Yankees Fans: Where Have You Gone Russell Martin?

Russell Martin, in his first year as New York Yankees catcher, started the season at a blistering pace and made Yankee fans forget about not seeing Yankee stalwart Jorge Posada crouching behind the plate a lot easier to fathom.

The former Los Angeles Dodgers catcher had four home-runs and 13 RBI's by his thirteenth game in pinstripes and he became more than a just a transitional bridge between the Posada Era to the Yankees future catching star, Jesus Montero.

One problem, since May 24, Martin doesn't have an extra-base hit and is batting .136 (8-for-59) in his last 17 games?

What the hell happened?

Surprisingly,  Martin is still the leading vote-getter for the American League's starting catcher's spot--probably based on his early-season offensive explosion-- for this year's All-Star Game.  Martin currently has a 400,000 vote lead over the Texas Rangers Alex Avila who is slowly creeping up to the Yankee for the starting position.  Avila is batting .304 with 10 home-runs in his second season.

A two-time National league All-Star with the Dodgers, Martin was released by the team after slumping in 2009 and having a serious hip injury in 2010.

The 28 year-old backstop was signed to a one-year, $4 million deal with the Yankees.  It immediately looked like the Yankees GM Brian Cashman salvaged an Antiques Roadshow-type find mixed in with his box of off-season garage-sale buys.  Martin looked like the early favorite for the comeback player of the year.

Along with Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia, the deal made Cashman look brilliant by landing Martin and his potential at a risky, but relatively bargain basement price.  It also kept the catcher from going to the Boston Red Sox.

By the beginning of May,  Martin had pounded nine home-runs, had 26 RBI's, stole six bases and had a slugging percentage hovering around .600.  Martin's early success helped take the pain out of the Yankees Cliff Lee fiasco.

Only today, the native Canadian is still stuck with nine homers and knocked in only four runs since.  Martin's slugging percentage has dipped to a pedestrian .398.

Give credit where it is due.  Martin has been solid behind the plate and, with the Yankees M*A*S*H unit full of starters and relievers, Martin is more Hawkeye than Frank Burns.  Yankees players say Martin's sense of humor and team work make him a popular and welcome figure in the locker room as well.

Two weeks ago, a back problem took Martin out of the line-up for a couple of days, but he resisted going on the 15-day DL.  It is quite possible he is still feeling the ill-effects of that injury and came back too soon.   Martin said he "felt pain when swinging."

It makes you realize that extending Derek Jeter's stay on the 15-day DL might not be such a bad thing after all.

Russell Martin's .600 Slugging Percentage Is Pretty Good So Far, Eh?

The New York Yankees have to be pleasantly surprised with their collection of garage-sale pick-ups this off-season and rising to the top of the scrap-heap is catcher Russell Martin.  The Dodgers cast-off, who was coming off two disappointing and frustrating seasons in Los Angeles, has a .600 slugging percentage this season; which ranks seventh in the AL.

Martin, who has caught every game this season except one, is taking over nicely for the veteran Jorge Posada.  The Yankee backstop's new-found positive attitude is showing too.  He blamed his poor performances in 2009-10 on being unfocused.  According to his new Yankees teammates, that is all in the past.

The young righthander's chemistry with his new battery-mates is blossoming as well.  He even painted his fingernails orange to make it easier for the pitchers to pick up his signals.

Starter A.J. Burnett--the recipient of three wins with Martin--joked that his new catcher might have just wanted his nails orange, but got serious when asked how the catcher is calling for more change-ups over fastballs in a game.

"He believes in it, and I'm starting to, more and more," said the 3-0 starter.

 Yankees GM Brian Cashman took a chance on Martin.  The Canadian native came up with the Dodgers in 2006 and had three solid years in a row before slumping in 2009 and breaking a hip in 2010.  He is a two-time all-star and has a Gold Glove award  on his mantle.  Last season looks like a faded ghost of the real Martin.  He hit only five home-runs in 97 games last year.

