Geez, I can’t
go on vacation for one week, happily leaving my laptop behind and my Blackberry
on silent mode, without the New York Yankees making headlines.
Even on a
day dominated by news of the crippling, but well-deserved sanctions against Penn
State, the Yankees managed to sneak into the news cycle with news of their
trade for Ichiro Suzuki (yes, I did watch SportsCenter while on vacation). For
the record, the trade for Ichiro feels like a panic move from the old Yankee
years, when it was common for them to go after aging stars to fill a perceived
hole on their team. It felt a lot like something George Steinbrenner would do
(I read a terrific Steinbrenner biography while on vacation—more on that in
another blog post), something that could have been incredibly disruptive to a
team that was jelling despite a rough West Coast trip. I’m not sure that Ichiro
is much better than who the Yankees already had on their roster, but at least
Brian Cashman didn’t give up much to get him.
Fast forward
to this weekend with Ichiro and his new teammates taking on the archrival
Boston Red Sox, who continue to flounder in last place despite getting some of
their injured stars back. Who would have thought that Phil Hughes would put the
Red Sox down with a bigger performance than CC Sabathia? Well, I would have, but
I have a lot of faith in the kid and CC has not pitched like an ace this year
while Hughes has definitely found himself once again. But the Yankees still
need Sabathia to be the guy he has been the first three years of his Yankee
career if they are going to get very far in the baseball playoffs.
I thought
Bobby Valentine was going to be the one to revive the dormant Yankees-Red Sox
rivalry. I never anticipated that unassuming Mark Teixeira would be the
one to shake things up with his ongoing feud with headhunting Saux pitcher
Vicente Padilla. I don’t like anyone styling after a home run, but I can’t say
I blame Tex given Padilla’s rather strange comments after their last battle up
at Fenway Park. But Tex better duck the next time he faces Padilla.
I’m heading to
the game tonight, where I will welcome Ichiro with open arms, even if I’m not
convinced we needed him, and hoping to see the Yankees put the Saux out of
their misery for good. Yes, there’s still two months left in the baseball season,
but Boston looks and is playing like a deflated team and I can’t see them
turning it around.
Thanks to Googie man via en.Wikipedia for the Ichiro photo.
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