Sports outlook

On the morning of Feb. 16, I made certain to turn the television on to Channel 12 at 9 a.m. in order to watch Regis Philbin.

Philbin, you see, is as big a Yankee fan as was ever born. He gloats over every Red Sox misfortune and still goes on about Babe Ruth as do all the obnoxious Yankee fans. And he didn't disappoint. He must have spent a full 10 minutes gloating over his team's latest acquisition.

There is nothing I'd more enjoy doing than breaking the Yankee fans' bubble, except for the fact that they might just win the pennant anyhow. With or without their newest player.

In the first place, there is no denying that Alex Rodriguez, the object of New York's current idolatry, is one of baseball's greatest hitters. But the Texas Rangers had A-Rod's bat in their lineup for three years and finished last in each of those three seasons. Prior to his arrival in Arlington, the Rangers finished last as well. The Yankees won the pennant without him.

Here's the crux of the deal. Rodriguez is a right-handed hitter and right-handed hitters do not win pennants in Yankee Stadium. Yankee Stadium is not called the House that Ruth built with right-handed power in mind. No telling what Joe DiMaggio might have done in say, Boston, where the left field wall beckons to righties. In New York, he faced what used to be known as Death Valley. When they remodeled Yankee Stadium in 1976, they moved the fence in and actually built a nifty little monument park in what used to be the power alley where the barrier stood at a dizzying 476 feet from home plate. Now it is still a ridiculous 430 feet out there and people still can't reach it.

Remember a few years back when Boss Steinbrenner went out and bought a bunch of right-handed guys like Danny Tartabull and Don Baylor. When they went for the righties, the Yankees went into a period of decline.

When the Yankees acquired Rodriguez, they improved themselves without question. But just how much? At least he will get a chance to face Texas pitching this year.

They are going to leave Derek Jeter at shortstop and make a third baseman out of their new acquisition. You can assume he won't be a Graig Nettles early on.

But, let's be brutally honest here. Pitching, not hitting, wins pennants. Terms like Murderer's Row and Bronx Bombers are catchy for sure. But come on ...

They've talked about Murder's Row, the 1927 lineup, for more than 70 years now without ever mentioning that Waite Hoyt (led the AL in both wins and earned run average) anchored the staff that led the league in ERA. So, the Yankees had the best pitching in the league.

Let's go back to the Casey Stengel era of the 1950s and into the 1960s. They were led by a Hall of Fame lefty named Whitey Ford. During most of those years, the Yankees vied with Cleveland as owning the league's best pitching.

Then came the Catfish Hunter era and so on with guys like Ron Guidry popping up like mushrooms. Joe Page, Ryne Duren, Luis Arroyo, Ron Guidry, Goose Gossage, Dave Righetti. Those are some of the names that have come out of the bullpen over the years. The arms, not right-handed bats that brought the championships in.

The outstanding starting pitching has always been present in years that new pennant flags have been hoisted at Yankee Stadium. Recall that last year the Yankees got to the World Series with the likes of Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens near the fore of the pitching staff. They were rotation anchors. And now they're gone.

If I'm the Red Sox, I wouldn't be all that worried about the Yankees merely adding another strong bat to an already lethal lineup. Now, if the Yankees had added pitching there would have been ample reasons to worry.