Shelley Duncan, the man who stood up for Francisco Cervelli, is leading spring training in HRs

Let's cross fingers for Shelley Duncan, now of Cleveland, still the greatest ex-Yankee out there. He's hit two HRs which, at least early last night, had him leading MLB in spring training.

A few years back, Shelley stood up for the Yankees, after some Tampa lugnut cheapshotted Francisco Cervelli in a home plate collision - an exhibition game home plate blindside - which to this day still shadows Cervelli's health. The Yankees were furious about it, and the Rays responded indignantly. Next time the teams met, it was Shelley who sought to break up a double play with a testicle-bisection, initiating a brief brawl. It was pushing and shoving. Nobody got hurt. But at least we did something.

Also, it was Shelley who one year signed a baseball for a Redsock cherub with the words, "Red Sox suck," initiating a brouha among Boston's effite Romnian oh-dears. And back when he tweeted, he once rightfully condemned the movie, "The Land Before Time" as a waste of his.

Frankly, I hope Shelley has a great year. I still remember the two-out, ninth inning home run he hit to tie Baltimore in a game that, sadly, we later lost. I still remember him guarding Arod whenever benches cleared. I still remember him toiling for Scranton long after his numbers in the International League would have gotten him a shot with almost every other team in baseball. If Marcus Thames can become a professional righty DH, so can Shelley Duncan. I hope we get him back someday.