Yankees Hot Corner – King Louis XLV has arrived

When the New York Yankees traded Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos to the St. Louis Cardinals for Luke Voit, all Yankee fans rejoiced.  It wasn’t because Yankee fans knew anything about Luke Voit, an unknown first baseman for the Cardinals.  It was because the Bronx Bombers finally rid themselves of whipping boy Chasen Shreve.

Two months later and Yankee fans are rejoicing for a different reason;  The arrival of King Louis XLV.  Luke Voit started off slow and looked to be relegated to AAA Scranton for the rest of the season.  However, baseball is a funny sport and because of Greg Bird’s immense struggles Voit was brought back up in a backup role.

Voit picked up the pace and has in a very short time become a fan favorite.  In 59 at bats (excluding Wednesday’s game at Oakland) he has 19 hits, 7 home runs and 15 RBIs.  According to Jack Curry of the YES Network, five of Voit’s seven home runs have either tied the game for the Yankees or given them the lead.  That’s some serious clutch hitting.

Voit’s rise to fame reminds many fans of two past Yankees;  Shane Spencer and Wally Pipp.  We’ve discussed Wally Pipp before when Miguel Andujar “Wally Pipped” now former Yankee Brandon Drury after Drury was slated to be the starting third baseman.  Drury was dealing with concussion issues and was later shipped off to Toronto in the J.A. Happ trade.  Andujar is close to securing the Rookie of the Year award and is on pace to be one of the most productive rookies in years.

As for Shane Spencer?  Well for those who don’t remember, a young unknown outfielder by the name of Shane Spencer starting platooning in left field during the Yankee dynasty years.  What happened next?  Spencer went on a tear, hitting ten home runs in 67 at bats.  Spencer was the darling of the ’98 Yankees, who would go on to sweep the San Diego Padres in the World Series.  Spencer hit three grand slams that year as well, and every at bat you could just feel another big hit coming.

While Spencer never sustained long term success with the Yankees, he was a serviceable player and was always a fan favorite.  What Yankee fans are hoping for is Luke Voit to continue his dominance and become the every day Yankees first baseman for years to come.  Voit essentially “Wally Pipped” Greg Bird over the past few weeks, as Bird’s struggles called for more Voit at bats.  At this rate, Bird may not even make the postseason roster as he’s become so inefficient and the Yankees finally have an answer at first base.

Will Luke Voit keep up this pace for the rest of the season?  Who knows.  Will he wind up being the answer at first base for years to come?  Probably not, but there have been more unlikely stories.  Baseball is a wild sport and it’s just nice to see someone work so hard and ultimately earn an opportunity.  For now, we can just enjoy the “Lukeeeee” chants around Yankee Stadium.  We can appreciate the puns on Luke’s real name, Louis Linwood Voit.  Most importantly, we can look back to 1998 and hope that Voit is the catalyst that lifts the Yankees to another World Series the way Shane Spencer did.  At the end of the day, anything can happen in baseball.