Kiwideus
08-17-2004, 05:42 PM
This just came out from ESPN.com
'Enrique Wilson and Miguel Cairo have combined for 10 errors, eight fewer than Alfonso Soriano, who manned second base last season. (Julie Jacobson/AP)
Second base, the only position in the Yankees' starting lineup without a player boasting All-Star credentials, was called many things heading into the 2004 season.
Secret weapon wasn't one of them.
Yet the tandem of Miguel Cairo and Enrique Wilson has proven to be a pretty solid offensive weapon for the club. Together, they have combined for 60 RBIs, which ranks behind only three second basemen -- the Rangers' Alfonso Soriano (72), Houston's Jeff Kent (66) and San Diego's Mark Loretta (61).
Yankees manager Joe Torre feels second base certainly has been more of a surprising strength than a weakness thus far this season.
"We've knocked in a lot of runs there. It's huge for us," Torre said last week, after a game in which Cairo hit his first career grand slam. "We trade Soriano, and he was a big home run/RBI guy, and we've really held it together at second base a lot more than we could have hoped for, offensively.
"The only thing I looked for at second base was that we didn't give anything away defensively."
That mission has been accomplished as well. The Cairo-Wilson team has combined for 10 errors, eight fewer than Soriano, who leads the Majors among second basemen with 18.
The real secret to this surprising weapon may be that it's a two-headed monster of experienced role players, allowing Torre to go with the hot hand or play one over the other based on the better matchup. Plus, he's always got flexibility for the late innings.
It wasn't supposed to be a tandem when the season started.
The job was Wilson's after the 30-year-old in his fourth year with the Yankees hit an American League-leading .462 in Spring Training. But Wilson struggled out of the gate, batting .167 in April, and has been trying to get his numbers up ever since.
"I won the second base job in Spring Training, but right now I'm a little disappointed because I had a great spring and I'm not hitting the way I'm supposed to hit," said Wilson, batting .223 through Sunday. "I'm not talking about hitting home runs. I mean hitting for average.
"But right now, with me and Cairo, we've done a nice job for them. This team is winning, and that's the most important thing."
Cairo, also 30, signed with the Yankees as a free agent in December. He certainly didn't bank on being this much a part of the mix in the loaded Yankees lineup, coming in. But once Wilson struggled a bit, Cairo was there to help out.
"When I signed with them they didn't make the trade of Alex (Rodriguez) for Soriano, so I thought I'd be a backup player," Cairo said. "When they made the trade, I knew Enrique was going to be starting, because of all the years he's been here. My first goal was to make the team in Spring Training.
"But it was my job to show them that I can play, too."
He did that with a midsummer surge that had him batting .307 with 21 RBIs at the All-Star break. Cairo has 60 starts at second base to Wilson's 58, through the weekend series at Seattle.
Now, it's a matter of checking the lineup card each day to see which one's starting. Wilson and Cairo each contend he's OK whether it's his name or the other guy's Torre has written in on a given day.
Had it been a couple of other players, it might not have worked so well.
"It helps because neither of us have any hard feelings," Wilson said. "We just try to get the job done and we pull for each other. When you've got a guy who just wants to play and he's selfish, it's hard to be in this position. But Cairo, he's a good guy, a good friend, and we know how to handle the situation."
Said Cairo: "We help each other, big time. We help each other with defense and hitting. We're both working hard to do the best we can."
In that respect, the work each did prior to the 2004 season has been very helpful, indeed. Both were utility players, with Wilson actually playing mostly third base in his travels through Cleveland and Pittsburgh before donning the pinstripes, and Cairo playing mostly second but the entire gamut with four clubs, the last being St. Louis.
That experience of being prepared to answer the bell every day has proven very valuable for both.
"We're always ready," Cairo said. "If we're not playing that game, but we're always ready because we know that if Ruben (Sierra) or whoever else pinch-hit for us, so we've got to be ready for the late innings to play defense."
The tandem has worked well enough that Yankees GM Brian Cashman didn't really even consider seeking a second baseman at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. The Yankees instead focused on pitching, comfortable with the two-man band that has done the job beyond expectations this year.
Whether the Yankees stick with these two at second next year doesn't really matter to either one at the moment.
"They know what we can do," Wilson said. "If next year, they want to get another second baseman, they can do that. But my goal here is to win a World Series ring. That's the only goal I have now."
