The Yankees, Unobstructed — May 2

April is such a sloppy month for baseball. It's hard to gauge how good/bad any individual will be as the entire season plays out. Strange and crazy things happen, like the Mets and Athletics finding their way to first place, or Paul Konerko hitting 11 home runs in 23 games.

Basically, baseball looks different in April. So when the calendar turns to May, I like to reflect on what we saw in the last month. Presenting...

The Second Annual Bronx News Network April Yankee Awards

Hitting MVP: Last year — Nick Swisher. This year — Robinson Cano.

It's an understatement to say that Cano has been the best hitter in baseball so far this season. At the end of April, he was batting .400, with a .436 OBP. He's also had eight homers and 18 RBI. I don't know that Cano will be around .400 all season long, but this is looking like it will be the season Yankee fans have been waiting for from Cano for quite some time. He's shown us power, and he's shown us hitting acumen, but he's really never put it all together before now. It's nice to see.

Hitting LVP: Last year — Mark Teixeira. This year — Nick Johnson.

It's great that Nick Johnson gets on base a lot (his .378 OBP is fifth on the team), but if you don't complement your walks (21, which leads the team) with hits (8, fewest among regular starters), you're not going to produce very much. Johnson is batting an atrociously low .136 and has only contributed a measly 5 RBI during the month of April. I do think he'll turn it around.

Pitching MVP: Last year — Andy Pettitte. This year — Mariano Rivera.

It's tough choosing just one this April. The Yanks have three pitchers with three wins (Pettitte, Burnett and Sabathia), three with ERAs below 3.00 (Pettitte, Burnett and Hughes) and four starters with WHIPs of 1.20 or lower (the four mentioned already). But Mariano Rivera is phenomenal. He's had seven saves in seven opportunities....oh, and zero runs surrendered. That's right, Mariano's ERA is 0.00, he's also got an unheard of 0.56 WHIP. Like an Obama commencement speech, Rivera's been inspiring.

Pitching LVP: Last year — Chien Ming Wang. This year — Javier Vazquez.

Every April features at least one starter who just can't perform. This year it's Javy. With an ERA near 10.00 and more earned runs (and almost as many walks) than strikeouts, Vazquez has been ugly to watch. Remember that scene in the "Animal Farm" movie, when the horse looks through the window and sees the pigs that kinda look like pig-human cyborgs? Yeah, that's how ugly Vazquez's starts have been.

Biggest Letdown: Last year — Tie - Yankees Front Office, City Hall and the new Yankee Stadium. This year — Turner Construction.

You really couldn't demolish the old stadium during the off-season? Really? You couldn't work that out at all? Instead there's just this thing standing there, for some reason.

Best Baseball-Related Political Movement (new category): The decision by the Player's Assocation to protest the All-Star Game being held in Arizona.

Good job guys. Star San Diego first-baseman Adrian Gonzalez, a Tijuana native, said he won't play in next year's All-Star Game — set to be played in Arizona — if the state's new immigration law is still in effect.

Biggest Chump: Last year — Me. This year — Me.

If I were a betting man (which I am), I would bet against myself every time (still trying to figure out how to do that legally).

So far this season I've heralded the additions of Nick Johnson (LVP hitting) and Javier Vazquez (LVP pitching). In addition, I said David Robertson might challenge Joba Chamberlain for the eight inning job...he's since given up six runs in 3 innings.

I also, in confidence, told a certain Bronx News Network Seattle-area native that I expected "big things" from the Mariners this season. They're in last place in the AL West right now.

DON'T EVER LISTEN TO ANYTHING I SAY.

Got some of your own April awards? Feel free to leave them in the comment section below.

NOTE: Make sure to check back every weekend for The Yankees, Unobstructed, BNN's weekly Yankees opinion column.

For more of Graham Kates' sports writing, check out his True/Slant blog "Coaches in the Crosshairs" (http://trueslant.com/grahamkates).

The Yankees, Unobstructed: A New Season Begins with Closure

This spring has been all about closure for the Yankees.

The old Stadium is finally coming down, the Joba Chamberlain debate seems to be settled and the terrible mid-decade trades of Nick Johnson and Javier Vazquez have been rectified.

