New York Sports

By JEFF CAPELLINI, WCBSTV.com Senior Sports Producer
NEW YORK (CBS) ― For whatever reason, Mark Teixeira has looked like a shell of himself at the plate during the postseason.

Maybe he's over anxious. Yeah, that has to be it.

But the cold, hard truth is every player not named Derek Jeter is a bit nervous at this time of the year. Players squeeze the bat a little tighter than usual. They get visions of Reggie Jackson in their heads. They so desperately want to be the guy who delivers the biggest of blows when it matters most.

 The Green Lantern Blog

The Yankees need Teixeira to be the guy who turns that desire into production.

And they need it now.

The Yankees remain 27 outs from world championship No. 27. Teixeira more than did his share during the regular season to get the Bombers to the AL East crown, hitting .292 with an AL co-leading 39 home runs, and 122 RBIs.

But he hasn't even looked ordinary in the playoffs. Granted, his defense contines to be impeccable. He's a vacuum out there, a bona fide Hoover dressed in pinstripes. You certainly can't put a pricetag on good glove work, but he was brought here to be an offensive triple threat -- power, run production and on-base percentage -- and not just against Kansas City or Baltimore.

The time has most certainly come for this AL MVP candidate to start acting like it in the postseason. His numbers are putrid -- a .172 average with 2 homers, 7 RBIs and 16 strikeouts in 14 playoff games.

And that's the good part, for his World Series stats are even worse, with just 2 hits in 19 at-bats. The good news is he homered off Pedro Martinez, the Phillies' Game 6 starter, back in Game 2. Another perfectly timed poke on Wednesday could do a lot more than shake him from his doldrums.

It could catapult the Yankees to the Canyon of Heroes.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi on Tuesday tried to explain away Teixeira's problems, saying the Twins, Angels and now Phillies have done a great job at busting Teixeira inside with hard stuff and then floating junk away.

For his part, Teixeira has not taken the excuse superhighway. He went on and on Tuesday about how his teammates have done a great job of picking him up and how all the extra off days have messed around a bit with his rhythm.

Well, soon the Yankees will have plenty of off days, and odds are he won't be able to rely on his teammates for support while he spends some of his $180 million, so maybe it's a good idea that he start making things happen on Wednesday, or, if need be, Thursday in the one-game cage match for the strap.

In truth, the Yankees as a team are not hitting all that well as their collective .257 average in the series illustrates, but that's to be expected in October and November. The two best teams in baseball get together for a reason and part of that is because each knows how to get a star like Teixeira out.

But right now he has to become more than just a stellar defensive player, more than just "protection" for Alex Rodriguez.

The situation demands it.

Right now, Teixeira is avoiding the A-Rod-type treatment from the media. Maybe it's because he's a really nice guy who says all the right things, has never admitted using performance enhancing drugs or been seen scurrying to and from nightclubs with buxom blondes.

But that gentlemanly treatment will go by the wayside if the Yankees somehow blow this series without so much as a big night or two from Teixeira.

It's a mathematical certainty.

A message needs to be sent soon.

Or Teixeira could find himself trying to dial long distance with no bars.

 Email Jeff Your Thoughts

For complete World Series coverage, be sure to check out WCBSTV.com's World Series section.



 

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