All Things Bubba

July 2, 2006: N.Y. Yankees 16, N.Y. Mets 7

One minute, everything was going good. And the next minute, their offense exploded. - David Wright

What a roller coaster ride this game was. It started out horribly. Jaret Wright, who had been looking good his last few starts, had nothing last night. His sinker wasn't sinking. By the end of the 2nd, Wright was gone, and we were down 4-0. It was early, but given the problems the Yanks have had on offense lately, it seemed unsurmountable. Many fans despaired.

But Alay Soler proved to be as hittable as Wright. Jorgie offered the first ray of hope, hitting a solo homer off him in the bottom of 2nd. Villone shut down the Mets, giving the Yanks a chance. And they took it in the bottom of the 3rd.

Soler walked Nick Green, the #9 hitter, and that opened the floodgates. Walks, hits, and errors loaded the bases, then A-Rod hit a monster grand slam. Still, Willie didn't take Soler out. He wanted to spare his bullpen, and was willing to sacrifice young Soler. By the time the inning was over, eleven batters had come to the plate, and eight runs had scored.

It was pretty much a laugher after that. The Mets had clearly given up, while the Yanks, having been burned before with big leads, did not. They scored four more in the 4th, and three more in the 5th, including another homer, a three-run shot, for A-Rod.

Nick Green also hit a homerun. A Devil Rays castoff much-maligned for his .077 batting average, he had a monster inning in the 3rd. A walk, a steal, a two-run homer, a curtain call...the kind of debut young players dream of. Nick Green now joins Marcus Thames, Todd Zeile, Andy Phillips, and, yes, Bubba Crosby, on the list of players who homered in their first ABs as Yankees.

Bubba came in as a defensive replacement for Bernie in RF at the top of the 6th (and should have been brought in much sooner, IMO). In the 7th, Reese took over RF, and Bubba took over CF. He provided his usual sterling defense, though no heroics were required.

He got one AB, lining out to right in the 7th. No one else hit Feliciano, either, but I was hoping he'd get a hit. It's been awhile now.

It ended well, but this game really exposed Bernie Williams. His defense is terrible, and even when he hits well, it doesn't make up for the runs he gives away.

The top of the 2nd inning was a case in point. Two outs, one run in. Reyes hits a fly ball to RF. The way Bernie plays it, it's a two-RBI triple.

Bubba would have caught that one. It would have been inning over, one run scored. Instead, the inning dragged on. Thanks to Bernie's "defense," four more batters come to the plate and three runs scored that would not have scored with Bubba in RF.

Something similar happened in the 5th. A "double" to RF scored one run, which Bubba would have caught for the third out. By my count, Bernie's defense put four runs on the board for the Mets. They were not only running on his arm, they were intentionally hitting toward him. There's no way his bat can make up for it.

Even if Bubba's a deadweight in the lineup, he'd be better than Bernie. And he won't be a deadweight in the lineup, given a fair chance. Torre should just tell him he's starting from now on, for his defense, and it's okay if he doesn't hit. That would take some of the pressure off, and I bet he would hit.

And it's not just runs. It's the way Bernie's poor defense lengthens innings for the pitchers. Wright and Chacon can't go deep right now, our bullpen is overworked...and we have Bernie, giving away extra outs. All those extra batters faced, all those extra pitches thrown. We can't afford it.