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Awesome night card, pt. 156


I'm paraphrasing here, but the Tigers' Delmon Young probably said it best last night when asked by TBS' Craig Sager about how the team persevered after losing a four-run lead in the ninth:

"We're big league ball players. That's what we do," he said.

This is why I disagree with the pronouncements by Yankee fans that the team is done after losing Derek Jeter for the rest of the postseason to a fractured ankle. As I always say to Yankees fans in these situations, "spare me the drama."

They're big leaguers. They'll go on. They might even win.

Believe me, I would like nothing more to have the Yankees completely fall part after this. I'm pretty happy that Jeter's not going to be playing. I'm not one of the many who said, "I really don't like the Yankees, but you hate to see that happen to anyone." To me, that's exactly what I want to happen. I want to see the best players on the teams that I don't like disappear, whether through slump, injury, or because the washing machine exploded at home. Doesn't matter. Just get him out of there.

But I'm not gullible enough to think that the Yankees are over in this postseason.

Jeter's injury is hardly unique. There are plenty of star players who have been injured at the worst moments, affecting their play in the postseason.

Shall we review?

We shall.


Johnny Cueto, 2012

Didn't have to look very far, did I? Cueto was the ace of the Cincinnati staff, but back ailments cost him the entire Reds' postseason, which amounted to all of five games.
Outcome: Reds lose to Giants in NLDS


Matt Holliday, 2011

Holliday was left off of the Game 7 roster in last year's World Series after injuring his finger. He had a heck of an NLCS for the Cardinals, but had cooled off in the Series.
Outcome: Cardinals win Game 7 and the Series.


Billy Hatcher and Eric Davis, 1990

Both Hatcher -- who was hitting like 8,000 at the time -- and Davis left Game 4 of the 1990 World Series with injuries. Cincinnati was beating Oakland three games to none at the time, but still, losing two key outfielders is just tragic, right?
Outcome: Reds sweep the World Series.


John Tudor, 1988

Tudor, acquired by the Dodgers late in the season for their postseason run, leaves Game 3 of the World Series after just two innings of his start with a shoulder injury. The injury leads to the end of his career.
Outcome: Dodgers win World Series, highlighted by some injured guy hitting a home run.


Vince Coleman, 1985

The Cardinals' young rookie speedster is eaten by a tarp machine prior to the fourth game of the NLCS. Coleman and his record 110 stolen bases are lost to the Cardinals for the World Series.
Outcome: Cards fall in seven games to Royals, but an umpire might have helped K.C. out.


Reggie Jackson, 1981

Jackson gets injured on the bases during the ALCS against Oakland and misses the first three games of the World Series against the Dodgers.
Outcome: The Yankees win the first two games without Jackson, lose the third and then lose the rest with Jackson in the lineup.


Jim Rice, 1975

At the end of an amazing rookie season, Rice is hit by a pitch that breaks his wrist. He misses the entire postseason for Boston.
Outcome: Red Sox take Reds to an epic seven games before losing the World Series


Tony Kubek, 1964

Late in September, a frustrated Kubek punches the dugout door, straining his wrist so badly that he is out for the postseason.
Outcome: Phil Linz takes Kubek's place in the infield. Yankees eventually fall to the Cardinals in the World Series, spelling the end of the 1947-64 Yankees glory years.


Mickey Mantle, 1951

In Mantle's first season, the Yankees make it to the World Series and faced the Giants. In Game 2, Mantle goes for a short fly ball hit by Willie Mays. In an attempt not to collide with fellow outfielder Joe DiMaggio, Mantle pulls up, catches his cleat in a drain and messes up his knee. He watches the rest of the World Series from a hospital bed.
Outcome: Yankees win anyway.


Hank Greenberg, 1935

Ten years before Greenberg would lead the Tigers to the title over the Cubs, his team was playing the Cubs in the 1935 World Series. The Tigers were looking for their first World Series title. But star Greenberg fractures his wrist in Game 2 of the Series and is shelved for the remainder.
Outcome: Tigers win their first World Series.

I'm sure there are many other examples. The point is teams go on after demoralizing injuries and some of them actually win titles, too.

You may be saying, "But Jeter's different! He's the captain! His season was so great! He makes the team go! He's the inspiration! He's experienced! He's been there so many times! None of his teammates are hitting! He's Mr. Intangibles!"

