It was a series where Alex Rodriguez got closer to Rafael Palmeiro on the all-time home run list. Mariano Rivera continued to pile up saves. Joba Chamberlain continued to pile up no decisions. The mark set by Andy Pettitte and Mo continued to increase. Ken Griffey Jr continued to approach Willie Mays in career HRs. Ichiro Suzuki continued to get hit after hit. Could he be on his way to a 9th consecutive 200+ hit season? Let's break this all down.
A-Rod's been getting a day's rest every week and will continue to do so until the All Star Break. It's been paying off for the Yankees with home runs in Games 1 and 2: 2 days, 2 homers. You go, Alex, rest up that big bad hip! A lot of people will say, "Oh, he's juicing up again." Others will say, "Oh, he's been hanging out with Kate Hudson." I say leave him alone. He's a grown boy. Unfortunately, baseball's steroid policy has become like rules in pro wrestling. It's legal as long as the ref doesn't see it. I guess in baseball terms, it would be that they can take whatever they want as long as they don't test negative. As long as he continues to test negative and keeps hitting home runs, I'm a happy camper.
What can I say about Mariano Rivera? He's a monster. He's a shoe in for the Hall of Fame. Mo notched 2 more saves in this series. San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers fans will ask, "What about Trevor Hoffman? Doesn't he have more career saves? My response is: "Who's got more postseason saves? Mo. Where's Trevor Hoffman been his whole career prior to this year? San Diego. Their last trip to the World Series? 1998. We all know what team dominated that year.
The Yankees offense needs to back up Joba Chamberlain more . Homeboy is piling up no-decisions. He is among leaders for rookies starting a season with the most No-D's. His team is 10-5 in games he's started. His record going into this series?: 4-2. That's an amazing 9 no-decisions and it's not even the All-Star Break yet. Can you imagine what his record would be if he was the winning pitcher in all those games? He's probably be among the tops in the American League.
Andy Pettitte started Game 2 of this series. He was the winning pitcher. Mo closed it out. Through this series Mo has now closed out 30 of Andy Pettitte's 223 career wins. This is an MLB record that will continue to grow until both these players retire. Yankee fans, rest assured that when Andy pitches a good game, there's a great chance that manager Joe Girardi will bridge it to Mariano for a guaranteed victory.
Ken Griffey Jr is in the twilight of his career. I remember watching footage of him over the years playing with his dad, hitting homer after homer, and making dynamic plays in center field. Sometimes they were diving catches. Sometimes he would scale the wall. In Game 2, he hit home run #621. Junior is inching his way closer and closer to Willie Mays on the all-time home run list. Did you notice that fly ball hit to left center by the Yankees at one point in the game? Griffey was in left field and didn't even budge. He just let Franklin Gutierrez chase it down all the way from center field. I don't care how old you are, how many years you've been in the league, or how badly your knees have worn out over the years, you have to hustle after the ball. All-in-all, I'd say Jr'll retire within the next couple of years and will be in the Hall of Fame as a Mariner by 2020.
Finally, there's that slapper Ichiro Suzuki. He holds the record for most hits in a season. He is currently on a streak of 9 consecutive 200+ hit seasons. In this series, he had added 4 more hits to his season total. The reason I call him a slapper is because he gets cheap hits. I'll bet when he's on deck, he's like a robot scanning for holes in the field. He decides where to hit, and bang! Cheap hit. The majority of his hits are either bearly over the heads of the infielders or down the first or third base line. He hardly ever gets an extra base hit. It's just single after single after single. Granted his style of hitting has helped Japan to win 2 consecutive World Baseball Classic championships, but it's not gonna help the Seattle Mariners too much. He'll need to have somebody behind him to bring him home, otherwise he'll just be another runner left on base. He's already got over 100 hits this season and should be at about 125 by the All-Star Break. If he accomplishes this or even more, he's got his 10 consecutive 200+ hit season in the bag.
The Yankees would go on to win the series to 2 games to 1. Let's continue to route for these players as continue achieve these milestones and cement their way to the hall. After all, isn't that part of baseball is all about?
