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Win the Big Ones Will Ya’, Boys?
Watched the Yankees play the Mets last weekend with my dad, and he pointed something out that is more agreeable than Clinton and infidelity. He said, “You know what? I believe (Mark) Teixeira is one of the most valuable acquisitions for the Yankees in their history.” Dad knows best. Talk about getting bang for your buck. Where would the Yankees be without the consistency of both the glove and bat of Tex? In the AL East cellar, that’s where. Even with the All-Star first baseman in the lineup, and hanging on a mere three games out of first place, the Yanks have yet to beat the Red Sox this year. That’s a pretty fortunate position in which to find the Yankees. Now, all they need to focus on is how to win those big ones, and I’ve my own opinions on how this can be accomplished.
First, Alex Rodriguez needs to get a hit when it counts. Yeah, he was the at-bat that won the game last week with two outs in the bottom of the ninth against the Mets. But that’s about all he was—the batter whose pop up was swatted to the ground like a mosquito by Mets’ second baseman Luis Castillo. Furthermore, after making contact with that pitch, Rodriguez slammed the bat to the ground while hanging his head, and pouted to first like someone gave a damn. Guess who put his head down and hustled all the way from first base to score the winning run on that same play? Yessir, none other than Teixeira. Castillo actually had a better chance of throwing out Rodriguez at first than making the play at the plate. Scoring from first base on a ball dropping on the outside edge of the infield is something only done by the best players in the game. Rule one: If you’re a Yankee, you hustle 110% down the line on every ball hit into play. Lesson learned: The Yankees can win without A-Roid. I’m surprised his pouting actually took him down the first baseline and not directly into the dugout.
Alex, you’re not one of the best players in the game. You may have the “numbers,” but if you’re not here to be a Yankee and win World Series championships, adios. Great players make great plays. See, if you had hustled on that pop-up and legged it out like Derek Jeter has done for 14 years, I may have began to respect you. But for now, it remains the fact that you’re really a human masse that fills the lineup card. Get over yourself.
How about the pitching? It’s the second most crucial aspect of the game after showing up to the ballpark. The Yankees’ starters have improved immensely since the sloppy start to the season. They’re working deeper into games, with CC Sabathia showing the most improvement of all. But the bullpen: killing me. Seems that whenever manager Joe Girardi walks out to the mound and signals to the bullpen, I have an image engrained in my head of Sparkles the Clown busting through the outfield wall with a glove ready to relieve whatever gem the Yankee starter has thrown to that point. Sad image, but it may as well be so if the Yankee bullpen doesn’t do some serious work. There are too many games lost this season by the bullpen that even winning half of those while winless against Boston would still have the Yankees number one in the division. That speaks to the potential that is just waiting to produce wins for the team.
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Once everything clicks and the bullpen is able to latch on to the starting rotation’s momentum, the Yanks will have something special. Hopefully this transformation occurs soon, because more and more games become “the big ones” at this point in the season. The Yankees will have another shot at the Red Sox come August, and the homestretch of the race to glory will thus commence. Forget about the numbers, because Yankee baseball is about doing what it takes to win, at any cost, and…Why is Sparkles playing third base?
By Tim Gaffney
MLBcenter.com New York Yankees Correspondent
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