I have no idea why I'm about to write a few hundred words about the hated Yankees. Perhaps it was the sugar in the bowl of Golden Grahams I just had. Anyway, back from work tonight and I had the great pleasure of printing the New York Times tonight. Editors note: I'm a pressman at the Boston Globe, but we are owned by the New York Times and we print the New England distribution of it at work. I occasionally work this press.
But I digress. . . Not that I was reading the paper or anything, I was too busy finetuning things so the transplanted New Yorkers up here don't throw a hissy fit. But, I just happened to stumble upon a brief article that mentions the possibility of Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon flip-flopping in the batting order. Did Bill James or Rob Neyer get Cashman or Girardi's ear? Not sure, but to this ardent Red Sox fan, this makes complete sense. And, I will tell you why.
Jeter's OBP has historically been better than Damon's. He still runs pretty well. He's good for 180 hits a year and maybe 70 walks. His power has waned and that ballpark does him no favors. So, Jeter leads off with a single or walk. He's on first and getting a decent lead. He's no burner, but still steals quite a bit and takes a pretty good lead. The first baseman has to keep him honest, right? So who comes up? Our beloved Damon. Johnny's funky swing produces a lot of pulled grounders. Some of them could find this wide hole with the first baseman holding Jeter on. Instant first and third with the big boys coming up. Johnny likes to drop an occasional bunt as I recall. If Johnny can bunt towards first, it's him against the pitcher. Even at age 35, I like Damon's chances here.
You want to hit and run with J and J (Jeter and Johnny)? Damon doesn't swing and miss much at all. With the shortstop likely covering second, Damon has the bat control to poke one to the left side. Though Jeter's home run power has sagged, he still hits plenty of doubles. With him on second, Damon is the perfect guy to pull the ball towards second. If he doesn't get it though, Jeter's on 3rd with one out. If he gets it through, it's 1-0 Yanks, Damon's on first and Texiera is up. Hopefully this will be the last Yanks musing for awhile, but I'm amazed that something this practical has finally been discussed.
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Joe Girardi won't be Yankees manager for long. It's mostly a veteran squad and he's wound too tight. Guys like Mo Rivera, Jeter, and Posada can police a clubhouse without Girardi trying to get veterans to conform to silly rules in the name of "discipline". He'll wear out his welcome quickly.
ReplyDeleteJoe either wins it all this year, or he's out. I don't see him coming back next year, because I can't envision a scenario where the Yankees get past the Sox, Angels, and/or Rays to advance to the World Series.
He's best suited on a team with youngsters like the Marlins.