So that was some afternoon, eh? The Yankees upgraded their fifth outfielder situation by acquiring maybe the biggest global star in baseball in Ichiro Suzuki, certainly the biggest who wasn’t already employed by the Bombers. He’s not the Ichiro of old and the Yankees are treating him appropriately — Joe Girardi said he’ll back Ichiro in the bottom third of the order going forward. I would expect him to sit against tough lefties as well. The day-to-day monotony of baseball can be a drag this time of year, but the Yankees really spicing things up for at least one night. Here’s the lineup…
SS Derek Jeter
CF Curtis Granderson
3B Alex Rodriguez
2B Robinson Cano
1B Mark Teixeira
DH Raul Ibanez
LF Andruw Jones
RF Ichiro Suzuki
C Russell Martin
RHP Hiroki Kuroda
Tonight’s game starts a little after 10pm ET and can be seen on YES. I’m guessing there will be a few more New Yorkers staying up for this one, at least the first few innings. Enjoy.