NEW YORK — Mark Wohlers would stand on that mound back in 1998 and send ball after ball on a wild ride toward the plate. Like Steve Blass before him and Rick Ankiel after him, the relief ace suddenly was all over the place, unable to throw a strike, totally out of control.

        “I think the reason I lost it was because I went through some extremely difficult things personally off the field, and I think it just carried over to my professional life,” Wohlers said. “I'd gone through a divorce. I was so determined to try to keep that going and keep my family together that everything else was irrevelant. My mind started playing tricks on me, and it just snowballed.”

        Eventually, the former Braves closer found his way to the plate again, making him a very desirable guy again.

        That's why the 31-year-old right-hander was talking about his traumas Sunday morning wearing his new pinstriped clothing in the Yankees' clubhouse at the Stadium shortly after flying in from Cincinnati in the wake of Saturday's trade. Wohlers, who said he grew up a Yankees fan in Massachusetts, wound up getting into the 6-1 win over the Devil Rays and throwing a scoreless ninth.

        “In today's age, with an opportunity to go back to the postseason and eventually get a ring that has the 'NY' on it, I'm a great situation,” Wohlers said.

        Manager Joe Torre sounds a lot more enthused about his bullpen situation now thanks to these recent acquisitions of Wohlers and Jay Witasick to do some right-handed setup work, which allows Ramiro Mendoza to have more of a middle-inning role.

        “I think it's a major improvement with the experience we got,” Torre said. “I think we have a lot of interchangeable parts.”

        Of course, Wohlers played a big part in launching the Yankees' latest dynasty in 1996, serving up the tying three-run, Game 4 homer by Jim Leyritz that turned the World Series around against Atlanta. Then one of the game's premier closers suffered that mental block and couldn't pitch the final six weeks of that 1998 season.

        The Braves unloaded him to Cincinnati the following April, and then there was another parade of visits to psychologists while on the DL with what was termed an anxiety disorder. But it was an elbow injury in June of that 1999 season during a minor-league rehab outing and subsequent “Tommy John” reconstructive surgery that got him back on track.

        “What helped me personally was that I was trying to come back and throwing so much and so often that I finally blew my elbow out,” Wohlers said. “Just being away from the game for so long made me realize what was important.”

        So he returned to the majors last July and threw strikes again. And he was back making batters sweat with his high-90s heat this year in a setup role, going 3-1 with a 3.94 ERA in 30 games, having allowed just one earned run in his last 15 innings with the Reds.

        “Honestly, a couple of years ago, after what I've gone through, first with throwing and then with "Tommy John,' I couldn't envision playing baseball again,” Wohlers said. “I was just hoping that someday I could get back to maybe an over-30 league.”

Cubs 2, Reds 1 Griffey fine after 'tweaking' hamstring Rodriquez rejoins Reds Cubs holding their ground because of pitching Reds-Pirates Scouting Report Wohlers a key to stabilizing Yankees' bullpen Reds box, runs

DAUGHERTY: Golf is a bargain
Met tennis champs back to defend
Women's stroke play tee times

• Return to Reds front page...