I suppose it's better than the Mets, who didn't care at all.

You know the stereotype of a female reporter getting all emotional?:

"No I was okay actually until I went into the clubhouse and the coaches are sitting in Torre’s office and they are watching this. And the tears you hear in my voice are coming down the faces of the coaches in that coach's room."

Betcha didn't know Paul O'Neill was a role player.

"The Yankees have stars. Lots of stars. They have Alex Rodriguez, who has 518 more home runs than your local auto mechanic, but just as many championships."

They have Chien-Ming Wang with a playoff ERA so high, it can get into Barely Legal magazine.

"What they do not have enough of are the productive role players who lend invaluable depth and breadth to a team's clubhouse and effort. They have not had a Paul O'Neill or Scott Brosius or Tino Martinez."

O'Neill -- Great player. Zero World Series homeruns.

Brosius -- Awesome World Series MVP in 1998. If Brosius was the Yankee third baseman this year, the Yankees would have been in fourth place.

Tino -- Not only have the Yankees had players like Tino Martinez, they had Tino Martinez. In 2005. Not surprisingly, he hit .000 in the playoffs that year.

Not too shocking given his .231 career playoff batting average.

Funny.

I asked a buddy of mine if he'd ever heard of Ross Ohlendorf or Bronson Sardinha. He had not.

I don't care if I spelled the names incorrectly. They're not worth looking up.


Wang deserved the game #1 start. I know he can't pitch on the road, but he'd better learn.

Wang was making his third career postseason start.

When MLB.com hyped up the Yankees-Indians series, they showed grainy photographs of dead players wearing wool uniforms. Not Indians players, of course, but, you know, the Yankee "ghosts" with the mystique and the aura and the whatnot.

The Yankees are therefore experienced.


The Indians won more games than the Yankees this season.

The Indians sent the best 1-2 pitching combination in the American League against a team that has not gotten out of the first round since 2004.

The Indians aren't intimidated by Luis Vizcaino, as an example -- why should they be? Because Vizcaino wears the same uniform as players who won World Series title a bunch of times?


Maybe the Yankee failures in the playoffs is just the odds evening out or maybe it's just the better team winning year after year.

I just can not quite comprehend the continuing intellectual laziness: "The Yankees know how to win and they're the Yankees."

Stop acting all surprised when they lose.

Misleading stat of the night.

Batting average with runners in scoring position:

Yankees .333 (1-for-3).

Indians .125 (2-for-16).

Take the "lovable" out of "lovable losers."

I'm actually quite amazed by the willingness of the Mets players to openly admit their apathy.

Seventh Heaven.

While Mike Lupica examines the Mets' 2007 season with some pointless and bizarre numerology, Tim Marchman offers some thoughtful observations.


Randolph is apparently a well-liked person.

I even heard Peter Gammons inexplicably defend Randolph by describing him as "dignified," which struck me as faintly racist, to be honest. Gammons probably doesn't have a racist bone in his body. But it just sounded like one of those statements where the addendum "for a black man" is left unspoken.

Point is, Randolph is simply not a good manager.

Best case, even if Randolph is generally a good manager, or if Randolph has the potential to be a good manager, Randolph was an abysmal manager in 2007:

"This is the second time in three years he's presided over a late-season catastrophe — in 2005 the Mets were 1.5 games out of a playoff spot on August 26 and then lost 16 of 20 against weak competition — and his reasonableness no longer seems a virtue. Every day, his reticence seems a bit more like the silence of someone who's figured out the best way to keep people from realizing he doesn't quite know what he's doing.

...

The mathematical fact that the odds against this collapse were 1-in-500 is astonishing, but it's so abstract a figure that it tends to exculpate the guilty. ('499 times out of 500, Willie Randolph gets his men to the playoffs!') For a team, or some large important part of it, to visibly lose their will to win right there on the field is something else, that isn't easily forgiven."

In response, Mike Lupica said, "Seven, seven, seven, seven. I like turtles."

The letter I almost wrote to Michael Kay.

Then I decided the last thing I needed was a conversation with Michael Kay.

Or an FBI trail of my emails to Michael Kay.

Besides, I've got a blog!:

"Hi Michael Kay,

Why did you stop describing uniforms? That was cool. You should start doing that again.

This is more of a correction than a question.

Earlier this week, you were defending Willie Randolph's 'winning pedigree' by pointing out his collection of six Championship rings.

Was Randolph third base coach for the Torre-era rings? I don't actually remember. Maybe bench coach. Maybe first base coach. Basically, not playing and not making any important decisions. Meh.

As a player, Randolph hit .222 in the playoffs, .181 in the World Series, and even worse in 1977.

Randolph didn't even play in the 1978 playoffs -- I'm sure you remember Brian Doyle filling in. Brian Doyle hit over .400 and is so famous as a result, Mets broadcaster Ron Darling recently referred to him as Denny Doyle. Which is pretty close. Darling got one name right and, for Darling to remember one of your names, you must have done something quite astonishing.

Yesterday, Keith Hernandez forgot the name of the closer on the Phillies. That was funny. You'd probably never forget the name of the closer on the Phillies.

Regards,
Felz"

Tom Glavine probably gave a dignified postgame interview.

"This time, it was a photograph of the fifth-inning brawl from yesterday. At the top of the page, this quote from Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who left yesterday’s game with a sore hand, was typed out: 'I don’t care if it’s broke. I’m gonna play tomorrow.' The quote then continued with two sentences, accompanied by expletives, saying how the Marlins would be [sic] the Mets. At the bottom of the page, it was written, 'It’s Never a Good Idea to Wake the Sleeping Mets' and 'Someone Pays Today.'"

Randolph is the Manager of the Year.

"In the context of the article":

"The source of Wagner's anger was a quotation that, in the context of the article, made him sound as if he didn't believe Randolph or Peterson were any help to his success.

'We've been throwing four innings a night -- for months!' Wagner told the magazine. 'Our pitching coach has no experience talking to a bullpen. He can help you mechanically, but he can't tell you emotions. He has no idea what it feels like. And neither does Willie. They're not a lot of help, put it that way.'"

Where exactly were you getting ice?

Lo Duca's tough guy act suddenly makes sense. He's overcompensating:

"I was in the training room getting ice and was trying to zip up my pants as quick as I could to get out there."

The Mets have dug their own beds.

That's exactly what a flustered Gary Cohen said during the introduction to today's game.

This quote was easy to find.

All I had to do was check the game log and find one of the times the Phillies swept the Mets this season.

This gem from August 31:

"We'll get our chance to come back and take care of these guys," Lo Duca said. "They're dancing around the field now, but we'll see what happens when the time comes."

The glue and also the man.

I don't even know why I'm doing this, but I stumbled across a random Wright-for-MVP argument:

"Overall dominance. 30 105 .322/.414/.550. 41 doubles. 34 steals in 39 attempts."

That is not dominant in any of those categories. He's top ten in a lot of offensive categories. The opposite of dominant. Rather, he's sort of an offensive jack-of-all-trades, master of none.


"Hitting with RISP. Wright is hitting .313/.439/.560. He’s actually a better hitter with RISP."

Well, the batting average is lower, but, whatever.


"Overcame a very slow start."

April counts when determining the 2007 MVP. As long as we're talking about April 2007.


"Carlos Delgado has been awful. Beltran has decreased his OPS this year by over 100 points. Jose Reyes down almost 50. Moises Alou has only played in 82 games. Which makes Wright’s performance all the more impressive."

Delgado has been awful, that much is true.

The other points are not points at all.

Beltran is "down?" What does that mean? Compared to what? Beltran's 2006? That's why D. Wright is the NL MVP in 2007?

Beltran has more homeruns and rbis than Wright in 20 fewer games. Plus, Beltran is a better defender at a more important position. Beltran's OPS is down and he's still better than Wright.

Is that a convincing Wright-for-MVP argument?

Alou has only played in 82 games but has hit .340 in those games.

Rollins scored 100 million runs for the third year in a row even though Utley and Howard spent time on the DL.

Every team has players who are on the DL and other players who are disappointing.


"Wright’s OPS? Up over 50 points from last year."

I'm baffled by this tack.

Are we discussing Most Improved Player or Most Valuable Player?

Is Carlos Pena the MVP of the American League?


"He’s been the glue, the man and any other superlative you can add to him."

Okay, but Prince Fielder has been the glue, the man, and the Thing from the Fantastic Four.

