Thank you Captain

Today there is an epidemic of sadness coursing through the veins of baseball fans across the country with the core of it coming out of New York. Derek Jeter will never wear Yankee pinstripes again and baseball won’t ever be the same for many Yankees fans.

Jeter spoiled Yankees fans for 20 years. We are an unrelenting fan base that demand greatness every day from our team and Jeter thrived on our demands. He played the game the right way and made it easy to cheer for him. He excelled in the big moments and always made us expect greatness. While he never put up gaudy numbers like others in his era, his consistency proved he was the greatest of them all.

Jeter represented an amazing time to be a Yankees fan, in his 20 years he captured five World Series rings and seven American League pennants. He became the face of the winningest franchise in the history of sports and of the game he played. Young boys and girls became Yankees fans because of Jeter and now they’ve grown into young men and women and are passing along their love for the Yankee captain to their families.

Jeter’s professionalism has caused other major leaguers to marvel at him. He is revered by others in his profession and is held up as the model they aspire to be. Former and current teammates praise him for being a great leader, for playing hard every play and leaving it all on the field. He never took plays off and did everything he could to win, whether it was a sacrifice bunt to move a runner over or sacrificing his body by diving into the stands.

Derek was the picture of perfection in many fan’s eyes. He played hard for them on the field and never made off the field headlines which would make them regret rooting for him. There was never a split between Jeter fans and Jeter haters because the latter never existed. Fans might not have liked him for beating their teams but they couldn’t do anything but respect his tenacity and gameplay.

Jeter usually showed a cool demeanor on the field but there wasn’t much better than seeing him celebrate. His big smile while holding the Commissioner’s Trophy after winning the 2009 World Series is implanted in the heads of fans. The Jeter fist pump will be remembered by Yankees fans as a sign of triumph and opposing fans as acknowledgement of defeat. Last night, though, he provided maybe the greatest image of them all.

With a runner on second base during a tie game in the bottom of the ninth Jeter strode to the plate for the last time ever at Yankee Stadium. In classic “Jeterian” fashion he provided a dramatic ending to baseball fans worldwide. He simply brought his arms in and smacked a pitch through the hole between first and second like he’s done so many times before and after rounding first and seeing the winning run score he jumped with both arms reaching toward the sky.

When Jeter was a young boy he dreamed he could reach for the stars and play shortstop for the New York Yankees. With his hands held high last night he didn’t have to reach any longer because he finally grasped them. 

                                           

What can A-Rod do for you?

Honestly, I’m not sure which is more fun to watch; Yankee stadium workers doing the YMCA in between innings, the cap game on the Yankee stadium jumbotron or the 2014 Yankees offense. If I were forced to make a choice I’d say the cap game is the most fun (I’m really good at it), then the YMCA grounds crew and lastly the abysmal lineup that Joe Girardi is forced to run onto the field every night.

 Many Yankees fans are clamoring for Girardi’s head, blaming him for his team underperforming. I don’t agree with those fans. I think Girardi has done a tremendous job keeping his team in the playoff race. Think about this, there was a point where the Yankees were missing 80% of their starting rotation. They lost Ivan Nova and CC Sabathia for the whole season and no one really knows if what to expect in Masahiro Tanaka’s return this weekend. Michael Pineda also missed time due to injury and a suspension. Yet, the rotation has been the only shining star of this team. To be honest, the Yankees’ pitching looks like it could be formidable for years to come, and the fans might have something to root for in upcoming years.

 While the Yankees pitching has been very good, it’s the offense that has kept this team from making a playoff run. If you’re a Yankees fan, you might want to turn away, because this is ugly. The Yankees are tied for dead last in runs scored in the American League with 581. Along the same lines, their 543 RBI are fewest among AL teams. Their .245 team batting average is 12th of the 15 AL teams and their OBP is 14th. They have hit 137 homeruns and slugged a paltry .378, good for eight and tenth in the AL, respectively. The only bright spot on this otherwise putrid offense would be the 105 stolen bases which ranks third in the AL.

Without naming names, if I were to say to you the Yankees will add a former three-time AL MVP who has more than 650 homeruns and is just shy of 2,000 career RBI, what would you say? My first thought—after trying not to acknowledge this player is Alex Rodriguez—would be to say, I definitely think this type of guy could help this offense. Many Yankees fans are wondering why the team is going to bring A-Rod back next season after his suspension ends. There are a couple of reasons; they still owe him $60 million and he can help. As a Yankees fan, I can’t wait to see what A-Rod can do next year at the plate. A-Rod will do several things for this team. He’ll make people talk about them and want to watch them. There is only one thing worse than a bad team, that’s a boring team. The Yankees are both, terrible and boring. A-Rod will definitely eliminate one of those categories, boring. He also should be of some assistance in how bad they are.

A-Rod’s presence in a lineup isn’t just about what he can do. For arguments sake, let’s say Rodriguez hits 20 homeruns and drives in 75 runs next year, the Yankees will take those numbers in a heartbeat. Those numbers mean that he’s productive and he’s able to protect other players. Beltran, McCann and Teixeira will all see better pitches knowing there is another dangerous bat in the lineup. Let’s forget about next year for a second though. Let’s put those numbers on the current ball-club. 20 homeruns would be second on the team and 75 RBI would lead the team, taking a lot of pressure off of other guys to carry the load.

I know Rodriguez won’t put up the numbers he used to but no one is expecting him to. As long as he stays in the lineup he will be useful. I believe being suspended for 2014 will be a blessing in disguise. MLB gave him the opportunity to rest his body and allow time to heal. He’s had time to step back, live his life on his own terms, stay out of the spotlight and just be Alex Rodriguez. He hasn’t had the chance to just be himself for a long time. He’s always caught up in scrutiny about something. He can re-learn how to love the game that gave him everything. He can get that passion to play back. He can reset.

The 2014 Yankees offense was terrible without Alex Rodriguez. He may not solve every problem they have but we might as well welcome him back because the 2015 offense can’t be much worse with him.