CURSE OF THE BAMBINO OR THE HEX OF PEDs?

I consider myself a positive person.  I always believe when one door closes, another one opens.  But, when I saw the tweet today from YES Networks's Jack Curry (HERE), I cracked.  "Brian Cashman said it's possible Derek Jeter might not be ready to start on Opening Day."  Even though Jeter repeated emphatically, as he often does, that his vision was to be ready to play opening day, it appears that he may be just short of his goal.  After being scratched from Tuesday's  lineup because of what has been called his "cranky ankle", the speculation mounted.  Is Jeter ready to take the field on April 1st?  Will he be ready only six months post-op? 

My concern is not just Jeter, but all of the ailing Yankees plaguing the DL this spring- Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, and now Jeter.  What is a team supposed to do?  What are the fans supposed to think?

I will tell you what, moments after I read Curry's tweet, I posted this thought, "The news keeps getting worse for the @Yankees; 1st ARod, then Grandy, then Tex and now Jeter- curse of the Bambino or hex of PEDS?" Now even though these guys are not all part of the PEDs debate, I feel like there is a hex of PEDs around all of MLB players.

The PEDs debate continues to swell around all players who go on long-term hitting streaks and pound 20 homeruns in six weeks.  PEDs accusations are as vicious as the six year stint of the Red Scare of the 50's, when society looked to point fingers at anyone who could have remotely been involved with members of the Communist Party.  So although, most players are not PEDs users, the debate surrounding PEDs makes any of them vulnerable to the discussion. 

The other thought I had was of course the transference of the Curse of the Bambino.  With Bobby Valentine and the Red Sox circus in Boston last season, I wouldn't doubt that Valentine created a voodoo doll of the Yankee starters and is push pinning them from his new post as the AD of Sacred Heart University in Connecticut.  The Red Sox are in the rebuilding stage, so I am not sure his hexing abilities would work on that team, but there is certainly no love lost between him and the Yankees, so who knows?

My point is this, with less than three weeks to go before opening day, how much more can we take?  What are we going to do?  What do our injured reserves look like and will Cashman seriously give our minor league prospects a chance?  Because if we have to live with this and put on the field only the injured reserves of last year, I think we are in serious trouble.

The reality is that Teixeira could be out until after the All Star Break or maybe even longer, Jeter is going to be a watch and see, and Grandy, well I have not heard all that much about him.  I have not even considered ARod's presence, because unfortunately, I am afraid he will have none. 

As a voice of optimism, I sometimes get beat down.  I hope that curses can't be transferred and hexes are fiction.  I hope that what we are experiencing right now is just a little bad luck just before the start of the season.  But just in case, let's all take a moment to pray before bed tonight that this streak ends very soon and as the lyrics from the Kinks say, "we all have better days."

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof




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