I have been a Brett Gardner fan since the times in 2005 I saw him play in short season Staten Island. He and Jacoby Ellsbury of the Lowell Spinners were the two fastest guys in that league that season.

Gardner slashed .284 BA/.377 OBP/.376 SLG with nine doubles, a triple and FIVE home runs! Add in the tremendous work ethic and great defense he displayed throughout that season and you had the makings of a pretty good center field/lead-off hitter. His teams throughout the minor league won championships and/or made the playoffs.

Gardner and Ellsbury’s minor league were almost identical except for power. Both skipped Low A and headed straight for A+ leagues the following season, then pushed to Double A mid-2006. Both started 2007 at Double AA and were pushed to Triple A soon that same season.

It appeared both were going to be the 2010’s version of Ted Williams - Joe DiMaggio rivalry for their respective teams, only on about one-tenth the power scale.  

Something funny happened on the way to that decade long rivalry - Gardner’s inconsistency and Melky Cabrera.

Gardner has not flourished the way everyone wanted and the snipers were out in full force. Granted, I expected more from Gardner, but he does struggle initially during each level of baseball then adjusts and improves. He has shown that at every level he has played - except the majors.

And allowing a young player to play center field in the Bronx while struggling is never going to happen.

Melky got his second (and third, fourth and final chance because he is out of options) and begins to perform. The game is about performance and unless you are a fully established major leaguer with a track record of success, you will not get a long term shot in New York.

Just ask Ian Kennedy, Shelley Duncan, Chase Wright, Ross Ohlendorf or any other young player who has entered Bronxville, but was put on the next train out of the station.

Lucky for Robinson Cano that he had some success in his first few years or he would have been out of town during the previous off season. Where are those anti-Cano guys now?

It was pointed out by Peter Abraham that Dustin Pedroia wasn’t real impressive when he first started in the majors, but the Red Sox continued to let him play and he became ROY and an MVP. Comparing Pedroia and Gardner is incorrect because of their different positions and types games they play, and I preferred a different comparison of Pedroia with Robinson Cano, one which I pointed out after last season.

But the point Pete Abe was making is a good one. Players like Gardner, Ellsbury, Pedroia, Cabrera and Cano need time to develop. Where do the New York fans get the arrogance to think they deserve to win every year?

Best buddies Cabrera and Cano each had an awakening last season. Cabrera was given the CF job, did not hit up to the expectations of Yankee management (and those great, very patient Yankee fans!) and was shipped down to Triple A Scranton. He performed well there and was brought back up last season. What that last recalling in September did was eliminate any more options Melky had left.

It’s tough being 24 years of age, out of options already and having most of the Yankee fan base hating your guts because you are not the second coming of Bernie Williams.

However, Cabrera this season is playing the way everyone wants him to play and he has wrested the CF job away from the struggling Gardner. 

Cano also had his problems last year and his own affirmation. A lack of production at the plate, not a high enough OBP, and a perceived lack of hustle in the field all led to those great Yankee fans calling for his ouster. “He doesn’t take enough pitches; He is so lackadaisical in the field; He doesn’t have Larry Bowa around to kick him in the butt,” is what we heard from fans and media alike.

Joe Girardi couldn’t get through to Cano until he benched Robinson late in the year.

Since that benching, Cano has been a different player - or so it seems. He was perceived to hit well after the benching, he definitely hustled in the field, had a terrific Winter League season, and has began this year with a bang. Interestingly, except for the terrible April last year, Cano was pretty consistent all year long in 2008, even hitting worse in September.

I guess perception is greater than reality! But Cano did work hard on his conditioning, worked extensively with Yankee hitting coach Kevin Long and began to actually take the bad pitches, and swing at good pitches. Not necessarily good pitchers strikes, but good strikes to hit.

It is good to see the C and C boys back playing exciting baseball. Last night’s game was great to see, with Cano leading the 8th inning rally with a hard line drive single to right (Bobby Abreu could of had it I thought), and eventually scored the go ahead run on a line drive single to RF by Cabrera.

Ramiro Pena finished things up with his first major league extra base hit, a two run double - boosting his OPS+ to a robust 73.

It is way too early to predict what the C and C boys could accomplish. One could only hope they carry on the tradition of Yankee best friends helping to lead the way to World Series titles like Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada did.

But Yankee fans will take what they have right now, two players who have appeared to become hard workers, looking to improve their games and taking nothing for granted.

Both have seemed to appease the sabermetricians, who always wanted both guys to take more pitches and draw more walks. Although I want to point out that in last night’s 8th inning, both hits were both on first pitches.

Lets not jump the C and C bandwagon yet, and Yankee fans should not give up on Brett Gardner either. All three players can do good things on a baseball field to help the Yankees win games.

Yankee fans just have to realize that it won’t be every time in every game.