THE YANKEES ARE FOR REAL

I have been holding my breath for weeks.  I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop.  I am still of the belief that Juan Soto won't be with us when the season ends. I am positive he will take the money and go to the Mets and so I am having a really hard time rooting hard for a loaner. 

Yup, that's my world.  But let me just say that what this team has done and is doing is unreal and now with the surge of Aaron Judge, the dominance of Carlos Rodon and of course the talent of Soto and every player in between... I have to say it because it's incredible... the Yankees are for real.  It's glorious, exciting and as a Yankee fan... I just want it to keep going.  

This being said, I will never use a useless Aaron Boone quote in my writings on the New York Yankees ever here on Bleeding Yankee Blue pages. Boone is a worm, a slug, and has nothing to do with this surge of greatness. He is a mouthpiece; a puppet and I'm ignoring him. For this run... this is the players. It's all the players (and James Rowson) of course.

Let's also talk about the young guys that want to make a name for themselves.  Luis Gil? What a breath of fresh air.

ESPN writes:

"Gil continued his unforeseen breakout campaign Saturday, delivering the best start of his young career with 14 strikeouts -- a Yankees rookie record -- on 98 pitches over six innings as New York improved to an AL-best 32-15..."

"I have a teacher, Gerrit Cole, who's teaching me how to pitch, how to handle situations and how to execute," Gil said in Spanish. "And that's what we're doing, what he teaches me, and we're applying it in the game."

This alone brings me such joy.  This is teamwork. These are good teammates.  Hat tip to Cole.  

Then there's Clay Holmes. Jorge Castillo of ESPN wrote a great article about him.  

"STUD -- all capital letters there," Yankees reliever Luke Weaver said.

Holmes, in his second full season as New York's closer, has registered 21 strikeouts with three walks in 17⅓ innings and leads the American League with 12 saves. And ask anybody in the Yankees' clubhouse: Holmes' performance in Baltimore earlier this month is still a talker.

Holmes now has 13.

"A lot of it for me is nailing my direction," Holmes said. "I'm able to just move down the mound faster and I just think it helps my body move a little better. Just kind of knowing my lanes, the direction I need to get going. It's a product of me just moving down the mound better. It frees up my arm. The stuff moves from that."

And how about Anthony Volpe. Now I'm going to tell you that I'm not a huge Volpe guy.  But I do like what he's doing with his batting average.  Last year he ended at .209. This year his average is at .270 and that's great.

MLB.com writes:

"Anthony Volpe hit his sixth home run of the season and swiped his ninth base of the season on Thursday. The 23-year-old wasted no time as he launched a lead-off home run, which ended up being the game-winning run. Then, in the second inning, he hit a single and stole second base. After struggling in his rookie season last year, the former top prospect is clearly beginning to find his footing at the major league level. Across 44 games this season, he has posted a .273/.348/.432 slash line, which is significantly higher than his .209/.283/.383 line last year. Volpe was a 20/20 player last season and is on pace to repeat that feat this season."

As Judge said in the Athletic last year: “If he’s going to be the future and be the shortstop here for the next 15 years... you’ve got to have him up here now and just kind of getting used to it.”

And this is why this team is truly unique. Gil, Holmes and Volpe are not top Yankee names, but they are in the mix. They are in the mix of veterans and stars that are offering unique talent and making a contribution to the team.  For me? This team strangely reminds me of 1996. 

The Jeter's mixed in with the Mariano Duncans and Cecil Fielders and Wade Boggs of the team.  Meaning... everyone contributes in some fashion.  It just feels right.  While we have a long season to go, I believe that with the return of Cole, the team will just get better.  There is hope that the Yankees can sustain this run.  

Look, I am a Yankee fan. I have been one since the day I latched on the Ron Guidry all those years ago.  I have seen some great games, great teams and some really bad ones.  I become happy, I become frustrated and annoyed. But in the end, I love this team.  I just want them to do well.

