ARMANDO Benitez informed the Stadium scoreboard operators he wanted to shed his theme from his Met days, the ridiculous “Who Let The Dogs Out,” and told them to choose a new signature song for him.
The choice, “Fuel” by Metallica, is a subtle part of a reprogramming designed to distance Benitez from the Mets and quickly make him feel part of a more universally supportive pinstripe family, with the belief a comfortable Benitez will only make hitters uncomfortable.
That Metallica also produced Mariano Rivera’s anthem, “Enter Sandman” is no coincidence, since the Yankee closer will be central to easing Benitez’s transition from Flushing to The Bronx and from closer to set-up man and – the Yanks hope – from childish big-game flop to pinstripe force. Bobby Valentine, who for four years was not only Benitez’s manager but greatest defender, said the Yanks’ professionalism will provide an excellent “supporting cast” for Benitez, which “over the years was lacking with the Mets.”
Because of that, Valentine predicts, “I think he’ll succeed, maybe even excel. He likes to pitch a lot and I think they’ll have a lot of leads and a need for him to pitch. I think he’ll be out to prove he can pitch in that situation.”
His situation did not arise last night. He was up in the eighth – and many in the crowd booed the scoreboard message he was warming – but was told he would only go in if the Yanks stayed behind. He also would have pitched had there been a 10th inning. But Benitez’s new brand of “Fuel” never played because two players with long-standing Yankee clutch reps, Derek Jeter with an eighth-inning tying homer and Rivera with a scoreless top of the ninth, and a new Yankee who has shown he can handle pinstriped stress, Hideki Matsui with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the ninth, gave the Yanks a 5-4 win over Cleveland.
Can Benitez muster this kind of fortitude? Obviously, it will take more than music to change Benitez’s tune. A few Yankees noted no matter their efforts Benitez will be judged by what he does alone on the mound and Todd Zeile said “a Yankee uniform brings a lot of things, but comfort is not one of them.” Still, the Yanks are making a concerted effort to help a great, big-game flop excel where there is only big games played.
“He needs to be accepted by the players,” Valentine said. “He wants to be liked and have friends. He needs someone to say ‘great job’ and really mean it, and when he does poorly he needs teammates to say ‘hang with it’ and really mean it. And he doesn’t need anyone stabbing him in the back anonymously.”
We’ll see how it works. Because I believe what is wrong with Benitez – that he has a terrible ratio of great skill to self-confidence in that great skill – cannot be mended by clubhouse niceties. And also because Benitez is not easy to love. Some Mets tried and found his immaturity and lack of accountability too much. However, there also was always an undercurrent of clubhouse hostility toward him that only worsened over time. It spoke to poor Met makeup, a failure to put winning ahead of personal dislike.
That won’t happen with the Yanks, even if Benitez falters. And yesterday there was only on-the-record assimilation. Jeter insisted there was no lingering grudge from Benitez’s brawl-inducing plunking of Tino Martinez in 1998, noting the Yanks got past Roger Clemens’ chin music once he was in pinstripes.
“I just have a feeling he’s going to do an outstanding job,” Jeter said. “Are we going to support him? Of course we’re going to support him. We’re trying to win.”
Rivera, whose human touch has always been excellent, spent 25 minutes talking one-on-one with Benitez while shagging flies during batting practice, saying afterward, “you don’t know what goes on [in the Met clubhouse], but it is important we make him feel comfortable. What goes on in the clubhouse reflects in a game.”
The Yanks hope that is true. They hope the fatherly qualities of Torre and Mel Stottlemyre, and the more upbeat nature projected by their clubhouse leaders enable Benitez to be not just part of the Yankee fabric, but a reason for 2003 Yankee success.