Quick–who is leading the New York Yankees in hitting this spring? Francisco Cervelli with his .471 average? Nope it’s Jon Weber, a 32-year-old non-roster invitee and career minor leaguer. Weber, a left handed hitting outfielder, has little chance of making the Yankee roster (for once the fact that he’s LH is working against him as the Yanks need a fourth outfielder but are looking for RHer).
It’s Jon Weber weekend for Yankees beat writers (who must be tired of writing about the 5th starter battle–for those who are watching, Aceves was lousy yesterday, Hughes is gonna be the 5th starter, which would have been my bet from the start). Although NY Times scribe Pat Borzi has the best written and most hooky Weber story, I like the story Chad Jennings has today in the Journal News. It’s a bittersweet profile of a real life Crash Davis–a guy with nine rings and a World Cup gold medal, a guy who plays baseball 10 months out of the year including winters in Mexico or Venezuela leaving behind a wife and two kids, a guy who has done everything there is to do in professional baseball except play in the major leagues.
I love this story. It’s much more interesting than listening to PR pablum from pampered major leaguers, or reading another profile of some never-to-be bonus baby prospect.
Yankees bloggers jumped on the Weber meme–everybody loves an underdog. But my favorite reaction comes from It Is High: Wish we could find a spot for this guy. The Yankees should be strong in every category this year — except Cinderellas. Beautifully put.
