="Edgy DC"]Good for Loop. The deftest thing that the Yankees did during their championship run was when they let John Wetteland walk after an All-Star year in 1996, because they recognized that his setup man Mariano Rivera has matured into the true shizzle. Even after Wetteland had an excellent year with Texas in 1997, the Yanks never looked back. So Todd Jones, on the other hand, is signed for 2007. Any chance that the Tiggs have the guts to give his job Joel Zumaya anyway. (Full disclosure: I'd never before seen anybody hit 103 on the gun ever. I know that t's just a number, and guns are corrupted by the agendas of their programmers. But hot damn, you know?) Today's NYTimes... October 6, 2006 Reliever Revels in Intimidating Hitters, and the Boos By JOE LAPOINTE The phrase �he had blood in his eye� is usually a figurative expression suggesting aggression. For Joel Zumaya yesterday, it was also a statement of fact. Zumaya, a rookie reliever, retired all five Yankees hitters he faced in a 4-3 victory for the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium, striking out Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez. The Tigers evened their best-of-five American League division series at 1-1. When Zumaya peered in from the mound, his right eye was bright red, half-filled with blood. He blamed allergies for a hard sneeze that broke a blood vessel. Not that he needed to enhance his image. He looks intimidating enough with a short beard on his chin and a tattoo of flames on his left arm. With his other arm, Zumaya delivered pitches that often reached or exceeded 100 miles an hour. He may be the hardest thrower in baseball, and he was facing the Yankees, perhaps baseball�s best lineup. �Every day, when I was little, I dreamed I would face the Yankees in a playoff game,� the 21-year-old Zumaya said. �This is one of the biggest thrills of my life, having people roaring on you.� He jogged in from the bullpen with one out in the seventh inning. �I didn�t want to run too hard because I might have passed out,� he said. �I wanted to get the feeling of the crowd, the boos.� He also got the �Ooooohs!� and �Whooohs!� when the radar gun registered 103 m.p.h. for one of his pitches. The first hitter he faced was Jeter, who struck out on six pitches. The last was a tipped foul at 98 m.p.h. A moment before, Jeter had stepped out of the box to break Zumaya�s rhythm. A moment after, Jeter turned to glance over his shoulder toward the mound. Earlier this season, Zumaya pumped his fist, pounded his glove and celebrated such moments. But hitters took offense, especially Joe Crede of the Chicago White Sox, who stared at him. The Tigers pitching coach, Chuck Hernandez, told Zumaya to cool it. And he tries to, but Zumaya said he noticed Rodriguez looking back at him after he struck him out to end the eighth. �I had a little grin on my face, I�m not going to lie,� Zumaya said, adding that �I struck out two of their big hitters� in that inning and that �I didn�t mean to disrespect anyone.� Zumaya kept saying, �I wasn�t going to back down,� which he said summed up his philosophy. He grew up in Chula Vista, Calif., near the border with Mexico, and played baseball in Tijuana as a teenager. �I grew up in some rough neighborhoods,� he said. �I played down south. You can�t back down. This is what my dad taught me. You�ve got a lot of bullies.� In an interview with The Detroit Free Press on July 2, Zumaya said: �I was a troublemaker. I was a punk. I did a few things I regret.� He added: �We were low-class, didn�t have very much.� Zumaya said the baseball diamonds in Mexico were tougher. �There was no grass; it was all dirt and rocks,� he said. A Mexican flag hangs above his locker at Comerica Park in Detroit. He has a tattoo on his left arm and shoulder that he calls an Aztec mural. After yesterday�s game, Zumaya held a bottle of Corona beer. �The Mexican Champagne,� he said with a smile. He had just talked on the telephone with his family, including his grandmother Tammy. Zumaya said she introduced him to Little League Baseball and took him to his first San Diego Padres game. Now he is facing some of the players he used to watch. �When a guy comes in throwing 100, he�s going to be a difference maker,� Gary Sheffield said Monday. Rodriguez said yesterday that Zumaya �kind of ran through our lineup, throwing the ball 102 miles an hour and dotting the strike zone.� He added, �You tip your cap.� Vance Wilson, the Tigers� backup catcher, said of Zumaya in late August: �On just strict talent alone, he�s got the best arm I�ve ever caught. It�s a heavy ball.� Wilson said the challenge was to control Zumaya�s emotions. That can be difficult, especially in Detroit, because the fans get excited when Zumaya jogs in to �Voodoo Child� by Jimi Hendrix. He originally asked the Tigers to play an antiwar anthem, �B.Y.O.B.� by System of a Down, but the team would not because the song includes profane language. Zumaya, who went 6-3 with a 1.94 earned run average in the regular season as a setup man for closer Todd Jones, was a starter until this year. The Tigers are grooming him as a closer. He has been compared with Rich Gossage, who used to intimidate batters. Zumaya said last month, �If I was up there hitting against a guy like me, I�d be scared.� After yesterday�s game, his pride and confidence kept taking over. �I do have a pretty decent fastball,� he said. �I faced great veterans. I would love to get respect from them. Hopefully, they can go around and talk about �Hey, Zumaya, this and that.� I want to be intimidating.�
