Bernie Williams was watching some little-known minor leaguers shagging fly balls in Tampa, Florida, last year when Gordon Blakeley, the Yankees' senior vice president of player personnel, told him to study one specific player. Melky Cabrera was short and stocky, but he played center field smoothly.
"He's going to take your job someday," Blakeley told Williams.
As Williams recalled the conversation on Thursday, he smiled at Blakeley's prophetic statement, then added, "I didn't think he meant it was going to be this year."
It is this year. It is now. The Cabrera Era, if there proves to be such a thing, began with the 20-year-old player initially shying away from reporters, wearing No. 39, batting ninth and playing one of the most hallowed positions in all of sports: center field at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees made a surprising choice when they promoted Cabrera after he had played nine games at Triple-A Columbus and then immediately made him a starter. If Cabrera plays dependable defense and provides enough offense so he does not embarrass himself, he could become entrenched.
"They told me I've come to play," said Cabrera, a Dominican, whose career had a nifty start with Mariano Rivera, a likely Hall of Famer, acting as his pre-game interpreter.
Cabrera had a modest yet promising debut while the Yankees silenced the Cleveland Indians, 7-2. He blooped a single to left in one of his four at-bats, showed a powerful arm and pleased manager Joe Torre by being aggressive in calling off second baseman Robinson Cano to corral a shallow fly ball.
After Cabrera's 180-foot single against Kevin Millwood in the fourth, Cabrera tapped his chest, pointed a finger to the sky and smiled. Most of the 52,201 fans gave the newest Yankee a standing ovation.
"I felt relaxed," said Cabrera, whose remarks were interpreted by Luigi Castillo, a clubhouse attendant. "I felt under control."
As the 36-year-old Williams watched Cabrera's indoctrination, he naturally flashed back to his debut on July 7, 1991, exactly 14 years to the day of Cabrera's debut.
"That's me 14 years ago," Williams said. "If he can handle it and has the talent, he can have a great career. He can be here 14 years."
Who would have thought the US$200 million Yankees would wind up starting a 20-year-old in center and a 22-year-old at second in Cano, and have a 25-year old in the starting rotation in Chien-Ming Wang, all before the All-Star Game break? Torre called the infusion of youth refreshing.
"Starting the season, there was no chance any of this was going to happen," Torre said.
Yet it has happened, by necessity, because the Yankees have been sluggish for too long. General manager Brian Cashman surveyed the market for available outfielders to improve the team defensively and asked about Oakland's Mark Kotsay, Seattle's Randy Winn, Florida's Juan Encarnacion and the Mets' Mike Cameron.
But Cashman said teams were either holding onto their outfielders or were requesting what he called astronomical prices, so, after debating the move for two weeks, the Yankees summoned Cabrera.
Cabrera hit .267 with 9 homers and 44 runs batted in during 75 games for Double-A Trenton. He was promoted to Columbus on June 28, although the Yankees considered jumping him to the major leagues then, and he batted .324 with three homers and 11 RBI.
Still, before Thursday night, Cashman and Torre had never seen Cabrera play. A switch-hitter who throws left-handed, Cabrera was rated as the best defensive outfielder in the organization by Baseball America last winter. Although Torre said the 5-foot-11, 170-pound Cabrera does not have blinding speed, he is a solid outfielder.
"I told him that's his job," Torre said. "Anything he does with the bat is a bonus."
After canvassing several team executives for opinions on Cabrera, Cashman called George Steinbrenner, the principal owner, at 10:30pm on Wednesday and told him he wanted to make the move. Steinbrenner told Cashman to forge ahead. If Cabrera is not ready, the Yankees will return him to Columbus and probably revisit the trade market.
"He's here because there's a belief he might be better than what we have right now up top," Cashman said. "That's why we're trying it."
Williams, who was already being weaned from playing center, said he would essentially become a designated hitter, which he was Thursday night. Tony Womack can be useful off the bench if he embraces a lesser role.
Cabrera never set a timetable for making it to the majors, saying, "That was destiny." The Yankees compared Cabrera's temperament to Cano's laid-back, fearless approach, and believe Cabrera will stay confident even if he struggles.
Williams spoke briefly with Cabrera and jokingly said that he would tell him, "Don't do what I've done out there" in center recently. After Williams dropped a fly ball and watched runners repeatedly take extra bases, the Yankees marched closer toward replacing him. The replacement turned out to be Cabrera.
There were about 30 reporters surrounding Cabrera and only one speaking with Williams before the game. Williams noted the scene: one center fielder coming and one center fielder going.
"I'm old news, man," he said, ambling away. "I'm old news."
Yankees 7, Indians 2
Jason Giambi homered for the third straight game and 20-year-old Melky Cabrera singled in his major league debut as Mike Mussina and the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 7-2 Thursday for their fifth straight victory.
Alex Rodriguez homered for the second straight game, tying Boston's Manny Ramirez and Texas' Mark Teixeira for the AL lead with 22, and Derek Jeter also connected for New York.
