Batting Practice

The Yanks are in their third generation of prospects since the Dark Ages of 1989-91. The kids of the early nineties who came of age under Stick Michaels (first Roberto Kelly (who was flipped for Paul O'Neill), then Bernie Williams, then in rapid succession the Jeter/Pettitte/Rivera/Posada crowd) gave way, in the early aughts, to a cast of characters either traded away (D'Angelo Jimenz, Alfonso Soriono, Ted Lilly, Nick Johnson) or proven a bust (that cast of The Gong Show paraded out as pitching prospects--one of them was named Randy, right? And Kei Igawa).

What has taken shape in the first month in the season is Generation Melky: Cabrera, Cano, Joba, Hughes, Gardner. Tex will be Tex, and Swisher Swisher, and CC will be fine once he'd told of this fabulous, new, innovative, secret pitch that goes by the code name "Strike One." AJ and Pettitte: not as good as their first few starts, not as bad as lately. Call it a wash. A-Rod will come back, serve himself up as the dinner special once around the division, and hit 30-35 home runs. Posada is healty and Jeter, yes, is Jeter.

But, for a team that supposedly went out and bought itself enough veterans to ensure at least a spot in the playoffs for the foreseeable future, it is startling to see how much is riding on the performance of a crop of youngsters at least as numerous as 1995 and 1996. Their importance to the club was never so evident as last night, and in fact for every game since the Fenway debacle.

In a few weeks, Cano has gone from, "Christ, can he please not hit .150 in April?" to a player in the middle of every rally. Cabrera has transformed himself from an airheaded defensive replacement for Johnny Damon to . . . well, we'll see. Hughes pitched a major-league game and actually didn't end up in the hospital. Joba is settling in as a number 3-4 starter.

Now, all of a sudden, the Yankees need all these guys.

But hey, some game last night, huh?