Also, Prince Fielder has been "any other superlative you can add to him."

What I'm saying is, go ahead and add any superlative you want to Prince Fielder and Prince Fielder has been that superlative.


Also, I don't know if this counts for anything, but, down the stretch, the Mets are coming apart at the seams in an embarrassing manner. If Wright is the glue, maybe he's the same glue they used in the Ted Williams tunnel.


"He’s hit 9 of his homers against Atlanta and Philly. You’d think he would be pounding the lesser teams but he has hit only 3 against Washington and Florida."

A whole nine, huh?


"In New York they are marveling at his improvement on defense."

I guess one guy, David Lennon, is marveling at Wright's improvement on defense, but 21 errors is a heck of a lot.

David Lennon is "in New York." I will concede that point.

But, again, what difference does it really make if Wright improved?

This is a discussion of the 2007 season and the relative value of the NL baseball players in 2007. While Wright is a legit superstar -- 30 and 100 is nothing to sneeze at -- there is no way he is the best player in the NL in 2007.

He was the glue that held the team together, or something like that.

Carlos Beltran has more homeruns and runs batted in than David Wright.

Jose Reyes has more runs scored and stolen bases.

Moises Alou has a higher batting average.

Forget about leading the league. I tried to find an important statistical category where D. Wright led his own team.

I finally found it.

Apathy means never having to say you're sorry.

Predictions are stupid in the first place. I was right about the Astros, wrong about the Blue Jays. Who cares? So I was wrong about the Blue Jays.

Dan Graziano predicted the Yankees would not come back and make the playoffs.

Now it's time to eat humble pie, eat crow, and various other cliches.

When you think about it, though, these apologies are arrogant and self-serving gestures:

"Actually, I expected it to be worse. Maybe you've all just been waiting for the Yankees to officially clinch their playoff spot, and the next few days will bring a barrage of angry, sarcastic, corrective e-mails about that June 29 column that pronounced their season dead. If they do, fair enough."

Dan, there's no outrage because nobody cares about what you have to say in the first place.

Moises Alou, Motivational Speaker.

"Win one for the Gipper." -- Knute Rockne.

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going." -- Billy Ocean.

"Damn, it would have been nice if we got that win today." -- Moises Alou.

Felzball's first poll.

Alex Rodriguez is:
	Best Yankee ever.
	Best human being ever.
pollcode.com free polls

I am inclined to disagree.

Just so we're all clear on the award in question, it's called "Manager of the Year" and not "Manager of the Second Half":

"SECOND RUNNERUP:

Joe Torre, New York Yankees. Managers with absurd payrolls and rich in All-Stars don't generally gather many post-season plaques, but Torre has survived a crazy baseball summer in the city that defines crazy."

It's been one wild, wacky, crazy baseball summer ... all in the city that defines crazy!


"The tabloids had him fired last fall, then again in the spring."

I wish the tabloids had the authority.


"In his first five games, Torre started Carl Pavano, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Kei Igawa and Darrel Rasner. Among seven or eight starting pitchers, there were about 10 healthy hamstrings. Remember Tyler Clippard? Matt DeSalvo? Chase Wright? All Yankees starters."

Alex Rodriguez? Derek Jeter? Jorge Posada? Hideki Matsui? Bob Abreu? Mariano Rivera?

Which reminds me: Why is Abreu still batting third? Can anybody anywhere justify this?


"They were 6½ games out in April, 14½ in May, 13½ out in June, and still as many as 7 out in September."

Manager of the year!

Television Prison.

While sitting with the Con Ed Kids in the alcohol-free adjunct of Yankee Stadium known as the Left Field Bleachers, I was pondering why Torre didn't pinch-hit for Giambi in the fifth inning.

Across the street, Stan's Sports Bar provided a clear view of the game from the vantage point of a cameraman instead of the cloudy vantage point of a bunch of old men who forgot their glasses and were sitting 650 feet away from home plate.

Stan's Sports Bar also provided the opportunity to abandon the masculine $5 garbage bag / poncho and embrace a cold alcoholic beverage.

Baseball and Beer: Perfect Together.

Two of the Party of Five headed to Stan's after four innings.

The remaining Con Ed Three got to see ARod hit a go-ahead, two-out, bases-loaded double in the sixth inning. I saw the pitcher throw and I saw the batter swing. I heard the crack of the bat about the same time that Jeter was crossing home plate. It's kind of like when you see lightning and try to count to five before you hear the thunder.

Though not aligned with the audio input, the visual input indicated that the ball was in fair territory and, based on the delayed Doppler Effect of the crowd reaction, I was able to realize that something good was happening.

Anyway, Giambi's fifth-inning strikeout led to an overall Giambi discussion.

In answer to the first question, Giambi has 235 at-bats and Ball Thief has 144 at-bats. That is to say, Giambi has more at-bats. Good trivia question for the next time you're at a sports bar.

Next time you're at a sports bar, you might also want to tell Pam ... was that your name? Pam? ... that you actually attend the University of Michigan and it's not just a tee shirt that says "University of Michigan."

Pam is inebriated. You could tell Pam you go to University of Michigan, got a 4.0 in aeronautical engineering, and now you're the mayor. Of Michigan, honey. Yes, the mayor of Michigan. Do you want a jello shot?

But I digress.

I understand Torre's choices at first base, I really do:

Good field, no hit: 144 at-bats, .257, 5 hrs, 22 rbis, .329 ob%, .417 slugging%.

No field, no hit: 235 at-bats, .238, 16 hrs, 36 rbis, .355 ob%, .447 slugging%.

Which is why Ball Thief is the first choice.

Not because Ball Thief is really, really good.

Because Giambi is really, really bad.

The psychology of disappointment.

As far as I'm concerned, ARod and Magglio are sure shots for 1-2 in the AL MVP voting. The discussion then moves on to the top five or the top ten. Perhaps not an interesting discussion for some, but it's interesting to me.


There is a player who plays on a team with the best record in the league (more or less). His scoreboards stats are .319, 31, 107. His respective ranks for these categories are 7, 3, and 7.

He also has 107 runs scored (7), a .434 ob% (1), and a .593 slugging percentage (3).

On top of this, his vaunted 1-2 punch counterpart has either been injured or been eh.


Of course, I am talking about David Ortiz.

I may be misreading the General Consensus, but Ortiz doesn't seem to be generating much MVP buzz whatsoever.


I know Ortiz set the bar exceedingly high the previous three years.

But, when it comes to MVP consideration, players should be judged against other players in the same league in the same year. They shouldn't be judged harshly against unrealistic expectations.

It's the pressure of hitting homerun number 517.

Ba dum bum.

"A man on crutches wearing a Jose Reyes T-shirt was ejected - but not arrested - for throwing a ball from the third-base stands onto the field in the eighth inning last night. The ball struck Aaron Heilman on the left forearm as the Mets reliever was taking the mound."

The guy on crutches seems to have good aim. Maybe the Mets should try him in the ninth inning.

ARod may be an attention whore ...

... but at least ARod can hit.

Yay!

If a prominent role is playing first base and batting ninth, then I agree.

I also can't argue with Joe Torre's riveting assessment of baseball players and their relationship with baseball games:

"He's had an effect on our games."

Found one writer.

I don't necessarily agree that Peavy is the NL MVP. It just seems like he deserves to be mentioned more prominently.

I also happen to like this guy's comments about D. Wright:

"The New York lobby, as provincial as it is influential, has lately been leaning toward Mets third baseman David Wright. Wright is a fine player by any standard, a core component on the league's best team. Yet as of the start of yesterday's games, he ranked no higher than fourth in any significant statistical category.

Not only that, any objective appraisal would place Wright a distant second among the third basemen in his own town, where Alex Rodriguez also works.

Thus if David Wright really stands out above the competition, somebody else must be stooping."

NL MVP?

A player who is winning the Triple Crown for a playoff team, yet seldom mentioned as an MVP candidate.

I definitely have a new favorite player.

Couple of things, you gutter punk:

1) Don't get autographs of Yankee players. In fact, don't get autographs of Red Sox players. Read a book or learn how to talk to girls.

2) Your parents named you "Griffin." No Yankee player can ever play a bigger prank on you than that.

Bad Player Makes a Good Play.

"UPDATE, 8:33 p.m.: All the Doug Mientkiewicz haters say you’re sorry. It would be 3-0 if not for that play."

Mark Teixeira couldn't make that play?


