Plunked, aging, and baseball

I’m still smarting from that sweep by the Boston Red Sox in Yankee Stadium last week. That’s twice in a month that happened and both times in New York. Entering this season, all I can hope for this aging team is to get to the playoffs. I had no preconceived notions about winning a hundred games. This is not the same team that won the World Series two years ago.

For one, they are older. Second, some of the players on that team are no longer around. After losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001, every year I’d follow with great interest whether the pitching staff got better or not. It used to be I’d love to see the sluggers in pinstripes. The Diamondbacks changed all that.

With Joba Chamberlain needing Tommy John surgery, Phil Hughes nowhere near what he was last year, and Bartolo Colon pulling up lane… this team needs some fresh air.

Years ago, they had a chance to get Freddy Garcia but it didn’t happen. Now they have him and he is not the firebrand he once was. He, like Colon, have made this the season of rebounds for New York. I guess AJ Burnett should understand that.

What’s bugging me? That the Red Sox swept NY? Six Yankee batters have been plunked by opposing pitchers in this homestand? That the pitching staff isn’t great?

After the 1981 team lost a 2-0 lead to the Los Angeles Dodgers, within a few years, the only players left were Dave Righetti, Ron Guidry, Dave Winfield, and Willie Randolph. The aging team had been retooled. Within a year or so, the holdovers were all gone or retired as well.

That’s what the current team is going through – a transition to a new one. Andy Pettitte retired before the season and I figure Jorge Posada will follow after this one is done. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera will call it a game in a year or so. And Alex Rodriguez is 35 with probably a few more good years left.

I’m wondering if Jeter will switch to another position. Sort of like what happened to Baltimore Orioles great Cal Ripken towards the end of his career when he moved from shortstop to third base. That could even happen depending on how this season turns out. There’s some fanfare now – despite the losses to Boston that has righted their season after a poor start – with DJ trying to become the first Yankee to achieve 3,000 hits.

It’s incredible when you think about that record that despite their history of sluggers and winners, no Yankee has recorded 3,000 hits. Dave Winfield spent a large part of his career in pinstripes but he didn’t get his 3,00^th hit as a Yankee (and besides, he chose to enter the Hall of Fame as a San Diego Padre. There’s also Rickey Henderson and Wade Boggs but the latter will always be identified more with Boston than any other club.

The season is still a long ways to go but right now, the Yankees know that they need to do some mid-season adjustments to their pitching staff. Or else, they could even miss the playoffs altogether. Hmm. The playoffs. You think the proposed realignment of MLB will be approved? I don't think it will be passed because you take away stuff like the Divisional championships and the wild card berths. 

On another note, I’ve been invited to attend the Philippine Baseball Summit this Wednesday at Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium. One of the topics is the possibility of fielding a team to the World Baseball Classic where there’s a possibility that Tim Lincecum, Jason Bartlet, Geno Espinelli, Benny Agbayani, and Cris Aguila could – operative word is could – represent the country. Now if only the Philippine Amateur Baseball Association can get its act together. This is truly an exciting development for Philippine baseball.