Throw a shutout next time, will ya?

Larry Brooks has obviously lost his mind. Kevin Brown give up three runs in seven innings and the offense scores one lousy run.

Who to blame for the loss? Kevin Brown. That makes sense!

(Is this guy Larry Brooks new? I kinda like him. In a very short period of time, he's quickly moving up into Olney/Rocca/Lupica territory of Bad Sportswriting. Where have you been all my blog, Larry Brooks?) :

"And [Brown] was much better. But not good enough to provide enough of a lift to a Yankee team still unable to establish a positive tone to the season. Brown allowed three runs in seven innings while retiring the final 11 batters he faced, which might have been good enough under other circumstances. But it wasn't last night, not when he surrendered two runs in the third and another in the fourth to allow the Angels to take a 3-0 lead in a game they'd win 3-1."


If one watched the game, one might argue that the three runs Brown allowed were actually kind of "soft." Maybe one solid hit in the bunch. Even on that Garret Anderson double, the baserunner had stopped at third base until Sheffieled picked up the ball and threw it to nobody.

(When I saw a throw to an unoccupied second base, I thought that Alfonso Soriano was back on the team.)

Guerrero's RBI single counts, but it was just a groundball to third base that caught ARod out of position because the baserunner was attempting to steal third base. Tough to pin that on Brown's pitching, if your goal is a thoughtful analysis of Brown's pitching.

But all that's not really particularly relevant. One could easily argue the contrary, that the Angels hit a few at'em balls and Brown still didn't look too sharp until the last few innings.

In any case, if one is analyzing last night's game and looking for Yankee worries, the starting pitching is probably the last place to look:

"Where is the pitcher in pinstripes who's going to hand over a 1-0 lead to the bullpen in the eighth if that's what it takes? Where is the pitcher who is going to grow larger in the Bronx?"

Where is the pitcher who's going to throw shutouts every time? There is no such pitcher. Never has been, never will be. Andy Pettitte couldn't do it, Roger Clemens couldn't do it, Whitey Ford couldn't do it.

Difference is, if David Cone was on the mound and Brooks viewed Cone as a sympathetic figure, Brooks would blame the teammates for the lack of offensive support, rather than blaming the pitcher for giving up a whole three runs.

If the Yankee 2005 starting rotation was Johan Santana, Randy Johnson, Jason Schmidt, Roger Clemens, and Pedro Martinez, they're still going to lose almost every game in which they score one lousy run.


Larry Brooks is not this stupid. Larry Brooks is a liar. He had an article written before the game was even played. He was going to rip Kevin Brown regardless of how well Brown pitched.

Last night was not a discouraging game, pitching-wise. As Johnette Howard reports, it was an encouraging game, pitching-wise. Brown looked sharp, Groom once again looked sharp, Gordon once again looked sharp.

Over at the Daily News, Lisa Olson accurately describes Brown as a tough-luck loser in last night's game.

Hey, it happens. It happens all the time in baseball. Nobody's crying a river for Kevin Brown, nobody's nominating him for the Cy Young Award, nobody's forgetting about Game Seven of the ALCS.

But last year's ALCS has nothing to do with last night's game. Brooks is trying to pin last night's loss on Brown, and he can not.

Ha ha on Larry Brooks. You were out-written by two girls.