Seven innings, two runs.

"Darrell Rasner was decent, just not good enough, and the bullpen sloppy in a 7-6 loss to the Blue Jays at the Stadium."

Okay, the first Toronto batter in the seventh inning singled.

The next batter hit into a 4-6-3 double play.

The next batter grounded out to second base. (Still unsure why nobody noticed that the "single" following the error was just a ground ball that the Yankee second baseman made no attempt to reach for.)

So, Rasner pitched excellently. Two runs in seven innings.

ARod didn't hit into a double play in the bottom of the ninth inning there was no bottom of the ninth because the Yankees won the game in nine innings because they have a second baseman who plays professional baseball.

Throwing overhand requires lots of energy, Coach.

"Cano bungled a sure double-play ball in the seventh and the Blue Jays went on to score three times in the inning. His backhand to Derek Jeter at the bag was low and skipped away, putting two runners on with no out. Bautista hit an RBI single and Joe Inglett a two-run single to pull Toronto within 6-5.

'You have to make sure of one out in that situation,' Girardi said. 'He has that smoothness that people will assume he's being nonchalant. He's not. He's made that play so many times.' "

There ya go.

Torre Version II.


Remember a couple of weeks ago when Cano "smoothly" jogged after a ground ball in the ninth inning that cost the Yankees a game?

Girardi should have dealt with it at that time.

Actually, Girardi should have dealt with it in Spring Training.


ARod's double play was bad luck. He was thrown out by only 1/2 a step -- because hustled down to first base -- what a concept.

Boo?

Jeter 0-for-4 with one GIDP, two Ks, and four left on base.

I know it's different.

Yankee fans shouldn't boo Jeter. Everybody can have a bad game. I'm just kidding.

No, I'm not.

So now Grady Little is the smartest man in baseball...

Now go home and get your shinebox

So much for this particular feel-good story:

"Tanyon Sturtze sat at his locker Wednesday afternoon, packing his bags and shaking hands with teammates. Dodgers Manager Joe Torre had just told the reliever that the team had cut him.

That kind of scene is common in the major leagues. This one is not: Torre talked to Sturtze again a few minutes later, this time to tell him the Dodgers would not cut him Wednesday, leaving him in limbo beyond then.

Sturtze declined to comment. Torre described Sturtze's reaction to the developments this way: 'He's not OK.' "

Classy is as classy does, and that move was classy.

David Wright was 0-for-5 last night with two strikeouts.

David Wright is now hitting .231 with RISP and two outs.

How much you wanna bet Fanboy Puma thinks Wright is the NL MVP?:

"Alex Rodriguez got the boo birds off his case last night, but the stench from his performance a day earlier was still prevalent in the Stadium.

Two doubles, too little too late."

Right.

Last night was a typical 2008 Yankees performance.

That is to say, their third baseman plays well, but he's surrounded by mediocrity.


"A month that began with the Yankees a legitimate AL East title contender has become a disaster, and Rodriguez's pedestrian .250 batting average in August is part of the wreckage."

Alex Rodriguez is one of the only reasons the Yankees began the month as legitimate AL East contenders.

I don't know how legit their campaign was, anyway, especially after Joba got hurt.

With a regular third baseman, they might be in last place in the AL East.


"Rodriguez stroked an RBI double against Paul Byrd in the first inning last night and then doubled leading off the fourth before scoring the Yanks' second run.

Where was that a night earlier?"

A night earlier, he struck out twice and hit into two double plays, which is atypical.

This night, he had two hits and was the best player on the team, which is typical.


"That idea of Rodriguez hitting in the clutch his whole career doesn't mesh with A-Rod's October history or the fact he entered last night batting .246 with runners in scoring position this season."

"Mesh" is a mighty big word for a mentally challenged person like you.

Convincing deep dive into the stats, by the way.


You know what is amazing to me?

I did not actually see last night's game until the 8th inning.

