Mid-season Report From the Yankee Media (written 8/2/07)

Yes, its me again..........This was George King's MidSeason report Card on the Yankees less than a month ago. Of course Jeter gets an A. He is 84th in baseball in RBI. He is not even in the top 10 in the AL in runs scored, batting second (and some valiant attempts at hitting third) on the Yankees. Only around 8 players in all of baseball have less homers than him, who play everyday. What does that translate into? An A! Check out Bobby Abreu getting an F. He has more runs scored than Jeter, more doubles, more homers, more steals and more RBI than Jeter. That's an F. You won't look it up, if you find some time, it is fun to look at. A Yankee fan told me yesterday that Luis Castillo is hitting .300!! You guys don't look at anything else. Just to update the Polanco vs. Jeter raging debate.....I would still take Jeter, but its close. Do you really think Jeter is a more productive player than Robinson Cano? Where?

taken from George King's article:
A SS, DEREK JETER Spent most of the first half hitting around .340 and getting on base about 40 percent of the time. Was hitting well over .400 with runners in scoring position. Early rash of errors have him on pace to surpass career-high 24.
C 2B, ROBINSON CANO Hit .342 last year when he was an All-Star and looked like a player on the way to elite status. Hasn’t come close to that average this year and almost was demoted to Triple-A in early May.
F RF, BOBBY ABREU Nobody has represented the Yankees’ morbid first half more than the man who is the primary reason the offense has been wildly inconsistent.

PS Did anyone hear Joe Girardi last night, after Jeter did the little 297 FT poke to right field into the first row?. He said that "it is very frustrating for a pitcher giving up home runs like that. That is not a home run in any other park in baseball." I thought it was funny.

PSS I almost feel bad for him. He's 6'3", 200 pounds and has 51 RBI on August 2. He leads the league.........in at bats. Tricked you there, you thought he led the league in something. Not since 1999 has the led the league in anything. That sounds like an A. Let me go read some articles about "Reyes is lacking production lately" or "David Wright is struggling to find his stroke", but when is the Jeter article going to be printed? You are not allowed to even mention it. The media is great. They're experts.

PSSS I'm out of the Jeter pool. We picked dates on when Jeter would get to 10HR and 26RBI , I said August 1st. Next in line is Rod Smod, that said September 1st, and Relay who has "doesn't even hit 10". Developing......

PSSSS All this talk about milestones: what about the biggest milestone of the season? Jeter got to 50 RBI Monday night.