RESILIENCY

Well, now that a decent amount of games (46) have been played for the 2012 season which is barely above the 28% mark, I thought it would be a respectable time to evaluate the Yankees at this point:

All teams end up with injuries throughout their long 162-game season. In the case of the Yankees, they have five (20%) of their major players currently on the disabled list including (in my order of importance) Mariano Rivera, David Robertson, Brett Gardner, Michael Pineda, and Joba Chamberlain. Neither Mo nor Pineda are expected back for this season, while Robertson & Gardner are expected back during June and Joba might be back by the end of the season.

In the interim, even without 20% of their roster, somehow they are still a few games above the .500 mark. Mostly, it's thanks to both their starting & relief pitching. Even I'm surprised at Rafael Soriano's take-charge closer performance. Sabathia has done what he normally does, Hughes is showing velocity, Nova looked good in his return the other day, and Pettitte acts like he's 29 instead of 39 years old.

The biggest disappointment thus far has been the lack of hitting. Based on the aforementioned injuries, Gardner is the only hitter that has been out of the lineup for a substantial time. While he is somewhat of a catalyst, it's not detrimental enough of an excuse for this team not to hit more successfully. Thankfully, the Yankees offense has begun to show signs as of late. Cano, Rodriguez, and Teixeira have each been hitting some homeruns again, which is their main barometer. Players such as Jeter, Ibanez, Swisher, and Granderson have been fairly consistent. The only offensive starter that's still slumping is Russell Martin. Hopefully, he'll join the rest soon.

In summary, this team has kept their composure and shown resiliency and no withdrawal, even during many hitting droughts. CC & Pettitte have led the pitching; Soriano has matured & led the bullpen; and Jeter, Ibanez, and Granderson have mainly led the hitting. Hopefully, no more major injuries will occur for the remainder of the season and both Gardner & Robertson will join the Yankees within a few weeks to help position them from the middle of the Eastern Division Standings to the top.

CORE ANDY

Just as the infamous "Core Four" was reduced to just three members last season and then two members at the beginning of this season, it became one for the first time most recently with the loss of Mo (see my previous blog).  Well, for tomorrow's Mothers' Day (by the way, happy Mothers' Day to all you moms) the "Core Four" goes back to two members once again.  That's because we will all have the chance to see Andy Pettitte attempt to come out of his short-lived retirement.

I can remember when he first began in the major leagues for the Yankees back in 1995.  It was very exciting for me because I had been anticipating his promotion for quite a while.  Around that period, the only truly successful starting pitcher that originated from the Yanks' farm system was Ron Guidry.

In time, Andy became one of the greatest starting pitchers ever for the NY Yankees and one of the most successful starters of all time for MLB.  In fact, last decade, Andy earned the most collective wins of any pitcher during those ten years.  He also has the most wins (19) in playoff history.  With his eyes barely showing from the bottom brim of his cap, he has intimidated many opposing hitters during his starts.

His one hiccup was associating himself with Roger Clemens.  Not only did Roger promote the use of steroids, but (I believe) he influenced Andy to leave the Yankees and join him in Houston (2004-2006). Andy was certainly adult enough to make his own decisions, but (like all of us) made a wrong choice - he trusted Roger.  Of course, he also made the wrong choice to leave the Yankees!  (Alright, I'm not being totally objective on that portion of my opinion.)

Even though Andy admitted to using steroids on two occasions, both instances were during periods in which he was trying to increase his recovery from injuries.  Thus, his intentions were never to cheat by gaining pitching velocity.  He was also the only one who ever spoke the truth about personal steroid usage.  Does anyone truly believe McGwire, Clemens, Sosa, or Bonds never used them?  So, not only has Andy proven to be one of the best pitchers of all time (especially during extremely crucial games) but he's also shown that honesty is the best policy - as the saying goes.

I'm not sure if Andy will continue to be successful after not pitching for a full year, but I really hope so - for the Yankees' sake (of course) and for his own personal impressive career stats.

PUBLIC HERO  

Every once in a while someone in the public eye offers hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people a leadership quality so great that we consider them one of our heroes.  I've had three (again, not including a family member or personal friend) that have inspired me.  Based on an accident that happened a few days ago which may possibly end the career of one of my public heroes, I'd like to tell you about him today.  His name is Mariano Rivera - from the New York Yankees.

As a huge Yankees fan, when Mariano tore his ACL the other day, my thoughts about him accelerated what this man epitomizes to me.  He, unlike the majority of sports stars today, always demonstrates the truest sportsmanship.  How many times have we seen an NFL star dancing around after his first down or touchdown or a MLB hitter drop the bat and admire the flight of their anticipated home run?  There are so many examples that I could mention, but you've all seen them and know exactly what I'm saying.

Mariano Rivera is considered by most baseball players, coaches, and fans as the greatest at what he has done for over 16 years - close and/or save games.  In fact, he has achieved the most closed games and the most saved games in MLB history.  Additionally, he has the most closes and saves while giving up the lowest earned runs in playoff and World Series history!  Yet, for each one of the aforementioned successes that he has accomplished, there has never been a display by him in which he's rubbed his success into the faces of his opponents.

So much has already been accomplished statistically by this man and yet he continually demonstrates true humbleness.  That's my favorite thing about him.  Of course I love the stats he carries, especially since all of those stats are also attributed towards my team's success.  But, again, it's the character of such a man that is his greatest achievement.

Furthering his character, after being carted out to the ambulance and after his hospital tests, this man insisted to return the next day to support his team for a few games so that he can help boost the bad morale he accused himself of causing.  So, while in physical pain and prior to more testing and his inevitable surgery, once again he has demonstrated putting others ahead of himself.  He has also reached out to his fans to let us know that he intends to be back after the recovery.  He said that with strict confidence, knowing that the odds of his return to success are against him.  Mariano will try his best to change our lingering tragic view of his career suddenly ending and, instead, work extremely hard behind the scenes to return and offer each of us more positive views of his great pitching and sportsmanship.

So in my "closing" of today's blog, I am very proud to say that my current public hero is not only one of the greatest baseball players of all time, but also one of the greatest demonstrated human beings of all time, Mariano Rivera.