If you're a Yankee fan... a believer... I applaud you for sticking around.  I was almost out of here. The Yankees horrendous season last year coupled with my busy life made it easy for me to try and walk away.  But this team is exciting, and I'll stick around for a bit more. 

To all you Yankee fans and to all you BYB freaks, thank you for being there.  We love you.  We're in it together.  

Go Yanks!

TIME STOOD STILL FOR A WHILE

Source: Rich Schultz/Getty Images North America

When you engross yourself in your passion for a day, it changes you.  Now, share this day with your son, who shares the same passion, and time stands still, at least for a while.  As luck would have it, I was able to obtain two tickets to the Red Sox-Yankees game at the Stadium for Saturday, but on top of that, I learned late Friday night that #WFAN was having its FanFest and hosting a number of players from days past including David Wells, Mickey Rivers, Bucky Dent and Cecil Fielder across the street from Stan's, in the place where the old Yankee Stadium once stood.  Yankee announcers Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling along with GM Brian Cashman also joined in to sign autographs for fans across the Tri-State before the evening's twilight game against the Sox.

For me, and I think my 19-year-old, time stood still or I lost track of it as I introduced my son to some of my favorite players from days long gone but with memories as thick as a foggy day in April or a black and white milk shake from Shake Shack.  I thanked David Wells for his Perfect Game, I appreciated Mickey Rivers for his incredible speed, I expressed to Cecil my delight in introducing him to my son as the Fielder before Prince and then, I needed to make no introduction to Bucky Dent.

My son said to him confidently, "You're my mom's favorite."  

It's like the day stayed on pause, for four hours and everyone at the FanFest, knew each other.  As one fan said to us as we moved through the different lines together throughout the day, "We are like family; get in line with us!"  But, then at the stroke of four, reality set in and the game began and we quickly realized that the winning teams I reminisced about with my son just moments before first pitch, were not reflective of the team spirit on the field on Saturday evening as the Yankees blew their lead early, only to fall to the Sox, 10-5.

Source: Mike Stobe/Getty Images North America

Losing last night really hurt not just because Aaron Judge went 0-4 and Andrew Benintendi had six RBIs after belting two three-run home runs.  Last night hurt because the season appears to be slipping away from the Yankees and there isn't a darn thing we as fans can do about it.  We can't just press the pause button...June is long gone.

Source: Rich Schultz/Getty Images North America

According to ESPN, "Benintendi's big day came with his grandfather Robert, a Brooklyn native and recovering Yankees fan living in the Cincinnati area, in the stands, a gift for his 85th birthday. It also continued a torrid two-week stretch that followed a team-imposed two-day breather intended to clear Benintendi's head and and help the 23-year-old remember everything that has made him one of the game's most promising young players." As the article goes on to say, "Judge would likely find a similar break to be useful, and if the Yankees weren't scratching for every victory to keep pace in a pennant race, they might consider giving it to him." 

Source: Brian Blanco/Getty Images North America

We only have six or seven weeks left of the baseball season right now.  Judge, a clear contender for Rookie of the Year in June, is falling fast while Boston's Benintendi seems to be on the right road again and could take the would-be crown away from Judge, despite not having a special section dedicated to him at Fenway.  "Odds are, though, the award will still belong to Judge, who nevertheless could learn a lesson from Benintendi. "He's having an unreal year, and he's kind of struggling right now," Benintendi said. "I went through that for two months. I'm sure he'll figure it out," reported ESPN.

When we engross ourselves in the passion of the sport we love, time does stand still and we can relive the memories of our childhood, the fond memories of come from behind home runs, perfect games and World Series championships.  We need times like I had today to reminisce on the way things were so that we can believe that these days could come around again for the Yankees.  It's the calm before the storm perhaps...and who knows, the Yankees' 28th World Championship, whenever it happens, will be worth the wait.  Slumps happen and then they go away.  Let's hope that Judge's luck changes with the Yankees' luck and time can move ahead to better days and World Series wishes.

