Can you scratch this ICH off my back?

I'm not an A-Rod fan. You probably won't see me wearing #13 on my back anytime soon. But Yankee fans, admit this: it was kinda sweet when A-Rod pointed to the sky after his home run Sunday and pissed the Sawx fans royally. That's his routine after every home run--circle the bases, clap and point to the heavens. But that last one Sunday night was as sweet as cheesecake (one of my favorite desserts), particularly since it sparked a four-run rally in the sixth, giving the Yankees a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Saturday's loss though was really aggravating--one of the laws of baseball is, "Give the Sawx an opening, in that baalpahk, and you're doomed." Overbay's horrible high throw to second on a double-play grounder and the terrible call at third base did just that; it helped the Sawx smack the game out of Kuroda's hands.

But, with this team, it would've been an insane Al Michaels-esque miracle to sweep the Sawx in Fenway, or at all for that matter. What Sunday's tremendous win provided was just what I was talking about last time--that high point. The Yankees now have a new high point to the season. The old, banged up Yankees of mid-June would've folded and died with a 6-3 deficit after five innings; they would've made it 12-3 as a matter of fact. But with the regulars filing back in, with Soriano (who's been tremendous--look at highlights of the Angel games), with Mark Reynolds (who in one weekend is like God to us desperate Yankee fans; especially since I felt it was a ho-hum signing), and ESPECIALLY with A-Rod putting some pop on the ball. Just A-Rod getting base hits has been so huge because while he wasn't in the clubhouse, and going into his first couple of days as a Yankee in Chicago, he was an ENORMOUS distraction. After he hit that first home run against the Tigers, he wasn't so much of a distraction as a need. He's been working walks and getting base hits--hell, he even grounded out for an RBI Sunday night.

One more thing I want to touch on is this ridiculous 4,000 hit countdown that I'm pretty sure YES started. The cronies at YES are just absolutely pissed the Yankees aren't in first, and for the most part, haven't had much to root for this year. Ichiro got his 3,999th hit today, but not all of them were in the Major Leagues. If Ichiro wants to keep track of the record for himself, that's fine, but saying to baseball fans he has 4,000 hits sounds silly to me. Why not count every Major Leaguer's minor league, Venezuelan winter league and Cape Cod League hits. YES, stop barraging me with the Ichi-Meter. He's a great hitter--he's not Rose or Cobb.

'Till Next Time!

Neil Dwyer @neildwyer1993