I AM HAVING YANKEE WITHDRAWALS

I know what you are going to say, "It's the regular season, baseball is back!" Yes, that is true. It's two weeks into the regular season. It's finally here. I am talking about something different though. After a long off season with fans venting about missing some of our favorite players we can finally focus some of that energy into the games and the guys we have now. That doesn't mean we still don't think about the players that are no longer here, at least I know I still think about them from time to time. I still wish we had some people back on our team.

I don't like to dwell on the past too much because you can never go back, but there are some guys that I really do miss. We know you guys do too, we spent months talking about it and sometimes venting. We are definitely a passionate fan base. We love to win, but we also get attached to the guys on our team. Now that I have adjusted to the idea of some of them not being on our team this year I am still trying to get used to them in different uniforms.

When I think back to last season, I remember how clutch Raul Ibanez was for us. I guess now that I know how important he was to us last year I don't want to think about where we would have been without him. I'm still bummed that he isn't in New York anymore, but I think the bigger adjustment for me is seeing him in a Mariners uniform for a third time.

I wonder if he is missing the short porch in Yankee stadium as much as we miss watching him hit the ball their. In 5 games Ibanez has a .250 average with four hits, two doubles, and one home run on the season. Safeco is definitely not the same hitter friendly park as Yankee stadium is, but Ibanez knows this park well. I'm sure he is going to do good things for the Mariners, I just hope he doesn't do a lot of damage against us.

My personal favorite that I miss the most would be Eric Chavez. I find it strange that this is his 16th season and up until now he has always played for American League teams. Now he is on the Diamondbacks and will be splitting time with other players. Usually at this stage of a players career if they make a change they go from the National League to the American League, I think this is a good indication of just how effective he is when he is healthy. After only playing 33 games for Oakland in 2010, he played in 58 games the following year and last year he played in 113. Not bad for an older, injury prone player.

So far Chavez has not done much for the Diamondbacks but in five games he does have four hits and a .250BA. I miss Chavez the most because of the experience he brought to the Yankees and even though he is older, he adapted well. The Yankees asked him to learn how to play first base and he took that challenge and succeeded. Without him the Yankees would have been much weaker last year when Mark Teixeira went on the disabled list. The Diamondbacks saw what he had to offer and they were smart enough to sign him. I'm happy for him, he gets to be closer to home like he wants. However, considering I live in Arizona I hate losing anything to the Diamondbacks whether it is a game (like 2001....I am still reeling from that) or a player. I wish Chavez well here in the desert, but not next week when he plays against us back at Yankee stadium.

My dad's personal favorite would be Nick Swisher. I find this funny considering that my dad technically isn't a Yankee fan. He follows the Mets more, but when it comes to New York teams he will support all. I remember going with my dad to see the Yankees play the Diamondbacks in Arizona back in 2010. He took one look at Swisher's picture on the scoreboard, he had the biggest grin on his face and he said "look at that rat face, give him some cheese!" The Diamondback fans sitting behind us loved that. Now here we are three years later and my dad is missing Nick Swisher.

He sent me a text message just before the Cleveland series started and asked me why the Yankees didn't bring him back and admitted he missed him. You aren't alone dad, a lot of us do too. Even though Swisher says he is upset, read NOW NICK SWISHER HAD HIS "FEELINGS HURT" we still haven't forgotten what he did for us while he was here. He was a fan favorite. So far for the year he has a .250BA with 7 hits, and one RBI. I hope Cleveland appreciates Swisher as much as we did here. It's too bad that things ended the way they did but now Swisher is a Cleveland Indian. I still miss that salute from right field during roll call though.

It is easy to grow attached to a player and let's face it, not every player can be like Jorge Posada and retire only playing for one team. That is pretty special. It still sucks to see a fan favorite put on a different uniform though. Who do you miss most? Comment and let us know!

--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Writer and Editor

Twitter: @NyPrincessJ

 

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