--Suzie Pinstripe

BYB Managing Editor
Follow me on Twitter: @suzieprof

THE YANKEES ARE STAYING AGGRESSIVE!

I am absolutely loving this!

The Yankees won again and it's amazing and just check the standing guys:

The American League East is tightening even more with the Yankees just 3 out of first place!  In the Wild Card race, the Yanks are just 1 game out.  Who the hell would have guessed it?

Now, the Yankee fan base is insanely happy right now.  I think Suzie Pinstripe put it best in her post COULD CHRIS ARCHER END UP IN PINSTRIPES?, 

"I love Yankee baseball right now.  I really can't believe the transformation."

No one can Suzie, it's truly incredible.

The perfect mix of youth and veterans working together toward a common goal.  That is a suggestion we at Bleeding Yankee Blue have been screaming about for years.  That's because when the Yankees were on their tear in the mid-90's with the same formula. That's when we had a young Derek Jeter... and older Cecil Fielder.  A young Andy Pettitte, an older Mariano Duncan. A young Jorge Posada... and older Joe Girardi.  You get the idea.  Things are happening again folks!

Last night the Yanks won.  This time it was that combination again... a young Gary Sanchez with the older Jacoby Ellsbury homering and match that with a great pitching performance by Masahiro Tanaka and things were great! 

By the way, Tanaka is 14-3 this season.  Last night he went 7.1 and gave up just 5 hits and 1 run while striking out 10.  That one run was the only one the Rays would score.  The pen shut them down.

And here's an interesting stat that needs to be thrown out there.  Last night the Yankees only left 3 men on base. That means they are doing their job... and things are working... that's because they are playing good baseball.

More today folks, we need to keep climbing.  This is a run, isn't it? Let's try and sweep the Rays!  Go Yanks!

Final: Yankees 5 - Rays 1

BOB WATSON: BASEBALL'S FORGOTTEN LEGACY

The Yankees recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 1996 World Series. Among the guest present were the Core Four, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada. It was a great day, but how many people noticed that a key person to that team was missing? Probably not many of you. It's strange that a name like Bob Watson isn't more common.

So, who is Bob Watson? If you're an Astros fan, you'll remember him as a former power-hitting first baseman. This was back in the late 60's, when hitting homers out of the Astrodome was an incredible feat, considering how difficult it actually was. He played in Houston for 14 years, before being traded to Boston in 1979. He went on to play for the Yankees, and the Braves, ending his 19-year career in 1984.

Watson also became the player to score MLB's one millionth run. The New York Daily News had a write up about it for the 40th anniversary (HERE). On May 4th, 1975, he ran home, and into a bit of obscure baseball lore. He was the first player to hit for the cycle in both the National league (with the Astros in 1977), and the American league (with the Red Sox in 1979).  He later became the first African-American General Manager in Major League Baseball, when Drayton McLane of the Astros gave him the position. And, in 1996, he became the first African-American General Manager to win a World Series, when he did it with the Yankees.

We all remember Gene Michael as the man behind the Core Four and Bernie Williams (because Bernie was in a class of his own READ HERE). And it seems like Brian Cashman has been General Manager since the dawn of time, some days. But Watson is the man responsible for trading for Tino Martinez, and Joe Girardi. He also brought on Cecil Fielder. Most ironically, Watson is the man who told us to trust that we would come to love "Clueless Joe," Joe Torre, when he made Torre Manager. 

"I can understand why Yankee fans are upset because Buck (Showalter) was a popular man," said Bob Watson in November 1995. "But Yankee fans also should give Joe Torre time to prove what  he can do."

"Believe me, he'll win them over."

The New York Daily News remembered their 1995 interview with Watson this week. Watson, who told us to give Torre a chance, and who revamped the face of the Yankees from 1995 to 1996, making us the unlikely underdog in the 1996 season played a pivotal role in what was our first Championship in 18 years. He went on to serve as MLB vice president in charge of discipline and vice president of rules and on-field operations. He stirred the pot a little in 2007 when, what he called, "The Francona" rule was put in place. Basically, MLB managers would no longer be able to wear team pullovers to games. They would have to wear their team uniforms. A style Terry Francona was known for.