ARod dives for a ball and almost fields it. Hustles after it and holds Youkilis to a single. Not a big deal, it's a legitimate single off the 3b's glove and major leaguers are always supposed to hustle.

Next batter is Jason Bay and he hits a fly ball to right-center field. It's a can of corn.

Abreu does his typical Gutless Old Man With Arthritis act and, somehow, Bay ends up with an RBI triple. Not only does Abreu short-arm the ball -- he's scared of the wall, don't you know -- but he inexplicably cartwheels on the warning track. Never even touches the ball. Damon has to back him up.

Sox end up with 7 runs in the inning. Obviously, not all of those 7 runs are Abreu's fault, but it would be nice to see a wee bit more effort.

There are about 900 players in the major leagues who would have caught that ball.

Mike Mussina and Mariano Rivera would have caught that ball if they were shagging flies during batting practice.

Bottom of the 8th, Abreu grounds out.

No boos.

No boos for a left-handed hitting corner outfielder who bats third, is protected by ARod, has a mere 15 HRs, will barely break 100 RBIs, can't even hit .300, and is paid $16 million.

No boos for Abreu, the gutless stiff, the symbol of the 2008 Yankees. Either Abreu pulling up at the wall or Cano swinging feebly at the first pitch.

Boo.

Bottom 7th: NY Yankees

- K. Youkilis at first
- J. Lowrie at third
- A. Cora at shortstop
- I. Rodriguez hit for J. Molina
- I. Rodriguez struck out swinging
- J. Damon walked
- D. Jeter singled to right, J. Damon to second
- B. Abreu walked, J. Damon to third, D. Jeter to second
- J. Masterson relieved M. Delcarmen
- A. Rodriguez grounded into double play shortstop to first, B. Abreu out at second

I don't know what's up with the sudden surge of double plays. In the context of the game's importance and the scrutiny, that at-bat is utterly disgraceful. Hit a sac fly, you jerk.

But, next time you need a HR, I still say he's the guy you want up.

Also, Cashman doesn't regret signing him for the next nine years.

ARod's going to win a lot of games over the next nine years.

I'm tired of the negativity directed towards him, but, tonight, he deserves the boos.

Smartest Man in Baseball Swept by Charlie Manuel.

"This is no time to sound clueless, the Dodgers going flat against the Phillies again, the manager asked what he might say to his team, and Torre appearing befuddled.

'There's nothing I can tell them,' he said."

I'm pretty sure you can think of a time the Cardinals lost four in a row and then Bob Gibson won a game.

I wonder who Mike Lupica is rooting for.

"It starts with A-Rod, who so far this season has been nothing more than a gaudy numbers-hanger and a tabloid dream."

Nothing more than a baseball player putting up gaudy numbers, when he could have been so much more.

He could have been a beacon of hope for blind orphans.

He could have been the Democrats' presumptive nominee.

He could have been my lover.


"Let's see if this is the week against the Red Sox when at least one of the games ends with a swing of his bat."

Tonight, I'm willing to bet that ARod ends the game with a swing of his mighty bat. Though it's only a 1 in 9 chance, I'm gonna roll the dice here.

Pettitte gives up 7 runs in 4 innings. Two of the runs are unearned because Jeter/Cano can't turn double plays. But they're really earned runs, technically, because the official scorer can't assume a double play, which is moronic. As John Sterling would say, that's just recordkeeping.

4 IP, 7 R, 11 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 6 K.

Youkilis goes deep twice and Bay drives in at least three or four runs just so somebody can compare him to Manny. "Even without Manny ..." will be Michael Kay's mantra.

Then, the Yankee bullpen gets lit up. Is Chris Britton still in the bigs? Either Britton or that guy David Robertson.

Then, with the Yankees losing by 14 runs in the ninth inning, ARod grounds out to shortstop to end the game.

Thus, the game ends with a swing of ARod's bat.

For his career, ARod hits .303 with the bases empty and .303 with runners in scoring position.

