Monthly Archives: July 2012

Photo courtesy of The New York Post

I’ve been a fan of Robinson Cano, on and off the field, before the 2010 season, which was the year he began to creep up on everybody’s “best player” radar. Who can forget when he was benched by Joe Girardi in 2008 for “playing lazily and not with enough passion”? Four years later, this Dominican-born second baseman has nothing to prove to anybody anymore–he lets his stats do the talking. His impressive offense and defense has begged the question: Is he the new Roberto Alomar?

Alomar, considered by most as the best second baseman of all time, left the game after 17 seasons with a career .300 batting average, 2,724 hits–best for 51st all time (210 of them which were home runs), ranks #41 in the MLB all-time stolen bases list with 474, 10 Gold Gloves which is the most all-time for a second baseman, four Silver Slugger Awards, two World Series rings, and was a twelve-time All-Star.

My dad, being a longtime baseball lover and having watched his career blossom from the beginning in 1988, says of the Hall of Famer, “He was a complete player. He perfected not only the position of being a second baseman, but as a Major League player overall. He deserved being inducted in to the Hall of Fame at such a young age.” Alomar was inducted in his second year of being on the ballot with a 90% vote, becoming the 26th player in history within the 90-percentile in the Baseball Writer’s Association of America election. The 523 votes that got him there is currently the third highest total, ever.

Cano, in his eighth season in pinstripes, has a career batting average of .309, 1,374 hits with 165 of them being home runs, one Gold Glove, three Silver Slugger’s, won his first World Series ring in 2009, and is a four-time All-Star. There is no doubt that the numbers are very similar, despite the difference of total years played in the big leagues between the two Latino ballers.

When asked about his performance as an MVP candidate in 2011, the Yankees’ second baseman said, “I got asked, ‘If you have to vote for one of you guys, who would you vote for?’ ‘I would vote for myself,’ that’s what I said. The numbers are there. …It’s like if you ask my mom, ‘Who is the prettiest man in the world?’ She’s going to say me.” He knows it and we know it as well.

Cano has been tossed around in the media lately as a power hitter. The numbers don’t lie, and his lucky power number is currently .502. Slugging percentage, popularized now more than in many years prior, is used to measure the power of a hitter. Robinson Cano ranks #90 in the Slugging Average All Time Leaders on Baseball Almanac. He’s in good company too, with players like Darryl Strawberry, Jim Rice, and Paul Konerko close by at #82, #91, and #92, respectively. Roberto Alomar retired with a slugging percentage of .443.

Robinson Cano has made a name for himself in the sport of baseball. He’s become the most reliable hitter on the Yankee line-up, and puts on a show with his glove every day out on the field. He’s aware of all of the comparisons being made to the reigning Roberto Alomar, and who knows what the 29-year-old has in store for the rest of his career. All I know is that this is the Cano Show and we’re just his audience.

“I can see myself in him. He has all the tools to be a great player. He can be one of the best second basemen of this era. He hits for average and power, plays defense, can turn the double play, he is one of the best right now,” is what Roberto Alomar told the New York Post about Robinson Cano in 2010.

From one Robbie to the next, looks like the torch is being handed down by Alomar himself.