Editor’s Note: I accidentally hit “Publish” instead of “Save Draft” in my WordPress console yesterday morning while working on this post so if you’ve seen half of a post or so similar to this in an RSS feed or something I apologize for my inability to press the correct buttons.
MLB doesn’t schedule double-headers as a regular thing anymore, and for perfectly sensible reasons. They can play every day of the week without problems, every team except the Cubs can play all the night games they want, and there’s really no reason to exhaust the rosters of both teams just to play two games in one day under normal circumstances.
Now, double-headers do rule a ton and so I get really excited (when other) teams have them. I have also been known to buy tickets for any Minor League single admission double-headers that I can get myself to in the area. There’s something inherently fun about attending six or so hours worth of baseball with a short break between games to recover. That something in my case is that I just really really like watching baseball.
With all that said, I don’t really get enthused about doubleheaders that involve the Yankees.
A double header for the Yankees means things like Ramiro Pena having seven plate appearances in one day, Marcus Thames playing in the field against a right-handed pitcher and so on. I know both that it is necessary for our old infielders to get some rest and that I am a spoiled baby and most fans have to watch something equivalent every game, but I don’t and frankly my expectation of this team is that I shouldn’t really have to. It just reminds me of how hard it’s going to be for the team to find a shorstop who doesn’t suck completely at the plate once Jeter is done at the position and that’s something I choose not to think about very often.
If you think that I’m whining about this because it exposes the Yankees’ weak bench, yes it does, but it exposes everyone’s. Ramiro Pena is a perfectly fine bench player who is around for his glove and not his bat like most of the utility infielders floating around in MLB. The team has a bench just about on par with everyone else’s and if it becomes a problem or just needs to be upgraded a bit like it did last year I totally believe that Brian Cashman will just go out and find another Jerry Hairston Jr for cash or Chase Weems.
What it comes down to is that I just really, really, really hate watching Pena bat and watching it seven times in a day is enough to drive a girl crazy. Unfortunately with Jeter day-to-day after being Daniel Cabrera’d by Justin Verlander yesterday I might have to invest in some kind of Pena-at-bat blocking technology.
