Curtis Granderson has worn No. 28 in nearly every pro and college baseball game he’s ever played in, according to Tyler Kepner. Joe Girardi said after winning the Yankees’ 27th World Series he’d like to wear No. 28 in 2010. Hence, a dilemma.
Well aware of this, Granderson immediately stepped up to be the bigger man.
“[Girardi’s] the man, he’s the one that makes everything go,” Granderson said of Girardi. “He’s going to definitely have first dibs on it. If he chooses to take it, hey, I’ve played in other numbers before. The big thing now is there’s no name on the back, so it doesn’t really matter too much.”
Good point in that last sentence, Curtis, and way to take the high road. (Mark Feinsand has reason to believe Granderson will wear No. 26 in Jose Molina’s absence next year.)
On the other hand, I’m an adamant disbeliever of what Girardi is doing with his jersey number. Changing it every year he wins a World Series? Firstly, nobody has ever done that. Secondly, this tarnishes his career as a manager because he will have no set number to be remembered by. Lastly, he’ll be out of a job if he wins No. 31 for the Yanks (Elston Howard has other plans).
Back to Granderson though. He offered a couple of nice quotes to Kepner that really impressed me.
“Cano has had great success batting against left-handers,” Granderson said. “Hopefully I can learn a lot of things from him and the rest of the Yankees’ offensive lineup there and just continue to make strides and move forward. That’s always what I try to do each year, just try to improve on something.”
I’d love to see his BA vs. LHP shoot up this year thanks to Cano and Kevin Long. It would just be a testament to the great value Long unnoticeably provides.
Kepner also pointed out Granderson has already been a teammate of Jeter on the United States team in the World Baseball Classic, and is friends with Nick Swisher “the first baseman-greeter for the Oakland Athletics.”“I’ve never been a guy to go up there trying to hit home runs, it’s one of those things that has evolved through the course of time in my career,” Granderson said. “I try to drive the baseball, and if it gets out, it gets out.”
Add that to the long list of why the Yankees love Swish.
