NEW YORK - Ok, is it too late to ask for a little forgiveness?
The stuff I said about you earlier in the season was not meant in my normal mean, excessively harsh tone that is usually saved for only the worst of players (see: Angel Berroa).
It was meant as encouragement and said out of frustration because I knew how good of a player you were and had no inexplicable reason why your batting average look to be headed toward the interstate.
At the plate, you looked indecisive and somewhat lost. You were swinging at pitches that were balls and missing good pitches that were strikes. It got to the point were I was having silent bets as to whether you were going to strike out looking or swinging.
Yes, it was that bad.
To say Mark Teixeira was not hitting his weight was putting it mildly. It appeared as if he was going to be hitting Lindsay Lohan's weight if the slump went any further. ‘
April was not the best of month’s fir the Yankees newest prized possession. All winter and spring, he had talked a good game about knowing what it takes and what the expectations and the intense scrutiny he was going to be under in pinstripes. Nothing really prepared him for what he saw when he stepped to the plate for his first at bat of the season at Camden Yards in Baltimore. He was booed mercilessly in his hometown by the fans, and his failures to produce early invoked a reaction he had never seen before in his career.
Without Alex Rodriguez in the lineup, Teixeira was the team's sole “big bat” on a team filled with All-Stars.
Unfortunately, for the Yankees and himself, most days were not very good. He struggled in the month with a batting average hovering under .200. In that first week, he had injured his right wrist and according to him, he was unable for several weeks to get in his normal batting practice cuts from both sides of the plate. This compensation left him rusty at plate and even played a role in his lapse in great defense that he is known for.
He heard it from us during this time. We as fans expect a lot and when you come up far short, the emotion is let out. While I do not condone booing a player myself, I can understand why people let their feelings known.
Then Alex Rodriguez returned to the Yankees on May 8 and all of a sudden, something happened. You became a different player. You became more selective at the plate. Those pop up’s you were hitting became line drives for singles and doubles. Those fly balls that were making it only to the warning track are now “Tex Messages” (term coined by John Sterling) and he has had an incredible hot streak that has him on pace after a slow start to career highs in homeruns and RBI’s.How about these numbers:
.375 (39 for 104), 12 HR, 35 RBI
He has been on a tear, and that is before you include his incredible, Gold Glove defense at first base. He is the kind of player that you have to watch everyday in order to get a true appreciation for what he brings on both offense and defense.
On one occasion, he will make a nice diving attempt at a ball hit to either his left or right to make an out. Other times he will snare a ball on a tough hop and make it look so easy. In addition, he turns the double play flawlessly.
He is no Jason Giambi at first base.
Watching him shows you how much runs can be saved defensively, make other infielders better and improve the team overall. Having Giambi at first base was an albatross. He had zero range, could not get to balls, and was a butcher whenever the ball was in hands. It got to a point where teams would try to hit balls at him so he can be the one to make a play knowing that the percentages were in their favor that he could not do it.
Teixeira changes the equation. This year, the Yankees have one of the best infield defenses in the league (discounting Posada) and before Tuesday’s night pounding of the Texas Rangers (Teixeira original team), had eclipsed the Major League record for games without committing an error (18).
I’m sure the Boston Red Sox would love to have him on their team. Before signing with the Yankees, all of the rumors and stories had linked him to signing with them. Putting a caliber such as him in his prime as part of a core along with Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury would have been formidable for at least the next five years.
Suddenly, talks hit a snag and with Brian Cashman’s persistence, he was able to pony up $180 million for eight years to bring the switch-hitting, power producing, and slick-fielding player and put him in the place he claims that he wanted to be all along.
This move has looked even better when you consider the plight of David Ortiz, who looks finished as a hitter and having Teixeira would have made a seamless transition.
Now, Ortiz is a hole in the Boston lineup while Teixeira has filled one of the Yankees biggest holes.
After 2004, the team passed on Carlos Beltran, and that was a regretful mistake.
They were not going to make the same mistake twice.
Right now, Teixeira is playing as if he is worth every penny.
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