Even if Ball Thief was Torre's best choice amongst a lot of bad choices ... and Ball Thief isn't Torre's best choice ... I think the anti-Ball Thief sentiment is always framed in its proper context.

The observation from the "haters" is that the Yankees are embarrassingly awful at 1b/dh, and have been all year

Worse, these positions should be easy to fill because they are not challenging defensively.

Everybody knows that Giambi's defense is abhorrent and his offensive contributions no longer justify his presence on the field. Giambi has degenerated into a dh who bats sixth or seventh, for Cripe's sake.

The other first basemen on Torre's bench simply can not hit. Ball Thief may be the best fielder of the bunch, but when your competition is Andy Phillips and Wilson Betemit, it's a competition that should be taking place in Scranton-Wilkes Barre.

Arguing about which Yankee 1b is better is like arguing if you'd prefer a punch in the nose or a kick in the groin.


I'm not quite sure why Ball Thief attracts such a following with the beat writers.

The rest of us wonder why the Yankees released Josh Phelps in the first place.

Let's Go Yankees.

I know that most of the world only pays attention to the Yankees when they play Red Sox or the Mets, and I know that winning the division has its advantages.

But while I've heard a lot about a six-man rotation and getting the rotation set up properly for the playoffs, I'd like to remind my reading audience (Hi, Mom!) that, if the Yankees lose tonight, their wild-card lead over the Tigers will be a slim 1.5 games.

Gee, do you think race has something to do with it?

This country doesn't hate steroids, cheating, or even dog fighting.

We hate people who are uppity.

Does he think he's a good baseball player, or something?

"The game continued on its downhill spiral for the Mets when Lo Duca fumed at a called third strike to end the ninth. After arguing for a few seconds, he started to walk away. But he continued to talk, and that earned him an ejection from plate umpire Paul Emmel.

'If you're going to throw me out, throw me out with your face to me,' Lo Duca said. 'Don't throw me out when I'm walking away.' "

If I understand the description of events correctly, you were thrown about because you were walking away. Like, Lo Duca was unwilling to speak to the umpire's face and this was perceived as disrespectful.

Lo Duca fascinates me.

I can't recall a player with such a difference between the size of their bat and the size of their mouth.

I wish I could take him literally.

The Yankees are not going to win the AL East and this weekend's series with Boston has no juice. I'm not sure why Lupica is leading the hype. It's so unlike him.

Are the Yankees posing as underdogs? I'm unaware of this narrative:

"For the last time, this Yankee team isn't a 'Rocky' movie."

I suspect that will not the be the last time Lupica uses that line. I can anticipate this Sunday's "Shootin' From The Lip.":

" 'The Little Engines That Could' were supposed to sweep Boston this weekend. Instead, their AL East comeback hopes were swept away. Like General (Betray Us) Petraeus sweeping the truth about Iraq under a Congressional rug of lies.

The Great ARod was supposed to hit eleven homeruns onto Lansdowne Street, piercing blows into the heart of New England: Rocky-like.

Balboa, that is.

I know Theo is unhappy with the signing of J.D. Drew. In fact, J.D.'s numbers this season are not how anybody Drew them up. But that hit J.D. got off Joba on Saturday may have changed the course of major league baseball forever.

Not since Kevin (Game Seven) Brown has a Yankee had a more boring name than Philip Hughes.

For my money, Zac Efron is the hottest teenage boy since the short one in Kriss Kross.

By the way, was that Kriss? Or was that Kross?

Brian Cashman has lots of Cash, Man.

Again: A man with cash.

For the last time: He is a real Cash Man.

Stop saying negative things about Eli Manning, please.

September 11, 2001 changed the course of our nation. For the first time in recorded history, politicians were able to exploit a humanist tragedy.

It all started with two Jets.

Two Jets in New York.

Jets.

New York.

Six years later, we refer to that anniversary as Patriot's Day.

Six years later, two more Twin Towers are under attack, this time by the Patriots.

As Belichick's cronies roamed the sideline with their James Bond gadgetry, the twin towers of Integrity and Fairness imploded.

Ground Zero for Fair Play.

Against the Jets from New York.

Jets.

New York.

On Patriot's Day.

The next time Jose (Don't Call Me Al) Reyes does something on the baseball field that I don't like, it will be the first time."

You know who drives me crazy sometimes? Joe Torre.

"Nurturing this particular link has been a challenge for Torre, who so deftly has managed many other superstars. But where he grew along with the likes of Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera, where he quickly clicked with big-ticket additions such as Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi and Mike Mussina, the A-Rod phenomenon was just different.

'I think he has been the hardest, only because I've never had somebody who was just a lightning rod like he is and at the center of everything, good, bad or indifferent,' Torre said. 'I try to speak in a positive way about everybody and maybe a lot of times I didn't take the right road with him because I wasn't sure. I was trying to find a way to make him comfortable. But his eyes right now are just without strain for me.' "

This is the "challenge" of managing Alex Rodriguez:

1. Bat him fourth every game.
2. Sit back and watch.

What consequences, exactly?

Ken Rosenthal writes a bunch of blah blah blah.

But what will really happen to MLB if it does not get tougher on steroids?

"Enough already. The Steroid Era continues to be marked by lying, finger-pointing and cover-your-rear actions and policies."

And record-setting attendance all around.

"The only solution — an all-out, multi-million dollar effort to clean up the sport — rarely is even discussed, much less given serious consideration.

If the players and owners lack the will for such a fight, they do not deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Lead or face the consequences."

Such as?

Another derisive article from a sportswriter?

Come on, you guys. Please?

Just one game up in the wild card race.

Make that three games up in the wild card race:

"In one of the most dramatic performances by a New York athlete since Reggie hit three homers on three pitches, A-Rod melded elements of Willis Reed, Kirk Gibson and Mr. October to create a September night to remember at Yankee Stadium.

...

And before his night was over, the guy who could barely walk was able to bound up the dugout steps twice to acknowledge the chants of 'MVP!' from the crowd.

...

To think there was a time when it was believed the Yankees could never win a championship with A-Rod. Now, it is obvious they aren't winning anything without him."

Mutually exclusive.

Tom Shearn beats the Mets in his third major league start.

Someone named "bch78" makes the following observation at the nj.com Mets discussion board:

"They couldn't hit a 30-year-old journeyman making his third major league start."

Since you put it that way ...

Jayson Stark joins the debate:

"David Wright

Leads the league in: No major categories."

Try playing in a real league.

"For the first time in 52 years and only the third time in baseball history, both league MVPs may play the same position in the very same city."

For the past 52 years, the only teams that play in the very same city are the Yankees/Mets and Cubs/White Sox. The Mets didn't exist for 7 of those 52 years.


"It's often seen as uncouth and imprudent to call an MVP race in early September, but while the Tigers' Magglio Ordonez and the Mariners' Ichiro are having superb seasons in the AL, there's no realistic reason to think someone other than A-Rod could or should win the award."

By whom are MVP predictions seen as uncouth? Lots of people have been making MVP predictions since before the season even started.


In case you'd forgotten, Jon Heyman does not like VORP:

"While a few VORP devotees and other statistical mavens may pitch for Hanley Ramirez (not me), in my estimation Wright's main competition should come from the Brewers' Fielder and Ryan Braun, the Phillies' Rollins and Chase Utley, the Rockies' Matt Holliday, the Dodgers' Russell Martin and Wright's teammate Jose Reyes. But as of today, of all those players, only Wright and Reyes would be in the playoffs, something else that could put Wright over the top."

Did I miss the mention of Miguel Cabrera, Chipper Jones, Carlos Lee, Albert Pujols, and Ryan Howard?

Wright deserves to be in the discussion. I don't think he's the MVP. I think he's the third-best 3b in his own division. But he's putting up good numbers and it's not an easy call in the NL.

If Wright wins the NL MVP, don't blame Mike Lowell and ARod if they laugh at him. Mike Lowell will finish, like, 15th in the AL voting.

Of all the dramatic things I've ever seen.

Playoff race. Early September. Wild Card opponent. Yankee Stadium. 55,000 fans.

4 innings, 8 hits, 5 earned runs.

This, ladies and gentleman, is what it's all about.

Did he say J.J. Putz is the MVP?

No, he did not.

Becuase J.J. Putz is not Jonathan Papelbon.

Because J.J. Putz plays for Seattle instead of Boston.

While 100% of the non-Mike-Lupica World believes that the ball slipped out of Chamberlain's hand, this is the Unique Red-Sox-Lovin' World of Mike Lupica:

"The Yankees can act as if Joba Chamberlain is the most wrongly accused guy since Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, but guess what?

