Today is April 28 and two years ago Curtis Granderson was the leadoff hitter for the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park for an 11-0 loss to CC Sabathia and the Yankees. Granderson went 0-for-3 that night but has done fairly decently there by hitting .272 in 550 games. That's where he is tonight as Derek Jeter gets his first night off and a chance to enjoy the action from the dugout.
One person who hopes to enjoy the action more is Phil Hughes. Hughes found out that there is a low-level of thoracic outlet syndrome and is headed to St. Louis for a Monday consultation with vascular surgeon Dr. William Robert Thompson.
"The more I listened the more I was led to believe it was a done deal," GM Brian Cashman said. "We did not come up with any kind of diagnosis. That’s why Phil is going to see the specialist."
Numerous pitchers and players have had this and the comeback results have been mixed, but Cashman is not ready to cross that point until Hughes' visit in St. Louis is over though it could be like a situation on the FOX show "House, which Cashman is apparently a big fan of when he said: "He's really really smart but it takes awhile sometimes."
Also getting the night off is Mark Teixeira, whose sore shoulder will keep him day-to-day. The right shoulder was originally injured Tuesday when he made a diving stop and again after his third at-bat last night. The pregame routine for Teixeira was to have some treatment and then possibly take some swings. At that point he would find out whether it hurts more from the right or left side.
"If at some point, I need to swing today, I’ll find out then," Teixeira said after also saying he didn't think it was anything too serious.
Eric Chavez will make the start at first, something he has never done as a professional in a regular-season game. Chavez spent part of spring training working on things such as footwork and fielding low or short hopped throws with the aid of Tino Martinez and Teixeira.
Those two also suggested that he make the switch to a first baseman's glove since Chavez originally entered camp in possession of an outfielder's mitt.
"I was kidding with Derek yesterday, - just make sure you don’t hit me in the chest," Chavez said. “I’ve worked on my footwork around the bag and shorts hops. I’ve tried to work on that whenever I can. You never know until that actually happens."
Sabathia will pitch tonight and will attempt for his 159th win. That would tie him with Roy Halladay for the most wins in the last decade.
That's impressive but so is 10 earned runs through five starts, which marks his third-lowest ERA of his career at this point. In 2006, Sabathia was at 1.95 and two years earlier he was at 2.34.
As for the White Sox, they can clinch their first series victory in New York since scoring six runs and taking two of three in August 2005. That series is probably best remembered for Aaron Rowand running all over the place and tracking everything down in center field.
This series might be best remembered for Brett Lillibridge's two game-ending catches Tuesday in right field. Though he has 32 innings there, manager Ozzie Guillen said he is a very good outfielder and tonight has him leading off and playing left field where he has played just eight innings.
Speaking of Guillen, it appears that MLB will be reviewing the two tweets he made after his first-inning ejection by plate umpire Todd Tichenor.
"I no worry about that," Guillen said. "Let's talk about [expletive] baseball. [Expletive] tweeting."
That's what Guillen said after Wednesday's game.
With that in mind let's play ball and for the White Sox, they hope Edwin Jackson can continue the positive trend of starting pitching that has seen Phillip Humber, Gavin Floyd, John Danks and Mark Buehrle allow eight earned runs and strike out 28 over the last four games.
