Another Week, Another Article About the 'Impossibly Old' Yankees

I was searching for the most recent news on Yahoo's homepage late last week and saw an article about the Yankees. Since the article is written about my favorite sports team of all time, I thought that I might as well clink on the link and check it out.  Needless to say, the article was both disrespectful and judgmental.  I came upon this one article for a website called The Week.  Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter were called 'ancient,' adding that "the team will crumble to dust by season's end."  I mean, really?  Who is to say they can't compete with other teams in the MLB just because of a player's age?  Last I checked the Yankees have always been an older team, and have continued to make the playoffs almost every year. 

On the plus side, This Week's article did mention the offensive abilities of the Yankees. The team ranked in the top five for almost every offensive category, including slugging percentage, home runs, and on base percentage.  The Yankees pitching also ranked in the top ten, even though they are considered to be the oldest pitching staff in the MLB.  Let's use Andy Pettitte as an example here.  At the ripe age of 40, he had an era (earned run average for the non-baseball fans here) of 2.87.  He has been with the Yankees for fourteen years!  Yes, he did fight through an injury last year but you can say that for more than half of the players in the big leagues. Even the rookies!  "Despite their ages, these guys are still among the best in the league at their respective positions." I think that line sums it all up. It is kind of ironic to think that the last line of the article states that a weak line-up is what is going to be the Yankees downfall, not the players' ages.  Isn't that what this article is about, though?  I mean the title should summarize the information, shouldn't it? 

I do want to discuss one last statement that was said in the article.  It mentions that Nick Swisher and Russell Martin were offensive powerhouses for the Yankees. Last October, Swisher was batting .154 with a little less than eight strikeouts, meaning he was 4 for 26.  Powerhouse in the playoffs? I don't think so. It is evident from last year's playoffs that the Yankees need someone to step up in the postseason.  Raul Ibanez was that guy.  The team will definitely miss his bat. Russell Martin, on the other hand, struggled early on in the season.  He had a batting average of just over .215 for the year; his lowest was at a .176.  At one point in the season, Martin was in such a slump that he was hitting 4 for 57.  The Yankees will not miss him and his offensive struggles.  They traded for Travis Hafner, who is hoping to give the team what they need offensively.

 So how about we stop bringing up this age issue for now and let the Yankees do the talking.  Once the regular season starts, the age issue can be brought up again...IF NEEDED.


Here's the article for everyone's viewing: http://theweek.com/article/index/240612/why-you-shouldnt-count-out-the-impossibly-old-new-york-yankees