Lupica builds up an idea just to knock it down.

In this article, Mike Lupica mocks the notion that a player can't handle the pressure of playing in NYC:

"All season long, through the winter, into spring training, we heard about Randy Johnson's period of adjustment in New York City. Every time we did, we had to be reminded of Roger Clemens' period of adjustment. Two of the great pitchers of all time, and we're expected to believe the big city turned them into rubes."

First of all, Randy Johnson was 17-8 last year and Pedro Martinez was 15-8. Lupica claims there is "no telling" how many games Pedro would have won if he'd had a good bullpen. It's not that hard to do a little research and find out. Thirty-one starts resulting in 15 wins and 8 losses. Looper and the bullpen blew one or two wins for Pedro.

Not really the point. Johnson's 17-8 was not as bad as Lupica seems to think. The big city didn't turn Randy Johnson into a rube because rubes don't win 17 games.


What really mystified me was Lupica's rebuke of the idea of a NYC adjustment period. I personally believe the NYC adjustment period is a lame excuse and not much of a factor at all. But it also seems to me that Lupica is one of the high priests of this particular shibboleth.

When Lupica says "we heard" about Unit's adjustment period, he may have been listening to himself.

How long would it take for Lupica to contradict himself?

How long would it take Lupica to bring up the NYC adjustment period and predict doom for a newly-acquire Yankee?

One article later, this is Mike Lupica predicting doom for the Yankee bullpen:

"Every year the Yankees bring in new set-up men for the great Mo Rivera, and every year, it's the same deal:

Whatever it says on their resume, we don't know anything about them until they have pitch in front of 50,000 at the Stadium.

And we REALLY don't know about them until they have to do that in the heat."