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Sports by the Numbers

NYY Stat of the Week

May 19, 2008

43 Last season after (43) games the Yankees were 20-23 – the exact same record the club was after 43 games this season. The big difference is last season the club trailed the Boston Red Sox by 9.5 games – which was frustrating – and this season they trailed the Tampa Bay Rays by five games, which was . . . embarrassing. Honorable Mentions

2 New York has been on top of their division for only (2) days all season – by comparison, through Saturday’s games, the Blue Jays have spent one day in first, the Rays have now spent ten days on top, the Orioles have been on top for 14 days, and the Red Sox have been in first for 33 days.

15 Alex Rodriguez took (15) at bats during a simulated game on Saturday and used one of them to hit a grand slam. He has not played for the big club since April 28, but hopes to rejoin his teammates this Tuesday.

257 Alberto Gonzalez hit only (.257) with one RBI during his first 16 games playing third base in place of the injured A-Rod – but nah, Yankee fans aren’t anxious to see the reigning MVP return to a line-up that is struggling to score runs.

468 On a positive note, Jason Giambi got up to a (.468) slugging percentage after hitting three homeruns in eight games – including one against Johan Santana on Saturday. Okay, so he was batting .193 going into last night’s game, but he does lead the team with eight big flies.

476 There are not a lot of real positive numbers for the Yankees at the moment – and this one is going to be a negative as well. The club is only 10-11 for a (.476) winning percentage against teams in their own division so far this season – and that hurts. So far the Yankees are 1-2 against the Orioles, 2-3 against the Red Sox, 5-5 against the Rays, and 2-1 against the Blue Jays.

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