Throwing over Kevin Youkilis' head in a blowout game the other day, at the end of a three-game sweep, was bush league.

If it was some sort of accident, let's see the next time he puts two over a guy's head on successive pitches."

It may never happen again. Just like a Red Sox rookie may never throw another no-hitter. Just like the Indians may never turn another 5-4-3 triple play (Was that the Indians? It was somebody). Just like Robinson Cano may never cover second base on a relay throw from the outfield. Just like Pat Burrell may never hit 41 homeruns against any other team.

This is the craziest thing Lupica has ever seen in a baseball game?

The most statistically unlikely thing?

I saw Brian Roberts get picked off first base last night when the pitcher on the opposing team was throwing a no-hitter. Let's see the next time it happens. He must have been picked off on purpose.

You know what baseball is? A bunch of colliding accidents. Swinging bunts and check-swing doubles and swinging at pitches in the dirt. Guys saying to themselves, "Don't hit into a double play. Don't hit into a double play. I CAN'T BELIEVE I HIT INTO A DOUBLE PLAY."

The ball slips out of a rookie's hand and Mike Lupica wets his pants because it almost hit one of his beloved Red Sox players.

Duck, pal.


A five run-lead is a blowout game?

I love this stuff, I really do.

As if the Yankees were comfortable losing Chamberlain because they have so much faith in Edwar Ramirez. A walk, a bloop, and a blast. Now it's 5-4 and Mariano isn't warmed up.

This is the Red Sox with a six-game lead in late August.


You want to talk about bush league?

I don't recall a player getting suspended without a warning and without even hitting the batter.

Nice ninth inning.

After the Phillies casually stole three bases in three attempts in the ninth inning, the Mets' catcher talks some trash:

"We'll get our chance to come back and take care of these guys," Lo Duca said. "They're dancing around the field now, but we'll see what happens when the time comes."

Watch a replay of Jose Reyes scoring in the eighth inning. Literally, clapping and prancing as he was running down the baseline. Followed by, I'm quite sure, a choreographed dugout celebration uniquely designed for each of his teammates. In a game which his team eventually lost.

I find it hard to believe that Paul Loduca, of all people, has the audacity to talk so much and so often.

He has 33 runs batted in this year and is being paid $6.25 million.

Pat Burrell homers twice in one game against the Mets.

Pat Burrell hits a homerun against the Mets.

Pat Burrell hits a homerun against the Mets.

What are the Mets doing just three games up on Philly, anyway?

Value Over Replacement Player.

Jon Heyman sets sports analysis back twenty years, and seems quite proud of himself:

"And the day I consider VORP is the day I get out of the business."

VORP is just a concept with a mathematical formula attached to it. I think VORP is an excellent way to determine the MVP.

"Of all the 2007 players in this league, how easily could I replace so-and-so?"

Which isn't VORP precisely, but it's close. VORP is basically judging a player vs. an average player. But you don't need a mathematical formula to compare, say, all the outfielders in the AL.

Which is one reason Jose Reyes's MVP candidacy is hurt by the mere existence of Hanley Ramirez, J.J. Hardy, Jimmy Rollins, etc.

Now, the mathematical formula is simply an attempt to fuse many aspects of the game, including the difficulty of the fielding position. It's not really that big of a deal. In fact, I can guarantee that the VORP rankings correspond very closely to any MVP ranking.

Why would a sportswriter disavow a potentially insightful measurement?


"The idea of the MVP is to honor the player who has had the biggest positive impact on the pennant races."

Says you.

I say it's to honor the best player in the league.


"There goes that VORP again. When the standings are determined by VORP, I think I will take it more seriously. But as you know, they still go by wins and losses."

Duh.

Obviously, standings are indirectly determined by VORP.


"Like I said, I am an admirer of Bedard's. I had him second. Why don't you send your insults to Jim Leyland, who didn't even pick him for the All-Star team?"

So, you're a hypocrite. Bedard has not played under pressure or had any impact on the pennant race. Using your own reasoning, Wakefield should be ahead of Bedard.

Bedard just happens to be a better pitcher.


Let's make this easier, huh?

Vote for the players who are good.

Torre still has the touch.

Torre after last night's loss: "We're fine."

Pat Burrell hits another homerun against the Mets.

Al Leiter just described Mike Mussina's outing as a case of "Murphy's Law."

This column isn't anti-Yankee so much ...

... it's just anti-baseball-knowledge.

Lupica simply does not know what he's talking about:

"Start in Detroit, a couple of days before the Red Sox come to town, the beginning of the last act of what has been the most compelling and dramatic Yankee regular-season in 30 years:"

This season has been the most compelling and dramatic Yankee season in thirty years?

Has Lupica been watching the same season I've been watching?

The Yankees are just an underachieving team, mostly, spurred to mediocrity by a lame duck manager.


"If the Yankees had won a game against the Tigers that started late Friday night and ended at 3:30 Saturday morning, nobody would have been blaming Major League Baseball because of when it started and when it finished, or looking to point fingers as soon as Carlos Guillen's 3-run dinger cleared the fence.

Nobody would have been mad at anybody and Joe Torre wouldn't have been at a loss for words when it was over. Are you kidding? It would have been a brand new episode of 'Yankeeography'!"

Four-hour rain delay seems a bit much, but I don't think the Yankees got too angry about it. Losing tends to be worse than winning.

Though it was odd that the Yankees got mad "props" for playing baseball on Saturday, against the same team that played until 3:30 am the night before. If the Yankees were tired, so were the Tigers.


"Oh sure. If a Yankee had hit the home run Guillen hit for the Tigers, the whole thing would have been classified as an instant pinstriped classic."

Sure.

Point being?


"Give them all props for coming back the way they have, getting up the way they did when they were 14 behind the Red Sox and after some of the dreariest losing streaks of the entire Joe Torre era. Give them all props for the character they've shown getting themselves back into things in the American League East and into the thick of the whole wild-card deal."

I'll give them mad props, homes. Thanks for the 411. What's the dilly with that O.G. from the UNL, yo? You know who I'm talkin' 'bout?

I'm talkin' 'bout Joba.

J to the izz-O, B to the izz-A.


As for the team's character, that's quite an astonishing statement. I don't know how many "props" a team gets for sleepwalking for the first three months of a professional sports schedule.

"The reality of this Yankee team is that if it doesn't make it to the postseason, which would mean the first Yankee team since 1993 not to make it to the postseason, then it underperformed in September the way it did over the first three months of the season."

I don't remember much about the 1994 season, but I can guarantee the Yankees didn't make the postseason in 1994. Though I suppose they would have.


The Yankees could play .650 ball in September and still miss the playoffs. It depends on Boston, Seattle, Cleveland, Detroit, and Anaheim.

Most likely, the Yankees will miss the playoffs AND perform much better than the first three months of the season.

So, Lupica's if-then construct is the opposite of true.


"This is a team that has more firepower in baseball now that Abreu is back hitting the ball again, and Matsui, and Cano and even Giambi. And Melky is having his own career year the way Alex Rodriguez is."

Melky is having a career year in the second year of his career. He had to break the 7 hr, 50 rbi mark, and he somehow did it.


"Have they had to overcome a lot? They have. You think the Mets haven't? The Mets haven't had Pedro Martinez since last summer. What comparable long-term pitching loss have the Yankees had since then?"

Nobody is arguing with you, man. But it doesn't matter, anyway. The standings tell you how good your team played. There's not category for "injuries" or "luck."

"You bet the Yankees suffered early because of all the bad pitchers they had to run out there. But it was a lot more than kid pitchers that put them into that hole, and everybody who has watched the season knows that."

Well, sure. It was everybody not named Rodriguez, Jeter, Posada, Wang, and Rivera.

But let's say it was 100% the fault of kid pitchers.

Who cares?

The Red Sox are 7.5 games up and you care about why? This is compelling and dramatic to you for some reason?

What's your point? If the Yankees miss the playoffs, then they stink? Thanks for the update. I think the rest of us knew this sometime last October.

5*

If Bonds complains about a double standard, he may have a point.

Follow where?

"While the Yankees are involved in two races - the AL East and wild card - there is no avoiding what looms beyond this season."

The Yankees are 6.5 games behind the Red Sox. If that's a race, then the Colorado Rockies are also in the race for the NL West.