"It even extends to Alex Rodriguez, whose numbers don't look all that disappointing. A-Rod actually possesses the AL's second best OPS at .992 (to Milton Bradley's 1.029) but has come up limp in the clutch.

..

Club higherups are concerned enough about A-Rod that they are even wondering aloud whether his off-field distractions are affecting his play."

Unfortunately, ESPN does not provide those particular splits: Pre-Madonna and Post-Madonna breakdowns.

Maybe it's because they couldn't keep track of all the pro athletes who've slept with Madonna.

Ba dum bum. Ahem. Is this mic working? Attention K-Mart shoppers.

ARod's divorce was announced in early July and his post-All-Star stats exceed his pre-All-Star stats. Not by a whole lot; they're almost identical. But that's kind of my point.

Do we have to go through this hand-wringing every time ARod has a bad two weeks? Or a bad 50 at-bats? Or strikes out with the bases loaded?

This is fun for me to do.

It is really not too difficult, either. In fact, it's easy.

Let's go with the idea that ARod's all-around batting average is fine. .312 is higher than his career average and it's top ten or so in the league.

I don't quite understand why we suddenly revert back to BA when we're discussing situational splits, but whatever. Let's go with at-bats, batting average, runs batted in.

(Not for nothing, but this particular breakdown has ARod batting .292 in something called "late inning pressure." Wonder how they came up with that distinction.)

Now, the reason I bring up his overall BA is because the gripe is not so much with ARod's overall BA, it's with the distribution of hits.



So, let's even things out:

RISP: 124 at-bats, 31 hits, .250 ba, 47 rbis.

No RISP: 283 at-bats, 96 hits, .339 ba, 31 rbis.


How do we even things out?

We take 8 hits from category two and move them to category one.


Adjusted RISP: 124 at-bats, 39 hits, .315 ba, ??? rbis.

Adjusted No RISP: 283 at-bats, 88 hits, .311, ??? rbis.


Ponder these additional eight hits with RISP.

In a perfect world, they'd all be bottom-of-the-ninth game-winners and I've just miraculously given the Yankees eight more wins.

That conclusion is, of course, absurd.


ARod absoutely should have more RBIs and he should hit better with RISP. I'll give him 12 more RBIs if he was hitting up to par with RISP. However, you've also got to deduct a few RBIs from category two (you've just taken away 8 hits after all -- what if all 8 of those hits were HRs?).


ARod's deficiency with RISP has probably cost the Yankees about 9 or 10 runs this season.

I don't want to ridicule those 10 runs. Ten runs are ten runs. They couldn't hurt and they probably could have helped win 1 or 2 games all by themselves.


But this is a team that's 200 runs off last year's pace.

This is a team that is seventh in the league in runs scored. So much for "Murderer's Row and Robinson Cano."

Those 10 runs would put them 190 runs off last year's pace.

If you're looking for the biggest culprit, look elsewhere.

Imagine if he'd lost the game.

"Carl Pavano is still a colossal disappointment, the appropriate butt of countless jokes and hands down the most overpaid athlete in Yankees history. Heck, he's probably the most overpaid athlete in New York sports history."

You know what's funny?

Pedro Martinez is still inexplicably given credit for giving the Mets "credibility," or something.


As for the most overpaid athlete in Yankees history (I can only speculate that Baumbach has a gigantic list of overpaid non-athletes in Yankees history -- personally, I think Willie Randolph was probably overpaid all those years standing at third base with his hands on his hips yelling, "run home, run home"), it may very well be Carl Pavano.

It also may be Kei Igawa, and Igawa is on the current Yankees' roster. Or it may be Mike Witt. Or it may be Pascual Perez -- you'd have to use 1990 dollars, to be fair about it.

Or it may be Jim Abbott, relatively speaking -- was Jim Abbott the highest-paid pitcher while he was going 20-22?

I may go with Abbott. Or maybe Barfield. Or maybe, ummm, maybe Steve Kemp.

How could you forget Steve Kemp, big free agent signing, being sent to the minors?

