Perspectives: Full Steam Ahead and Scattered Thoughts

by Paul Semendinger

September 14, 2026

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The Magic Number for the Yankees is One. The playoffs loom! I wish the Yankees could jump right to them now.

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I was down on this team for a long time, but, I have also said that with their starting rotation, they have the talent to go all the way. This just might be the year the Yankees do it. We can all hope!

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Cam Schlittler sure seems like the American League Cy Young winner at this point. I don't think there is a good argument for anyone else. He has been so dominant.

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Schlitter leads the A.L. in WAR.

WAR, not just for pitchers, but everyone.

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Schlitter is first also in ERA, WHIP, and games started. He is second in wins and strikeouts.

Barring a disastrous final start or two, he will win the Cy Young Award.

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Anthony Volpe looks great at second base. I am rooting for him. I hope he makes the transition and hits enough to be a contributor for many years to come.

It is inspiring when a player is down and gets back up. Volpe is showing that type of fortitude.

You know Rocky was a down-and-out character who continually got up when he was knocked down. It's good to root for the underdogs.

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All of a sudden the Yankees have a possible Core Four, or, ummm, a Core Something with Ben Rice, Spencer Jones, George Lombard, Jr., Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, Cam Schlittler.

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Spencer Jones is proving me completely wrong. I never thought he would hit in the big leagues. I figured he would be a strikeout machine. He hasn't been.

Spencer Jones has been a very very pleasant surprise.

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Ben Rice could be the fourth first baseman in Yankees history to have a 40 home run season.

The other three are Lou Gehrig, Tino Martinez, and Jason Giambi. Though, since Rice is a DH often, maybe that takes away from that and they have to only count the homers he hit while playing first base. It matters little - 40 homers is a big deal.

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Remember how so many thought that George Lombard, Jr. was going to defy all common sense, logic, and his own performances in the minor leagues and immediately hit in the Major Leagues - and how he was, right now, absolutely, a worthy middle-of-the-order hitter?

Well, one day, he just might be a quality big league hitter, but right now, George Lombard is batting .217. His OPS+ is 72.

Since the Yankees moved him to the number five spot in the batting order, he is hitting .185.

Maybe, just maybe, the idea to allow the player to slowly acclimate to the big leagues made sense rather than thrusting him into the fire in the kid's 8th big league game.

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If the Yankees win the World Series, Aaron Boone will probably be extended for twenty-five years. Of course, if the Yankees get eliminated in the Wild Card playoffs, Boone would probably still get extended...

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I have been very busy working on West Point at Gettysburg Vol. 2. The research takes a great deal of time, but it is so so so rewarding. Volume 2 will cover the West Point graduates who fought at Gettysburg whose last names go from H through N. There will be 49 biographies in that volume in all.

I just finished with the H's. There were a ton of West Point graduates at Gettysburg whose last name began with H:

Norman J. Hall, Frank B. Hamilton, David Hancock, Winfield Scott Hancock, Martin Hardin,

Herman Haupt, Alexander Hays, William Hays, Mathias Henry, Henry Heth, A.P. Hill, John Bell Hood, Charles E. Hazlett, Oliver O. Howard, Albion P. Howe, Frank Huger, Andrew A. Humphreys, and Henry Hunt.

By the time you are reading this, I will have also just about completed Rufus Ingalls completing the I's.

I am about 39% with the first draft of this volume. It is going extremely well.

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A special shout out to Tim Kabel and Mike Whiteman of SSTN. They have served as proofreaders for a number of my books and are doing yeoman's work on this one as well. Thank you Tim and Mike!

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On my other site, I shared how I am working through listening to the complete works of Mozart. I have been playing Mozart as I write. I am about 25% through his collected works. Once I finish Mozart, I will move on to Bach and then Beethoven. Or, maybe I'll go from Beethoven to Bach. Well, whatever I choose, one can't go wrong.

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The Jets are having a perfect season in 2026 thus far. This is the farthest they have gone in a season in years without being mathematically eliminated. (I am only exaggerating a little.)

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The Giants also won! That's the first time since 2009 that the Jets and the Giants began the seasons with wins.. The Yankees won the World Series that year...

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There was a game last week where an umpire told the pitcher that he had to wear his hat straight. I couldn't help thinking when I saw that that some Yankees fans would use that as proof that the umpires, the league, and all of baseball are against the Yankees.

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It's at this point of the season, when some players have such amazing stats, like Cam Schlittler, that I don't want them to have a bad outing or two to wreck what could be an amazingly spectacular Strat-o-Matic card for the 2026 season.

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If one were to argue that the most important generals at Gettysburg were Herman Haupt, Henry Hunt and Rufus Ingalls, they would not be necessarily incorrect.

The fact that many do not know who those generals are is reason to buy Volume 1 (because there is a ton of great information there) and be very eager for Volume 2 (and then 3) to be published.

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Not just for me, but for every book you read and love - be sure to give that book 5-Stars on Amazon (and Goodreads, and the like). It matters for the writers.

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I sure hope this is the year that the Yankees finally finally finally win it all.

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Let's Go Yankees!