Wrapping Up the Yankees Win, the Parade, and Matsui Thoughts

I know I wrote a whole post about what a giant disappointment the Giants were, but the whole NFL day was shot yesterday for me. I won maybe three games in my spread pick-em league. My suicide team (the Packers) busted. My two best bets for the week (San Fran and Baltimore) couldn't cover. And the Sunday night game was a match-up of the two teams in the NFL I dislike the most (Philly and Dallas). So what did I do on Sunday night? Sulk? Cry? Nope, I watched an incredible season finale for Mad Men (more on that in a future post) and just smiled knowing that they Yankees were still the 2009 World Series champions.

A title can do that to a fan.

So can going to the parade. When the Yankees won the World Series in 1996, I was a few months shy of my Bar Mitzvah. I can't say I really knew what losing was although I had been a huge fan for half a dozen years. This nine year drought made me appreciate it more, made me want to soak it all in a little bit more, and, most of all, made me try to slow it down and savor the moment. Who knows when it will be back.

I read through Jack Curry's great column about the parade for the New York Times (where the picture to the right came from), and then read through Tyler Kepner's even better column of the parade for the New York Times. I found myself agreeing with Mike Lupica (it doesn't happen often) that this is a beautiful thing and was glad I was among the throng of people showering the Yankees with love. I was happy to hear about how Brian Cashman treated his scouts from Peter Gammons and heard some more great things about that from Buster Olney (as well as one more great "27 facts about World Series 27 list" in the same column). I agreed with Steve Politi when he said that the celebration was definitely missing something: The Boss.

Despite all those good feelings, all that nostalgia of a magical season in The Bronx, I have to agree with Ken Davidoff: It's time to say "sayonara" to Hideki Matsui. I know, that's pretty harsh. The guy did just win the World Series MVP award. His final postseason and regular season stat lines are below and they're impressive.

Regular Season totals:

Playoff Totals:



Wow. If you prorate his postseason stats for an entire 162-game season, he's hitting .312/.391/.541 with, 75 XBH, 29 HR and 113 RBI. And that's against the best pitching in the game with the most on the line.

*Side Note: One stat I left off of there just to save room, but which amazes me, is that Hideki Matsui never had a sacrifice bunt. I know this shouldn't seem strange because he's a slugger and I rail against sac bunts. But don't you think one time in his seven regular seasons or 6 postseasons one of his managers would have stupidly had him put down a bunt? I guess not and I'm not really upset about it.

So why do I, heartlessly, want to get rid of him? Because there's no place for Hideki Matsui on an aging team. Matsui is strictly a DH at this point and with his knees, he's only a part-time DH. He can't play the field at all, which eliminates him for 9 games in the National League parks. And who knows how many times next year he'll have to get his knees drained or how much an extra month of baseball during the playoffs this season has put extra strain on his aging body.

There's also this problem: the aging regulars need to DH. Alex Rodriguez may not need another surgery to repair his hip, but he will need quite a few days off to be the designated hitter and he'll be 35 next season. Derek Jeter showed improved defense at short this season, but he'll be 36 next season and could probably use a few more days rest (as he showed at the beginning of this season when he got tired playing every day with A-Rod out). Jorge Posada turns 39 next season and each year seems to get more limited defensively. Although the Yankees probably can't make him an everyday DH, it would certainly behoove them to put him behind the plate a little less.

That doesn't even include the fact they may bring back Johnny Damon who, at 36 and pretty awful in left field, needs to DH more often that he did this season. Or Nick Swisher who while better than Damon in the field, maybe be better off getting so ABs at DH. You could DH one of your corner outfielders and give a minor leaguer like Austin Jackson a real shot in the major leagues. Or use the DH for regulars like Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira who could use a day off in the field every once in a while. It's about keeping everyone fresh during a very long regular season, a luxury that they won't have if Hideki Matsui is constantly parking himself in the DH spot.

So, in my opinion, it's time to let Matsui go and let the last Thrilla from Godzilla be his World Series. As Davidoff points out, the Yankees did so with their 1996 World Series MVP, John Wetteland, to make room for Mariano Rivera. Now it's time for the Yankees to let their 2009 World Series MVP go as well to make room on the roster. While it may seem harsh now, we may look back on it in 13 years with the same feelings we have about letting Wetteland go in '96: that it was the correct move, even for a World Series MVP.