COULD GRANDERSON CRACK THE 40-40 CLUB?

The 40-40 Club. A group of professional baseball players that have accomplished something so difficult that only four men are part of the club:  Jose Canseco (1988), Barry Bonds (1996), Alex Rodriguez (1998), and Alfonso Soriano (2006). Why else would Jay-Z name his sports bar the 40-40 club…it’s exclusive. The requirements? Having a total of at least 40 homeruns and 40 stolen bases in a single season. Of course when I think of home runs, I think of Curtis Granderson.

Granderson isn’t known for his stolen bases. He doesn’t run like Speedy Gonzalez from one base to the next. But last season he did have 25 stolen bases, one more than his careers high set in 2006. My feeling is simply that if Curtis can get on base and run alittle bit more, there is a good shot he could get to the club… or at least come very close… hey, you never know.

So far this season, Granderson has a whopping 6 stolen bases and 22 home runs. That's half way to his total number of home runs from last season. It is obvious that the changes Granderson made to his swing have helped. That was obvious last season and continues to show through this season. He gets the big hits when they count the most.

This kind of reminds me when Alfonso Soriano played for the Yankees. In 2002 and 2003, Soriano missed the forty- forty club by inches. Granderson doesn’t remind me of Soriano a lot of ways…except one. I love watching both of their at bats. Both players spoil me with the homer. I expect the long ball from them. The difference of course is Soriano’s advantage over Granderson was that he boldly stole bases.

Where the home run count is concerned, I am positive that Granderson could make it to 40 in a single season The big question is, can he get on base and run rather than cranking them out all the time? Quite simply…never say die. You need to believe in our guy, the Grandy man.

--Erica Morales, BYB Writer




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