Now the new Yankee is hitting .289 with four home runs and 11 RBI's in 13 games.  If anyone believes a catcher, built like a fullback, can't steal bases, especially after watching Posada chug around the base paths, should know Martin already has a couple of stolen bases too.  

Martin chose the Yankees over the Boston Red Sox because he said the Yankees wanted him more.  He signed a one-year deal for $4 Million.  Now the insecurity of his last two seasons has been put far behind.

 "I want to prove to myself I can do it," said Martin.  "I'm 28 years-old.  I don't really feel old.  I don't really feel beat up.  I've healed from my injuries.  I feel back in shape and I' enjoying playing baseball."

Martin's transition from Dodger blue to Yankee pinstripes had to be made easier by associating with Dodgers and former Yankee idols--hitting coach Don Mattingly and manager Joe Torre.  Martin was under the tutelage of the two Yankee legends for the past few seasons and it's a sure bet Yankee tradition was not unspoken in the  L.A. dugout.

Cashman's flea-market pick-up of Dodger's reject Martin, so far, looks like an "Antiques Roadhouse" type bonanza.  One man's trash...

Besides his offensive resurgence and contributions, Martin has ingratiated himself to the veteran World Series-winning Yankee players with his sense of humor and humility.

The six-year veteran Martin actually went up to Posada, whom he is replacing, and asked the veteran catcher--with 16 years under his belt-- for advice at the beginning of the season.  Not a bad company move by Martin--even for a pro with a couple of All-Star appearances himself.

"On this team, they think about winning, whatever it takes," he said.  "It's just a good environment to be in."

Martin may be considered to be one of the first-place Yankees' consolation prizes after the losses of Cliff Lee and Carl Crawford; but has already proven to be healthy and back to All-Star form.  He said his injuries were blown out of proportion and claims he's had only one surgery to "cleanup" a knee and his broken hip has healed on it's own.

"You guys can't always believe what you read in the paper," he joked.

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Dodgers Hire Ex-NYC Police Commish To Assess Stadium Security

The Los Angeles Dodgers have hired former NYC Police Commissioner and LAPD Cheif William Bratton to evaluate security policies and procedures at Dodger Stadium after a 41 year-old man was severely beaten in the stadium parking on Opening Day.

Hundreds of people formed a prayer vigil outside County-USC Hospital in Los Angeles in support of the "critically-injured" San Francisco Giants fan while the announcement to hire Bratton was made.

Security at Dodger Stadium was questioned after Bryon Stow was set upon by two men on March 31.  Stow, a paramedic from Santa Clara, is in a medically-induced coma, according to a spokesman from the LAPD.  Stow suffered a fractured skull and trauma to his brain said his neurologist, Dr. Gabriel Zada.

The beating has outraged the community-at-large and has fans complaining that attending a Dodger home game has become very dangerous.  L.A. officials have been calling for better security around the park for years.

Bratton, who has headed police forces in Boston, New York City and L.A. was hired to help the beleaguered franchise quiet the outcries and prevent the public relations nightmare from happening again.

Team owner Frank McCourt--who is already embroiled in a messy divorce involving the team with his wife Jamie--said that acquiring the expertise of Bratton is a step in the right direction.  "Bill Bratton is widely credited with spearheading modern community policing in America," said McCourt.  "There is no one better to lead a top-to-bottom review of our current practices and make recommendations to be implemented now and into the future."

Bratton was appointed as NYC Police Commissioner by  Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in 1994.  For two years, Bratton was credited with being a major force in modernizing the force and turning the crime-ridden streets into safe havens.

The reward for the arrest of Stow's two Dodger-clad assailants has increased to over $100,000.

According to the LAPD, Giants fan Stow and his friends were leaving Dodger Stadium when two men taunted then hit Stow from behind.  He was kicked while on the ground.  The suspects are described as male Hispanics between the ages of 18 and 25.

According to L.A. County supervisor Michael Antonovich, the fright factor outside the ballpark is real.  "For anyone to suggest security at Dodger  Stadium is adequate is simply putting their head in the sand," he said.