The Good
Last night the Yankees took a 3rd straight game from the Blue Jays, and included a milestone in Ichiro's 4,000th hit, and a tie-breaking 2-run homerun from Soriano. David Huff started the 4th and pitched 5 innings of shutout baseball. Rivera locked down his 37th save of the season.
The Bad
Jayson Nix was hit by one of RA Dickey's pitches, and has suffered a broken hand. He's likely out for the rest of the season, and for a player who has been here through all the mediocrity, it's a shame that he won't be around to see the Yankees while they're catching on fire.
The Ugly
According to David Ortiz, Dempster's plunking of A-Rod has awoken a sleeping monster. Since that plunking the Yankees have been playing a more inspired form of baseball. A lot of Red Sox fans I know have been saying that the Yankees are always a second half team, and we're just seeing them stick true to form. However if you saw this team in July you'd know that we were beyond that. This has less to do with us being a second half team, and more to do with a combination of getting A-Rod, Granderson and Soriano into our lineup, and getting some fire in our bellies. We'll see if the Yankees continue this trend through the coming weeks.
Soriano Is The Most Caring Yankee
Since returning to the club, Soriano has not stopped looking out for the children. Another homerun adds another $2 for the babies.
Travis Hafner 12hr = $24
Vernon Wells 11hr = $22
Brett Gardner 8hr = $16
Kevin Youkilis 2hr = $4
Jayson Nix 3hr = $6
Robinson Cano 23hr = $46
Ichiro Suzuki 6hr = $12
Lyle Overbay 13hr = $26
Brennan Boesch 3hr = $6
Francisco Cervelli 3hr = $6
Chris Stewart 4hr = $8
Ben Francisco 1hr = $2
David Adams 2hr = $4
Curtis Granderson 3hr = $6
Mark Teixeira 3hr = $6
Zoilo Almonte 1hr = $2
Derek Jeter 1hr = $2
Alfonso Soriano 9hr = $18
Austin Romine 1hr = $2
Eduardo Nunez 1hr = $2
Alex Rodriguez 2hr = $4
Mark Reynolds 1hr = $2
Total 113 hrs = $226
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Nix played through the mediocrity, but he was also responsible for much of that mediocrity. That he played so much shows just how thin the team has been.
It's hard to believe anyone credits ARod with inspiring his team.
Hahaha, it's true, but somehow ARod has managed to become the rallying point. The team was starting to turn around before that game in Boston, but that was mostly because Soriano was playing like the entire offense depended on him (which it did). But there's no denying that since ARod was plunked the entire Yankee team has been playing with a lot more fire.
And Nix did contribute to the mediocrity, but that's because he was playing a role he wasn't meant for, ie. a starting role. And honestly, if he was the only backup playing a starting role we would have been fine, but when our entire lineup is made up of backups, it really starts to hurt the offense. Somehow Lyle Overbay, Chris Stewart, Vernon Wells, Jayson Nix, and Eduardo Nunez were not enough to carry the offensive burden of this team.
If the Yankees make the playoffs, it will take a lot of explaining. The players you reeled off are so bad that I can't understand how the Yankees have even a prayer at contention in such a strong division.
Aside from Kuroda and, to a lesser extent, Nova, the starting pitching hasn't been good enough to explain the team's success either.
The list of Yankees who have sustained significant injuries this season is horrific. Playing on this team must feel like living through a Final Destination movie. And the guys who were forced to start, like Nix, didn't exactly set the world on fire. So how have they done it?
It's true, there is nothing logical about the Yankees recent run of success, and sudden entry into playoff contention. That's why the rest of this season may very well be the most exciting baseball we've seen in a long time. Or course things can turn around just as quickly. If they don't, we'll know that it's Yankee magic leading the way.
"Yankees magic leading the way," yes, I can live with that.
Post a Comment