$100 to anybody who can name the manager of the Colorado Rockies.


"Joe Torre is doing a wonderful job as a lame-duck manager, and his future will have an impact on what free agents Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens will do following the World Series."

What's funnier?:

(1) "Joe Torre is doing a wonderful job."

(2) The words "Yankees" and "World Series" being used in the same sentence.


" 'I don’t see myself playing for anybody else,' the All-Star told The Post.

So, if Torre leaves, does that mean Posada goes, too?"

To where? A team that hires Joe Torre in the offseason?


"Posada, who will be coming off a career year when he hits a free-agent market devoid of front-line catchers, could command a three-year deal worth $42 million. And the 36-year-old switch-hitter may only have to look as far as Queens to get it."

Oh.

So the Mets are going to fire Willie Randolph and hire Joe Torre.

Then, with the hiring of Joe Torre, the Mets will lure Posada, Rivera, Clemens, and Pettitte.

Does Omar Minaya know about this?

All that money.

"If Alex Rodriguez opts out of his contract after this season, the insist they won't try to re-sign him.

'How can we? We lose all our money from Texas,' Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday.

...

Rodriguez is owed $24 million in each of the next three seasons by the Yankees, with Texas offsetting about $21.3 million of that."

What $21 million is worth to the Yankees:

1. Rights to negotiate with Kei Igawa.
2. Two Pavano wins.
3. Three Clemens wins.

Ask a stupid question ...

What happens when Mo is no longer Mo?

The Yankees will lose baseball games more often.

In the unlikely event that the Yankee are easily able to replace the greatest closer in baseball history, then it's not a problem.

How unlikely is it that the Yankees will replace the greatest closer in baseball history with another closer who becomes the greatest closer in baseball history?

Very unlikely. That's what the "est" is for.


As for yesterday's wipeout and the typical attendant eulogies, it happens every year. In fact, it's boring by this point. I think Rivera is the only player in baseball history whose career is over every time he has a bad game.


Yesterday, I heard a call to WFAN insisting that Chamberlain should replace Rivera as the closer. Expect more of the same.

Hey, he's Giuseppe Franco.

The day after I linked to the commercial on YouTube:

"The incongruity of the classiest team in sports being sponsored by what seems to be a smoke-in-a-bucket sell is not all that incongruous. After all, John Sterling has been the radio Voice of the New York Yankees for nearly 20 years. Nevertheless it remains an oddity that the New York Yankees can't do better."

Are the Yankees the classiest team in sports?

My earliest memories of the Yankees are Phil Rizzuto proclaiming "This Bud's for you" or "It's Miller time" whenever a Yankee hit a homerun.

Yum.

Beer.


You know, Mushnick poses as a gritty, cynical, dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker. Yet, he doesn't seem to realize that the Yankees are nothing more than dancers in a strip club. The Yankees exist solely to move the merch.

When one visits Yankee Stadium, one may notice that the bathrooms are rather difficult to locate. The $35 Jeter tee shirts are impossible to miss.

"Class" and "tradition" are marketing campaigns, easily disproven, and completely irrelevant. Without money rolling in, the entire team fails to exist and the entire league fails to exist.


I am not sure what type of advertising would strike Mr. Mushnick as "classy" and appropriate for the YES Network. Perhaps Michael Jordan selling underwear? Tiki Barber selling minivans? Viagra?


I can honestly say that the Procede commercials are the best part of Yankee telecasts. Turn down the volume when Kay and O'Neill are blathering their nonsense. Turn it up just to hear Giuseppe say, "I don't own the company ... (dramatic pause) .... I don't know anything ABOUT it."

Giuseppe, I believe you. Giuseppe, you can sell me anything.

Worry about losing your starting job.

"Ramon is here, he's playing well, he'll do a fine job," Lo Duca said. "I'm not worried about that."

	AB	R	H	RBI	BA	OB%	SL%	HR
LoDuca	344	36	92	32	.267	.310	.355	5
Castro	130	20	37	27	.285	.326	.538	9

A Moss Klein article in the Ledger.

Yankees have better record than Mets.

I am amazed that anybody noticed.

Thing is, the Mets are 2.5 up while the Yankees are 5 back (ignoring the wild card for the moment).

So the Mets are 7.5 games ahead of the Yankees, if you ask me.

It's easy to tell who watches the games.

"But in recent weeks, Joe Torre has worked Damon into the left-field rotation. This move has been nothing short of a disaster. Damon looks absolutely lost in left and struggles mightily in reading the ball off the bat."

I saw Damon get completely fooled by a line drive hit by Frank Thomas.

Other than that, Damon has played excellently in left field.

Most observers would agree that he is a better fielder than Matsui. Which sets the bar pretty low. But Damon's fielding is hardly a disaster.

The Court of Public Opinion.

"This is what happens when you are far more interested in protecting the guilty, as the Major League Baseball Players Association has done for years with drugs, than you are the innocent."

Generally speaking, the guilty need more protection than the innocent.


"Alex Rodriguez happens."

Is that how Alex Rodriguez happened? The story about the stork is just make believe?


" '(The union) has never looked to elevate the innocent,' one baseball manager said yesterday. 'And that's as big a reason as any why fans have so much trouble, even now, telling the innocent and the guilty apart.' "

I think it's quiet easy to tell the innocent from the guilty. Or at least have a fairly solid personal opinion. Which is all any of this is. Nobody is being tried in real court.

Not that steroid testing would make it any easier, unless a 100% Perfect Test existed. If Brady Anderson tested negative, I'm not going to believe it, anyway.


"You know the dumbed-down chorus now about how drugs don't matter and the steroid era is over."

Who says says drugs don't matter and the steroid era is over?

Who???

Largely due to Barry Bonds's pursuit of the career homerun record, it seems that I have been bombarded with hand-wringing stories about steroids every waking hour for the past two years.

"Tell Alex Rodriguez, who must have liked the back pages of the city's tabloids yesterday even less than Chipper Jones did, even if A-Rod's only crime so far is being the youngest to ever get to 500 home runs in the big leagues."

Biggest crime so far.

But the FBI has some shocking porpoise-smuggling allegations.


"It is something you have heard before about the Mitchell investigation. Rafael Palmeiro, a positive drug test, was there, Canseco was there. And A-Rod was there, but after Canseco. Innocent and guilty, all under the same great big tent."

Fair enough.

You know who else is guilty by association? Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn. They played with a guy who knew a guy.

It's all under one big tent. Innocent is the new guilty, right is the new wrong. Jose Canseco is the new Solomon, Mike Lupica is the new Themis.


"To this day the union talks about wanting to clean up the sport and then acts as a human shield between its players and Mitchell. These guys say they are protecting these players. How are they doing with A-Rod, as big a star as they have? How well are they protecting him?"

There is no need to protect ARod.

This is all court of public opinion and, in the court of public opinion, ARod is innocent.

At least when it comes to steroid use. He's guily of not being Derek Jeter. But the vox populi is sated when it comes to the size of his head.

Maybe they are fanboys of logic.

"It’s amusing that when I mention that A-Rod just may have done something wrong, the love-struck fanboys respond then go back to the basement to read more comic books."

Wow.

This guy just went after the people who comment on his blog.

This guy:




"My point is only this: A-Rod yelled at Howie Clark with the Yankees up by three runs in the ninth inning back on May 30. It was a needless thing to do."

It was one of the smartest baseball moves I've ever seen. The team was seven games under .500, if I remember correctly.

F. the Blue Jays.


"Whether it was right or wrong, it obviously angered Toronto. The result is that he’s missing a game and Clemens could get suspended. So was it worth it? I don’t see how."

Nice logic. As if Josh Towers is not to blame. As if ARod could have known the dufus at 3b would drop the ball and that he'd get hit with a pitch ten weeks later.

I don't even care if ARod misses one whole game. It was definitely worth it. Every run is important. With this bullpen, is any lead safe?

If nothing else, the Yankees rallied around their teammate and showed some rare emotion last night.

They were almost as excited as Peter Abraham when he gets a bottle of baby oil, a bacon double cheeseburger, and an early edition Wonder Woman comic.

Born thirty years too late.

This guy belongs on a team with Munson, Nettles, and Cliff Johnson:

"As further compensation for A-Rod's pain, Shelley Duncan took out shortstop John McDonald so hard that the glove went flying off his hand, but McDonald shook it off."

Let's play some hardball.

