Many baseball fans know Yankee owner George Steinbrenner only as the ogre who is constantly firing managers in a frantic desire for victory. But Joe Torre, the Yankees’ current manager, has an entirely different view.
“He’s Mr. Fix-it,” Torre explained here before Wednesday night’s game against the White Sox. “You tell him, `George, something’s broke.’ And George says, `Let’s go get him.’ “
The Yankees are lapping the field in the American League East–22 games over .500, nine games ahead of the second-place Baltimore Orioles. But Torre and General Manager Bob Watson, though pleased with the club’s success, were aware the team lacked balance. The Yankees are only .500 against left-handed starters. What was needed was a right-handed power hitter.
And so Watson went out and got Cecil Fielder, one of baseball’s premier sluggers, from Detroit. The Yankees gave up Ruben Sierra, an expendable switch-hitter. If the Yankees win a division title, this is likely to be the deal that put them over the top.
“I appreciate that,” Torre said. “Every club has a budget, but George realizes when you get this close to the finish line and you have a chance to win, that overrides everything else.”
There is no precise tally on the expense, but the deal will cost the Yankees an estimated $5 million. Fielder’s 1996 wage of $7.2 million will escalate to $9 million next year, the final one of his current contract. To swing the deal, the Yankees are believed to have paid the Tigers an additional $2 million.
Fielder, 33 next month, is in his 11th big-league season. He has averaged 37 home runs in the last six seasons and has twice led the league. He’s 6 for 26, with two home runs, in his first seven games as a Yankee.
The Yankees are Fielder’s third major-league connection. He broke in with the Toronto Blue Jays and had been with Detroit since 1990. He is 6 feet 3 inches and, at 260 pounds, is overweight. He has a pleasing personality. Mainly because of size, but also because of his friendly manner, he is known as baseball’s “Big Daddy.”
He has been ejected from a game only once–when he was in Little League. Instead of sliding, he knocked down an infielder at second base on a double play. That violated a rule requiring sliding.
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Even today, Fielder rarely slides. He went three full seasons without a triple and is generally regarded as the slowest player in the AL. So sluggish is he on the basepaths that Yankee coach Jose Cardenal, a former speedy Cub, has challenged him to a footrace.
Cardenal is 52.
“I told him I’d race him in a 60-yard dash,” Cardenal said. “He said, `Nothing doing.’ Then I said, `OK, I’ll give you a 25-yard lead.’ “
Fielder agreed, with one stipulation: First, he has to lose 25 pounds.
“He’s a great guy on a club,” said Northwestern product Joe Girardi, the Yankees’ everyday catcher. “Everyone likes Cecil. He’s like a big teddy bear.”
Of more importance, Fielder’s presence gives the Yankee lineup an entirely different look. Previously, switch-hitter Bernie Williams was their only real threat from the right side. They were overloaded with left-handed hitters: Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, Wade Boggs and, lately, Darryl Strawberry.
As for Fielder, he is delighted to be with the Yankees.
“I have fond memories of Detroit, of being able to play for Sparky (Sparky Anderson, the former Detroit manager), but the last few years it’s been a difficult situation. They’re rebuilding. At this stage of my career, it was time for me to move on.”
Fielder also believes the Yankees have a good chance to get into the World Series, which would be a first for him. “It’s a very good opportunity for me.”
Before Fielder’s arrival, no Yankee was among the top 10 in any offensive category.
“It’s not that I’m pleased we didn’t have anyone in the top 10,” Torre said. “But I’m proud of that.”