By MIKE PUMA
Last updated: 7:03 am
June 27, 2008
Posted: 3:52 am
June 27, 2008
Dave Righetti pitched in just about every type of big game imaginable for the Yankees, just not one that involved the Mets.
Even as someone who professes not to be a fan of interleague play, Righetti says he would have enjoyed a regular-season Subway Series in the mid-1980s, when the Yankees were a perennial contender and the Mets on the rise to a world championship.
"I know it would have been good, because George [Steinbrenner] made it that way," Righetti said yesterday. "We always had pressure on us when we played the Mets in spring training. It was 'You better win the game.' "
Righetti, speaking on a conference call to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his Fourth of July no-hitter against the Red Sox, gave the Mets an edge in pitching, thanks to Dwight Gooden, but implied he would take the Yankees' lineup over the nucleus of Keith Hernandez, Darryl Strawberry and Gary Carter.
"We lost Goose [Gossage] and I had to go to the bullpen," Righetti said. "Quite honestly, that weakened the pen and the starting rotation, so [the Mets] had a little bit of an edge on us there. But with [Don] Mattingly, Rickey Henderson, Willie Randolph and [Dave] Winfield there, it would have been a hell of a series."
Righetti, who has spent the last nine seasons as the Giants' pitching coach, said barely a day passes when somebody doesn't bring up his no-hitter. The images of that day still are prevalent at Yankee Stadium, where the clip of Righetti striking out Wade Boggs for the final out remains a fan favorite.
Four Yankee no-hitters have occurred since - two of them were perfect games - but Righetti's seems to hold a special place in fans' hearts.
"I just picked the right day," Righetti said. "It was the Red Sox, Yankee Stadium . . . It hadn't been done in [27] years since Don Larsen had done it, so I think that's why it still endures, too."
mpuma@nypost.com
