Unclutch until you're clutch and vice versa, starting Javier Vazquez

In baseball, there are real, quantifiable skills that color team's decision-making. Some hitters can't hit right-handers. Some pitchers can only get righty hitters out. Some guys can't run. And so on.

Occasionally, you get backed into a corner, as occurred last night when the Yankees had to send Marcus Thames to hit against Jonathan Papelbon. Had either Nick Swisher or Jorge Posada been healthy, one of those players would've taken that at-bat, And occasionally, getting backed into a corner provides a magical moment, as occurred when Thames took Papelbon deep for the first walkoff homer of his career.

Thames wasn't the only player called upon in an odd spot last night. Javier Vazquez got the win, throwing four pitches in the top of the ninth and then seeing the Yankees do their thing in the bottom of the ninth, due to a perfect storm of sorts...

1) Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson were both unavailable, due to recent workloads.

2) Sergio Mitre was out of commission, having started Sunday's game, and the activation of Chan Ho Park from the disabled list had sent Ivan Nova back to the minors.

3) Park, Boone Logan and Damaso Marte had already pitched.

4) Joe Girardi didn't want to use Mariano Rivera in a situation with the Yankees trailing by two runs.

5) Vazquez was available because of the Yankees' decision to bypass him in the rotation, a decision sparked by last week's rainout in Detroit.

Anywho, Vazquez entered into a situation that could've really blown up - Red Sox on first and third, two outs and the dangerous Kevin Youkilis at the plate. Those four pitches produced a strikeout, with Youkilis chasing a slider.

Vazquez, in other words, was clutch.

Now, do we shrug that off as the exception to the rule, the same way we shrug off Thames' blast? I don't think so. The problem with "clutch," IMO, is that it's just not as concrete a characteristic as hitting, pitching and defense and their respective subcategories.

I'm not saying that the game is completely random. What I'm saying is that you can quickly and easily change your fortunes when it comes to being "clutch." 

Just look at Alex Rodriguez. For years with Seattle and Texas, and even in his very first playoff series with the Yankees, he earned a reputation as one of the game's best players, clutch or otherwise. Then came the big drought from 2004 ALCS Game 5 through 2007, and while he wasn't as bad as perceived, he did play as though he was putting too much pressure on himself. He acknowledged as much.

And last year, he put together an all-time postseason, including huge, late-game hits against all three opposing closers.

Granted, A-Rod endured a great deal in terms of his illegal performance-enhancing drugs confession and his hip surgery. But those weren't specific steps taken to work on his clutch performance. What did he do to work on his clutch performance? He probably relaxed more, I guess. Also, he watched as the Yankees signed CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett (and re-signed Andy Pettitte), putting the team in position for such moments.

Likewise, how can Vazquez work on his clutch-ness? Relax some, definitely. But as he showed last night, that's doable. And as he has displayed over the course of his career, he knows how to pitch. That's the harder task.

--For my column, I wrote about Thames, and it's nights like last night when I feel, at the risk of sounding immodest - ah, whom am I kidding? I haven't been modest since 1992 - that I benefit from my experience. I felt very comfortable writing about Thames.

I got to know Thames in 2002, his first big-league spring training. I was there the night he hit his very first major-league pitch - from Arizona's Randy Johnson - over the leftfield wall. I always checked in with him during his years with the Tigers, and it was good to see him back in spring training this year, when the Yankees signed him to a minor-league deal.

I remember asking him, "Does your contract have an out clause?" Meaning, if he didn't make the team's Opening Day roster, was he obligated to play for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barres, and could he walk away and look for opportunities elsewhere on a certain date?

"I don't even know," he said. "I'm acting like I'm going to make the team." He did, of course. He has always had that pride, that confidence. And for a 30th-round draft pick, as he noted, he has carved out a nice career.

If you click the link to the 2002 story, by the way, you'll see that Thames got a shaving-cream pie from Alberto Castillo after the game. That was typical of Castillo, a backup catcher who had a knack for 1) clicking with pitchers and 2) annoying everyone else. One time, I watched Castillo play catch with Ron Coomer before a game. Castillo loved to show off his strong arm, and he was throwing so hard that an extremely annoyed Coomer, his glove hand killing him, stormed off the field.

--Francisco Cervelli continues to impress.

--Papelbon said he'll easily forget about this blown save.

--Jim Baumbach connected with Bill Selby, the last person to hit a grand slam off Mariano Rivera before Minnesota's Jason Kubel did so on Sunday.

--Saturday night's Yankees-Mets game will be on Fox, and Neil Best explores why that is.

--As for those Mets, I was following the play-by-play on my laptop, at Yankee Stadium. Wow, did that seem like a nailbiter. Impressive outing for Mike Pelfrey. And now we'll see if the Mets can put together something to at least stay relevant. I don't think that's impossible.

Should Jeff Wilpon have conducted his business publicly, as he did, at Turner Field - as opposed to at the Mets' Atlanta hotel? I think so. I don't see the harm in Jerry Manuel having his cage rattled a little. I can't imagine there was any correlation between Wilpon's arrival and the Mets' play, but I'd say it's good that Wilpon went down there.

--I wrote this Mets story about the Mets giving away some tickets for this weekend's series against the Yankees. It's certainly better than the Mets sitting on their hands during the week and then suffering the embarrassment of empty, high-priced seats during the Yankees series. But the Mets understand their attendance is going to be an issue until, well, it isn't.

--Possible good news for Mets fans: Adam Rubin reports that Jenrry Mejia will finally be converted into a starting pitcher. This is a potentially huge development. If you assume, optimistically, that the Mets will need two more starting ptichers to even stay in the playoff conversation this year, then Mejia could fill one of those holes, with a trade acquisition (Cliff Lee? Roy Oswalt? Kevin Millwood?) possibly filling the other.

I found this story, believe it or not, on Twitter. From the Post's Mets blog.

--Good story by Geoff Roberts of the Record about Willie Banks, the high Twins draft pick and former Yankees pitcher who's hanging around with the Newark Bears.

--I'll check in tonight from Yankee Stadium, although the weather is in question.