NEW YORK — Aaron Small had just beaten the Red Sox, listening to 55,000 fans at Yankee Stadium cheer as he walked off the mound in a crucial win for New York. After midnight, he walked out of the famous ballpark to the No. 4 train and took the subway back to his hotel.
After 16 1/2 seasons of bouncing from team to team like a spaldeen spinning around a school yard, Small is on the ride of his life. He's 8-0 with a 3.28 ERA after a 9-5 win Thursday night at Tampa Bay, a $150,000 savior amid the ruined rotation on baseball's first $200 million team.
Randy Johnson flopped for much of his first season in pinstripes. Other pitching stars, including Roger Clemens, took more than a year to get comfortable in the Bronx.
Small showed up one day, started winning, and hasn't stopped — the first pitcher to win his first eight decisions with the Yankees since Doug Bird in 1980-81.
"He passed 'fluke' a long time ago," Yankees senior vice president Mark Newman said.
The 33-year-old right-hander began his professional career in 1989 but had pitched just one game in the major leagues since 1998 before making seven relief appearances with Florida last season. When the Yankees brought him up in mid-July, he hadn't made a major league start since 1996.
His resume is an A-to-Z (Albuquerque to Zebulon) tour of the minors. After playing with Jason Giambi at South Hills High in West Covina, Calif., in 1989, Small went to Medicine Hat, Alberta, in the Toronto organization in 1989 and didn't make it to the big leagues with the Blue Jays until five years later after stops in Myrtle Beach, Fla.; Dunedin, Fla.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Syracuse, N.Y.
Since then he's played for teams in Charlotte, N.C.; Edmonton, Alberta; Louisville, Ky.; Durham, N.C.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Salt Lake City; Richmond, Va.; Kissimmee, Fla.; Zebulon, N.C.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Trenton, N.J., and Columbus, Ohio. Mixed in were three starts and 143 relief appearances for Toronto, Florida, Oakland, Arizona and Atlanta.
Before this year, his career line in the majors was 15-10 with four saves and a 5.49 ERA.
But never once did he think of quitting, relying on his deep Christian faith and on Macy, his wife since 1996. In a Yankees clubhouse where players wear $2,000 suits pressed to perfection, he looks like just another guy, albeit one with unusual perseverance.
"I think it's mainly from my mom and dad. They always taught me never to give up, even through tough times. Just keep battling," said the soft-spoken California native. "Of course, you play long enough and you go through three or four years and you don't get back to the big leagues after having a couple of years there, it gets a little discouraging at times."
When New York had him pitch at Texas on July 20, he became the Yankees' 11th different starting pitcher in a 20-game span, a total that baseball's most storied franchise hadn't run through since 1917. He beat the Rangers. Eight days later, he pitched a career-high seven innings and defeated Minnesota at Yankee Stadium.
"There's times I looked around, but never in awe," Small said. "In Columbus, we had about 1,200 people and here we had, what, about 50,000, so it's a little different."
Macy Small, who had been watching her husband's games on the office computer of the church where she works as a part-time secretary, came to New York for the first time after that, going to Yankee Stadium for a weekend series against the Los Angeles Angels.
Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre liked what he saw when Small arrived in New York.
"Most guys probably give up before they spend enough time to perfect their skills," Stottlemyre said. "I think he knows now what he's got to do to get hitters out. His stuff was probably better before, but he didn't have the command. He's a much smarter pitcher. Other springs he very well could have gone as our fifth guy. We just didn't have room this year."
Then Jaret Wright got hurt. And Kevin Brown. And Carl Pavano. And Chien-Ming Wang. And Mike Mussina.
Stottlemyre changed the grip on Small's sinker. Columbus pitching coach Gil Patterson also worked with Small, whom he knew from the Athletics and Diamondbacks organizations. He moved him from the third-base side of the pitching rubber to the first-base side, and they tinkered with a cut fastball.
"He's going to make them rip that uniform off his back, he loves it so much," Patterson said. "You wonder why someone didn't give him a chance earlier. You know it's because he doesn't throw 94, 95 (mph)."
Even with a fastball topping out at 90-91 mph, Small struck out Scott Podsednik and Juan Uribe of the Chicago White Sox three times each on Aug. 10. Yankees manager Joe Torre repeatedly has said New York would be sunk if not for Small and Shawn Chacon, another midseason pitching addition.
"How come certain guys come to New York and have trouble handling this, that and the other thing?" Torre said. "Well, these guys came with no expectations, let's admit it. There wasn't anybody holding their breath to see what they were going to do and they had a chance, I think, to pitch as opposed to try and talk about it."
Small rarely shakes off Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. He keeps the ball down, which has been the key.
"He gives me a lot to work with," Posada said. "He does everything possible to keep them off balance. He obviously works both sides of the plate. His location is unbelievable — when I want the ball up or the ball down, he hits my mitt pretty much consistent. And that's why he's doing what he's doing."