"SWEET HOME" DROB... WE'LL SEE

Let’s say you’re a stand up comic. You’ve been doing pretty well around town. You're getting laughs and other comics know you as a solid performer. And then one Saturday night you have a showcase set, but you get bumped when the likes of Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby or Jerry Seinfeld drop in to do 20 minutes…how do you follow that? The crowd will expect you to keep the energy and laughs rolling, and you can’t dine out on a name you don’t have yet. You’ll have to earn every single chuckle you can get…and they’ll still say, “He was no Pryor, but he wasn’t bad.”

Now you’re in a up and coming band. You and your mates are elated to find that you’ve been invited to a big music festival…then you read the set times and see that you are following The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam or Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band…what?! You get up there and play your heart out, but you’re also playing songs that 99.9 percent of the crowd have never heard. Even if you make an impression the masses will still leave the fairgrounds singing, “POOR MAN WANNA BE RICH/RICH MAN WANNA BE KING/ AND THE KING AIN’T SATISFIED ‘TIL HE RULES EVERYTHING!”

These two scenarios aren’t too far off from what David Robertson will experience this coming season. DRob’s time has come. There isn’t a Rafael Soriano waiting in the wings to “Untuck” for David if Mariano’s spikes turn out to be 2 sizes 2 big.

So we all prepare to hear the stadium PA blare “Turn it up!” followed by the down home country sounds of “Sweet Home Alabama”. I’m excited for that.


I am rooting for Robertson with all my heart. He is one of the good guys in the game today. He looks like the nice kid from the neighborhood who all the parents tell their sons to be like and their daughters to marry. He just epitomizes the expression “Southern Gentleman” almost the way Mickey did with that smile and “Ah shucks” persona that made you like him instantly. But David is missing a few things…and he needs to get them fast!

Mariano was an ice man. He showed no fear. He worked fast and had a short memory that made him the Zen Master of the bullpen.

Now Robertson has electric stuff, there is no denying that. He can reach down and find heat and breaking stuff in those high socks…but can he do it without walking the bases loaded first? They call him Houdini, but that isn’t such a good thing when you are now the closer. Throwing a lot of pitches means that you might not be available consecutive nights. Mo had that cutter. It was ungodly and there were nights when broken bats outnumbered pitches throw for Rivera. DRob doesn’t do that.

I know he can work through it and become ever bit a lights out closer, but this is New York and we just watched the end of an era where we KNEW the game was over with a lead in the ninth…we were spoiled…and spoiled kids can be brats. I hope Robertson doesn’t get the wrath of the Post-Mo era. He should be given reasonable expectations in year one of his watch over the 9th. But we aren't a patient fan base and his nice guy image could easily be called a lack of killer instinct if he blows a few saves early on.

We are also really out of options so David better “Turn it up!” Joba Chamberlain is in MoTown. He lost 20 lbs, still throws hard and is motivated to prove the Yanks made a huge mistake in how they handled him (He is right by the way and the Tigers will benefit). I don’t see Shawn Kelley being a closer for us…although “MACHINE GUN” would be an outstanding nickname for our closer. And the Bombers passed on other back end arms who could have stepped in to close. Nope, this is DRob’s job and there will be no security blanket.

So while the headlines are on Tanaka san, the outfielder that "Shipped" down from Boston and a beloved Captain taking his dear friends once more unto the breach...Sweet Home Alabama will follow Enter Sandman…David, make us believers.



--Mike O'Hara, MLB Fan Cave Host, Season 1
   Twitter: @mikeyoh21
"Paulie was always my favorite player."



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