Saturday, April 30, 2022

Miguel Andujar finally came to bat last night. The conditions were not optimum.

In case you missed it last night, Miguel Andujar's long and Sisyphean return to The Show -  at last - culminated in a PA. (That's insider wonk-talk for a "Plate Appearance;" not to be confused with an AB, which is an "At Bat.") 

Actually, you might have missed it. The historic event happened in the 8th inning of a 10-2 Yankee massacre. The Death Barge had just plated five runs, and Marwin Gonzalez  - pinch-hitting for DJ LeMahieu - had fanned for the inning's first out. It was raining cats and dogs, and the YES  Apple broadcast team was wondering how long the game could continue. The temperature was plummeting. The grounds crew was ready, and the Yankees needed outs more than base runners. 

Aaron Judge, who had earlier homered, didn't even venture to the on-deck circle. Miggy was summoned to pinch-hit. We can only imagine Aaron Boone's instructions, but they probably went along these lines: "Make an out." 

Miggy took ball one - his first MLB pitch of 2022. He swung and missed at a 95 mph sinker. Another ball, outside. Then Miggy connected - a grounder to third. 

He did his job. 

From this frosty perch in the resettled swamps of upstate NY, it's hard to say where and when Andujar's next MLB at-bat will happen. It could be tonight. It could be years from now, as with the fate of Brigadoon Refsnyder. 

Before being called up this week, Miggy was hitting nearly .350 at Scranton. He got the promotion because of Aaron Hicks' paternity leave. (Hicksy last night celebrated fatherhood by going one for three with a single.) So Andujar in 2022 has a fossil record: He is 0-for-1. 

By the way, I'm not whining. Believe me, when I whine about the Yankees, you'll know it. I'm merely lamenting the fate of a player in whom I once saw the future of this team. There was a time - not long ago, on the Roger Repoz Geologic Scale - when Miggy was being compared to Joe Dimaggio. Now, he's the extra lug nut that somehow turned up in the hubcap. He's the guy with a tantalizing past and no certain future. His Yankee career is so dead that Lady Gaga wants to cut an album with it. 

I suspect that when the Yankees leave KC, Miggy won't be with them. Whatever happens, I just want it remembered: In his final PA, he did his job.

15 comments:

  1. Refsnyder's 2022 OPS for the Crimson Stockings is 1.300. He got sent down yesterday.

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  2. In the Billy Martin era, Miggy would have been docked a day's pay for getting a base hit.

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  3. I'd love to see Miggy make it, somehow.

    And how's your health, O Peerless One?

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  4. Gallow out for Locastro - hmmmmmmmmmmm? I'm intrigued . . .

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  5. Speculation is that Gallo has a hammy. That's awful, just awful.

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  6. So you have men on first and third, nobody out, with a 3-0 lead, and LoCastro, Falafel, and Trevino coming up.

    If you're not going to put on a play in that situation, you're never going to put on a play. Ma Boone is never going to put on a play.

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  7. Nuts! If Gallo has to go to the IL, it's the end of his chance for the single season strikeout record.

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  8. I do have a question . . . which one of you snuck into Galllow's Hotel room last night and, uh - compromised his hammy? I don't need to know the details - just the source.

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  9. Groin injury. Now you have some REAL 'splaining to do!

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