win Game 1 win.

``He has not been swinging the bat well the last week or so, but he makes the pitcher work hard," said Torre. `` But Johnny is used to this type of atmosphere, playing with the Red Sox the last four years."

Tigers manager Jim Leyland said he's not a big fan of pitch counts. He sees the advent of MRIs and long-term contracts as the biggest reason there are pitch counts. ``I think one of the biggest things that has happened in baseball, and I'm not a big believer of it -- and I'm not sure it's been for the best -- are MRIs. That, and probably big-time contracts have caused a lot of this," he said. ``We all get a little cautious, and I certainly wouldn't want it on my plate to have a prized package like Justin Verlander, and be the manager who was thought to be responsible for getting him hurt. It's a tough way to play the game from a managerial standpoint, having to be cautious all the time." . . . Yankee favorite Paul O'Neill threw out the first -- and only -- pitch last night . . . Yankee great Reggie Jackson was on the field during warmups, as was Tiger great Al Kaline.

Athletics second baseman Mark Ellis broke his right index finger during an at-bat in the ninth inning of Oakland's 5-2 win over the Twins in Game 2 of their Division Series. X-rays taken after game revealed the fracture, and his status will be updated today at the team's workout in Oakland. Ellis was hit on the hand while swinging at an inside pitch from Twins closer Joe Nathan in the top of the ninth. He finished the at-bat, but was replaced in the field for the bottom of the ninth by D'Angelo Jimenez . . . Oakland outfielder Milton Bradley found himself in hot water after a mishap in the Athletics' dugout. Television cameras caught Bradley being separated from a coach in the fourth inning after accidentally spilling coffee on starter Esteban Loaiza. ``It was an accident. Milton Bradley came into the dugout, threw his batting gloves up, hit the coffee, and it landed on me," Loaiza said . . . Oakland's Eric Chavez is in a 1-for-30 playoff slump . . . In 12 first-round games, the Twins' Michael Cuddyer is batting .400 (16 for 40) . . . The Twins -- whose 54-27 home record this year was baseball's best -- have lost seven straight postseason games at the Metrodome.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.