Whether David Cone is pitching at Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park, at some point he'll need to start producing. If not, than the Red Sox will have to go back to Tomo Ohka, who -- with a 3.59 ERA in 21 big-league starts -- is presently languishing at Triple-A Pawtucket.

Cone has been one of the great warriors in baseball, and one of the best big-game pitchers in the last 15 years.

The key game in the Yankees' run of four World Series in five years was in 1996. They Yankees had gotten killed in the first two games of the Series at home, and were down 0-2 to the Braves. Everyone in baseball went down to Atlanta thinking it was going to end in a hurry; no one expected to go back to New York. But Cone came up huge in Game 3, which proved to be the pivotal game, as the Yankees went on to sweep the next four and win the title. Of all the big games the Yankees have played in the past five years, that was the biggest. And Cone's performance was so gutsy. Then, of course, he pitched the magical perfect game back on July 18, 1999.

But baseball is a game of "What have you done for me lately?" Cone went 4-14 with a 6.91 ERA last year for the Yankees. And in one start thus far for the Red Sox, he has a no-decision and a 6.00 ERA.

He's had arm miseries on top of arm miseries, which should indicate that his window of opportunity is rapidly closing. Because he's such a great veteran, Cone has been given a longer leash than a lot of other pitchers would. But sooner than later -- in the next three or four starts most likely -- he'll need to prove that he still has the ability to get major-league hitters out. He can't be pitching three or four innings, giving up five or six runs, and have an unlimited amount of time to right his personal ship. Not only is there no crying in baseball, there's no sentiment, either.

Dave Campbell, who played eight seasons in the major leagues, works as an analyst for Baseball Tonight and ESPN Radio.