Major League Baseball

Granderson powers Bronx Bombers

Published May. 10, 2011 5:38 p.m. ET

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Bob Klapisch

The date was August 12, 2010, which Curtis Granderson now considers the seminal moment in his career. That’s the day the Yankees centerfielder become a both-sides-of-the-plate home run threat — as unexpected and magical as a unicorn. Granderson not only leads the American League in home runs, he’s on his way to a whopping 56 blasts this season.

It’s a stunning climb up the power ladder, especially in the post-steroid era. In fact, Granderson surge is a microcosm of the Yankees’ broader assault against the league — their 54 home runs in the first 32 games project to a record-setting 273 this season.

Not even the most optimistic Yankees insider could’ve predicted there’d be this much power from a lineup that’s struggled to squeeze production from Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher. But the Bombers hit five more homers against the Rangers on Sunday, raising their HR/fly ball ratio to an insane 17.3 percent, more than double the league average.

One major league talent evaluator cautioned, “Teams that fall in love with home runs always pay a price, because it limits the other part of your (offensive) game.” But he pointed out, “The Yankees are different. They can hurt you up and down the lineup.”

Granderson, in particular, has created cover for Jeter and Posada, although the most impressive part of his blossoming is how quickly and simply it took place — just one conversation with hitting instructor Kevin Long. The message? Keep both hands on the bat through the strike zone.

Granderson hit only .183 vs. lefties in 2010 (and was at .210 for his career), but all that changed when Long cured Granderson of the habit of releasing his top hand at the highest point of his follow through. The choreography was pretty, but in most cases, Granderson’s one-handed swing was dooming him against southpaws.

That is, until Granderson adopted a more conventional attack last August. Since then, his efficiency against lefties has risen to .284 with eight homers that are tied for third in the majors with Jed Lowrie and Albert Pujols in that span. Overall, against all pitching, Granderson is hitting .270 with 25 homers in that span, tying Troy Tulowitzki for third behind Jose Bautista.

Long is too modest to take all the credit for Granderson’s makeover, pointing instead to his pupil’s surprising strength.

“There’s a lot of power in that body,” Long said. “When your swing is efficient and short and working like his is, that’s the result you’ll see. Some power.”

Long also stressed how easy it was to break down Granderson’s flawed mechanics, how willing he was to discard a swing that, for better or worse, had carried him through his career. Professional athletes are loathe to change what works; even though Granderson was an automatic out against lefties, that one-handed swing still netted him 102 home runs in four-plus seasons in Detroit.

Yet, when asked by Long to rethink the calculus, Granderson willingly went back to basics: two hands on the bat, squaring up on the ball instead of flying open, swinging more authoritatively.

“Basically, it was eliminating some of the moving parts,” Long told reporters. “Curtis said it was no big deal, but he’s been able to maintain this for such a long time, it’s a testament to him. It shows his aptitude and ability for getting the feel.”

Now, with Granderson hitting home runs once every 11 or so at-bats, Joe Girardi has the flexibility to use him in virtually any spot in the lineup. So far this season, he’s appeared in six of the nine slots — 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 and 9 — and has the credentials to serve even as the cleanup hitter when Alex Rodriguez needs a day off.

Ideally, though, Girardi wants all his cylinders functioning concurrently. The reservoir of home runs seems limitless, if not historic. The Yankees aren’t about to jinx it by asking how or why.

THE JETER FILE

One more trip to our favorite archive, especially after the Yankees captain went 4 for 6 with two home runs against the Rangers on Sunday. That performance spawned two critical follow-up questions:

Is Jeter beyond the worst of his early-season slump? And if so, was too much made of his first 100 at-bats?

No one knows the answer to the first curiosity; time will be Jeter’s judge and jury. But it’s not fair to say the captain was unfairly scrutinized in April — more so than, say, Posada or Swisher.

The reason is because Posada is in the final year of his contract. If his April slump is a signal of a permanent decline in his skills, Posada simply will walk away. Or if not, the Yankees will do the walking.

Meanwhile, Swisher still has leftover equity from 2010, his best season in the big leagues. Jeter, on the other hand, had his worst year in 2010, so to say April was too small a sample size is simply untrue. He’s been in decline for more than an entire year.

Jeter certainly is capable of a turnaround, and it’s possible Sunday’s breakout was the first step in that direction. But with two-plus years and nearly $50 million remaining on his contract, Jeter’s slump was more than big news. It was fair game.

TORRE’S EDICT

Good for Joe Torre for at least trying to instill some old-school sensibilities among today’s players, reminding them of the non-fraternization rule during batting practice.

What Torre fails to understand, however, is that the modern major leaguer has no sense of the rivalries of the past; they’re friends, union brothers, often represented by the same agent. Torre’s attempt to turn back to the clock — back to when Bob Gibson hated his opponents so much, he wouldn’t even talk to them as teammates during the All-Star Game — won’t gain much traction.

There’s still plenty of evidence that players are trying hard to win when it counts. Pitchers still throw inside, base runners still are trying to break up double plays, collisions at the plate are still thunderous. That’s good enough for us.

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