05/10: Give Womack Half a Chance
Posted by: Patrick
What does Womack have to do?
I was reminded (by Cliff Corcoran) of how a lot of Yankee fans are intent on not giving Womack any sort of chance or praise. Even in his praising of Womack, he tempers it with comments like "Let me reiterate, this is not to say that the Yankees should have signed Womack this winter..." and a final harsh shot of "He does appear to be a very useful player, even if he's actually not."
If Womack wasn't useful, he would not be a starter as long as he has been. He's a useful player who can competently play multiple positions and be a modest offensive presence. Are the days of useful utility guys really that far gone? Are we really that spoiled? Must everyone hit .300 or hit 20 home runs?
Must we have a lineup of Posada, Pujols, Soriano, A-Rod, Jeter, Matsui, Beltran, Guerrero and Sheffield (... wait, we have 5 of those guys already... nuts)? I mean, are we really that spoiled? I mean, I've love to have them, of course (and feel very fortunate we even have 5)... but, I can appreciate the "lesser" guys as well without having to think of what could be or what might have been, which is the type of "praise" Womack seems to get a lot of.
In my limited viewing of him, Womack has done nothing this year but play hard and he's done pretty well as far as what can be expected. He's played two positions, he's played 30 games, he's hit .282 (4th on the team) with a .331 OBA. He's hitting .367 with runners in scoring position. He's T31st in the AL in batting average and 47th in OBA. He's T37th in hits.
He deserves some clean praise. Not to be measured against "better" players (Polanco) or star players (Soriano), but expectations and how he is performing within the team and circumstances that are actually controllable. That's all I'm saying.
I was reminded (by Cliff Corcoran) of how a lot of Yankee fans are intent on not giving Womack any sort of chance or praise. Even in his praising of Womack, he tempers it with comments like "Let me reiterate, this is not to say that the Yankees should have signed Womack this winter..." and a final harsh shot of "He does appear to be a very useful player, even if he's actually not."
If Womack wasn't useful, he would not be a starter as long as he has been. He's a useful player who can competently play multiple positions and be a modest offensive presence. Are the days of useful utility guys really that far gone? Are we really that spoiled? Must everyone hit .300 or hit 20 home runs?
Must we have a lineup of Posada, Pujols, Soriano, A-Rod, Jeter, Matsui, Beltran, Guerrero and Sheffield (... wait, we have 5 of those guys already... nuts)? I mean, are we really that spoiled? I mean, I've love to have them, of course (and feel very fortunate we even have 5)... but, I can appreciate the "lesser" guys as well without having to think of what could be or what might have been, which is the type of "praise" Womack seems to get a lot of.
In my limited viewing of him, Womack has done nothing this year but play hard and he's done pretty well as far as what can be expected. He's played two positions, he's played 30 games, he's hit .282 (4th on the team) with a .331 OBA. He's hitting .367 with runners in scoring position. He's T31st in the AL in batting average and 47th in OBA. He's T37th in hits.
He deserves some clean praise. Not to be measured against "better" players (Polanco) or star players (Soriano), but expectations and how he is performing within the team and circumstances that are actually controllable. That's all I'm saying.
