Sample size is a funny thing and sportswriters should know better.

"But how long will that moment last?

It would be all too easy to invoke the names of other Yankee rookies whose careers began like skyrockets only to fizzle to earth. Kevin Maas, Shane Spencer, Shelley Duncan, anyone? The other two big league rookies to hit as many as 10 home runs in their first 22 games -- Colorado's Trevor Story this year and Boston's George Scott back in 1966 -- provide a little more in the way of evidence as to where this start might lead Sanchez, but it is hardly conclusive. Scott, of course, was a solid big league player for 14 seasons, a .268 hitter who averaged 20 home runs a year. Story is among the favorites for NL Rookie of the Year."

Ronald Torreyes is batting over .400 for the month.

Enjoy it while it lasts.


"If it is not fair to blame all the Yankees' early-season woes on the likes of Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran and of course, Alex Rodriguez, neither is it realistic to fail to notice the difference now that two of them are gone and the third, Teixeira, has had his playing time reduced in his final weeks as a major league player."

Beltran? Beltran still leads the Yankees in HRs and RBIs. Nobody was blaming Beltran.


"Sanchez's at-bats have replaced A-Rod's as must-see events for Yankees fans and even for some of his teammates."

When is the last time an ARod at-bat was a must-see event? 2009?

Why is it impossible to discuss the Yankees without bringing up Alex Freaking Rodriguez?


" 'I think that these young kids have done a really good job; they’ve contributed in a big way,' Girardi said. 'Guys are excited around here, and we believe.'

When's the last time you heard that out of the Yankees clubhouse?"

When is the last time I heard a trite, optimistic answer from the Yankees clubhouse? Every single day.

I hope Sanchez keeps it up, the Yankees somehow make the playoffs, ride the wave all the way the the World Series ... ARod would get another ring, by the way ... and all these young players grow into MLB superstars.

My suspicion, however, is that a lot of the elevation of Sanchez (and excitement over a whoop-dee-doo 12-8 record over 20 games) and exaggeration of Yankees' playoff chances boils down to the endless, tiresome mockery of ARod.

Tyler Austin is batting .148. Aaron Hicks is batting .215 after a recent surge. Aaron Judge is batting .222. September callups are 5 days away.

You can't imagine a scenario where an aging ARod could have fulfilled a pinch-hitting role as the team tilts at September Surge windmills?

So the real idea is that ARod's clubhouse presence was damaging to team chemistry and dragging the whole team down ... and Sanchez's hot streak is somehow proving the hypothesis.

Which is, in Matthew's own words, "all too easy."