And I say:

Nobody on the Yankees, or the Tigers, for that matter, is thinking that way. They will play regardless of who or who is not out there. And they'll do pretty well. It's within the realm of possibilities that whoever is replacing Jeter in the lineup may end up doing something outstandingly, sickeningly stunning. That's happened many times before. Remember Eric Hinske for the Rays in Game 4 of the 2008 World Series?

Spare me the drama.

They're big league ballplayers. That's what they do.

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Night Card Binder candidate: Derek Jeter, 2000 Fleer Tradition Update, No. 5
Does it make the binder?: I doubt it. It's matched up against another No. 5, but I don't know who it is. I'll have to do some night card research.

Comments

Eric Bracke said…
John Tudor was one of my favorites as a kid, but the man had some bad luck. I believe he also missed part of a season, as a Cardinal, because Barry Lyons fell down the steps of the dugout at Busch Stadium and broke his leg. He actually came back from the shoulder operation after sitting out in 89 and pitched for the Cardinals in 1990. He went 12-4 which in 22 starts and an ERA of 2.40. Not bad for a final season.
Adam Kaningher said…
Look, I get that you don't like the Yankees. I tolerate that you rag on the Rockies from time to time. We all have our teams and our allegiances. Fine.

However, I have to draw the line with you practically jumping for joy at Jeter's injury.

"That's exactly what I want to happen. I want to see the best players on the teams that I don't like disappear, whether through slump, injury, or washing machine explosion back home."

Listen, Jeter's not a Nazi guard at Auschwitz. He's not part of a terrorist group. He's a baseball player and this is just a game. To wish another man injury, especially when he's done nothing to wrong you or your family, and worse, approving when said injury happens, is not acceptable behavior in a civilized society.

What if Brandon McCarthy were on the Giants, another team you hate? Is that "exactly what you want to happen"? For a pitcher to get a ball lined off his head and need emergency brain surgery during the playoffs?

That's exactly the same attitude that led to the tragic and senseless beating in the Dodger Stadium parking lot last year.

Whether you like the team or not, Derek Jeter is a human first, and a Yankee second.
night owl said…
Take a breath.

I would say that about any player of talent who plays on a team I want to lose. I'm not wishing Jeter or any of them the end of their career or irreparable injury. I just don't want to see them out there because I don't want them to win.

My feelings are no different than thousands of other fans. And I think it's somewhat dishonest to say otherwise.

Do you think Cowboys fans were crying because Joe Theismann got his leg broken on national TV years ago? No they weren't; they were cheering.

I won't go so far as cheer and I'm sorry that Jeter has to deal with rehab, but it's not anything different than thousands of other fans have said or athletes have encountered.

To make the leap from someone saying they're happy that someone is out of the lineup to the fools in that parking lot is a stretch to say the least.

If you don't like what I write, don't read it.

carlsonjok said…
The premise of your post is wrong. The Yankees aren't going to lose because one player (Jeter) is injured and out of the season. They are going to lose because the supposed meat of the batting order (Rodriguez, Granderson, Swisher, and Cano) are collectively batting .112 through the post-season. And, bless their hearts, they have to face Verlander on Tuesday.

The loss of Jeter just adds injury to insult. So to speak.
night owl said…
I know it's wrong. That's what I was saying. Yankee fans who said the team was done because Jeter was injured weren't thinking rationally. I agree with you.
carlsonjok said…
Shit. How did that happen?
Anonymous said…
I love how we went from the Yankees being praised for the incredible depth they have (i.e. Raul Ibanez) to everybody being positively apoplectic that THE CAPTAIN is gone for the rest of the postseason. Wait a minute, what about the incredible depth?

...and if Jeter is so critical, what the heck are they gonna do when he retires?
JediJeff said…
(grabs wheel - steers away from Jeter)

I find it kind of strange talk about the World Series, then show a player dressed as a Cub. Only using an image of a card you possess, or didn't want to dig for an image of a 1990 card of him?

http://s.ecrater.com/stores/68455/4b7c2ccd51bd4_68455n.jpg
night owl said…
I use whatever scan suits my interests. I don't get paid for this.
Don said…
I will add one more to your list. In 1972 Reggie Jackson pulls a hamstring scoring the winning run in game 5 of the ALCS and is out for the entire World Series. A's win the series in 7 games.