| Paul Merchan. 15th August, 2006 - 7:12 pm
 The richest team in sports, the Evil Empire, the team run by the most playoff hungry boss in sports is coming down the stretch run of the season without a big chunk of their payroll on the playing diamond. We’d be hard pressed to hear a collective sob from the rest of the baseball world, who actually hate this team, also known as the Yankees. Detractors will have to admit, though, that its actually is pretty amazing to see a team in first place in mid-August without having two-thirds of their opening day outfield for almost the entire season.
No date has been set for the return of Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui. In fact, the latest news from the Yankees regarding either of them was that Sheffield was taking grounders in practices to prepare for potential appearances at first base. The two sluggers are supposed to be back in the lineup by mid-September, although Yankees.com reports that Matsui still hasn’t been cleared to swing a bat. And yet, throughout the season, the Yankees seem to be doing just fine getting runs across the board without them.
The Bombers are in their perennial battle for first with the Boston Red Sox, are fourth in the league in runs scored, seventh in batting average and their fans are booing a player with 25 homeruns and 85 RBI (Alex Rodriguez). It seems like they really aren’t missing a beat despite their injuries. Is it that Sheffield and Matsui aren’t that valuable to them? Perhaps it means that utility players have stepped it up a notch. The Bobby Abreu trade might have some to do with it, but he’s only been on the team for a couple of weeks. So what really is the key ingredient in their winning ways?
Not every Yankee fan is crazy about getting the next expensive free agent on the market. Many questioned off-season moves that brought Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffied and Randy Johnson, all within the last six years- six years in which the Yankees have not won a world championship. Within that bunch you have former MVPs, a Cy Young Award winner and maybe a couple of future Hall of Famers. Common sense would indicate that the team would obliterate the competition en route to many titles. However, since 2001, the Yanks have been eliminated twice in the World Series, once in the ALCS and twice in the Division Series. If the team is supposedly getting better with all the acquisitions, then the results should improve- even after four out of five championships in the late 90s.
The results have not improved, and as such, grumblings abound in New York City. That brings us to this 2006 season, where two of the stars are missing. Could one dare to postulate that the Yankees’ current success is a result of role players taking over? Furthermore, could the core of players on the field for them right now take them to the top? Consider that the Yankee championships in the late 90s included teams with proven, solid stars, but not many superstars. Players like Tino Martinez, Paul O’Neill and Bernie Williams probably won’t go to the Hall of Fame, but they complemented each other well and played like a team, resulting in parade after parade down Broadway in October.
Now, the Yankees have Bobby Abreu, not a superstar, but a solid hitter who gets on base enough to be a staple at the No. 3 hole in the lineup. They have Melky Cabrera, a young outfielder who has gotten key hits for them this season. Bernie is also contributing often in a lesser role. Their road to October is missing stars but its filled with all-around good players who are definitely no pushover and could be catalysts for the first World Championship in New York in six years-six years that have seemed more like sixty for New Yorkers.
So, money supposedly doesn’t buy happiness, and if so, it probably doesn’t buy championships either. At this point there is nothing George Steinbrenner and the Yankees can do about being big spenders. Their only hope is the continued quality play of the guys they didn’t think would be there. And if the circumstance arises where both Sheffield and Matsui come back in time for the playoffs, then the hope would lie in that they can win with all their big-time players on the field as well. |
