Hank Optimistic About His Struggling Yanks

From Mark Feinsand:

Hank Steinbrenner watched Johan Santana beat his Yankees Saturday, and while one might think that sight would have sent the new Boss into a fit of rage, he actually came away from the game feeling good about his team.

"Everyone knows he's one of the better pitchers in baseball," Steinbrenner told the Daily News after the Yankees' 7-4 loss to the Mets. "We got four runs off him without (Alex) Rodriguez or (Jorge) Posada, which is pretty good."

I actually feel the same way about the offense, and if Meacham doesn't send Damon who knows how that inning plays out. Maybe Jeter and Matsui drive in those two runs and the Yanks take a 4-0 lead, maybe even knocking Santana out of the game before he could get into a groove.

"I think at some point we're going to go on a tear," Steinbrenner said. "We're going to get Alex back, then we'll get Posada back after that. Being without those two is like the Red Sox being without (David) Ortiz and Manny (Ramirez). It's had an effect on our entire lineup."

Still, Steinbrenner would like to see the rest of that lineup step up in their teammates' absence.

"Baseball's not full of guys like (Sandy) Koufax. There's no excuse for us not hitting," he said. "You don't go from being the most feared lineup in baseball to not being able to hit at all. It doesn't work like that."

I think Hank may have forgotten what he previously said. When you lose two of your best hitters Hank, it does work like that sometimes.

"We've got to move on and do what we can. It's just the way it is," Steinbrenner said. "Santana would have been more for this year and next year, but we still have tremendous potential in our starting pitching for a number of years. The patience I've talked about is going to have to be put into practice, but there's no question that it's going to pay off for us."

Despite the recent slide, Steinbrenner said he's not concerned about Pettitte, especially after watching Mike Mussina emerge as one of the team's best pitchers.

"I'll start worrying if he starts worrying," Steinbrenner said. "It's not like he's not throwing the ball good. He's got the smarts to turn it around. If Mussina can do it, (Pettitte) can certainly do it."

Steinbrenner praised the performance of tonight's starter, Chien-Ming Wang, who is 6-1 with a 2.90 ERA in nine starts.

"Wang has been incredible," Steinbrenner said. "Nobody has been talking about him enough - including me - and he's been lights-out for us. He's one of the three or four best starting pitchers in baseball."

Has Wang's fast start helped Steinbrenner get past his assertion from the spring that the Yankees needed a true ace?

"We do have that ace," he said, "but it doesn't hurt to have two aces."

I really think Hank doesn't like Mike Mussina. "He's got the smarts to turn it around. If Mussina can do it, (Pettitte) can certainly do it." Doesn't that sound like he's sort of taking a shot at Moose? I dunno, maybe that's just how I'm reading it, but between calling Mussina out in the media, taking credit for Mussina's recent success, and now this half-insult, I really don't think he's a big Mike Mussina fan.

It is good to hear Hank being optimistic about his team and staying away from the "changes will be made if we don't win" crap we heard from him earlier in the week, and from his father for the last 30 years.