turns out the h'birds joe ausanio is getting a little attention - from the Boss to the media, from florida to new york. 2 items below. way to go, joe. - mike h.
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Yankees dip to Class A to find a little help for division clincher
(NEWSCOM PHOTOS)
By Mike Berardino
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
(KRT)
BOSTON … Yeah, Randy Johnson pitched the way a $15 million ace should pitch.
And those home runs from Gary Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui were pretty big, too.
But my favorite hero of Saturday's 8-4, division-clinching victory for the revitalized Yankees was the food services director/sales manager for the Class A Hudson Valley Renegades.
Guy by the name of Joe Ausanio.
``I'm just very proud to be here,'' Ausanio said as he stood in the corner of the champagne-drenched visitors clubhouse at Fenway Park. ``It's a very surreal feeling for me.''
A few days before this massive series, with the fiendish knuckleball of Boston's Tim Wakefield looming, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner made a suggestion, er, demand.
He called Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman and told him to find a knuckleball pitcher. Pronto. Why? To pitch batting practice before Saturday's game, of course.
Cashman spent several days frantically trying to find such a person on short notice. He contacted a few active knuckleball pitchers, but nothing could be worked out.
Then scouting executive Mark Newman down at the Yankees' Tampa offices remembered Ausanio. A retired right-hander, he had made 41 relief appearances with the Yankees in 1994-95.
His career highlight? He once entered a game in Minnesota with the bases loaded and struck out Dave Winfield on three pitches.
More importantly, the Jacksonville University product was a teammate of Wakefield's at Triple-A Buffalo in the early `90s. Ausanio would pester Wakefield to show him the basics of the pitch he picked up after making the transition from failed first baseman.
Ausanio, 39, never threw the knuckler in a game, but he constantly tinkered with the pitch. He got so good at it he could emulate Wakefield's entire delivery.
The Yankees finally tracked Ausanio down Thursday afternoon in Fort Myers, where he was attending offseason meetings. Marv Goldklang, a minority investor in the Yankees, has a far-flung minor league operation, and the Renegades are one of his clubs.
``Brian Cashman wants to talk to you,'' Goldklang told a disbelieving Ausanio. ``The Yankees want you to pitch batting practice.''
Ausanio nearly fell off his chair. Admittedly the ``gullible'' type, he made a few calls, including one to the Yankees' traveling secretary, just to make sure this wasn't some elaborate prank.
It wasn't.
He flew back to his New York home Friday, packed some fresh clothes and drove three hours from Dutchess County to Fenway Park.
Saturday morning, he spent 90 minutes in the batting cages hidden beneath the center-field bleachers. Ausanio threw about 25 floaters apiece to Derek Jeter and Rodriguez, while Jason Giambi just watched.
Then the game began, and the hits started to pile up. Jeter and Rodriguez opened with back-to-back singles.
Watching on television in the clubhouse, Yankees farm director Rob Thomson turned to the newcomer and said, ``Joe, you're 2 for 2.''
Jeter scored on Giambi's sharp groundout. Then Sheffield capped an eight-pitch at-bat with a three-run homer over the Green Monster.
True, that homer came off one of the few fastballs Wakefield threw Saturday. But would Wakefield have even dipped that far into his bag if the first few Yankees weren't all over his knuckler?
Ausanio said he ``felt like a proud papa'' even while refusing to take any credit.
Jeter added a sacrifice fly in the second and Rodriguez homered in the fifth, Wakefield's last inning. Jeter said facing Ausanio ``helped my first at-bat'' and grinned broadly while saying he was ``sure the Boss will bring him back'' after the plan worked so well.
Back home in Dutchess County, Ausanio's two boys watched Saturday's game with mixed feelings. Joey, 14, is a Yankees fan, but Kevin, 12, loves the Red Sox.
``Kevin is a little bit upset at me right now,'' Ausanio said. ``He's young. He'll get over it.''
Yank-o-philes won't soon forget Ausanio's contributions if their team goes on to win its first World Series in five years. If that happens, this $65,000-a-year Renegade will take his place in pinstriped lore.
Why, somebody might even write a song about him. Could even borrow the tune from that timeless favorite, ``Joltin' Joe DiMaggio.''
Who gets them ready for The Show?
Floatin' Joe Ausanio.
He's in demand and on the go,
Floatin' Joe Ausanio.
_______________________
and this from the n.y. daily news:
[After the game, Yankees manager Joe] Torre walked through the clubhouse, his eyes wet, embracing players and staff as his team doused each other with champagne. He bear-hugged Joe Ausanio, the knuckleballer brought in to throw batting practice, and said into his ear, ``Thank you, thank you.''
Thanks for posting these articles, they make a nice little coda to the Joe Ausanio story. Besides Winfield, I should add, Ausanio also struck me out on three pitches. You'd think Newsday might have made a bigger deal about that.
I'm really glad that he got to experience the brush with greatness, and the clubhouse celebration. Many of us have longed to be hugged by Joe Torre. Or not!
Anyway, er, I'm sure that Joe is pulling for a Yankee/Red Sox repeat in the ALCS, since you KNOW that George would ask him to serve in the same role again.
missed your notes. glad to see you're still clicking away at the keyboard.
this may amuse us all - and may make print: i've alerted the poohbahs at the paper about all this ausanio-mania and said, too, that joe pitches in our league. we may (underline may) do a story about joe if the yanks face wakefield again and ausanio throws bp. if we do, maybe you or the others might want to describe your experiences against him? he pitched against us once last season - one inning, two strikeouts, but - !! - in the twilight. in the good light, why we'd have powdered him.
