Overbay In Right? Why The Hell Not?

(Courtesy of Paul J. Bereswill/NY Post)

The Yankees zigged when most of us thought they were going to zag again yesterday, electing to send Brennan Boesch down to Triple-A to clear a 25-man spot for Andy Pettitte and going ahead with the "Lyle Overbay in the outfield" plan.  It had been hinted at, talked about, but never truly believed as a viable option  in the last week until he was written in as the starting right fielder for last night's game.  I mean, we're talking about a 36-year-old career first baseman who had never played a single inning in the outfield in his Major League career before last night.  He was using Boone Logan's glove out there in place of his regular first baseman's glove last night!  It was another outside-the-box roster decision made out of necessity, the latest in a long series of similar decisions made this season, and once again it worked out for the best.

Really, Hal??

Oh, Hal.  Not you too.  This is the type of stuff the Mikes Lupica, Ians O'Conner, and Bobs Klapisch of the world are supposed to be force feeding down our throats about A-Rod.  Not you.  All you were supposed to do was talk about the Pinstripe Bowl and you just couldn't resist when someone asked about Alex.

“There have no doubt been times when we've been disappointed in him and we've conveyed that to him and he understands that. But look everybody’s human and everybody makes mistakes. If you've got a guy over the course of 10 years, there’s going to be times any of us make mistakes."

Once again, nobody was talking about A-Rod.  At all.  He's been quietly minding his business and rehabbing in Tampa, with the occasional quick update blurb here and there on his progress.  Now you've got to drag him to the front of the stage and shine the spotlight on him again?  While the team is spinning its tires trying to pull out of its first major slump of the season??

Game 57 Wrap-Up: NYY 7 CLE 4

(Whitest high five ever.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

The Yankees got Andy Pettitte back for the second time in the 2013 season last night.  That's a frightening thought with 105 games still on the schedule, but a welcome return given the state of the team's performance right now.  In an effort to give the offense a boost, the Yanks got creative with their roster again, choosing to send Brennan Boesch back down to Triple-A and go with Lyle Overbay as the starting right fielder for the first time in his Major League career.  He got a workout in right, much to the early amusement of his teammates.  In the end, it was the shaky return outing for Andy and a team victory that were the big stories.

Game Notes:

- Andy had stuff but spotty command early.  He worked around 2 on/1 out in the 2nd, and couldn't repeat the feat in the 3rd, giving up a run on a Nick Swisher RBI groundout.

- You don't think of Reid Brignac and Austin Romine as rally starters, but that's just what they were in the bottom of the 3rd with a pair of leadoff singles.  After a 4-pitch walk to Brett Gardner, Justin Masterson threw 2 bad fastballs in a row.  Robinson Cano grounded out on the first, Mark Teixeira lined the second into the first row of the right field seats for a grand slam and a 4-1 lead.

- We'll never know for sure, but the delay in getting Asdrubal Cabrera off the field after his injury in the 4th seemed to shake Andy.  He threw 9 straight balls to load the bases before giving up a hotshot double down the third baseline to tie the game.  He was out of the game before he got out of the 5th.

- Romine was right in the middle of it again in the bottom of the 6th when Masterson pretty much fell apart.  The big hit was Brett Gardner's 2-out, 2-run single up the middle on another early-count swing at a fastball.

- Big and confidence-boosting solo HR from Travis Hafner in the 7th to knock Masterson out and give the bullpen an extra insurance run.  Hopefully that's the sign of good things to come for Pronk.

- Oh yeah, the bullpen.  Not that they needed any more insurance runs.  Shawn Kelley, Joba, D-Rob, and Mo combined to throw 4.1 innings of scoreless ball, giving up just 1 hit in the process and striking out 5.