"Jesse Litsch's first pitch of the second inning went behind Alex Rodriguez's legs, an apparent message. The New York Yankees responded with some hard play -- and another win.

...


Rodriguez slid hard into shortstop John McDonald while trying to break up a double play in the fourth, swiping his left arm in anger, and Johnny Damon collided with Aaron Hill on a forceout in the fifth, appearing to clip the second baseman on the leg."

To be honest, if ARod had spent ten minutes admiring his 500th homerun while I was pitching, I'd probably have met him halfway between third base and home plate.

Here's a high five for you, pretty boy.

Myers not experienced enough.

Joe Torre on Kyle Farnsworth: " 'I think he just needs to have a couple of good outings. He's been around a while, and you see signs of stuff. His slider and his fastball are powerful pitches for him. He just needs to locate on a regular basis, and I think once he gets a couple of good outings under his belt, [he will be fine]. Maybe the road will help him.' "


Though it sounds like Torre could be talking about Mike Myers, I guess not:

"Veteran left-hander Mike Myers was told after the game that he will be designated for assignment.

A published report in the New York Daily News said that Myers was informed of the move by Torre and general manager Brian Cashman shortly before the team left for Toronto.

Myers, 38, was in the second year of a two-year, $2.4 million contract. He had a team-best 2.66 ERA in 55 appearances, but left-handers hit .312 against him."

It speaks.

"Congratulations to Barry Bonds as he ties Major League's Baseball's home run record. No matter what anyone thinks of the controversy surrounding this event, Mr. Bonds' achievement is noteworthy and remarkable.

As I said previously, out of respect for the tradition of the game, the magnitude of the record and the fact that all citizens in this country are innocent until proven guilty, either I or a representative of my office will attend the next few games and make every attempt to observe the breaking of the all-time home run record."

Autobiographical Sports Reporters.

Further blurring the line between subject and observer, Bob Klapisch totally called ARod's 500th homerun and Mike Lupica's son phones in a report of Bonds's 755th.

Amusingly enough, Junior's report of over-the-top mistreatment of Bonds basically contradicts every other firsthand account of the incident.

Which is oddly comforting.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Alex Rodriguez might not hit 800 homeruns.

Quite a brave stance taken by Larry Brooks.

He also displays an in-depth knowledge of the transitive property:

"Rodriguez hits third for the Yankees, and until he hits No. 500, he isn't going to be able to get to 757."

You know what else is odd?

I keep seeing 757 as the mark that ARod is going to shoot for.

As if Bonds is going to stop at 756. Bonds is going to hit two in one game and then end his baseball career mid-inning.

I think Vlad Guerrero just went 125 at-bats without a homerun.

I'm quite sure that Ian O'Connor will find a reason to vote for Guerrero ahead of ARod when it's time to determine the 2007 AL MVP.

I'm also wondering if any sportswriter will refer to Glavine's quest for win #300 as a "long national nightmare."

When I read something like the following, I just have zero idea what the guy is talking about:

"A-Rod is growing A-Fraid of the moment. He's turning this glorious march to 500 homers into an alarming stagger to who knows where.

Rodriguez went 0-for-4 in the 8-1 victory over the White Sox on Wednesday night, and he hasn't gotten a hit in his 21 at-bats since Homer No. 499, equaling the worst hitless streak of his career. If he doesn't become the youngest player to reach 500 by the end of the Yankees' homestand Sunday, Joe Torre said, 'We'll all be in straightjackets.'

Or at least A-Rod will be in one. Let's see Scott Boras negotiate his way out of that.

'I'll hit it sometime before the year ends,' A-Rod pledged.

Would he bet $252 million on that?"

Besides, them's highway miles.

"Joe Torre on Krazy Kyle: 'There’s a good arm there; he knows how to pitch. We just need to get him more comfortable. I still believe Farnsworth is going to be a contributor to this.'

Now before you light torches and gather pitchforks, understand that the manager can’t sit there and bury the guy."

I think we all understand that Torre is lying to the press at all times. It's part of his job.

I don't want to say Torre's lying to the press, but let's just say he's skewing the truth.

See what I just did? That's the way Torre talks. "I'm not saying ARod is a choking loser, but let's just say he's uncomfortable."

But what we don't understand is why the press reverentially refers to Torre as a stand-up guy.

You know this 1975 Volare will break down as soon as you drive it off the lot. But you're listening to EZ Joe, anyway.

It's like the Dust Bowl.

Even taking poetic license into account, referring to Bonds's chase of Aaron as a "long national nightmare" is a bit much.

As the commenters on the comment board point out, if you're so bored and disinterested with Bonds, then why do you constantly write about him?

Is this inning over yet?

White Sox second: Konerko singled to left. Pierzynski singled to center, Konerko to second. Dye doubled to center, Konerko scored, Pierzynski to third. Erstad infield single to first, Pierzynski scored, Dye to third. Uribe singled to center, Dye scored, Erstad to second. D.Richar flied out to center fielder Me.Cabrera. J.Owens safe on fielder's choice and fielding error by second baseman R.Cano, Erstad to third, Uribe to second, J.Owens to first. Cintron grounded into fielder's choice, pitcher Clemens to catcher Posada, Uribe to third, J.Owens to second, Cintron to first, Erstad out. Thome singled to left, Uribe scored, J.Owens scored, Cintron to second. Konerko doubled to left, Cintron scored, Thome to third. Pierzynski singled to center, Thome scored, Konerko scored. Dye doubled to right, Pierzynski to third.

Maybe it's out of habit.

I was at the Yankees game on Saturday, surrounded by many Yankee fans, and they were still talking about the Red Sox and checking the Red Sox scores on their blackberries.

The Red Sox scores are of interest to me because I'm a baseball fan.

I also have interest in the scores of the Dodgers, Giants, Blue Jays, Marlins, etc.

But nobody seemed too interested in the the Tigers, Mariners, and Indians.

The Yankees are not in competition with the Red Sox anymore. The Red Sox are going to win 100 games. The Yankees have been out of the AL East race since May. Eric Gagne didn't seal this deal. Kei Igawa and Mike Mussina and Bob Abreu already sealed the deal.


There was a monkey and a scientist placed some bananas on the other side of a wall. A small hole in the wall allowed the monkey to reach the bananas. The hole was small enough for a flat monkey hand to fit through. But, when the monkey hand clenched and grabbed the food, it could not fit through the hole.

So, there's the monkey, trapped by its own clenched fist, unable to free its hand and also unable to get the bananas. The monkey could only free itself by releasing its grip on the bananas and sliding its unclenched hand through the hole.

That banana is first place in the AL East, the Yankees are the monkey, and the scientist is me.

It's a metaphor, don't you see?

We are not getting first place, people.

Just let it go.

The World Will Never Know.

Yes, it's dumb to try to hit homeruns.

Yes, it's obvious that ARod is trying to hit a homerun and get the 500th over with.

I don't like 0-for-17s by any Yankee player at any time.

But the "heat" is not "on" when the team wins a game 16-3.

If anybody is still questioning ARod's ability to rise to the occasion, then they're ignoring 2007.


Please put down your coffee before you read this next sentence:

"If he can't hit now, how will he manage against Eric Gagne in the AL Championship Series?"

How will ARod do against the Boston Red Sox in the AL Championship Series?

Why?

Is ARod getting traded to the Tigers before the end of the season?

He knows from no-brainers.

I don't think I have to explain why the following people don't belong on Phil Pepe's list of Hall of Fame "no-brainers" -- but I will:

"BARRY BONDS -- He was in before the rumors." So was Mark Mcgwire.

"ICHIRO SUZUKI -- Needs to play only 3 more years to qualify." I'd vote for him, but Japan stats don't count.

"OMAR VIZQUEL -- 12 Gold Gloves, more hits than Ozzie Smith." Actually, Vizquel has 11 gold gloves, unless Pepe is assuming that Vizquel will win another this season. Jim Sundberg has 6 gold gloves. Bob Boone has 7. Mark Belanger has 8. Omar Vizquel is a .275 career hitter whose career high in RBIs is 72.

"No-brainer" means you don't have to think about it. It's unanimous. "No-brainer" is not supposed to mean "I made this list without using my brain."

... and I plan on having a talk with my shrink.

"If Kyle Farnsworth is still with the Yankees today, manager Joe Torre plans to have a talk with him."

Two words: Rick Tocchet.

Oddly enough, this seems to be a fairly common sentiment:

"All the cheating and indictments is starting to turn me off to these sports. If I want to enjoy some good, clean, all-American sports fun I may have to bring myself to do the unthinkable.... watch hockey."

