I detect a pattern.

Mets Good:

"There are always going to be games when Billy Wagner looks whacked out on adrenaline. He is probably always going to blow more saves than he should. But I love his heart and I love his arm and I love the way he gets back up every time he gets knocked back down."

Yankees Bad:

"Is the other team supposed to have this many guys on base when Kyle Farnsworth is pitching the 8th?"

But you love Fransworth's heart and you love Fransworth's arm and you love the way Farnsworth gets back up every time he gets knocked back down?

No?

Hmmmm ... that's very interesting.

I think there is a sportswriter in a New York paper who just hates the Yankees:

"Who would you really rather have in the middle of your lineup, Manny and Papi Ortiz or A-Rod and Giambi?"

Manny and Ortiz. But it's close.

Who would you really rather have in the middle of your lineup, Rolen and Pujols or Delgado and Wright?

Rolen and Pujols. It's not even close.

But what's your point? There is no point.

Is your point that the Red Sox are better than the Yankees? Yes, the Red Sox are better than the Yankees.

You want to provide some insight as to why the Yankees are in danger of missing the playoffs this year? It's sure not because of Giambi or ARod.


"By the way, is there some way, short of an Act of Congress, to get Yankee announcers to stop calling A-Rod a 'great' third baseman? He's a great hitter, not a great third baseman, for all the props we give him about changing positions.

Which wasn't exactly a sacrament, either.

The only way he came here was to make the switch from short to third, and if he hadn't agreed to it, he was staying in Texas."

ARod is a great fielding third baseman. Probably the second-best fielding third baseman in the AL.

I know ARod's 2006 season hasn't been as good as his 2005 MVP season, in the field or at the plate.

On the other hand, most of his eleven "errors" are because Cano is late covering the bag or because Phillips can't scoop a ball he should have caught.

Oh, and watch that play ARod made in Philly the other night. Yankees lost, anyway, but did you see that play? It was even late and close with runners in scoring position. So ARod is clutch in the field.


We all understand that ARod moved to third base so he could get out of Texas and come to New York. Right after he won two straight gold gloves at shorstop.

Is this the behavior of a selfish ballplayer? Or would a selfish ballplayer just stay in Texas, ensuring more gold gloves at shortstop and a quicker route to 800 homeruns?

In Lupica Land, Yankees are always Bad. Because they're Yankees. Ipso facto and quod erat demonstrandum.

Consider the source.

A year ago, Lupica also thought ARod was moving to first base and, as soon as Lupica said it, ARod had, like, a 100-game errorless streak.

In the very same article, Lupica says that "if Jason Giambi is going to be on the team, he is nothing more than a part-time DH and part-time first baseman."

Bzzzzzzt. Wrong answer.


In Lupica's world, Mets are Good and Yankees are Bad.

As David Wright and Tom Glavine make their cases for 2006 MVP and Cy Young, Lupica will not point out that the "Mets would have made the playoffs without David Wright" or that Tom Glavine had too much run support.

These are illogical contrivances reserved for Yankees.