BY MARK SPECTOR
sportsnet.ca
NEW YORK -- A.J. Burnett and Eric Hinske are in a better place now.
The two were teammates on the 2006 Toronto Blue Jays, whose 87 wins were the most in an 11-year span for Toronto. Today they are four wins from baseball Nirvana, a World Series win at new Yankee Stadium and a slice of The Big Apple they could take to their graves.
Burnett, who chose last December to leave Toronto for the Yankees, gets the start in Game 2 Thursday night. It’s the ultimate moment in a ball player’s career, one that, sadly, he had to leave the Blue Jays to attain.
"It means … everything," the 32-year-old said, almost at a loss for words to describe the magnitude of a Game 2 World Series start at Yankee Stadium for a kid from Little Rock, Arkansas
He is your ultimate late bloomer, winding his way through four organizations before landing in the right place at exactly the right time this season. His Florida Marlins made the World Series in 2003, beating the Yankees, but early season Tommy John surgery made a spectator out of Burnett that fall.
"I’ve put in some hard years, a lot of injury years, to get here," he said. "These guys believed in me. I’m proud to be here (in New York), man. To witness some of the things that I get to witness from the dugout? I’ll never replace those memories."
It’s a tune Blue Jays fans may be listening to again, and soon, as Burnett’s mentor in Toronto -- Roy Halladay -- will either be dealt soon or hit the free agent market a year from now.
There is some irony in the fact Burnett looks back on his three seasons in Toronto as an education. Particularly working behind Halladay in the rotation, soaking up the ins and outs of how to be a dominant big-league pitcher from perhaps the best one in the game today.
Pitchers tutoring pitchers? Call it a learning curve.
"I learned a lot on how to deal with the media," Burnett said of his time in Toronto. "Maybe if I don’t pitch the right kind of game I (still) have to be accountable. I learned a lot from Roy. I got to be with Halladay, and our former pitching coach, (Brad) Arnsberg.
"And (catcher) Rod) Barajas took me to another level too. The way he got me to use all of my pitches at all times really helped me out, and gave me confidence, definitely."
After being inactive in the ALCS, Hinske drew into the Yankees’ 25-man roster for this series as an experienced left-handed bat coming off the bench. This will be his third consecutive Fall Classic, for three different teams -- Boston, Tampa and now New York -- something only one other player (Don Baylor) in baseball history has accomplished.
"Obviously," New York manager Joe Girardi said, "when we get to the National League pinch-hitters are going to be important."
While Hinske will see no more than one at-bat in a game, Burnett shoulders the responsibility of the crucial Game 2 start. He will oppose one of the true feel-good stories of this fall in Pedro Martinez, who gets the start for Philly.
"It’s something I look forward to," Burnett said of the match-up. "I think what he’s done is amazing. Very, very happy for him. I looked up to him a lot coming up, and it’ll be a lot of fun going up against him. I’m going to feed off the crowd, feed off the emotion."
He is happy to sit and talk about his three seasons in Toronto, a pair of 10-8 campaigns followed by an 18-10 year in ’08. But as much as Burnett matured pitching at Rogers Centre, there are certain elements to what he’ll face Thursday that one simply can not learn anywhere else but Yankee Stadium.
"What I learned in Toronto helped me prepare for games, helped me throughout the season," he said. "But I don’t even know what to expect (in Game 2). I know it’s going to be amazing, electric. You just hope you can prepare yourself that day, because nothing can prepare you for what can happen out there."
