Kevin Baker's book is here!

Kevin Baker's book is here!
"... an exemplary sports book..." Kirkus Reviews

Sunday, April 10, 2016

The prodigal son - Nick Swisher - might be returning

The highlight of yesterday's win - (along with the DP grounder with no outs in the fifth, which saved CC from being pulled) - came when The Master - in stunning disbelief - announced the big, Swishalicious news:

The Retrieval Empire was on the verge of signing Nick Swisher, Jolly old Saint Nick himself.

Yet another farewell tour...

Long ago, under a previous owner, we acquired Swish for Wilson Betemit, an eternal former super-prospect, and two pitchers - Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez, whose combined careers would amount to 10 MLB innings and an ERA north of 7. He'd flopped in Chicago, pissing off Ozzie Guillen to the point of being banished. Swisher's personality exhibited bi-polar peaks and valleys. He was sort of crazy, and NY was a crap shot.

In four years with the Yankees, he hit 105 HRs and batted .268. On the average, that's better than anything Beltran has done for us since. And when Swish became a free agent, Cleveland courted him with a big, personalized Jumbotron video, the way Ohio State football coaches recruit high school juniors. They gave him nearly $60 million - ouch. We let him go.

Here's the record in Cleveland: 3 years, 32 HRs, 113 RBIs and a batting average of .228. They flipped him to Atlanta for scrap, and he was a horror show. Four home runs, .198. His knees are shot, he's 35, and Atlanta is picking up the tab. He's coming home, but I think it has more to do with his next career than his bat.

If anybody is responsible for the Yankees signing Swisher, it may be Dustin Ackley, who messed up two balls Friday against the Tigers, while Joe rested Mark Teixeira at 1B. I think Joe realized that if - or when - Tex goes down, we have no everyday 1B. Now, we do... maybe.

We have Swisher until June 15, when an opt-out clause kicks in. On that day, we either bring him up, or he can go anywhere.

But I think something else is going on here:

I think Swish is the kind of Rex Hudler/Boomer Esiason nut-job personality who could become a YES yes-man or even a radio host. New York is where he needs to be. (Not Scranton.) And who knows... maybe, just maybe, we will hear John yell "Swishalicious" one more time.

4 comments:

JM said...

I think you're a lot better at the in-depth look at the news. And how in the world Swish could make it back to the bigs is beyond me. Has to be the alternate play, sure ain't the on the field play.

Anonymous said...

WE WOULDN'T DARE PUT HIM IN RIGHT FIELD WOULD WE???....I THINK IT'S A DECENT MOVE TO BRING SWISHALICIOUS BACK BUT ONLY AS A BACK UP 1ST BASEMAN IF TEX GOES DOWN....BUT IF THEY EVEN THINK ABOUT HIM IN RF (IF BELTRAN GOES DOWN), I WILL WANT TO HANG MYSELF!...WHY?...BECAUSE IT MEANS AARON JUDGE GETS SHOVED ASIDE, THAT'S WHY!!!...I THINK JUDGE IS TURNING 24 THIS YEAR, IF NOT ALREADY....THE CLOCK IS TICKING!...AND IT'S TICKING FAST!!!

Parson Tom said...

Is Aaron Judge ready. No Triple A track record, right? Didn't really tear it up at spring training, did he?

Definitely don't hang yourself, though.

Isiyku Abdulahi said...

I really want the world to know about this great man who brought back happiness into my life again after my husband left me and the kids 3 years ago for another women online when i contacted Dr Believe he cast a love spell for me within 48 hours my ex husband start calling me and begging for forgiveness for everything that have happened between us. I was so happy to have my family back together with love again here is the email of Dr Believe via believelovespelltemple@gmail.com a man with the great powers you can also call him or add him on Whats-app: +2348156148821
God bless you
I am very grateful for your help in my marriage.