Best Yankee center fielder

Curtis Granderson will be standing in center field when the first pitch is thrown at the New Yankee Stadium in 2010. Joe Girardi announced on Thursday that instead of moving the former Tigers' center fielder to left — as had been rumored throughout spring training — Grandy will maintain his usual position while Brett Gardner will make the shift across the field.According to Girardi there was "no wrong decision." The Yankees' manager said that he felt that both players "did a very nice job at both spots. Grandy has played a lot of center field in his career, and so has Gardy ... but we just decided that we were going to go with Grandy in center. Try not to move him around and put him in one spot."
There are very few cases in which a manager is faced with a situation that literally has "no wrong decision." But this may just be that anamoly.


Both players have seen limited time in left field  They had identical fielding percentages of .993 in 2009, both had a range factors of 2.62 and Granderson had one more error than Gardner's two. In the field, they are essentially the same player. And together they give the Yankees incredible range and speed defensively in the outfield that will highly complement their phenomenal pitching staff. With Nick Swisher in right and the combo of the switch-hitting Randy Winn and the right-handed Marcus Thames filling in as needed, the Yankees have potentially one of the most skilled and deep outfields in all of baseball.As is always the case when taking over as the Yankees' center fielder, the position will come with demanding expectations. From the greats like Earle Combs, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle to the very good like Bobby Murcer, Mickey Rivers, and Bernie Williams, the tolerance for failure is always very slim when it comes to the individual who follows in the oft-cited prestigious lineage of the position. But from an offensive standpoint, Curtis Granderson appears to fit the "mold" for the position far more accurately than the speedy but offensively limited Gardner
Bernie Williams’ 22 postseason home runs may rank No. 2 all-time behind Manny Ramirez, but don’t tell him he’s a slugger.

“I certainly did not consider myself a slugger,” said the 42-year-old former outfielder, who recently partnered with Maxwell House to help unveil the newly rebuilt Mill Brook Community Center in the South Bronx. “I don’t think I ever hit more than 30 home runs in a season, and I only did that once. ... I’d like to consider myself not a one-dimensional player.”

The four-time World Series champion caught up with amNewYork last week.

Do you have a favorite season with the Yankees? I tend to think that every season I played with them, I was just very blessed to be part of it. I think that, arguably, ’98 [when he won the batting title] could be considered my best season ever. ... But other than that, every year that we went into the championship and we were able to win it — that was a great year, man.

As you see Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada still going, do you marvel at their careers? Yeah, they’re remarkable careers. ... It’s a testament to their consistency and excellence through the years. You put together a career with more than 10 years in the big leagues, dominating the way they have, it’s amazing that they have done it for as long as they have done it.

Why did you consider quitting baseball around 1990? Growing up in Puerto Rico, [my mom] really wanted me to be some sort of academic guy — a doctor or an engineer or something that would make her proud with her background in education. ... At the time that I was considering quitting baseball, I was certainly going into to college to finish my degree. I went into premed right out of high school, but then the Yankees the Yankees came along and I couldn’t pass it up. It was at a point in Double-A when I was sort of at a crossroads ... My mom said, ‘If you quit now, first of all, you’re always going to regret it. And secondly, you’re going to quit at everything you do. So please do not quit on this.’ I think it was great advice. After that my career just took off.
Curtis Granderson had a pretty good week in just one night.

The Yankees' center fielder had the fantasy performance of the season, going 5-for-5 with three homers, three runs scored, and four RBIs. He began the day hitting .208 with three home runs and six RBIs before boosting his average by .075 and doubling his home-run total and nearly doubling his RBI total.

If there was a disappointment, it was that after homering in his first three at-bats, he failed twice to hit a fourth homer and instead singled each time.

It was a another ho-hum performance from Matt Kemp, who was 2-for-5 with his seventh homer of the year for the Dodgers.

Cincinnati's Drew Stubbs broke out of a season-long slump by going 3-for-5 with his first home run of the season. Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce, and Ryan Ludwick are also struggling Reds who had two hits against Adam Wainright, whose ERA is at 9.88 after allowing four earned runs in five innings.

Adam Jones continued his stellar season with two hits and three RBIs, including his fifth home run.
Jason Hammel has found a nice home in Baltimore and allowed two runs in six innings to win his second game and move his ERA to 2.37.

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Pretty much everyone on Texas is hot at the plate these days as Mike Napoli went 2-for-5 with his fourth homer in three days. Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler, and Michael Young had three hits apiece while Elvis Andrus, Craig Gentry, and even Yorvit Torrealba had two hits apiece.

Houston caught a little of the Texas heat as Brian Bogusevic and Jason Castro each had three hits, Jose Altuve had a double and a triple and two RBIs, while J.D. Martinez, Carlos Lee, and Matt Downs all had two hits apiece.
Evan Longoria had three hits and four RBIs with a home run for the Rays.

Minnesota's Ryan Doumit was 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBIs, and a homer while teammate Chris Parmelee is becoming fantasy relevant with his second straight two-hit game. In his first start of the season, Milwaukee's Travis Ishikawa had two hits and two RBIs, but he remains fantasy irrelevant.

The tough-luck line of the night went to Felix Hernandez, who struck out 12 in eight scoreless innings before leaving after throwing 126 pitches. Brandon League needed only 20 pitches to blow the lead and the save for Hernandez. That made a winner out of Josh Tomlin, who gave up one run in eight innings.

Philadelphia's Vance Worley threw seven scoreless innings to beat San Diego's Joe Wieland, who gave up just one run in six innings. Mike Minor was another young pitching prospect who came up big, allowing one run in eight innings.
Last month, the 2012 MLB Hall of Fame Ballot was announced, and to be honest, it lacked any big-time newcomers. Former Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams is on the ballot, but apart from him  it doesn't seem likely that there will be a first-ballot induction this year.

Next year's ballot will probably be the most interesting, highly anticipated HOF class of all time, with first-timers Sammy Sosa, Craig Biggio, Curt Schilling, Mike Piazza, Roger Clemens, and the home run king himself, Barry Bonds.

But until then, now seems as good a time as any to talk about those players who aren't in ... and probably should be.

Now, by no means am I claiming that these 10 players are the only guys who deserve(d) enshrinement, and they may not even be the top 10 guys that have been snubbed. They're just 10 guys that aren't in the Hall that I believe should be.

So, if you have any other snubs on your minds, then please, I encourage you to comment below and give your opinion.