For the last couple of years, Melky Cabrera had been my favorite Yankee. As you all know, Melky was not the best player on the Yankees, nor the best center fielder in the game, but I just loved the guy. I loved his youthful spark that he gave to the team, his handshakes with Robby Cano, his cannons from CF, his general goofiness, his name (I mean who wouldn’t want to be named Melky?), etc. He was just so much fun to watch. I also just tend to like Yankee center fielders (Bernie Williams is my favorite baseball player of all-time), which might have been a reason for me loving Melk. When I heard he was in the deal for Javier Vazquez, I was very upset. I am still very upset. I miss “El Leche” dearly, so I figured I should honor him by talking about my 3 favorite Melky Cabrera Moments.
3. Melky Hits for the Cycle- I still can’t really believe that Melky hit for the cycle. The last Yankee to do it before Melk was Tony Fernandez in 1995, and I would have thought that somebody else would have done it between then and August 2, 2009. Jeter? Bernie? I guess I just never expected it from Melky. My lack of expectation could very well have been what made the moment so great. The fact that he got the hardest part (the elusive triple) in the 9th inning was pretty awesome, too. And he just looked so excited! All in all, it was a great moment for the Melk Man.
2. Robbing Manny Ramirez- Can you say “wow”? “He took away a game tying HR from Manny Ramirez! Farnsworth can’t believe it! Ramirez Can’t believe it! Cabrera, he believes it!” This incredibly acrobatic play saved the lead in a 2-1 game against the Red Sox. It was such an unbelievable play from the then-rookie. This HR-rob-job played a big role in the “Got Melk” explosion in 2006. I remember how awesome I felt when I got my shirt. Great play from the Melk man.
1. April 22nd- On this cold and rainy April Day, Melky Cabrera launched a Walk-Off HR to break a 7-7 tie in the bottom of the 14th. The reason why this was my favorite moment was because I was in attendance. It was my first time in the new Yankee Stadium (got a ball and autograph from Joba!), my longest extra-inning game that I have seen live, and my first Yankee walk-off experience (live). It was a truly fantastic day, and it only made it better that my favorite Yankee ended the game in dramatic fashion. Absolutely epic.
Well there you have it, my 3 favorite Melky moments. As I said before, I am very sad to see him go. No, the Yankees don’t “Got Melk” anymore, but he sure gave us fans a ton of memories, huh? Adios to the Melk Man! I wish him the very best of luck in Atlanta!