He is also battling stage 4 kidney failure.

"I really wanted to be there," Watson told the New York Daily News,"but my health won't allow it. I am battling Stage 4 kidney failure. Not too many people know about it."

All the baseball stats seem moot. A man is battling for his life. But, I don't know... I feel like if I mention Bob Watson's name, I shouldn't get a blank stare in return. Baseball fans, especially Yankees fans, should know who he is. I don't expect people to prattle off stats at the drop of the hat. But... I mean, c'mon guys! He was the first to hit for the cycle in both leagues and MLB's 1 millionth run! He was the first African-American General Manager in MLB history and the first African-American General manager to win a World Series. At least give me that. Maybe I'm a little bit sensitive about it. The Dynasty Era was my era. And yes, Gene played a hand in that too. But give Watson his credit. He earned it!

Watson is very ill. He does 7 hours of dialysis, 3 times a week. He has kept it private, until now. And while it's important to take that into consideration, and send him well wishes, it's also important to remember the man for his accomplishments. After all, long after we are gone from this earth, all there will be left of us is the stories. And if you get to leave behind a legacy like Watson's, it should not be forgotten, and buried under the mounds of baseball lore.

The Bleeding Yankee Blue writers and family send our thoughts and well wishes to Bob, and his family during this time.

Erica Morales
BYB Senior Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter: @e_morales1804

DO THE NEW YORK YANKEES HAVE A SHOT?

The answer is yes.

I was listening to Alex Rodriguez talk, I think it was in the clubhouse during champagne time the other night and he was explaining how the Yankees haven't swung the bats well at all.  In essence... they know they are stinking up the joint.  But he also said that they could very likely have a run like they did earlier in the season... maybe 9 straight, who knows.  I smiled as I was brushing my teeth.  It's that never say die mentality that I've always been in love with when it comes to my New York Yankees.  And so, as I got ready for the train, I threw on my Yankee jacket with pride, for today is a new day and a new 1 game season so to speak against a team featuring star pitcher Dallas Keuchel.

Hey... it will not be easy, but we have Masahiro Tanaka.

Tanaka held on all season.  I didn't expect it.  I thought his arm would break down at some point and he wouldn't even be around by the post-season.  He surprised me, and for that, I'm excited.  We'll be playing at home, which, if you've ever been at a post-season game at Yankee Stadium, it's electric and insane and I wish I was there tonight... it's huge. It gives me hope.

But it's also a 1 game playoff.  Winner of this game moves on. The loser will end their season tonight.  I have had alot of negative feels about the Yankees this season, you've read about it extensively, and I'm happy to express my true feelings when things go wrong, but it's a clean slate today.  This team not only has the chops to win this game... they also have a more important reason to do it... they're gonna do it for their brother... CC Sabathia.

Now I don't need to get into massive details about the importance of what Sabathia did and when he did it when it came to his drinking.  It's personal and I applaud him.  This game in his personal life is just not important.  He's gotta fix some stuff... and he will.  The timing of this demonstrates the urgency of the problem. For those of you that "cannot believe he's doing this now"... you're perfect and you'll never understand.

That's sarcasm, but I don't have the time to explain it.  If you don't get it, you never will.  But back to the Yankees and CC.  There's a bigger picture here.  Sure, win the first round for not only the fans and their team, but for CC.  It's very noble. It's a brotherhood. It's beautiful actually.

The Yankees have the tools and they have the ability.  If Joe Girardi plays to strengths and not to over-resting players and changing players too much and at the wrong time, we have a huge opportunity.  The sprinkling of youth with veterans is a formula that has worked for the Yankees for years...