It's kind of tacky and nonsensical to compare injured players to healthy players, don't you think? Barfield was bad just because he was bad. Kemp was sent to the minors in the prime of his career, not because he had to recover from major surgery.

I'm not going to completely defend Pavano, for the love of Christ. Pavano was a bad signing from day one. But is he more overpaid than Allan Houston? Is he more overpaid than Yinka Dare?

Probably not.


"After a brief chat, Girardi let Pavano continue, and he recorded the final two outs of the inning with ease. It was an upbeat end to a thoroughly surprising positive night.

Now let's see him do it again."

Pavano has more wins in the 2008 season than Kennedy and Hughes combined.

Very easy to verify, part 2.

"But then, when the primary culprit is the $27 million-per-year cleanup hitter, to whom the Yankees are committed for another nine years, Cashman ought to be very concerned."

ARod is the best player on the team, by far.

Missed 20 games, played another 10 or 20 while injured, and still practically leads the team in every important offensive category: runs scored , runs batted in, homeruns, doubles, and stolen bases.

Sixteen stolen bases in eighteen attempts.

He's going to go 40/20 without even straining and while missing a month.

If you think ARod is the primary reason the Yankees have a bad offense, then you are a fool, an idiot, a moron, an embarrassment to the evolution of human intellect.


"Alex Rodriguez is supposed to be the key cog of this Yankees team. But going into the weekend, the man the Yankees have decided to build their franchise around for the next decade had driven in only 24.8% of runners in scoring position (with a .246 average), and of his 28 homers, 19 had come with the bases empty and only six had put the Yankees ahead."

Only 24.8% of runners in scoring position had scored? I have nothing to compare that to, but we need a little more information.

Are we counting at-bats or plate appearances? Because, in case you hadn't noticed, the opponents pitch around ARod quite often. It partially explains the whopping .452 on-base percentage with RISP and two outs.

In fact, I'd say ARod's biggest offensive flaw is his unwillingness to take the walk. He chases pitches out of the strike zone too often.

So why would opposing pitchers pitch around ARod? Maybe it's because the guy who's "protecting" him in the lineup hasn't sniffed .300 since 2002.


In 123 at-bats with RISP, ARod has 47 RBIs, which is .38 RBIs/at-bat. That's a measurement which doesn't necessarily mean too much, but at least it's a point of reference.

Wright: .43.
Abreu: .37.
Hamilton: .62 (wow!).
Pujols: .61.
Braun: .46.

Sometimes, when runners are in scoring position, ARod's driving in himself. Sometimes, he's driving in the runner who is on first base. Those runs count, too, even if Madden chooses to ignore them. Those runs can win baseball games.

I don't know how Madden came up with his measurement of 24.8% and I don't know how it stacks up to Hamilton, Abreu, Pujols, Wright, Braun, etc.


ARod is performing poorly with RISP this season and has also been a poor situational hitter. But you can't just say "24.8" and expect that to mean anything unless you provide an explanation, a context, and comparative statistics.


"The reason they don't have any of these players in their system is because they continue to do a terrible job of scouting and developing. They spend millions more in Latin America than almost every other team and yet the only position players from there to make the big club over the last 10 years are Alfonso Soriano, Cano and Melky Cabrera. The draft? An even bigger disgrace. Jeter, in 1992, is the last player they drafted who became a regular."

Let's conveniently ignore Joba, Pettitte, Mariano, and Wang.

Very easy to verify.

Nobody believes me when I tell them, so I will use the convenient Internet to verify:

• David Wright is hitting .250 with RISP and .234 with RISP and two outs.
• Alex Rodriguez is hitting .244 with RISP and .245 with RISP and two outs.

ARod has the edge in on-base% and slugging%.

The inevitable conclusion is that Wright has more RBIs because Wright has more RBI opportunities:

"[Wright] was sitting on 100 RBI going into last night's game against the Astros, will go past 30 home runs, will end up hitting .300. He had his slumps this season, he had stretches where he didn't deliver in big moments. But he has been the big player for the Mets at third that Alex Rodriguez, despite A-Rod's numbers has not been for the Yankees in a season of his own that has been shortened by injuries."