Koby Clemens attends ballgame in Anaheim.

150 & 150.

The last player to score 150 runs and drive in 150 runs in the same season was Ted Williams in 1949.

There's more to this baseball season than Ruben Gotay.

"There is always a lot of high-priced talent in the room, though the price tag is never his price tag."

We all know by now that the Rangers still pay approximately $9 million of ARod's salary.

Which means the Yankees pay ARod approximately $17 million.

Pettitte, Jeter, Giambi all drain the budget more than ARod does. Abreu, Matsui, and Damon aren't far behind.


You know what I say?

I say ARod guns the ball to first and completes the double play. I say ARod manages a sac fly against Looper. I say Torre has six rings, at least, if ARod was on those teams.

Mike Lupica is a desperate man.

May as well try to convince you that the Sun is an overrated star:

"If they don't make it, here is the progression for A-Rod, such as it is, since the Yankees made the big trade for him:

2004: Lose in the ALCS to the Red Sox, blowing a 3-0 lead in the process, the most epic calamity in the history of the organization.

2005: Lose in the first round of the playoffs to the Angels.

2006: Lose in the first round of the playoffs to the Tigers.

2007: Out of playoffs.

Nobody is saying that it is all on A-Rod, because it's not, because we know how the Yankees have pitched in October for a long time. There is always a lot of high-priced talent in the room, though the price tag is never his price tag. But it is also fair to say if he had been MVP Alex in, say, Game 6 against the Red Sox in '04, if he had been MVP Alex against the Angels or the Tigers, he might have his World Series ring already."

Lupica won't mention the record of the Texas Rangers. Please remember that Lupica claimed at the time that the Rangers were better off without ARod than the Yankees were with ARod.

I also like when people ask, "What if the Yankees don't make the playoffs?" Well, if they don't, it damned sure ain't ARod's fault.

If they do make the playoffs?

ARod should take October off and collect double the playoff money.

I got 99 rbis ...

... but a b* ain't one.

That sounded funny when I thought of it. Not so much when I wrote it down.

It was either Jay-Z or Nena.

Those three homeruns must have been hit very far --

-- all the way from Scranton:

"And no, despite great stats, Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan isn't going to get his wish (as stated in yesterday's Scoop) to see son Shelley (who's averaged 24 homers the past four years) called up. Instead, the Yankees have talked about the A's' Dan Johnson and appear more focused on him than Shea Hillenbrand or Scott Hatteberg, who are available."

In times of peace, the warlike man attacks himself.

Mike Lupica often creates bizarre counter-arguments and then disproves them:

"By the way, it is worth repeating that the Yankees have no excuses the rest of the way."

Since day one, the Yankees have had no excuses. It doesn't matter if they did, anyway. Look at the standings to find out how good your team is.


"Not a single one, and please don't talk about Giambi, only saps expect Giambi to have injury-free seasons for the rest of his Yankee career, however long that career lasts."

Weird.

The only time I've heard anybody mention Giambi (Jason, I'm assuming, instead of Jeremy) over the past couple of months is to claim that the Yankees are better off without him.

"I wish everybody would please stop talking about Carlos Almanzar every time the Yankees have a problem with their bullpen."


"The Yankees have the team they were supposed to have, and have added the great season-saver, Roger Clemens.

They have the bullpen they were supposed to have, the closer they were supposed to have, they have all the position players on whom they should have been counting in place."

Well, yeah. The players are in place.

Except for the fact that a lot of these supposedly good players have been bad.

I don't think there are any excuses for that, nor have any been offered up.


"If they don't make the playoffs, then it is on this general manager, this manager, these players. It is on all of them."

Not Posada, Rivera, ARod, or Jeter.


"Guess what?

The Mets have had to overcome more adversity than the Yankees this season."

Well, the Mets are an underachieving $120 million team. That's what gets your batting coach fired. Just not quite as underachieving as the Yankees.

No excuses for the Mets, either.

Only saps expected Pedro and Alou to stay healthy for the lengths of their contracts, right?

It makes for an uncomfortable postgame interview with Kim Jones.

"Wil Nieves didn't know what to think when manager Joe Torre called him into his office after last night's game, but he certainly didn't expect to hear what Torre told him: the Yankees had traded for catcher Jose Molina, and he would be designated for assignment as soon as Molina arrived from the Los Angeles Angels."

Baseball-wise, it's obviously not a huge story, nor a surprise.

But it's still got to stink when Suzyn Waldman, Michael Kay, and the entire metropolitan New York listening audience know about your firing before you do.

He's bad.

That wasn't so tough.

It happened again.

Yankees 6, Blue Jays 4, top of the seventh inning. Scott Proctor pitching to Gregg Zaun with two outs and one on. Zaun walks.

Two on, two out, Yankees up by two.

Matt Stairs pinch hits for Royce Clayton.

Phillips visits the mound to stall. Posada visits the mound to stall. Myers is throwing like a crazy man in the bullpen trying to get warmed up.

Myers can not get warmed up in time, so, instead, Proctor pitches to Stairs.

Now, I know the Yankees won. In fact, Proctor struck out Stairs, luckily for Torre.

That's not the point. The point is, once again, Torre was caught sleeping.

I don't believe this kind of managerial inattention occurs with any other team. I don't recall this kind of managerial inattention occurring in previous seasons with Joe Torre. He's just mailing it in this season.

Seventy-two more games, Whitey.

A regular Knute Rockne.

This sounds like a leader ready to inspire his team to a second-half playoff run:

"Losing is tough enough, but having to explain it when a lot of times you can't explain it, that's tough. Then you throw in the issue of, 'Are you afraid of losing your job?' and all of that, you have to address it and I understand it, but it gets a little old. I'll never be sorry about that [coming back to manage in 2007], because I was enthusiastic coming in. Just because things don't fall into place the way you want, you can't say, 'I wish I didn't do it.' If I didn't do it, I never would have known. If I had sat home, I'd have always wondered if I could have made a difference one way or the other. When I think about winning four out of five World Series, how the hell did that happen? This game is very tough to be competitive all the time, and things like this happen. If it's my last year and this is the way it ends, it's not going to put a damper on my time here because so many good things have happened."

Not only is Torre living in the past, he's referring to the '07 season in the past tense.

I was actually wondering about Ruben Gotay.

I saw a headline about Ruben Gotay and I thought it may be a nice change of pace. These writers with all this access and they very seldom scratch below the surface.

So, what does Mike Lupica have to say about Ruben Gotay?

I'm all ears:

"Gotay is the New York baseball season that is, amazingly, not about Alex Rodriguez and where he will make his $30 million next season.

...

He is in the shadows of A-Rod, the way just about everybody who plays baseball in New York is these days. Gotay makes what he makes in salary at a time when everybody else talks about the salary records that A-Rod is supposed to break, either here or someplace else.

But A-Rod is not the whole baseball season, no matter how much speculation about where he chases his own dreams, usually ones covered by dollar signs, completely dominated by them, next year. Maybe he will decide he is happier here, if the money is right.

Ruben Gotay, who wasn't supposed to be anywhere near A-Rod, or Jeter, or Wright, or Reyes, is happy right where he is. Batting second, playing second, Shea Stadium, New York."

I have my own dream: Witnesssing a Yankee player hit 50 home runs and drive in 150 runs. I doubt if I will ever witness this. But ARod '07 has a shot.


As for the quixotic prose for a backup infielder who earns a mere $400k to play a kids' game: If Ruben Gotay could hit like ARod, Ruben Gotay would get paid like ARod.

That, I believe.

"You really have to let go of the final score because of a lot of times you can't control it. You can only control what you can control, and that's all based on effort," Torre added. "I have no trouble sleeping tonight, other than the final score."

Drink some warm milk.

Get a good night's sleep.

Wake up.

Eat an egg.

Take a nap.

Wake up.

Have some fiber.

Take a nap.

Wake up.

Exercise the brain with the daily word jumble in the newspaper.

Watch some Maury.

Take a nap.

Wake up.

Drive to the ballpark.

Take a nap.

Wake up.

Make a lineup.

Take a nap.

Wake up.

Game starts.

Take a nap.

Wake up.

Think of some good nicknames.

Talk to the press in the post game interview.

Drive home and get ready for another good night's sleep.

"Though the Yankees are underperforming so far this season, it's not A-Rod's fault."

Never say never.