There are Cecil Fielder and Andy Pettitte type players on this team (1996). There are Shane Spencer and Tino Martinez type players on this team (1998).  There are Phil Coke and Jorge Posada type players on  this team (2009).

The point is with guys like Greg Bird and Luis Severino mixed in with the likes of Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian McCann...kids and veterans... things could turn out pretty great. But as you know, there's 1 thing that definitely needs to happen. 

The Yankees need to hit.  It goes back to what ARod said.  The Yanks have stunk up the joint leaving many runners on base all season and not hitting.  They need to be smart. They need to execute in a way to get the runs home.  They need timely hits. No easy task for this team, but as we have seen during their hot moments... they truly have the ability.. they just gotta do it!

Tonight's the night ladies and gentlemen.  I believe in this team, despite my annoying, negative rants.  But they need to believe in themselves tonight, BIG TIME.  Trust me... they CAN!

Go Yanks! Make us proud tonight.

 

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REMEMBERING 1996

If you can, try and find an hour today or this weekend to watch this.  It's called Pinstripe Destiny and it was put together by MSG and narrated by Al Trautwig.



This was when MSG carried the Yankees and it is an old special that is literally the making of that 1996 team we remember and love. Guys like Cecil Fielder. Mariano Duncan. Darryl Strawberry and New manager Joe Torre.

Enjoy it.

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TRUE YANKEE FANS ARE THRILLED ABOUT TINO BEING HONORED

...and I can't believe we're still talking about this...

If you read BYB enough, you know that I read Jason Keidel's piece the other day about Tino Martinez.  It was titled I Love Tino, But There’s No Way He Belongs In Monument Park. It was pretty critical of Tino being honored with a plaque in the Yankees' Monument Park.

I quickly pointed out the simplest reasoning for the Yankees decision when it was announced. It was my opinion, of course: "The Yankees have had great players over the years.  The best part of these great players is, when the time comes each year, the Yankees will sit down and decide who gets honored. When they do that, and a name pops up you love, you will once again, pay money to go see them get honored.  The Yankees are a machine. This idea was strategic... don't over think it.  The best part is, these players come back to the stadium, they get a proper honoring and then if they are worthy, they also get a plaque. It's the new Yankees.  Sure, the retired numbers are running out, but that's not what this is about.  This is about giving the nod to other great Yankees... just not great enough to have their number retired.  It's an acknowledgment. It's a "Thank you"..."

That was before Keidel's piece came out and it made perfect sense, plus, the understanding is clear; Tino was a great Yankee. No, his number will never be retired, so instead, they honored him. When the announcement went down, some were critical of Tino being put into Monument Park. Again though,  it's about "moments"... it's about Yankee greats at the time.

It's about Tino and his 4 World Series wins.  It wasn't about Tino being benched in 1996 for Cecil Fielder, as Keidel wrote.

Not, let me state that I love reading Keidel.  He touches a nerve and makes me think and I am NOT crticial of Keidel as a writer at all. I'm a fan, we just disagree... and so do some fans apparently.  I wanted to share these 2 comments since I wrote  IF IT WAS "KEIDEL MONUMENT PARK", TINO WOULDN'T BE THERE:

From computermaximus:

"Jason Keidel is clueless. Tino's moments make him a Yankee great. Timely hits over his time here. Tino might have had a postseason batting average of .233, but he had some huge hits. The grand slam in game 1 of the 1998 World Series, the huge game tying HR in the game 4 of the 2001 World Series. Also a bunch of defensive stops over the years that boggle the mind. Keidel thinks that monument park is for legends in time. That is the issue. It is for legends, Yankee legends. You may hit .250 in a Yankee uniform but if that one hit every four at bats was a huge, clutch hit, you earn yourself a spot in monument park."

From Michael Pacholek:

"Plus, Tino won 5 Pennants and 4 rings. The guy he replaced at first base? Zip. Yet he got the full treatment: Plaque and number retired. We are the Yankees: We have a different measure of such things. 

