The Bronx, NY – The long awaited return of Derek Jeter went off with a bang. The Captain came back from two ankle fractures and singled in his first at-bat. The good news for Yankee fans is that after the game, Jeter said ankle felt good. The bad news is that he may be back on the shelf for awhile. He aggravated his quad in his second at-bat and eventually left the game. Derek will have an MRI to determine whether the quad issue is serious or not. Either way, he’ll probably be on the shelf until after the All-Star break. Lets hope it’s not much longer than that.
Jeter is another in a long line of Yankees that have tried to come back from injury this season. Curtis Granderson came back from one broken hand only to promptly break the other hand and go back on the disabled list. Mark Teixeira attempted his comeback and at least he reinjured the same hand. The second time it required season-ending surgery. Francisco Cervelli somehow hurt his elbow recovering from a broken hand. Cookie’s favorite, Kevin Youkilis flirted with a comeback until his back came apart and required surgery to fix.
Someone should do a MASH reboot with all of the injured Yankees as patients in a Tampa clinic where a rag-tag group of doctors try to get them back on the playing field. That would be worth watching. The Wounded Yankee Surgical Hospital could have a running plot of the doctors at WYSH conspiring to keep Alex Rodriguez in the hospital and off of the playing field.
An unexpected comeback announced yesterday is the return of Ilya Kovalchuk to the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia. Kovalchuk, who signed a 15-year, $100 million contract with the Devils three years ago, filed his retirement papers with the NHL and voided his contract. He gave up a cool $77 million in the process. That’s a lot of borscht to leave on the table. But Kovi will consider giving up $77 million to not have to live in New Jersey a steal. I know I would.
Ilya’s announcement coming five days after the start of NHL free agency – and for all intents and purposes, four and a half days after the end of NHL free agency – will leave the New Jersey Devils hamstrung in trying to find a replacement for next season. Kovalchuk had 31 points in 37 games last season. Finding a replacement for that kind of production is hard enough when a team expects it. When you’re blindsided like the Devils were, its damn near impossible.
Another potential comeback is that of Metta World Peace (née Artest) to New York. World Peace was waived by the Lakers and has said that he would like to play for the Knickerbockers or the Brooklynettes, among other teams. Artest World Peace grew up in Queens and went to college at St. Johns. I would love Artest on the Knicks. They’ve been missing a certain kind of crazy over the past few seasons that Metta World Peace would surely restore. Here’s to hoping Metta becomes the next Comeback Kid in New York.
Come back tomorrow for Preacher Collins.
