Greg Bird is starting to remind Yankee fans of Nick Johnson. Left-handed first baseman with a sweet swing for Yankee Stadium but who cannot stay healthy long enough to be on the field. The news yesterday that he would be out 6-8 weeks with a broken bone spur is, I suppose, better than being out all year, but on the other hand, the start of what he went through in 2017. He is still young but you wonder at what point do the Yankees just decide to go in a different direction? SU is disappointed as he is my favorite Yankee so far this season but I will adapt. The hope is that they have properly diagnosed the problem (based on last season, not a sure thing by any means). Clearly, this line up can absorb the blow but they are very right-handed now.
So, Knick fans, Trey Burke has started the last 2 games. And last night he took advantage of that opportunity to score 42 points and dish out 12 assists – 35 points coming in the 2nd half and OT. Jeff Hornacek will get credit for finally deciding to start him but please – SU was imploring management to bring him up to the parent team back in November and to play him once he was here. Coaches who have a feel for the game and the players can figure this out much, much sooner. SU has nothing against Hornacek – seems like a nice guy – but to wait this long to start him was clearly ridiculous. On any other team, you might think that this is your starter for next season. But with the Knicks, of course, you cannot think that way. No-one would even be surprised to see them trade Burke for Carmelo Anthony during the off season (just kidding – won’t work with the salary cap!). SU says he is your starting point guard now. He is under-sized but there is so much pick and roll in the NBA and switching, it’s just not that much of a factor. He can score, create his own shot and penetrate. Please: do the right thing.
But the big news of the day is that John Sterling, the 80-year old radio voice of the Yankees, got cataract surgery during the off season and apparently can see again. This is huge for the home run calls that are often actually fly balls to short center field. Fans will, hopefully, no longer have to listen to the crowd noise to know what is going on during the game. As important as the trade for Giancarlo Stanton.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
The thing about John Sterling is hysterical. Yes…. all his false orgasm home run calls gets on your nerves.
Great point about how right handed heavy the Yanks are now without Bird.
Hopefully this means Boone moves Walker to 1B and they have Tyler Wade at 2B to get another lefty in the lineup. With that you have 3.5 lefties (Gardner, Didi, Wade and a switch hitting Walker) in most lineups.
The question is- do we find ourselves in the same predicament the Sox were in last season?- Having no true power hitting lefty in the middle of the lineup. Time will tell.
Tyler Wade was overpowered last season – truly overpowered. I know he had a good spring and I hope to be proven wrong about him. He seems like a hustler who can run so it would be great to see him contribute. My concern is late in games when the 98-mph right handed reliever comes in with a nasty slider. K, K, K. They also have Hicks or Ellsbury in center as another lefty bat.
Said it many times here and will say it again. You can’t expect much from the Yankees’ season if you believe that it hinges on Greg Bird. I like him. I’d like him to contribute. But, despite his performance for 2 months at the end of 2015 and in spring training of 2017, I see him as a role player more than a key contributor. That’s fine. The Yankees need role players. But I never saw him as the kind of guy who would hit third everyday in a World Series caliber lineup. Now, they need a lefty bat. Not sure where it comes from. I put this on Cashman who chose to spend his time, energy and money on Stanton to address a mythical need for another outfielder, while spending considerably less of each to address the actual shortcomings in the infield. .
Having grown up on games with Phil Rizzuto in the booth, I am fine with broadcasters that sacrifice verisimilitude in the name of other qualities. I appreciate John Sterling’s stories and perspective on baseball and can live with the occasional misrepresentation of what’s happening on the field. (I do wish he had a different partner because I don’t think Suzyn Waldman picks up this slack as well as someone else might.) Still I agree with the comment above about his homerun call which has always bothered me in that it includes details that don’t describe every homerun. Note every homerun is “high” and “far.”