(In Photo: Jerry Grote)
Let the Mets honor their Ed Kranepool's and their Jerry Grote's in their team hall of fame, we should be about winning, and Tino was a winner."

In the end, that was really what it was all about in the Yankees' decision to choose Tino to be honored. No, he wasn't a .300 hitter, but what he offered while he was here, big, timely hits and a solid first basemen, got him picked.

Tino has fans and Tino, while I never thought of him as one of my favorite Yankee first basemen, deserves the nod.  Thanks for your comments guys...

Go Yanks...
 
You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!

IF IT WAS "KEIDEL MONUMENT PARK", TINO WOULDN'T BE THERE

See, this is what I don't get.  Why does any opinion writer believe that they have a say in what the New York Yankees do with Monument Park?  I don't get it.  It's not like the Yankee management has to do what the fans say when it comes to who enters their sacred Monument Park. It's ultimately about what they want the legacy to be.  Some... people like Jason Keidel of CBS Sports thinks his opinion's relevant.  It's really not... neither is mine by the way, but here we go anyway...

Now first, I say that with affection, because I admire Keidel and what he does, but he's plain wrong.  It's not his decision, it's not mine, not yours and not Derek Jeter's either.  It's up to what the Yankees want to do to honor past "great" Yankees.  I put "great" in quotes because it will debated for forever who stays and who goes, but keep that to the water cooler.  Like I wrote in PEOPLE HAVE TO STOP OVERTHINKING MONUMENT PARK, well, they do...they have to stop overthinking it.

I wrote then, "The Yankees have had great players over the years.  The best part of these great players is, when the time comes each year, the Yankees will sit down and decide who gets honored. When they do that, and a name pops up you love, you will once again, pay money to go see them get honored.  The Yankees are a machine. This idea was strategic... don't over think it.  The best part is, these players come back to the stadium, they get a proper honoring and then if they are worthy, they also get a plaque. It's the new Yankees.  Sure, the retired numbers are running out, but that's not what this is about.  This is about giving the nod to other great Yankees... just not great enough to have their number retired.  It's an acknowledgment. It's a "Thank you"..."

It makes perfect sense to me, as you can see, but Keidel writes of Tino:

"...it’s hard to assert that Tino Martinez is a bedrock member of Yankees royalty. When you’re not even the best or second-best first baseman in franchise history, it’s hard to declare that you belong in Monument Park – the most sacred soil south of Cooperstown.

Martinez is a true Yankee, but not an all-time Yankee.

He never hit .300, in any uniform. He never scored 100 runs. Never hit 40 doubles. Never amassed 200 hits in a season. In fact, his best season came in 1997, the one year the Yanks didn’t reach the Fall Classic during the dynasty. Martinez was even benched by Joe Torre during a World Series for Cecil Fielder, who was hardly Keith Hernandez in the field."

Well, that's all fine and good and Keidel, as usual is right about several points, but I have an opinion on that too... not that you care, but maybe you do...

It's about the "moments" he made during that Yankee run that made Tino worthy. Don't you think? I mean, I had written in BE PROUD OF OUR YANKEES. DON'T MOCK THEM, 

" Tino Martinez had 192 home runs in New York and 4 championships to boot. Paul O'Neill was right there with him in the championship department and compiled not only the nickname "the Warrior", but had 185 home runs and a .303 average in 9 years."

And at the end of the day, that's what it's all about. It's about "moments of greatness" and if that means a bunch of championships and no .300 average, so be it. While he was in pinstripes, Tino did great things, gave up great memories and that's what the Yankees went with.  There is no retired number, Tino doesn't deserve that, but a plaque and a "Thank you" seems like a nice thing.

Keidel's trying to be provocative, I get that, and he and I agree on 1 thing; Tino isn't our favorite first basemen in pinstripes. No way. But Tino had a nice run, a nicer run than others and he deserves the honor if you think the way the Yankees are thinking.

