WHY THESE SIMILARITIES ARE PROMISING

It’s Spring Training time, and for baseball fans, that means a whole lot of “What if…” and “How are we gonna do this year?” Of course, no one knows. Nobody’s played in any real games yet and we're just stretching it all out. Yet, we watch every game, or read about it, even though we know nothing counts. We just want to talk baseball. Opening Day is almost here!

So it got me to thinking. What team in recent history reminds me most of this current Yankee team? My conclusion was the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies. Now, keep in mind in the 1980's sluggers were winning home run titles with 36 home runs. So, my goal was to find a relatively
recent team that is very similar, on paper of course, to the 2011 New York Yankees. Some
positions don’t perfectly match, but I think you’ll get my point. And besides, it was kind of fun, so check it out:THE ACE: A well-established left-handed ace- CC Sabathia / Steve Carlton

THE LEAGUES BEST PLAYER: Both play third base- Alex Rodriguez / Mike SchmidtTHE SPARK PLUG: Team Leader. Singles hitter. Run scorer- Derek Jeter / Pete Rose

POWER HITTING: Mark Teixeira (better glove) / Greg Luzinski (nicknamed "The Bull")

SPEEDY CENTER FIELDER: Curtis Granderson (More Power) / Gary Maddox (Better Defense)HITTING & AVG: Robinson Cano (More power) / Bake McBride (More Afro)

SPEEDY SLAPPY: Brett Gardner / Larry BowaSOMETIMES GOOD: A.J. Burnett / Dick Ruthven- Some years were very good. Some weren't.

YOUNG WITH POTENTIAL: Phil Hughes / Bob Walk

THE CLOSER: Mariano Rivera / Tug McGraw I'm not comparing careers here, Mo wins hands down, but in 1980, Tug McGraw was great. I mean, Mariano great.

The best part of this analysis is... The 1980 Philadelphia Phillies were Champions of Baseball. How's that for a comparison?

So, tell me what you think?


--Moonlight Graham BYB Staff Writer

Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.