then again, I would hope catchers would have some leadership qualities …

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/sports/baseball/05yankees.html?hpw

Next to the computer picture in Cervelli’s locker was a hand-drawn picture and a note of thanks from a girl who gave it to him on Tuesday after he visited a hospital with Pena, who started at shortstop on Tuesday.

The girl also gave Cervelli a bracelet, and he said she asked him to hit a home run for her.

“I said, ‘I don’t know if I can do it, but I’m going to try,’ ” Cervelli said. “This night is for all those kids. They break my heart. I’ll pray for them.”

To me, what this piece amounts to re: Cervelli is “I love watching him but I don’t want to watch him unless absolutely necessary.” Which is not how I feel, obviously!

The famous quote, “A salesman minus enthusiasm is just a clerk”, can be adjusted to “a backup catcher minus enthusiasm is just a _____”.

There is so much to love about Brains, beginning with his Italian filtered through Latin America background,his defensive skills not yet hobbled by the the day to day grind of the position, his achievements far surpassing expectations, and the sincere joy he exudes from the opportunity to play ball with the NY Yankees. He must be pinching himself everyday.

But with all that, we cannot let the shiny and new diminish what Posada means to this team, both visibly and behind the scenes. Would the perception of Jeter as the quiet leader be the same without Po? Or would Mariano have had the same body of work without him? Did Po stand up to Girardi his first managerial year to temper his regiment? There is so much we don’t know, but the last 15+ successful years of Yankee history has been shaped by Posada, and he remains a feared hitter today. What the future holds for Po should be up to him.

It’s sad to write, and I wince as I type, but the best thing that could happen to Cervelli and maybe to the Yanks is that he keeps up the hot bat and gets traded for something valuable to a team that can keep a solid, fast, no-slugging but adequately hitting on-base catcher. I have to imagine that he can be a league average offensive catcher (and above average defensive catcher) if you correct for the slugging bias of OPS+ ? Obviously, that’s not going to do it to start for the Yankees, but I bet there are other teams that would value that.

It is a sad day for those of us who grew up in and around Detroit. Ernie Harwell passed away last night. Mitch Albom (who was a helluva sportswriter when I was a kid, before he became a guy who writes books for Oprah) has a nice appreciation below:

http://tinyurl.com/27nnf82

Of course, I remember writing similar things about Melky once upon a time . . .

[13] OYF, even if we could measure the “other stuff”, my guess is that its found more in guys who have just arrived in the big leagues, and so its advantage is possibly counter-balanced by the also nebulous “lack of experience”. Its a neat idea, though.

They were very impressed, noted that he was smiling, and went to bed thinking he’s a Yankee hero like Jeter or ARod. They’re wrong, of course, but they’re also right.

Frankie’s a keeper.

After all, out of 100 pitches thrown, it may just be 1 or 2 pitches that are the difference between a Win and a Loss.

We know Posada will out OPS Brains by 150+/- pts.
We know Brains is better in all Defensive aspects.
And he can run the bases.
But’s that’s not quite worth 150 pts.
But what about the ‘Other Stuff’?

Is there (does it exist) other stuff’ comparing Posada to Cervelli?
Is it possible That Catcher A with LOTS of other stuff can have a real impact compared to Catcher B who has little other stuff?

To me, the game is a bit different when Frankie is out there. I prepare for the dreaded bottom of the lineup, but I also feel the team stands a little straighter… with a bit more backbone.

Are Catchers impacting the game with ‘other stuff’… and we don’t even know it?

frankie b really does manage to be a really enthusiastic ,positive person who is not annoying. that is quite rare and hard to pull off – it has to be genuine, which seems to be the case with him. it’s a really admirable trait. there is something very endearing about him – it’s really hard to take your eyes off him while he is catching.

[2] definitely – it is really nice to see guys step up and make the most of their opportunity. it’s going to be crucial because of the handful of injuries.

My mom always say, “Have fun, because you don’t know what’s gonna happen tomorrow.”

The triple’s fun I think. Yeah. You know, you gotta run a lot.

On nearly getting drilled by A-Rod’s foul balls:

The ball follow me. I asked the third base coach, “Where I have to go?” he say, “I don’t know, just go behind me, something like that.”

On his pop foul:

I had no control of the ball, I got a jump a little bit, and I saw a lot of people there, they took care of me. That’s good.

Did anybody notice when he came out to talk to Aceves? He kind of had that “you want to throw WHAT/” look on his face. I bet that was a funny meeting.