It’s the first day of Spring Training and there are certain things Yankee fans can expect: Reports about who is fat and who is skinny, uniform numbers, which new players are getting which former players’ lockers, and A-Rod.

The weight update is about CC Sabathia who told reporters he’s down to 290 lb. and that he cut Cap’n Crunch from his diet, again, just like he did in previous off-seasons. He also told reporters that his surgically cleaned-up elbow is feeling good which is positive news.

This next section of text (about numbers, lockers and Austin Romine) is mostly taken from a post I wrote earlier this morning on It’s About The Money, Stupid. I know I’m probably breaking cardinal rule of writing but I’m lazy and I apologize for plagurizing myself.

Now, as you are well aware, Yankee uniform numbers are very serious business and that certain numbers are treasured by fans. So prepare yourselves for the following news. Maybe grab a seat or take a deep breath…

Oh, I’m joking, it’s not that important but since we’re lacking any serious news – for now – I figured I’d let everyone know what’s happening down in Tampa.

This information is from Mark Feinsand of the Daily News and his tweets:

• Travis Hafner takes over Nick Swisher‘s spring locker as well as his uniform No. 33.
• With Rafael Soriano gone, Francisco Cervelli reclaims his No. 29.
• David Phelps has changed his number to 35. He reminds me of a young Mussina, so it makes sense.
• Michael Pineda, formerly No. 35, will now wear 43.
• More uni numbers: David Aardsma 34, Matt Diaz 22, Dan Johnson 27, Juan Rivera 54.

I know, I forgot that the Yankees had some of these guys too.

And for some locker news, again from Mr. Feinsand:

• Correction: Kevin Youkilis is in Swisher’s corner locker. Hafner is next to him in Eric Chavez‘s old spot.

Also, Austin Romine who will be battling Chris Stewart and Francicsco Cervelli for the starting catching job, let everyone know that his back is feeling “absolutely fantastic,” and that he would like to win that starting catching job and avoid going back down to Triple A.

And last but certainly not least, some news about A-Rod. Alex Rodriguez is not in camp because he’s rehabbing from his hip surgery in New York. Manager Joe Girardi said the most important thing is to get him healthy. Of course, there are rumblings that Alex isn’t in Florida so he isn’t a distraction to the team. I’m one of those weirdos who thinks he just had hip surgery and is recovering so he doesn’t really need to be in camp and that the people complaining about him not being there will have to find someone else to write horrible stories about.

Ahem.

Happy Fat Tuesday, everyone! Except for CC Sabathia who isn’t fat anymore, well, for now…

Yesterday, I wrote about what I was looking forward to this season and that post gave my colleague Matt Imbrogno over at The Yankee Analysts an idea to do a bunch of posts leading into Spring Training. Each post would focus on the number of days left, either by using it as a stat, honoring uniform numbers or any other clever way we could think of to write about the number.

Since my original post was the catalyst to this idea, I figured I’d write about the number 38 today on this site. I’m only going back 20 years because a lot of players wore the number and we don’t need this post turning into a Bill Simmons-esque long form piece.

So without any further delay…

38 is an interesting number because for one thing, it’s my current age. Yes, I (along with Derek Jeter and R.A. Dickey) am a 1974 baby who is turning 39 this year. It’s pretty cool company to have but they’re multi-millionaires who do what they love and I blog about what they do while wearing my pijamas all day.

And now that I just depressed myself, let’s dive into uniform number 38 and take a look back at who donned it in Pinstripes.

» Continue reading “Countdown: 38 Days Until Spring Training”