Yankees name Wang as Opening Day starter
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Yankees on Friday named Wang Chien-ming as their Opening Day starting pitcher on March 31 against the Toronto Blue Jays, launching the last season at the old Yankee Stadium.
A new Yankee Stadium, adjacent to the House That Ruth Built which opened in the Bronx in 1923, is scheduled to be ready for the start of the 2009 season.
Wang, New York's leading winner in each of the previous two seasons, had his hopes of starting last year's Opening Day dashed by a hamstring injury.
"He's earned it," Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters at the team's Spring Training camp in Tampa, Florida. "He's won 19 games the last couple of years and he's thrown the ball well the last couple of years."
The start will come on Wang's 28th birthday.
"I'm very happy," Wang told Web site www.mlb.com.
"This is my first time on Opening Day. For me, it's big. I'm very excited. It shows that the coaches trust me."
Wang said he planned to call his mother in Taiwan to relay the news.
Last year, the Taiwanese right-hander bounced back from his injury to post a 19-7 record with a 3.70 earned run average in 30 starts.
The sinkerball-throwing Wang has struggled this spring, pitching to a 8.44 ERA in 10 2/3 innings as he experimented with adding a change-up to his arsenal.
Wang's regular season record speaks for itself. He has won more games than any other Major League Baseball pitcher (38) over the last two years and leads the majors with a .745 winning percentage in that span.
He admits, however, to being bothered by the way his season ended, with two losses in the Yankees' first-round playoff exit against the Indians last October.
Wang said it took him a month to get over the defeats, in which he gave up 12 runs and 14 hits in 5 2/3 innings.
"The two losses make me want to do even better this year," Wang said. "I want to make the coaches trust me even more in the future."
(Writing by Larry Fine, editing by Ed Osmond) 