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Well, what can I say? The New York Yankees proved just how much better than the Mets they really are. The season "Subway Series", is over, and the Bronx Bombers have blanked the Mets. Winning all six games played, the Yankees wiped the floor with the young, inexperienced boys from Shea.
You can point to many things over the past weekend's games. The baserunning mistake by Raul Gonzalez during the comeback on Saturday night, the decision by Art Howe to pitch to Giambi with 1st base open in Friday night's game, or maybe even the very solid performance by rookie pitcher Brandon Claussen.
To me, nothing, and nobody, stood out more this past weekend than Hideki Matsui. When Matsui came over here from Japan, all you heard about was his power. "Godzilla", as he was called, was a fifty homerun hitter, and would be adding a ton of pop into the Yankee lineup.
When Matsui started off the year not hitting any deep fly's and not knocking in a ton of runs, many fickle Yankee fans were flipping out, calling him a let down and a dissapointment. Excuse me for chiming in here, but this guy is more than for real.
Over the weekend, Matsui went a ridiculous nine for fifteen with two homeruns and nine runs batted in. Wow. That is simply lights out at the plate. I hate to agree with Joe Morgan, but when he spoke during Sunday night's telecast, about Matsui adjusting to the pitchers he is seeing, he was certainly on the money.
Matsui has not only adjusted to the two seam fastball he was having trouble with earlier this year, he has adjusted to the pitching in the Major Leagues overall. Not only that, but his power is coming back in a big way. Over the last 22 games, Matsui sits behind only Carlos Delgado in the RBI category in the American League.
Matsui is a solid defensive outfielder, a contact hitter, and a clutch hitter. I am extremely impressed with the way he plays the game overall. I figured that bashing my Mets would just be a waste of time, because for those of us who watched them this past week, they are obviously pathetic.
I will however make a couple of quick pointers. Leiter is old and done. Retire into the sunset to "Born to Run", by Springsteen. Reyes is fast as anything but Pedro Cerrano from Major League hit the curveball better than this guy. The Mets should definitely trade Burnitz because his value right now is higher than it has been, or ever will be. He is hot right now, and could bring some young talent back in any deal.
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