I'll give you an example.

Friday night vs. Baltimore, Yankees down by a run, 8th inning, runner on first base. ARod doubles and sets up a two-run, go-ahead inning.

That was not a "big" hit?

I say it was a big hit.

A big hit by a great player who has mostly played great all season long, for an otherwise lousy offensive team.

A big hit by a great player in the most important game of the year -- the game being played at that moment -- when the team needed him the most.


"You look at the left side of the Mets' infield over the season that has been played so far, especially the youth there, and once again ask a fair question about which guys you want on your side over the next few years in baseball, Wright and Reyes or A-Rod and Jeter."

I'd take Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain over Pedro Martinez and Greg Maddux. Doesn't mean that Phil Hughes is better than Pedro Martinez, does it?

Compare 25-year-old Wright to 25-year-old ARod and then get back to me.

Kiss me deadly.

Funny, because I was thinking that he'd never have had shoulder surgery in the first place if it wasn't for Torre:

"Reliever Tanyon Sturtze is a Joe Torre loyalist who was able to make his first major league appearance since 2006 on Tuesday, pitching a scoreless eighth inning in his emotional return from major shoulder surgery to pitch for his old manager.

'He's meant everything to me', Sturtze said. 'I wouldn't even be in baseball. The only reason I'm here is because of him.'

...

'He's a fighter,' said Torre, who managed Sturtze for three seasons with the Yankees. 'The thing I feel good about is he trusts me.' "

When Scott Proctor gets hurt, he is replaced by Tanyon Sturtze.

When Tanyon Sturtze gets hurt, will he be replaced by Steve Karsay?

Then, when Steve Karsay goes down, will he be replaced by Paul Quantrill?

Just an endless carousel of shredded right shoulders and mended hearts, known collectively as "Torre's Boys."

1-Rod.

One run batted in since joining the Yankees.

Not that anyone was asking ...

How can anybody even still believe in the "Battle of New York"?

Much less a "Battle of Young Players in New York"?

But something is amiss when the discussion excludes Joba Chamberlain. Who is the best young player in the major leagues:

"So this game was yet another reminder that - forecasts to the contrary - the Mets' young players are outdoing their Yankee counterparts in 2008. That is among the reasons the Mets are in first place and the New York Yankees are barely hanging in the wild-card race."

This is definitely true. The Yankee young players have been mostly awful.

But let's lay off on Daniel Murphy's 50 at-bats, huh? Robinson Cano hit .342 a couple of years ago. Homer Bush hit .380 in 1998. Kevin Maas was Babe Ruth for his first 100 at-bats.

Then, the pitchers adjusted.

Well said.

"Veteran Rays outfielder Cliff Floyd, who played part of one summer in Boston, was asked if he thought it was dawning on the second-place Red Sox and their fans that with six weeks left in the season, the Rays are legit.

'Hopefully they don’t start to believe until they’re sitting there watching TV and we’re playing in the playoffs,' he said. 'We’ll go with that one.' "

I was just thinking that Girardi should change his uniform number from 27 to 18.

Meek.

" 'I really had no idea that he would throw me out,' Rodriguez said. 'He made an unbelievable play. I saw it on the replay. He slid on his knees, barehanded it and threw a strike. The way we're swinging the bats right now, I thought being aggressive was the best option.'

'Give him credit, he was 0-2 on everybody throwing in the high- to mid-90s and he had a snake for a breaking ball,' Rodriguez said."

The right arms of Tanyon Sturtze and Scott Proctor would disagree with your assessment.

I'm very disappointed in the attitude of this Yankee team. It reminds me of the last three Torre years.

In other words, Girardi's biggest problem is that he's too much like Torre.

