Texas Now Feels Left Out in Cold

There were other free-agent pitchers available, but the Texas Rangers had one goal in mind when they signed left-handers Kenny Rogers and Darren Oliver last winter: Expose an alleged vulnerability and beat the New York Yankees in October. So much for wishful thinking. The Rangers can’t beat the Yankees in October or any other month--no matter what arm the pitcher uses.

In a seven-day span through Wednesday, Oliver and Rogers each made two starts against the Yankees, and the Rangers lost all four games, even though Oliver had a no-hitter for seven innings of his second start against the World Series champions.

“I hope this punches a hole in the theory [that the Yankees are susceptible to left-handed pitchers],” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said. “Our left-handed hitters [including Paul O’Neill and Tino Martinez] aren’t exactly platoon players, and you would like to feel you can win either way.”

No way the Rangers can win.

They have lost eight consecutive games to the Yankees, including a 1999 division series sweep, and 36 of their last 47 games.

“They’re going to play you hard, but there’s no question the psychological thing exists,” Torre told the Dallas Morning News. “I went through it when I managed the [St. Louis] Cardinals. We couldn’t win a game in San Diego. No matter what the score was, we couldn’t win. The thing that’s so remarkable about this streak is . . . they’re all close games. But, sure, they . . . have to think about it.”

Said Texas first baseman Rafael Palmeiro: “I’m sure some of it is psychological, but a lot of it is that they’re a great team and they know how to win.”

The Yankees, in fact, have recalled memories of their 114-win season of 1998 with their latest start. They are winning games with Lance Johnson and Clay Bellinger and even winning when Robo-closer Mariano Rivera blows a save.

Said Texas outfielder and former Yankee Chad Curtis: “I don’t believe . . . in mystical advantages, which some people have talked about. I can say this, from being [with the Yankees] the last three years: If there is a psychological advantage, it has everything to do with the minds over here and not the minds over there. Those guys over there, it doesn’t matter who they’re playing.”

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Owners, meeting in Houston on Monday and Tuesday, put off a formal vote on 2001 realignment until June, but it is still going to shake out the way Commissioner Bud Selig wants, with the Arizona Diamondbacks moving to the American League West, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays moving to a new division in the four-division National League, and the Rangers moving to the AL Central, which will be composed of six teams to facilitate an unbalanced schedule in which teams will finally play more games within their division than without.

There is some opposition here and there, but it won’t deter what is likely to be a steppingstone to a larger realignment in three or four years.

Among the teams opposed to the current plan is Minnesota, which is having a tough enough time in a five-team AL Central and doesn’t like the idea of a six-team division. Said Twin President Jerry Bell: “The proposal works for 27 teams but doesn’t work for three--the Twins, Kansas City and the Chicago White Sox. Competitively, we’d be in a division with three heavy spenders-- Cleveland, Texas and Detroit, now that Detroit has a new stadium.”

Of course, Kansas City and Chicago, rebuilding from within, have begun to show they can compete with the heavy spenders. Should the Twins do less crying and more trying?