'Enrique Wilson and Miguel Cairo have combined for 10 errors, eight fewer than Alfonso Soriano, who manned second base last season. (Julie Jacobson/AP)
Second base, the only position in the Yankees' starting lineup without a player boasting All-Star credentials, was called many things heading into the 2004 season.
Secret weapon wasn't one of them.
Yet the tandem of Miguel Cairo and Enrique Wilson has proven to be a pretty solid offensive weapon for the club. Together, they have combined for 60 RBIs, which ranks behind only three second basemen -- the Rangers' Alfonso Soriano (72), Houston's Jeff Kent (66) and San Diego's Mark Loretta (61).
Yankees manager Joe Torre feels second base certainly has been more of a surprising strength than a weakness thus far this season.
"We've knocked in a lot of runs there. It's huge for us," Torre said last week, after a game in which Cairo hit his first career grand slam. "We trade Soriano, and he was a big home run/RBI guy, and we've really held it together at second base a lot more than we could have hoped for, offensively.
"The only thing I looked for at second base was that we didn't give anything away defensively."
That mission has been accomplished as well. The Cairo-Wilson team has combined for 10 errors, eight fewer than Soriano, who leads the Majors among second basemen with 18.
The real secret to this surprising weapon may be that it's a two-headed monster of experienced role players, allowing Torre to go with the hot hand or play one over the other based on the better matchup. Plus, he's always got flexibility for the late innings.
It wasn't supposed to be a tandem when the season started.
The job was Wilson's after the 30-year-old in his fourth year with the Yankees hit an American League-leading .462 in Spring Training. But Wilson struggled out of the gate, batting .167 in April, and has been trying to get his numbers up ever since.
"I won the second base job in Spring Training, but right now I'm a little disappointed because I had a great spring and I'm not hitting the way I'm supposed to hit," said Wilson, batting .223 through Sunday. "I'm not talking about hitting home runs. I mean hitting for average.
"But right now, with me and Cairo, we've done a nice job for them. This team is winning, and that's the most important thing."
Cairo, also 30, signed with the Yankees as a free agent in December. He certainly didn't bank on being this much a part of the mix in the loaded Yankees lineup, coming in. But once Wilson struggled a bit, Cairo was there to help out.
"When I signed with them they didn't make the trade of Alex (Rodriguez) for Soriano, so I thought I'd be a backup player," Cairo said. "When they made the trade, I knew Enrique was going to be starting, because of all the years he's been here. My first goal was to make the team in Spring Training.
"But it was my job to show them that I can play, too."
He did that with a midsummer surge that had him batting .307 with 21 RBIs at the All-Star break. Cairo has 60 starts at second base to Wilson's 58, through the weekend series at Seattle.
Now, it's a matter of checking the lineup card each day to see which one's starting. Wilson and Cairo each contend he's OK whether it's his name or the other guy's Torre has written in on a given day.
Had it been a couple of other players, it might not have worked so well.
"It helps because neither of us have any hard feelings," Wilson said. "We just try to get the job done and we pull for each other. When you've got a guy who just wants to play and he's selfish, it's hard to be in this position. But Cairo, he's a good guy, a good friend, and we know how to handle the situation."
Said Cairo: "We help each other, big time. We help each other with defense and hitting. We're both working hard to do the best we can."
In that respect, the work each did prior to the 2004 season has been very helpful, indeed. Both were utility players, with Wilson actually playing mostly third base in his travels through Cleveland and Pittsburgh before donning the pinstripes, and Cairo playing mostly second but the entire gamut with four clubs, the last being St. Louis.
That experience of being prepared to answer the bell every day has proven very valuable for both.
"We're always ready," Cairo said. "If we're not playing that game, but we're always ready because we know that if Ruben (Sierra) or whoever else pinch-hit for us, so we've got to be ready for the late innings to play defense."
The tandem has worked well enough that Yankees GM Brian Cashman didn't really even consider seeking a second baseman at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. The Yankees instead focused on pitching, comfortable with the two-man band that has done the job beyond expectations this year.
Whether the Yankees stick with these two at second next year doesn't really matter to either one at the moment.
"They know what we can do," Wilson said. "If next year, they want to get another second baseman, they can do that. But my goal here is to win a World Series ring. That's the only goal I have now."