While few predicted the rise of the Rays, it was obvious that Torre was gettin' out while the gettin' was good. It's his prerogative, of course, thought it's a bit unseemly for him to act like the Yankees low-balled him with the highest managerial contract in MLB history.

It makes me want to puke that Torre landed in the worst division in divisional history, but I'll concede that success is relative in pro sports. I'd rather be the Dodgers than the Yankees right now. Not that the Dodgers are better, but they're certainly in better playoff shape.


I was tempted to comment on the this article in-depth.

Instead, I focused on the very last sentence, which blew me away:

"Thanks to the Yankees, Torre is once again looking like the smartest man in baseball."

Consider an enterprise with thousands of players, coaches, managers, scouts, executives, agents, owners, umpires, and hot dog vendors.

None of them are smarter than Joe Torre.

He's the smartest man in baseball.

Again.

Like he was before.

When he was widely regarded as the smartest man in baseball.

George A. King III should sue.

This article was actually accompanied by a graphic of a pinstriped coffin:

"The New York Yankees are dead."

Pretty much, but you waited until the season only had 40 games left.


"They are on Line 1 with Dr. Kevorkian asking for the soonest appointment possible, please."

Classy.


"Do not let Sunday arouse any feelings on the contrary. Thump the Yankees did, in their old dominant fashion, dropping 15 runs on a feeble Kansas City pitching staff. It was the most hurtful sign of life, the one where the EKG jumps for a few seconds and everything looks like it’s going to be all right, only to flatline once more, and for good."

This seems to be a familiar take.

As if one 9-run win ... or one 12-run win ... or one 99-run win, for that matter, is going to count for more than one game in the standings.

As if Yankee fans stormed onto the field in celebration because now their team is only ten games out of first place.

The thing about blase wins, though, is that they're much better than exciting losses.

Conspicuous in its absence.

Just add the term "human growth hormone" to the end of every sentence. That would be the article I'd like to write.

Me go pee pee in your Coke.

"It's the United States vs. China in the overall medal standings at these Summer Olympics, and on a tense Monday night at Wukesong Main Field, it was a microcosm."

A microcosm of what? A microcosm of the world?


"Matt LaPorta knocked China's catcher out of the game, Zheng Xu sent LaPorta to a hospital with a beanball, China manager Jim Lefebvre was ejected, Yang Yang hit a symbolic moonshot off Blaine Neal to break up the shutout, and the Americans stayed on semifinal pace with a 9-1 victory."

Jim Lefebvre is the manager of China?

That's not going to happen again. Until the next time it happens.

At first, I was amazed that he is still having this conversation.

Then, I realized it's like asking a fish to stop swimming:

"Soriano stood and watched his long fly ball hit the left-field wall for a long single in the eighth inning. He didn't run to first base, apparently thinking the ball would clear the fence.

Soriano, who was booed by Cubs fans at Turner Field, was stranded on third base when the inning ended.

'I apologized to him and I apologized to my teammates,' Soriano said after speaking with manager Lou Piniella. 'I said that's not going to happen again.' "

I didn't see the play.

"After a leadoff walk to Joe Mauer, Rasner got Justin Morneau to ground to third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who whipped a throw to second.

Canó caught the ball, but he came off the bag and was charged with an error. Girardi absolved Canó, saying the runner would have been safe either way and that Rodriguez should have thrown to first.

'The umpire said he beat the throw, not that I was off the bag,' Canó said."

I'll buy it.

I'll buy that ARod made a rare mental error.

But it still begs the question: Why is the second baseman not on second base?

What is he accomplishing by holding a baseball near second base?

Like he knew the runner was going to beat the throw by a split-second?

Therefore, why bother actually keeping your foot on the base?

I'm just going to gracefully run through the base so my momentum carries me towards the pitcher's mound. If the throw reaches the base at the same time I reach the base, the baserunner may be out. But I'm not going to slow down or anything.

"You get it."

Felzpoll

What is Robinson Cano looking at?

1) The baseball. Since he's playing playing professional baseball.