Giambi, who added an RBI single, has hit four of his nine home runs, two doubles and a single in his last 10 at-bats.
Mussina (9-5) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings. Cleveland's Kevin Millwood (3-7) gave up six runs and seven hits in six innings.
Orioles 3, Red Sox 1, 6 innings
At Baltimore, Eli Marrero and Melvin Mora homered, and Sammy Sosa added his first RBI since June 19 for the Orioles in a game called after six innings because of rain.
Daniel Cabrera (7-7) allowed three hits and walked five batters but struck out eight in five innings for the Orioles. Tim Byrdak worked the sixth for his first save.
Davis Wells (6-5) gave up three runs and five hits in six innings.
Mariners 10, Angels 2
At Anaheim, California, Joel Pineiro threw a six-hitter to win for the first time in 12 starts, and Adrian Beltre and Jeremy Reed hit three-run doubles for Seattle.
Pineiro (3-4) went the distance for the second time this season. All-Star Bartolo Colon (11-5) lost for only the second time in nine decisions, allowing a season-high seven runs and seven hits over six innings.
Mike Piazza drove in the go-ahead run in the 11th inning with his third hit and the New York Mets handed the Nationals their first series loss at home since April by beating Washington 3-2 on Thursday.
Piazza went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, including the run-scoring single off Luis Ayala (7-5) that gave the Mets three wins in the four-game series. New York also snapped the Nationals' 12-game winning streak in one-run games, three shy of the major league record.
The bottom of the 11th was delayed while Nationals manager Frank Robinson argued with umpires after the Mets sent Heath Bell (1-3) out to the mound to warm up, then replaced him with closer Braden Looper. Looper worked the final three outs for his 20th save. Bell pitched two innings for his first major league win.
The Nationals had won nine straight series at RFK Stadium.
Braves 6, Cubs 0, Game 1
Braves 9, Cubs 4, Game 2
At Atlanta, Horacio Ramirez (8-5) pitched his first career shutout, and the Braves chased Mark Prior (5-3) in the fifth inning of the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
Atlanta's Andruw Jones hit his major league-leading 27th homer and rookie Jeff Francoeur added a three-run shot in the second game. The Cubs blew a 4-3 lead when Jones' two-run shot chased reliever Roberto Novoa (2-2). Francoeur, called up from the minors earlier in the day, homered off Glendon Rusch for his first career hit.
John Foster (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth for the Braves.
The Cubs' eight-game losing streak is their worst since dropping nine in a row from May 8-18, 2002.
Marlins 11, Brewers 3
At Miami, Carlos Delgado hit a pinch-hit grand slam to cap a six-run fifth inning for Florida to salvage a split in the four-game series.
Delgado's 10th career grand slam punctuated a breakout inning for the Marlins. Four of Florida's runs in the fifth off Milwaukee starter Victor Santos (2-9) were unearned because of a fielding error by first baseman Lyle Overbay.
Delgado homered off reliever Ricky Bottalico three batters after play resumed following a 41-minute rain delay.
Brian Moehler (4-6) went five innings and allowed three runs and four hits. It was the first home win of the year for Moehler in nine starts.
Rockies 8, Dodgers 5
At Denver, Todd Helton broke the franchise home-run record with a shot to the upper deck, then broke a tied game with a three-run homer an inning later in Colorado's comeback win.
Helton's 259th homer was a solo shot, the 26th to reach the upper deck at Coors Field. It broke Larry Walker's record and cut what had been a 5-0 deficit to 5-3 in the sixth inning.
In the seventh, with the score tied at 5, Helton went deep off reliever Franquelis Osoria to make it 8-5.
Giovanni Carrara (6-3) took the loss for the Dodgers, and Los Angeles starter Derek Lowe allowed five runs in six-plus innings.
Colorado's Mike DeJean (4-1) pitched a scoreless inning after being signed earlier in the day. DeJean was released last month by the Mets. Colorado's only All-Star, Brian Fuentes, pitched the ninth to earn his 11th save in 13 chances.
Pirates 2, Phillies 1
At Pittsburgh, rookie left-hander Zach Duke pitched seven shutout innings for his first major league victory and Humberto Cota hit a two-run homer for the Pirates.
With Duke making his second consecutive impressive start since being called up from the minors last week, the Pirates split the four-game series. The Phillies dropped their 15th in 22 games and haven't won any of their last seven series.
Duke (1-0) allowed five extra-base hits among the six he gave up, but repeatedly got big outs while stranding seven runners and beating Brett Myers (6-5). Jose Mesa earned his 21st save.
Padres 7, Astros 5
At Houston, Ramon Hernandez capped a six-run fifth inning with a two-run single in his first game back from the disabled list, and San Diego ended a three-game losing streak.
Hernandez, who had been out with a sprained left wrist, played for the first time since June 18.
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