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Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Independence Day Massacre: What happened to our catchers?

Last 4th of July, the one Yankee position that seemed safe and secure was catcher - the legacy of Yogi, Thurman and Jorge. We were so overstocked that our man at Trenton (Austin Romine) was ready for Triple A. Russell Martin was an all-star, Frankie Cervelli a young backup with a Leyritzian proclivity for getting clutch hits, and we constantly entertained offers for Jesus Montero, our best prospect and New York Life insurance policy.

Today, Martin can't hit his wife's weight, we have a scrapheaper backing him up, Cervelli has disappeared along the NYS Thruway, and - yeah, I hate to mention it again - but we gave away Jesus for nothing, nada, zippo. We have no catching. WTF?

Martin: Last winter, Brian Cashman called him the newest incarnation of Thurman Munson. This had to be a p.r. bull sheet line, uttered to cushion the future blowback from trading Montero. Last night, Martin official became an acute problem. He committed two critical errors and went his customary 0 for 4. But he's sucked all year. When the last three names in our order are Jones, Martin and Wise (or Nix) we deserve to be swept.

Jesus: It still hurts to think about him. But listen: He has sucked. He's only batting .249 with a handful of HRs. Maybe he was overblown too?

Austin Romine: Hasn't caught a pitch this year. Supposed to return after the All-Star break. Bad back. Don't know what to think. How does a guy catch with a bad back? 

Cervelli: Was absolutely devastated by his last minute demotion to Scranton. Only now has he started to hit for the Traveling Wilkes Barres. You have to wonder if he'll ever do anything as a Yankee. And right now, we won't get much in a trade.

We can talk about kids - Gary Sanchez is now at Tampa - until we're blue in the cheeks. What's the point? On this 4th of July, catching - our strongest suit last year - is killing us.

3 comments:

BobD said...

Right on. We got Martin for nothing from the Dodgers as a backup. Suddenly Cashman is calling him the reincarnation of Thurman Munson? The Yankees have 3 automatic outs in their lineup and put too much pressure on the others to hit HR's every game. Catching is an absolute disgrace to the heritage of the Yankee backstops. PLEASE BRING CERVELLI UP.

manx said...

Tropicana Field is the new House of Horrors much like the KingDome in the late 1990's.

manx said...

I stand corrected by the Master. Tropicana is a Chamber of Horrors. At the end of one season in the early 1960's, the Reds were at the Polo Grounds facing the Mets with the pennant on the line. They lost the final games of the season and Cincinnati manager Fred Hutchinson called the Polo Grounds a Chamber of Horrors. I am so lucky being born in 1983 to have John and Suzyn give me all this baby boomer trivia.