New York Yankees: The Bird is the word

Evidently for the New York Yankees, the Bird is indeed the word.

Earlier this week, Greg Bird, the number five rated first base prospect by MLB.com, made his debut and proceeded to go 0-for-5 with three line outs and two strikeouts.

“It was the best 0-for-5 ever,” said Bird to the New York Daily News. “It was special. I’ll never forget it. It was a great experience and we got the win. Even better.”

If Bird, who was deemed untouchable by the Yankees, thought that was special, I’m eager to find out what he thought about Wednesday afternoon’s performance.

Bird went 2-for-4, hit his first two Major League homeruns, and knocked in all four of the Yankees’ runs in yesterday’s 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins. The win completed a Yankees sweep over Minnesota.

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This dream start by Bird has got analysts and fans wondering (sometimes out loud) whether we could be on the verge of another Lou Gehrig and Wally Pipp scenario.

According to one popular legend, in 1925, Pipp, then the Yankees’ starting first basemen, asked for a day off due to having a headache. It was then that Lou Gehrig made the first of his 2,130 consecutive starts that spanned 14 seasons.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Mark Teixeira isn’t going anywhere, nor is his playing time in immediate danger. He is the starter for the foreseeable future.

However, Bird has a bright career ahead of him, so it’s important to keep that in perspective and enjoy the moment.

“This whole week has been crazy,’’ said Bird to the New York Post after the game.

While it is far too early to determine what kind of career Bird is going to have, the Yankees have got to like what they’ve seen so far. It is particularly scary that Bird seems too calm at the plate. If there were a tornado wrecking the stadium he was in, you’d never know it based on Bird’s calm demeanor at the plate.

Manager, Joe Girardi, got in on the praising.

“He’s got that slow heartbeat,” said Girardi to the New York Daily News. “A lot of that is what I saw in Florida. This is a big comparison, and I’m not saying this is my expectation, but Miguel Cabrera had a slow clock and always had an idea of what he wanted to do.”

Quite the praise for someone who has only been in the league for a week.

Bird might never develop into the hitter that Cabrera is. However, if the game slows down for him as it does for Cabrera, we may be looking at quite the career for the first basemen.

That is something that Yankees fans can look forward to.

By the way, I’ll leave this video right here.

Next: Who is the greatest Yankee of all-time?

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