The Martian? Homer Jones? Uncle Ben's Rice? Oswald & Oswaldo? Estevan Florial? Volpening Day?
Remember the stars we were promised - Sevy, Nasty Nestor, the Kraken? - and how, as soon as we came to believe, they were suddenly replaced by the G-Strings - Giancarlo, Gleyber, Grish and Gallo...?
Wellp, here we are - September going on forever - losing sight of Tampa and flicking off Boston - and we're back to that eternal Vince Lombardi Rest Stop, near rollicking Ridgefield, awaiting one more shot at a new Yankee heritage.
And, gulp, is this real?
At SS, George Lombard Jr.
In CF, Spencer Jones.
Somewhere, anywhere, Ben Rice.
And now, at 2B, Anthony Michael Volpe, the pride of Morristown.
(Note: After viewing this list, it occurs to me that Jasson Dominguez might not be far behind. Yankee OFs - especially those over 6'7" - should be careful with their hamstrings.)
It's taken 140 games and six months, but that glorious wave of youth we've heard about since 2022 is finally within sight, thanks to Volpe's recent power surge in Scranton and Jazz Chisholm's hyper-extended thumb.
That sprain might not only end Chisholm's season but crush his remaining time as a Yankee. Last night, after Chisholm's injury was disclosed - (Jazz hits the 10-game IL with 18 to play) - Jose Caballero (hitting .071 this month) took over at 2B. But as soon as the Yankees announced Volpe's recall, the juju gods began weaving their Lady MacBeth/Cashman machinations.
Volpe returns with a BA of .240 and 1 HR, a rather dreadful OPS of .660 and a lame SB/CS ratio of 7/4. The big surprise of the trade deadline was that he didn't end up packaged with a wide-receiver and sent to some corn city backwater. And frankly, the biggest reason why Volpe remains a Yankee is probably that nobody else wanted him enough to part with a pencil sharpener.
But but BUT... he's hit 10 HRs at Scranton, on a tear of late, and here he is - back and receiving what few failed Yankee prospects ever see:
A fourth shot at redemption.
In the movies, he learns the power of love from manager Woodie Harrelson and becomes a Yankee legend. Dunno about that. But once again, it's Volpe! Bring it on! One more time, we shed our caustic disillusionment and face the fact that we are insufferable believers. One more time. Could it happen?
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4 comments:
I'm not so happy about hearing Volpe hit a lot of homers in AAA. In my view, he's not a home run hitter and shouldn't be swinging for the fences.
I'd have been happy to hear that he got his batting average up over .400 but that ain't so, right?
Does the 4 caught stealing in 11 attempts count all the times he got picked off? Probably not. There was a time it seemed he got picked off 75% of whenever he reached base. That's got to stop. I don't care if he doesn't steal any bases. He can't be getting picked off all the time, giving away outs.
This is all on the manager. There ain't another manager in baseball who would have tolerated this kind of insanity.
So today, another pitching mismatch with Fried (sub 3 ERA) vs Feltner (ghastly 6 ERA). No excuses, I want to see the Battlin' Bronx Bastards win this damned game. Complete the sweep, for once. Get it done, you bastards!
Volpe. Oy.
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