Happy Columbus Day

Good morning Fackers, and it certainly is a good morning today. In addition to the Yankees completing the sweep last night, it's Columbus Day today. Despite my limited Italian heritage, this holiday is essentially meaningless to me now since I haven't had it as a day off since I was in college a whole eight years ago (that's a depressing thought in its own right). Just be thankful I didn't lead into this holiday weekend with a Pearl Jam preview on Friday night.

Anyway, in honor of the holiday, we're naming future Yankee back up catcher Frankie Cervelli and former Yankee back up catcher Sal "Paesano" Fasano as honorary Fack Youk mayors for the day. As their first order of business, they've taken Joba Chamberlain's locker from him and pressed him into indentured servitude for the day. He was last seen preparing calzones for the mayors. The Latin American players on the team seem to think their lockers may be the next to go, though A-Rod is said to be excited that Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria could possibly be mannish looking strippers.

Like I said last night, we've got a lot of dead time to fill until Friday. Meanwhile, head on down to your local butcher's shop to get your Columbus Day eats...

Elsewhere In The Blogiverse...

Today was a slow day on the floor of the Fack Youk Idea Factory, but as always, we can point you to some others who were more productive.

If you've got some time, Rob Neyer takes a look at the playoff picture on his podcast. He's not too worried about the Yankees' flaws and talks about the two remaining races.

New Stadium Insider has the scoop that the Yankees will be introducing $75 "Cafe Seating" in the areas behind some of the 100 levels where the best standing room areas were. Great news since this means more availability of postseason tickets.

Might the Yanks rest all of their regulars tonight? Pete Abe tosses out the possibility. Joel Sherman offers a slightly different possibility. I think I would be fun to see just for the off chance that they beat the Royals entirely with their B-squad.

Interested in some baseball that matters? The Twins head down to Detroit for a four game set, trailing the Tigers by two games in the AL Central. Rick Porcello and Nick Blackbrun face off tonight. Circling the Bases breaks down the series game by game. River Ave. Blues and LoHud both take a look at the combatants and determine that we Yanks fans should be pulling for the Twins. I'm on board with that because rooting for team who has to come from behind is more fun anyway.

Sherman thinks that A-Rod might be primed for a big postseason. I would tend to agree but not because of the way he has removed himself from the spotlight like Sherman contends. A-Rod is a great hitter and is simply due for at least a decent postseason series.

Your daily helping of Soxenfreude, courtesy of Boston.com.

Jeff Pearlman talks to former Yankee catcher Sal Fasano about trying to hang on one more year in the Big Leagues to afford health insurance for his son, who has hypoplastic heart syndrome.

Big League Stew ranks the 5 most disappointing teams of 2009. Somehow the Mets behind the Rays, who play in the AL East with a tiny payroll and figure to finish over .500 but the Mets with their massive payroll and their public follies are currently 67-89. Think someone was a little too high on Tampa Bay coming into the season?

We'll be back in a bit with tonight's preview.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood The Bronx

I'm already kicking myself for referencing such a shitty band in the title, but I couldn't think of anything wittier to introduce a post about a player who is fast becoming a fan favorite.

When Jorge Posada went down with a hamstring injury on May 4th, followed by Jose Molina injuring his quadriceps three days later, I thought the Yankees catching situation was pretty well screwed.

Being the only other catcher 40 man roster, Francisco Cervelli was recalled as soon as Posada went on the DL. I had already braced myself for a mini-repeat of last year, when Molina was forced into everyday duty and responded by hitting .216/.263/.313, good for an OPS+ of 51. It had been 100 years since a Yankee catcher received that many plate appearances and posted an OPS+ that bad.

But when Molina went down, making Cervelli the de-facto starter, I feared things would get worse. While he'll never be Yogi Berra with the bat, in the long run Francisco should be better with the stick than Molina. But at the time of his recall, Cervelli had all of 152 career PA above A-ball and was hitting .190/.266/.310 at AA. Now he was going to be an everyday player in the Big Leagues; he would assuredly be overmatched.

Then something funny happened. Cervelli was inserted into the starting line-up and CC Sabathia pitched a shutout. That started the Yankees on their current 10-2 run. Cervelli has started 8 of the 12 games and is hitting .370.

But it's not the statistics that have been so impressive. It's been watching Cervelli play: his enthusiasm, his confidence, his howitzer of a right arm, his handling of the pitching staff, his headfirst flop across the plate Tuesday night. He carries himself like a veteran, somewhat reminiscient of a young Derek Jeter, though perhaps a little more demonstrative.

His stats will come crashing back to earth eventually. He'll be lucky to be a .270 Big League hitter, let alone .370. He hasn't shown any power in the minors and has yet to record an XBH in the Majors. I doubt he can even continue to throw out base-stealers at his current 44% clip. But I'm more convinced now than I was before that he can succeed at the Major League level.

Cervelli missed nearly all of last season, registering only 112 PA after breaking his wrist in a needless home plate collision in spring training. Outside of a decent walk rate, he doesn't possess any real offensive skills. As with Ramiro Pena, I fear that keeping Cervelli in the Majors without ever playing in AAA may stunt what little offensive potential he has. But both are keeping their heads above water for the moment, and I'm enjoying watching them play.

Jose Molina's 2 year, $4M contract expires at season's end. Cervelli will likely inherit the back-up role next year, potentially seeing increased playing time if the aging Posada's body continues to betray him after so many injury-free years. Cervelli could then continue to serve as a caddy to Jesus Montero and/or Austin Romine as they arrive in The Bronx. I hope he continues to be as entertaining as he's been the past two weeks. If only he would grow a Sal Fasano stache.