Mike Puma, formerly of the Connecticut Post and now of the New York version, makes the case that A-Rod is on the same plane as Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle and Joe D.
One thing he's off on, however, is saying how Ruth's 1927 season (.356, 60 HR, 164 RBI, 158 R) is the gold standard. In popular practice, yes. But really, and this is something no one is expected to touch, it's Ruth's 1921 season, where he put up a .378/.512/.846 line, 59 HR, 171 RBI, 177 R, and 119 extra-base hits.
Tonight, we get a test for Ian Kennedy, who's pitching on the road and against a bad team, but bad teams have caused Yankee letdowns all year. I'm thinking five to six innings, three runs in a slight regression from the hype and excitement of his debut. He's probably better than Chase Wright, Tyler Clippard and Matt DeSalvo, but still. They went 2-0 in their debut starts, pitching 18 innings, giving up but five runs on 11 hits. Their second starts? Only DeSalvo won, and the three pitched 13.2 innings, with nine runs on 18 hits. DeSalvo cratered after that, going 0-3 in five games (four starts) with 24 hits and 16 earned runs in 14 innings.
So not to knock Kennedy at all (especially because he's not a 4A guy like those above), but don't worry if he's not lights-out tonight.
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