On a side note, I'd love to see the "Keidel Monument Park"... I'm sure it's full of perfect players like Don Mattingly, Babe Ruth and NOT Tino Martinez... and that's OK, it really is, but I just don't know why people care so much about the Yankees' Monument Park.

As long as the Yankees keep honoring greats by their scale, Yankee fans will keep spending money and coming on in... and that's what it's truly all about for them.

You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!

THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES

None of us expected this.  Well, let me rephrase that… True Yankee fans, believers… you expected this.  Many were skeptical.  I mean, many thought “How could Brian Cashman do this to us?” when it came to doing or "not doing" a thing this off season.  The New York Sports Media was all over this team. "The Yankees are old", "the Yankees are done."  Remember Sean Hartnett's piece on CBS Sports? "2013 Brings Uncertainty For Aging Yankees." Well, of course it brought "uncertainty", it was written before the season started, Silly! Remember ESPN's Jim Bowden's prediction that the Yankees would be in last place this season? That was in his piece, 10 bold predictions for 2013 season, HERE. Come on now.  I mean, after all this talk of "old" Yankees, I'd say we're doing OK.

(In Photo: Brennan Boesch)
Look, I see there is a change in Yankeeland. We don’t spend like we used to, I get that.  But I realize something also... Cashman’s no idiot and if he was, he would have been gone a long time ago.  But being a General Manager has never been easy, nor is being a Manager, or a player.  It all works together to put the best team on the field.  Sometimes there’s hard choices. Sometimes dudes get cut who we would have liked to keep. Sometimes we sign players we don’t want.  Sometimes we sign “old” guys, who, we forget are “experienced" guys.  And that’s what I’m seeing right now… guys, veterans working hard in our lineup. And that's not all, they're forming their best bond and going on and kicking ass.  Brennan Boesch was released by the Tigers because they couldn’t find a place for him and he “wasn’t the 30/30 guy they thought he was.” No matter. The guy hits the ball harder than many guys in the box. 

Vernon Wells was done, remember?  Even I was confused when the Yankees signed him. Read THE VERNON WELLS TRADE IS BIZARRO for context on that.  I am pleasantly surprised with Wells and I like to be wrong when it comes to my Yankees.  They prove me wrong.  Travis Hafner has done a ton of nice hitting.  Lyle Overbay just needed a chance to play and he’s shining right now. Kevin Youkilis? He's a gamer.

Something happens when you put on the pinstripes.  You feel the pride. You feel who had been there before and you don’t want to disappoint.  Not only for yourself, but for the club.  Look at Francisco Cervelli.  No one and I mean NO ONE believed this guy could be a starting catcher in the major leagues.  But the difference is HE believed and, when given the shot, the innings to perform, he’s shut up his critics and good for him.

Brett Gardner hit a monster homer run the other night that hit the right field foul pole.  And I don’t mean it was wimpy and just made it, I mean it crashed high and looked like Cecil Fielder hit it.  My point is things happen when a team gels… winning is just as contagious as losing and I like it.

Look at our top 3.  CC Sabathia almost seems like he’s finding his groove early.  40 year old Andy Pettitte looks like his 30.  Hiroki Kuroda? The dude just pitched a complete game shutout.  I can’t believe I doubted this signing 2 winters ago, but we brought him in and he’s terrific. 

It’s the pride of the Yankees… I believe that.  They read the papers, you know they do. They get angry, they prove the critics wrong.  There ability is clear and there heart and there passion is contagious… and by the way, we don’t even have Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson with us… can you imagine how that changes things when they get back?

No question, the Yankees are in the driver's seat. Old? Nah… just experienced...just skilled… that's what I wrote in NO DOOM & GLOOM WITH OLD AGE...JUST SKILL: "Age don't mean a thing unless you, the player, are thinking about it. Jeter doesn't think about that crap. Neither does Andy Pettitte... if he did, he would have stayed retired. No, the ones who think about it are the haters.  Hey, that's fine, but they don't play the game, so they don't get it."  

Not bad for a fan website... just sayin'.

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