Saturday, September 09, 2006
The real story of the '06 Yankees (to be continued)
To continue my train of thought from the ARod post below...Not only is the national media dropping the ball on the whole issue of why Stadium fans are booing Alex Rodriguez, but in the process (while they're beating the ARod horse to death) they're also missing out on a damn good baseball story. These '06 Yankees are one exciting, driven team.
I love the Yanks, but I have to admit the 2004 and 2005 versions were lacking something. Something intangible. Call it chemistry. Heart. Hunger. No need to recount the '04 disaster. Last season's ALDS loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California who play in Anaheim but are called the Los Angeles Angels in five games was an anti-climatic—but not totally surprising—abrupt end to the season. The '04 and '05 teams were so stacked with all-stars, I think they believed it was their right to play in the World Series without having to put in the work to get there. They were wrong. They were flat, lacked spirit, lacked drive, lacked personality.
Step one to fixing that was the signing of Johnny Damon. He has not only added the spark at the top of the line-up that was missing for so long, but he also added that spark in the clubhouse as well. His presence shouted, Hey, it's fun to play on a great team in front of the greatest fans in the country! Enjoy it!
Then came Melky.
The May injuries to Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield forced the Yanks to quickly plug some holes. They called up 21-year old Melky Cabrera (who had a cup of coffee with them last year) to fill in for Matsui in leftfield. He's since become a spark, with his clutch hitting, aggressiveness on the bases, and sterling outfield defense. And who knew he had such a gun for an arm? He always seems to be in the middle of a big rally, or an important defensive play. This kid is good. One wonders what will become of Matsui once he returns from the DL. Could this be another Wally Pipp/Lou Gehrig scenario?
The other young bucks on the team are in their sophomore seasons: 26-year old Chien-Ming Wang who has become the ace of the staff and currently leads the team with 17 wins, and 23-year old Robinson Cano, who is currently batting .337 and has a legitimate shot at a batting title. The future is now.
Throw in newcomers like on-base machine Bobby Abreu, Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Myers, and Ron Villone and you have a solid, well-rounded team hungry to bring a championship back to the Bronx. More than any recent team, this one really feels like the teams from the late 90s and '00-'01. You know, the Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius teams.
This is what the media should be talking about. We already know ARod is having an off-season. How about spotlighting some Melky, some Wang, some Cano? How about reporting that the so-called Evil Empire has rebuilt from within, that they are young, hungry, and bound to be a force to be reckoned with for a long time?
How about talking about anything but ARod's strikeouts? Or would that require actual work?
I love the Yanks, but I have to admit the 2004 and 2005 versions were lacking something. Something intangible. Call it chemistry. Heart. Hunger. No need to recount the '04 disaster. Last season's ALDS loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California who play in Anaheim but are called the Los Angeles Angels in five games was an anti-climatic—but not totally surprising—abrupt end to the season. The '04 and '05 teams were so stacked with all-stars, I think they believed it was their right to play in the World Series without having to put in the work to get there. They were wrong. They were flat, lacked spirit, lacked drive, lacked personality.
Step one to fixing that was the signing of Johnny Damon. He has not only added the spark at the top of the line-up that was missing for so long, but he also added that spark in the clubhouse as well. His presence shouted, Hey, it's fun to play on a great team in front of the greatest fans in the country! Enjoy it!
Then came Melky.
The May injuries to Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield forced the Yanks to quickly plug some holes. They called up 21-year old Melky Cabrera (who had a cup of coffee with them last year) to fill in for Matsui in leftfield. He's since become a spark, with his clutch hitting, aggressiveness on the bases, and sterling outfield defense. And who knew he had such a gun for an arm? He always seems to be in the middle of a big rally, or an important defensive play. This kid is good. One wonders what will become of Matsui once he returns from the DL. Could this be another Wally Pipp/Lou Gehrig scenario?
The other young bucks on the team are in their sophomore seasons: 26-year old Chien-Ming Wang who has become the ace of the staff and currently leads the team with 17 wins, and 23-year old Robinson Cano, who is currently batting .337 and has a legitimate shot at a batting title. The future is now.
Throw in newcomers like on-base machine Bobby Abreu, Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Myers, and Ron Villone and you have a solid, well-rounded team hungry to bring a championship back to the Bronx. More than any recent team, this one really feels like the teams from the late 90s and '00-'01. You know, the Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius teams.
This is what the media should be talking about. We already know ARod is having an off-season. How about spotlighting some Melky, some Wang, some Cano? How about reporting that the so-called Evil Empire has rebuilt from within, that they are young, hungry, and bound to be a force to be reckoned with for a long time?
How about talking about anything but ARod's strikeouts? Or would that require actual work?
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Cano's a natural. It was apparent the day he came up to the Yankees in May 2005. Jim Kaat always compares Cano's sweet swing to Rod Carew's, and he's right. Very similar, if you're old enough to remember Carew, LR.
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