The Power Of Melk
From Dave Buscema -
Am I really going to credit the Yankees’ turnaround to a 22-year-old kid who nearly hit himself in the head with a bat last night?
Yep, I do believe I am.
Matter of fact, I’m even going to say such a comically clumsy move by Cabrera adds to his worth.
Because Cabrera is giving the Yankees exactly what he did last year — a young, speedy, hungry player who also adds one more essential element that is too often missing from a roster full of high-priced, high-profile stars:
Fun.
Look at the smile that landed on Jeter’s face when Cabrera’s bat got stuck to his hands on the way to first during last night’s 4-1 win over Arizona.
Watch Jeter laugh as he approached Cabrera after the center fielder flipped the bat forward, nearly knocking himself in the head with it.
Cabrera is as important a part of the Yankees’ winning streak as anything else — on and off the field.
“The defense, the energy that Melky has given us has really given us a shot in the arm and it seems to be catching,” Joe Torre said. “Guys are running all over the place, stealing bases.”
You can say it’s a coincidence that the Yankees are 10-2 since Cabrera moved to center and Johnny Damon became the DH after Jason Giambi was injured.
You can say Abreu’s bat is the big difference or the rotation has righted itself.
All of those factors are important, but the Yankees can’t afford to minimize Cabrera’s contributions.
Not again.
Cabrera gives the Yankees a center fielder who can go after the ball — and even throw it a little.
He gives them balance in the lineup instead of a base-clogging slugger like Giambi — just as Cabrera did the same thing when Sheffield went down.
He gives them a peppy little sparkplug who was hitting .390 in his last 11 starts before last night.
Most importantly, he gives them fun and innocence.
You need that to play this game.
Man, it’s a good thing that Mike Gonzalez trade never happened.
Dude, I finally get it. The Yankees have been building their team the wrong way for all these years. Forget guys with high OBP and power, sign a ton of little leaguers. Those little m-f’rs will lead the league in smiles and laughs and goofy hijinks, and we’ll be winning the Series every year!!
This weird cult of Melky Cabrera is really comical. Let me get this straight: when Melky plays every day, and the team wins, he’s the reason they won. But when he plays every day, and he sucks, and the team loses, as was the case for the entire month of April, we just conveniently forget that and don’t factor it in at all. Wasn’t he a “peppy little sparkplug” then too? Let’s see how much “fun” he is the next time he goes 2 for 25 and the Yanks lose 7 out of 8.
Be afraid, the Red Sox already have MIT working around the clock to clone David Eckstein. Just imagine a team with 25 Ecksteins on it – they’ll grit themselves to 150 wins, and win the WS in only 3 games.
[(Peppy players + happy players) x fancy handshakes] / [(imaginary off the field distractions x players who frown) + gallons of green tea consumed] = World Series probablility
Proud member of the Melky cult here. I don’t know what it is about the guy. I love rooting for Melky, my kids love rooting for Melky, we love when Melky makes a great catch, and when he guns someone down (which had not been happening with great frequency pre-Melky). I mean the guy’s called Melky, for crying out loud – you gotta love that name. I definitely noted when he was hitting a buck something early in the year that he better get his sh** together, but then, Damon, Abreu, Cano, those regs were not hitting either. As Steve mentioned about Damon – maybe it’s just as much to do with Damon getting the rest and becoming an effective leadoff hitter again, and a force in the clubhouse. Melky makes Johnny happy, Johnny helps the team win. Whatever it is turned them around, works for me.
One of my favorite Melky moments from last year was watching the post-game victory high-fives. When he got to Johnson, Randy would just stick his arm up as high as he could so Melky had to jump for it. Sort of like a big brother holding something out of reach from the runt of the family. Shit, if he could get Randy in on some fun last year he could do that for anyone.