2) Replays on the scoreboard of Michael Phelps going for a gold medal.

3) Fourth place.

Do the tighten up.

"Not only did the Yankees not get a runner past first base from the second inning through the seventh, they made two errors -- a throw that went through the webbing of Jason Giambi's glove and Robinson Cano's leaving the base too early on a force play -- had Johnny Damon throw to the wrong base after a sacrifice fly, Melky Cabrera drop a fly ball for a gift hit and Cano and shortstop Wilson Betemit both cover second on a stolen base."

Joe Gir-orre.

Didn't see that coming.

Girardi's team is going through the motions and he sounds like a lunatic:

“The problem is we’re not winning. Not the teams in front of us,” manager Joe Girardi said. “Nothing says we can’t turn things around and win eight in a row. It’s happened before and I don’t see why it couldn’t happen again.”

Ponson may have been play-acting, but he seemed legitimately upset about the loss. Probably the only person in pinstripes who was legitimately upset about the loss.

ARod may have been out and he may have been safe.

It may have been a smart play and it may have been a stupid play. Though, after being bombarded all weekend with the notion that the Angels are winning because they're "aggressive" on the basepaths, I think most detractors are being somewhat hypocritical.

Whichever side you agree with on this particular debate, we can all agree that ARod slid:

"... when Xavier Nady grounded hard to third, Abreu got a late break off third and unsuccessfully tried to dance around the tag by Mike Napoli - who had left his feet for Chone Figgins' high throw - when a clever slide might have allowed him to score. Robinson Cano then hit into a double play."

I think it was quite clear that Cano's first-inning double play would cost the Yankees the game. It was also interesting to see Cano get a late start out of the batter's box and sort of trot down to first base.


As for Abreu, all he had to do was slide. You know, like a little leaguer would do.

Instead, Abreu flinched when he saw the catcher reach for the incoming throw.

Abreu was afraid he was going to get hit by the ball.

Then, instead of sliding, he sort of ran out of the baseline and gently allowed himself to be tagged out.

I don't get it.

Barry Bonds to Joe Torre:

"It's weird for me not to be in uniform with the Dodgers right there. You heard me Torre, I beat you before and I can beat you again. I haven't retired. Thank you."

What is Bonds talking about?

When did he beat Torre?

The only thing I can think of is, like, the Pirates beat the Cardinals in a regular season game in 1992.

Bench him and don't apologize.

"I think he's a better offensive player than he's displayed," Girardi said. "I think Melky can have a strong last 50 games for us. He's a line-drive hitter who will hit some home runs. It's important he gets on base because he can do some things. But he has to get on base more."

Did you say, "do some things"?

Joe Girardi is sounding a lot like Joe Torre.

You people.

Derek Jeter's career is over and the Yankees shouldn't re-sign him when he becomes a free agent in two years:

"I have heard and read plenty of comments in recent weeks criticizing Derek Jeter for his play this year, with some fans even going so far as to say his career is over and the Yankees shouldn’t re-sign him when he becomes a free agent in two years.

...

Since 1996, only one player – Alex Rodriguez – has scored more runs than Jeter. A-Rod has 1,552 runs scored to Jeter’s 1,437, and shen you consider that Rodriguez has hit 336 more homers than Jeter in that time – scoring a run on each of those homers, obviously – it makes Jeter’s run total even more impressive."

Huh?

Hitting fewer homeruns is more impressive?

It's more impressive to rely on a teammate to drive you in?

Teammates like Alex Rodriguez? Who hits lots of homeruns?


"One particularly pessimistic (and possibly delusional) fan even said that Jeter hasn’t had any great moments in his career, and that the Yankees’ title teams were highlighted by memorable plays from the likes of Scott Brosuis [sic], Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez and Bernie Williams, but not by Jeter.

Um, really?

Let’s look at a handful of Jeter’s top moments and see if any of them can be classified as memorable."

Let's not.

That seems like a waste of time, especially since you just described your debate opponent as delusional.