First, read this from July 7th:

"Jose Reyes never stops moving. He makes everyone on the Mets better because of his daily energy, and is the poster person for what high energy players do for their teams."


Then, read this, referring to a July 6th game:

"Manager Willie Randolph pulled Jose Reyes from the 4-0 loss to the Astros after he failed to run out a slow ground ball down the third-base line for the last out of the top of the eighth inning."

Very entertaining interview.

Maybe Mike and the Mad Dog should calm down about the stupid song:

"Rick: Are you a Metallica fan?

Mariano Rivera: 'No.'

Follow up: Do you like the song? (Enter Sandman)?

Mariano Rivera: 'It’s all right. I didn’t even choose it. I don’t even know the lyrics to the song.' "

Don't lose the SI gig.

I don't recall if Heyman was a Yankee beat writer at Newsday. I also don't recall if he was known as a Torre lapdog. It's just hard to imagine any NY metro writer gaining clubhouse access after voicing an opinion such as this:

"AL Maury Wills Award (Worst Manager)

Joe Torre, Yankees. Let me get this right: Mariano Rivera can't come into tie games but he can come in when they're down 5-1? Calling Don Zimmer."

I'm going to dwell on this cup of green tea.

"The nature of the errors - it wasn't like they were sloppy," Torre said. "Guys made diving plays to stop balls. Sure, it cost you a ballgame, but it's certainly not something I'm going to dwell on for sure, because these guys played their tails off."

Paradigm shift.

This score is bad news for Yankee fans.

YES Network polls crack me up every time.

They're blooper polls:

Poll Question: What's the biggest reason behind the Yankees' slump?

Starting pitching
839 Votes (33%)

Bullpen
1708 Votes (67%)

Offense
0 Votes (0%)

He singlehandedly has more homeruns than the entire Yankee outfield.

"Asked directly if the Yankees' lineup 'misses' Gary Sheffield's bat, Torre paused and then retorted, 'Do we miss that? Don't take anything from this, Gary is certainly a good player, but we missed him a long time last year and did well without him. I don't think Sheff would've made a difference here.' "

Plus, all the Yankee first basemen and designated hitters, all put together.

1995 AD was a calendar year that occurred in history.

It was right between 1994 and 1996.

Peter Abraham seem to have conveniently forgotten about 1995, a year in which the Yankees made the playoffs for the first time since 1981.

He also seems to have conveniently forgotten that the Yankees were in first place in the strike-shortened season of 1994.

Winning percentages of .543, .619, and .549 in the years 1993 - 1995. Sounds like a team on the rise, doesn't it?:

"More than anyone else, Torre is responsible for turning a going-nowhere franchise back into the Yankees."

"More than anyone else," Torre is responsible for the Yankee good fortunes in the late '90s. Seriously, that's a downright foolish thing to say.

Mariano Duncan hit .340 in 1996 and deserves more praise than Joe Torre.


My list of the most responsible people:

1. Gene Michael.
2. George Steinbrenner.
3. Mariano Rivera.
4. Bernie Williams.
5. Derek Jeter.
6. Wade Boggs.

...

98. Graeme Lloyd.
99. Joe Torre.
100. Mike Aldrete.
101. Me.


"As each day passes, the Yankees look more and more like a bunch of guys content to cash their checks and move on to the next five-star hotel. The old "today we win" mentality has been replaced by individual agendas.

...

Blame Torre for that if you will. Many ungrateful fans have, harping on whom he chooses to pitch in the seventh inning instead of looking at the bigger picture of what he has accomplished. Torre gave the Yankees championships and class, two things sorely lacking before he showed up in 1996."

1. What does the bigger picture have to do with 2007? For a guy who completely forgot about 1994 and 1995, Abraham sure seems to live in the past.

2. "Blame Torre for the team's attitude if you will." I think the manager of the team is the perfect person to blame.

3. Buck Showalter is as classy as Joe Torre. Joe Girardi seems to be classy. As a bonus, both of them can probably name the starting pitcher on the opposing team.

Just stop talking about your baseball team.

Tell some more anecdotes about Leo Durocher or Bob Gibson. You're good at that.


Joe Torre recently uttered these words:

"Torre returned slumping Bobby Abreu to the No. 3 slot in the batting order, saying, 'I liked his at-bats' in Friday night's 2-1 victory, in which Abreu went 1-for-4. 'I'm more comfortable with him in that spot. This is where I want him to succeed.' "

Today, Robinson Cano is batting third and Bobby Abreu is batting seventh.


No, I don't know why Alex Rodriguez can not bat third. Or why Derek Jeter can not bat third.

No, I don't know why Robinson Cano would bat third, possibly the only worse choice than Abreu. At least Abreu has some patience at the plate and some speed on the basepaths.

No, I don't know why Torre insists of lefty-righty-lefty-right-lefty-righty.


Most of all, I don't know how Joe Torre maintains credibility when he continually says one thing and does another.

Torre is not angry at Cano, Proctor, or Farnsworth. Torre is angry that Pettitte and Posada took matters into their own hands.

Mission 27 in 2009.

"We could be talking fugettaboutit for the next year and 2009, too, when the Yankees move into their new stadium across the street. We're looking at a 1965-type overall decay here, reaching all the way down through the farm system where, thanks to 13 years of fruitless drafts, there is nothing coming in the near future to replenish the lineup."

One of the reasons it has been difficult for the Yankees to draft well is because they've always been drafting last.


"The entire outfield of Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu is clearly past its prime and in need of being replaced."

For one thing, I disagree that Matsui and Abreu are clearly past their prime. Damon may be irretrievably injured. Matsui and Abreu are slumping.

Besides, you want to replace them all? No sweat.

The 2009 Yankee starting outfield will be Kevin Thompson, Melky Cabrera, and Ichiro Suzuki.


"There is no first baseman."

No DH, either.

Even easier to replace than outfielders.


"Nobody wants to talk about the fact that Derek Jeter will be 35 when the Yankees are in the new ballpark in '09 ... "

"Nobody wants to talk about the fact that Derek Jeter will be 35 ... "

Nobody who? I'll bet I could wave a microphone in front of about 100 million American citizens and they would gladly talk about Jeter's age

Besides, Jeter is playing the best baseball in his career. Look around MLB, Bill Madden. Thirty-five is the new twenty-five.


" ... and the silence has been deafening regarding that opt-out clause in Alex Rodriguez's contract. Whereas a couple of months ago the Yankees could smugly say they would not allow themselves to be held hostage by A-Rod, now it may not even be their choice."

I don't even know what to say about this comment.

I hear about the opt-out every day.

The silence you hear is probably the accumulation of endless white noise.

I have a solution, which should be fairly obvious. Sign Prime ARod to an extension.
In 2009, possess the best left side of the infield in the history of baseball.


"Why, after all, would A-Rod want to stay here as a centerpiece of a team in patchwork decay when he could go to a genuine contender in Anaheim and (at least initially) find love?"

Money is why.


"But while good organizations are built around pitching, it takes time (and these days it seems at least one arm operation) before young pitchers start having an impact at the major league level. Top prospect Phil Hughes is a prime example. Good as he may be, the Yankees can't seem to get him on the mound this year. And right now, Joba Chamberlain, Alan Horne and Ian Kennedy are just guys putting up impressive numbers in Double-A - as did Tyler Clippard and Chase Wright in the lower minors last year."

Good. Wang, Hughes, a couple of free agents, and one more minor leaguer. We're set for 2009.


"Ironically, the Yankees don't even have a suitable replacement for Torre, unless you believe Don Mattingly, with no managing experience, is the man to preside over what surely is going to be a difficult next couple of rebuilding years."

What is ironic about that statement?

Besides, the next Yankee manager will be Joe Girardi -- ironically, starting Monday. Hiring Girardi is like rain on your wedding day, a green light when you're already late.

Torre's Last Game.

I know I've made the same prediction previously, but c'cmon ... one hit?

Getting shown up by the likes of Kyle Farnsworth?

Scott Proctor setting his clothes on fire?

Every team the Yankees play is slumping until they play the Yankees.

Posada and Torre used phrases such as "going through the motions" and "phoning it in," though Torre used his typical passive-aggressive reverso-speak: "I'm not saying the players were phoning it in" while the words were coming out of his mouth.

Insisting on batting Abreu third because batting Abreu third makes you "comfortable"?

If you want to be comfortable, grab a seat by the pool with a margarita. You've earned it, old man.