February 25, 2007 By DOM AMORE, Courant Staff Writer
TAMPA, Fla. -- Chien-Ming Wang might be the most overlooked 19-game winner on this side of the Pacific, but not on the other side.
"I had to stay in my house," Wang said, recalling his tumultuous return home to Taiwan in November. "People were following me around for autographs everywhere."
It started when he landed at Taoyuan International Airport. There were hundreds of fans to greet him and more lined the streets, creating an unofficial parade route. Fans and reporters also camped out in his driveway.
"I wasn't surprised," he said, laughing as Taiwanese reporters stood nearby. "I knew the Taiwan media was like that."
Wang, 26, who eventually needed bodyguards to get around his home island, cashed in on his hero status with commercials for McDonald's, Nike, Ford and a local bank while he was home. But he has arrived without bells and whistles for spring training with the Yankees, who, with so many questions on their pitching staff, are counting on him to repeat what he did last year. Wang went 19-6 with a 3.53 ERA in 218 innings, good for second place behind Johan Santana in the American League Cy Young voting. The righthander was the first Yankee pitcher to throw live batting practice this week and could be their Opening Day starter April 2 in New York.
"It would be an honor to start the first game," Wang said. "I know I would be the first from Taiwan to start the home opener."
Wang arrived in Tampa in top condition; after two months in Taipei, he returned to Phoenix in January to work at the Fischer Sports Physical Therapy and Conditioning center for a third year in a row.
"We do a lot of weight training, stretching," Wang said. "Core exercises."
The Yankees are concerned about the number of innings Wang accumulated last year, especially since he had shoulder problems before. Though they were facing elimination, manager Joe Torre refused to pitch him on short rest for Game 4 of the Division Series.
"We're certainly aware of it," Torre said. "But fortunately, if you look at it, there weren't a lot of pitches to go with all those innings."
Wang's success runs contrary to most modern statistical thinking. He struck out only 76 batters, about one every three innings, and allowed more hits (233) than innings pitched, numbers hardly associated with a No. 1 starter.
But Wang countered those numbers with only 2.14 walks per nine innings. He got 75 percent of hitters putting the ball in play to hit ground balls, resulting in only 12 home runs and 57 extra-base hits. Runners managed only nine steals, with 11 thrown out, and 33 more were erased on double plays. Wang also averaged 14 pitches an inning, allowing him to last several times into the eighth with little more than 100 pitches.
All of this is made possible by a sinker ball that AL hitters have yet to translate into line drives.
"He threw his first BP and I asked him how it went and he said, `I was [terrible],'" Torre said. "He was joking. He has this inner security about him, it doesn't seem like anything has changed."
Wang has learned quite a bit of English, though he still prefers help translating for interviews. No matter how big he is back home, he still moves quietly and without swagger around the clubhouse.
"It's still the same," Wang said. "These are my teammates, my friends. No one treats me any differently."
