For NY Yankees and A-Rod, Old Timers' Day Was Just Like Old Times

      Those sold time Yanks mostly won a lot of games, a lot of divisions, pennants, and world series. A-Rod is an old-timer but he's producing better than the young bucks just like old times. Him and old timer Texieira of course continue to lead the team in hrs. A-Rod is second only to him. 

      Some of the old-timers out there were right around Alex Rodriguez's age. Hard to believe these days.

     " Rodriguez added to his momentous weekend with a homer and five RBIs, Carlos Beltran went deep from both sides of the plate and the New York Yankeesrouted the Detroit Tigers 14-3 on Saturday night."

     ''It was a wonderful day,'' manager Joe Girardi said.

      "Light-hitting Didi Gregorius homered for the second consecutive game and New York banged out a season-best 18 hits on Old-Timers' Day at Yankee Stadium. With former greats from Whitey Ford to Rickey Henderson on hand, the team presented Willie Randolph with a Monument Park plaque and surprised Mel Stottlemyre with one of his own."

      https://sports.yahoo.com/news/rod-beltran-lead-yankees-14-3-blowout-against-030519393--mlb.html

      This team has been the Rodney Dangerfield of baseball all year with NY pundits disrespecting them and acting if the Mets-who haven't even had a winning record since 2008, and blew those big division leads in both 2008 and 2007-are the real contender and the Yanks are the also-rans who will be lucky to go .500-even though the Bombers haven't had a losing record since 1992. 

     Interestingly you hear how weak the division is too-'The AL Least'-which I assume is just a way of dismissing the Yanks being in or close to first place since early May. Yet this is not true. At present the AL East has 4 teams over .500; no other division in baseball can say that-only 2 others have even 3 teams over .500

     Most sweet of all is seeing how A-Rod has contributed. Eat your heart out steroids scolds!

     One night after he homered for his 3,000th hit with his daughters in the stands and later drank a champagne toast with teammates, Rodriguez was at it again. The three-time MVP, who turns 40 next month, drove in a run with a sharp grounder in the first, hit a sacrifice fly in the second and launched a three-run homer off reliever Ian Krol in the third to make it 8-0.

     ''I just think he's thriving on being back in the game, something that was taken away,'' Girardi said, referring to A-Rod's season-long drug suspension last year."

     "Gardner said it's been a lot of fun for the Yankees to watch Rodriguez this season."

     ''I hope he's enjoying it. I would be enjoying it if I was him,'' Gardner said. ''He's in some pretty special company.'

     I know the rest of us in Yankees-land are. With a team with such a history it's rather fitting that it should own old-timers' day. Old Timers is a Yankees tradition-other teams don't even have it. 

     P.S. This year the Yanks have just owned the Tigers. That always fascinates me. The Tigers are certainly much more highly than the Yankees at least at the start of the year but they have beaten the Yanks just once all year by 1 run. Since then the Yankees have beaten them 5 straight, today's 14-3 drubbing was the 3rd blowout. 

     That fascinates me in all the major team sports-when no matter what the standings say one team has another team's number.