New York Yankees Francisco Cervelli knocks in two runs in the 4th inning of Opening Day to cut the Red Sox's lead to 4-2. (April 1, 2013) Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
One game does not a baseball season make. But it does create outrageously small sample sizes, high anxiety for some fans and easy-to-mathematical comparisons and equations.
So here's one for you: a look at the salaries for the Yankees' starting lineups on Opening Day in 2013 and 2012.
What does it prove? Nothing, really, seeing how they lost both of those games and are 1-4 on Opening Day in the past five years.
2013 Yankees opening day lineup and salary
Brett Gardner -- $2,850,000
Eduardo Nunez -- $533,300
Robinson Cano -- $15,000,000
Kevin Youkilis -- $12,000,000
Vernon Wells -- $24,642,857
Ben Francisco -- $1,100,000
Ichiro Suzuki -- $6,500,000
Jayson Nix -- $900,000
Francisco Cervelli -- $515,350
Total: $64,041,507
2012 Yankees opening day lineup and salary
Derek Jeter -- $16,000,000
Curtis Granderson -- $10,000,000
Robinson Cano -- $14,000,000
Alex Rodriguez -- $30,000,000
Mark Teixeira -- $23,125,000
Nick Swisher -- $10,250,000
Raul Ibanez -- $1,100,000
Russell Martin -- $7,500,000
Brett Gardner -- $2,800,000
Total: $114,775,000
That's a difference of more than $50,000,000 thanks in large part to injuries to four of the first five hitters from the 2012 season.
(Note: These numbers do not take into account portions of contracts being paid by other teams. But if you want to see more 2013 baseball salaries, you should enjoy newsday.com/mlbsalary.)
