WHY WE LOVE GRANDY

"The great thing about our sport is you don't have to be the tallest, the shortest, the strongest, or the fastest to be successful."

That quote is from non other than the gentleman, Mr. Curtis Granderson. The New York Yankees centerfielder that came to the Bronx in a 3 player trade after the Yankees won their 27th Championship in 2009. The Yankees shipped off Phil Coke and Austin Jackson to the Tigers and Ian Kennedy to the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks unloaded Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth to Detroit and the Tigers shipped Curtis to New York and Edwin Jackson to the Diamondbacks. You get all that?

Curtis came on the scene with a first at-bat Yankee home run. All of Yankee Universe, who was at first saddened that Johnny Damon was no longer a Yankee, rejoiced and quickly forgot about Johnny. The Yankees had Granderson now and that home run was a gift to us all.

Then another gift, a game winning home run against the evil Red Sox, and suddenly, a .357 average, 2 home runs and 3 stolen bases later, all was right with the world for the fans and for the Bronx centerfielder. Grandy was our man.

Then something happened. Granderson’s average dipped. A career low average and an on base percentage around .310. Then more trouble, Granderson got hurt. Suddenly many Yankee fans got nervous. Should we have held on the Johnny Damon?

When Curtis returned, he was back hitting, but just for a moment, and then, the whispers of “Granderson can’t hit lefties” became a topic of discussion. But there is one thing that Yankee fans forgot about during this rough patch... Curtis Granderson never gives up. He never did in Detroit and he damn sure didn't on a big stage like the Bronx. Grandy worked constantly with Kevin Long and worked his way back. Suddenly, Curtis, who had a “moving pieces” stance, became still. Not only that, he began to hit again. And not only did he begin to hit, Curtis Granderson began to run. And not only did he run, he started hitting home runs again. Suddenly, Grandy was dandy again, and that made Yankeeland happy.

But it wasn’t until the 2010 playoffs that Curtis officially became a New York Yankee. His numbers and energy was sick. .357 Average, 10-28, 6 RBI’s, 8 BB's, 2 doubles, a triple and a home run. Every time Curtis came to the plate, you knew he was going to get a hit. That by far is my favorite hitting performance of Curtis Granderson ever. Yes, the first at-bat home run was nice, the home run against Boston really kicked ass, but it was his playoff performance that I really loved.

Not only has Granderson found his groove at the plate with New York, but the leather has been sick as well. Remember this? Game 145 mid-September last year verses the Rays. Remember, the Rays were very dominant at that point. The Yankees were winning that game until rookie Ivan Nova got rattled when Carlos Pena singled. What else is new. Anyway they came back. Later in the game, ninth inning, Ben Zobrist flies to deep center in a 7-7 game. Grandy makes an all air diving catch to ultimately save the game. Watch it HERE. The Yanks force extra innings and eventually win 8-7. Now, we all remember Greg Golson's cannon to 3rd to get Crawford in that game, but NOBODY remembers Granderson's diving catch. Without it, there is no throw to third. In fact, the Yanks probably lose that game. That for me was the greatest defensive play I've ever see Curtis make.

So what can expect in 2011? Grandy will have a season that we'll be talking about for years. Since he figured out his hitting glitch, expect the homers to be up just like his Detroit days. You can also expect more running. Grandy has the speed. Now that he's relaxed at the plate after 1 season in pinstripes, look for Curtis to test some catching arms. After all, Mr. Granderson doesn't give up, and 2011 will be no different. I see great things for this class act, don't you?
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