Much of the Yankees' spring training coverage has been spent dwelling on Joba. For the last few years the Chamberlain starter/reliever debate has been a bit of a tradition. He’s the Punxsatawney Phil of Yankees camp — sometimes we’d see the shadow of a potential starter, so we’d have to wait awhile to get him in the bullpen where he belongs — but this spring there was nothing.

He was competing with Phil Hughes for the fifth starting job, but only because Hughes is a bit of a Staten Island Chuck himself.

Wait. What’s that you say? The rodent metaphor is lame? Fine then, but just remember, you asked for it….on to Lord of the Rings!

Nick Johnson and Javier Vazquez are the Merry and Pip of our tale. Separated from their friends by a series of unfortunate events several years ago, the two travelling hobbits have only just been reunited with the Yankees — having just missed out on the destruction of the Phillies at Mount Doom. Sure, while they were separated from the Yankees they crafted their own storylines and gained notoriety as capable, if eminently fallible warriors. But I think we all knew — or at least hoped — that we’d see them returned to the Shire.

Just a reminder. You asked for it.

Unfortunately for our hobbit friends, the land they returned to has vastly changed — having felt the unholy touch of the dark lord Sauron and his henchman, Steiner Collectibles. Yes, when Vazquez and Johnson arrive for the home opener, on Apr. 13, the old Yankee Stadium will be but a memory.

This seems like a good spot to discuss the rotting corpse of the old Yankee Stadium, and the replacement parkland it sits upon — but let’s call in a pro for this part.

TIME FOR A QUICK MID-COLUMN Q&A

As the founder and president of the New York City Park Advocates, Geoffrey Croft has often been a pain in the neck for City Hall, because of his willingess to closely examine plans for projects like the Yankee Stadium redevelopment. I spoke with Croft recently about the Yankee Stadium demolition and the replacement parks, a condensed version of our Q & A follows:

Bronx News Network: When all is said and done, how are the new parks going to compare to the old parks, in terms of green space?

Geoffrey Croft: Well, there’s no comparison. The community is losing three acres of parkland. They’re losing two ball fields, which of course is ironic. It’s just a sham. You know, the Yankees are having Bar Mitzvahs up there, and prize fights, and they’re doing Victoria’s Secret shows, and that’s what it is. It’s an event space, which the public were forced to give over to them for free. It’s the poorest congressional district in the United States, and you know, when Bloomberg was asked — at least he was honest about this — “would this ever happen in Central Park,” he said “no.

BNN: Shea was demolished in a few months and Giants Stadium has a similar timetable, what do you think makes Yankee Stadium different?

GC: Well, the politics. This administration has bent over backwards to serve the Yankees. Shea Stadium, the day after the season ended they started demolition. With Yankee stadium, we found out they had a deal to allow them to stay in the stadium for up to two years. These kinds of behind-close-doors deals are just so abhorrent.

BNN: What did you think when you saw all the coverage last year of Steiner Collectibles collecting tokens of stadium soil and cubes of turf — as someone who has advocated for speedy replacement of parks?

GC: When they were taking up the issue at City Council, only six seconds were spent talking about the actual parkland. So, it’s not about the parks, it’s not about the people, it’s about servicing the New York Yankees. So when Steiner has this deal, the City bends over backwards. There’s so little transparency in the fact that they’re taking their sweet time to remove all that while the public wasn’t getting their parkland.

BACK TO BASEBALL

The Yankees' season starts tomorrow in Boston. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 pm. That should give all you Easter revelers enough time to worship during the day, before returning to the living room alter for some Yankees-based exaltation.

If for no other reason, watch the game to see Boston's opening day starter Josh Beckett. Each time I see him, I’m awed by just how ugly a chinstrap can be. Great pitcher, ugly ugly facial hair. Just hideous.

It’s going to be a fun season.

NOTE: Make sure to check back every weekend for The Yankees, Unobstructed, BNN's weekly Yankees opinion column.

For more of Graham Kates' sports writing, check out his True/Slant blog "Coaches in the Crosshairs" (http://trueslant.com/grahamkates).