Apr
12
How Nick got here
ByAs Nick Swisher is, in five games, taking the Yankees by storm, Times beat writer Tyler Kepner played a fun little game with Nick. While we know Swisher arrived on the Yanks through a trade with the White Sox that saw Wilson Betemit, Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez end up in Chicago, Swisher’s path to the Yanks actually started nearly twenty years ago. As Kepner details in The Evolution of a Trade, when the Yanks signed Ruben Rivera out of Panama in 1990, they set the wheels in motion that would eventually land them Swisher. It’s baseball’s own version of the Kevin Bacon game.
Here’s my take
http://www.theyankeeuniverse.com/?p=2523
I think Cash deserves credit for turning some mistakes into useful players on more than one occasion.
With Tex sidelined for a few days, think of where this team would be without Swish. Who would be playing 1B? Shelly Duncan?
We finally have some depth and versatility on the bench. I can see us coming to appreciate this more and more as this season progresses.
Pretty funny how things work out. Soon, will we be hearing how Swisher is the guy who would fit on those dynasty teams and not Nady?
Ugh, don’t encourage them.
if you wanted to take this further you could draw in all sorts of players…
Rivera —> Irabu —> Lilly —> Weaver —> Brown (not the best result)
RJ –> Ohlendorf/A-Gon/Vizcaino
A-Gon –> Nunez —> Swish
Ohlendorf —> Nady
Vizcaino —> Bleich (yeah, i’m reaching)
No, you’re not reaching.
Tom Gordon–>Kennedy and Joba.
And didn’t Pettitte ‘03 -> Hughes?
Yep.