TEIXEIRA IS DOWN & OUT AGAIN & SO IS YANKEELAND

The grey cloud over the Yankees is still hovering. Now that grey cloud seems to be raining. No, in fact is has turned into a torrential downpour. That downpour....is frustration and bad luck. It's the theme song of the Yankees this season.

As I re-read everything on my screen I realize how miserable that all sounds. If this were a book, I would probably slam the cover shut and put it back on the shelf. But it's not. It's the truth....as much as I don't want to admit it right now. I am sitting here waiting for game changing, better yet, season changing news. I want the good kind though. I think we have all had enough bad news lately. I wish I could say I was writing about some right now, but I am not.

Truth is, I am really worried about Mark Teixeira's health. He has played in 15 games after his injury that happened way back when he was preparing for the World Baseball Classic. 15 games. That's it. Last week we wrote a piece called BRIGHT SPOT FOR MARK TEIXEIRA, at least I know I was hoping for one. To hear that for the time being Tex was going to avoid another trip to the disabled list gave some hope. I am tired of hearing those words. If I could make them disappear forever I would. Those words frustrate the hell out of me.

But....they are back again and Tex is back on that dreaded list, read more HERE. It's deflating. I don't know any other way to explain it. I don't know if there are words. If there are, not even Brian Cashman has many to say:

“[his wrist] is still sore, even after the shot” and “it’s clearly not a good situation.”

Tex is a huge part of this lineup. I look at what we have accomplished this year, and I am proud of our team. Many sports writers and analysts counted us out before the season even started....yet here we are still in the hunt. Tex has his flaws, but not having him in the lineup will be missed. Truth is, he already is. No offense to Lyle Overbay who has done an incredible job for us this season, but he is no Tex. No offense to Zoilo Almonte because he has been a spark to this team. The rookie has guided the way. But I also know that as good as all of that is, he has another unique quality. He is a switch hitter, too. He's been great. But without Tex there are puzzle pieces missing.

Is this deja vu? I remember last year when Brett Gardner kept having his set backs. Eventually, we stopped hearing about him because he just needed the time to recover. He needed to stop pushing himself. As much as I don't want to revisit this path I worry that this is eventually what will happen to Tex. This year has been tough. We have been without our captain, Derek Jeter. Curtis Granderson, our always upbeat, home run slugging machine is also out....again. Both of these guys have been out twice now. It is a pattern. It's a really disheartening pattern.

I can't help but think that it is just time to shut Tex down. This injury is nothing to mess around with and maybe prolonging the inevitable will just bite us later. Or, maybe I am just thinking it would be nice to be in control for once. If the Yankees shut him down and say this surgery needs to happen then they are calling the shots. They aren't reacting for once. I feel like this season has been nothing but a long string of reactions. What about just playing baseball? What about not patching things up with a quick band-aid? I want Tex in this lineup more than most, but if it means only getting a fraction of what he can be then he isn't going to perform to the best of his ability.

I don't have a medical degree, and I am not going to be the next female version of Doogie Howser. But one thing I do know is sometimes it helps to put words to paper....in this case type on the keyboard, rant a little, and put it out into cyberspace. This site started from a rant, so why stop that now? I really hope that Tex is going to come back from this and be that consistent player in the lineup that we need. But I have this nagging feeling that just won't go away......and I really wish I could.

--Jeana Bellezza, BYB Senior Writer and Editor
Twitter: @NyPrincessJ


 

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