This is one of the weirdest articles I've read in a while. Defending Derek Jeter in New York is like defending italian ices in the summer.


Jeter is a great player who will go into the HOF. He is also having a subpar year. These two notions are not mutually exclusive.

Say goodnight to the Cabrera era.

Melky is benched for the third game in a row. This time, Girardi actually puts Damon in CF rather than sink the lineup with another guaranteed 0-fer.

I always found it amusing when pundits would point out that a .250 batting average would be okay as long as he played a good CF.

A .250 batting average is always okay if you can enhance it with patience, speed, or power.

A .250 batting average is not okay if you also have a .251 on-base percentage and a .252 slugging percentage.

Wish I'd thought of it.

"Damon CF
Jeter GIDP
Abreu RF
A. Rodriguez DH
Giambi 1B
Nady LF
Cano 2B
I. Rodriguez C
Betemit 3B
Ponson RHP"

It's the pitcher, it's the pitcher, it's the pitcher.

"Andy Pettitte was so uncomfortable pitching to Pudge Rodriguez in his previous start that he asked Yankees manager Joe Girardi to use Jose Molina in last night's game against the Texas Rangers.

...

Having his favorite catcher behind the plate didn't help Pettitte, who allowed five runs in five innings as the Rangers beat the stumbling Yankees 8-6."

Mets just got a lot less interesting.

Another interesting performance by Billy Wagner.

Innings Pitched: 1.

Hits: 3.

Runs: 2.

Earned Runs: 2.

Bases on Balls: 1.

Strikeouts: 2.

Blown Saves: 1.


Fascinating stuff.

Abreu is the Yankees' Offensive MVP.

"I think I started losing interest in A-Rod's marital situation after about the second day of headlines."

Besides you, nobody on the sports pages mentions ARod's marital situation.


"If you do the math, shouldn't Madonna have just adopted A-Rod?"

I really have no idea. Because I started losing interest in ARod's marital situation after about the second day of headlines.


Maybe if you paid attention to actual baseball, you wouldn't say ignorant things about baseball:

"Alex Rodriguez has his numbers, because he can always hang numbers on you in good times and bad, and he hit one out yesterday against the Angels. But he has not yet carried the Yankees yet the way he is paid to."

I keep hearing how ARod's doesn't seem to be having a good season.

I watch the games and, to me, he seems to be having a good season.

Because he is having a good season.


"They still have enough big names and big contracts in their batting order and that is why it is almost bewildering that, at this point in the season, it is so difficult picking an offensive MVP for them. Right now the closest to that, the player doing the job you expect him to do, is the guy hitting between Jeter and A-Rod, Bobby Abreu."

Mike Lupica just said Bobby Abreu is the Yankees' offensive MVP.


Abreu is .286/.360/.478, 15 hrs, 75 rbis, 66 runs in 107 games.

He's lucky enough to be batting in between Jeter and ARod and he can not take advantage of this.

Abreu is the worst #3 hitter in the major leagues.

He is paid close to $20 million and the worst-fielding starting right fielder in the history of Yankee Stadium


ARod may be the MVP of the AL. I wouldn't give it to him because he missed three weeks. As for MVP of the Yankees -- as for offensive MVP of the Yankees -- it's not even close.

ARod is hitting .325 (more or less leading the league)/.407/.609, 24 hrs, 66 rbis, 66 runs in 90 games.

Throw in 15 out of 16 in stolen bases.

Throw in a gold glove at third base.


Abreu is not carrying the team. Abreu is a chump. Put Nady out there every day and he'd get 100 rbis, too. David Dellucci would probably get 100 rbis and he'd play a much better outfield.

In his next 81 at-bats, if ARod gets 10 hits (.123), minus-8 homeruns, 9 rbis, and 0 runs scored, then he would match Abreu's offensive stats.

BFF.

This picture was taken when Torre was managing the Yankees and Ramirez played for the Red Sox.

Kind of makes you hope Joba knocks Youkilis's teeth out one of these days.