Winning is the only brand.

"Jose Reyes has a smile that stretches from home all the way around to third."

Have you independently verified the awesomeness of Jose Reyes's smile, or are you merely citing Kevin Kernan?


"But of all the things to like about the Mets' third baseman, a particular joy is his joy itself."

Kewl!


"The Mets don't just have a team leading the NL East on the last day of May. They have a brand. Whether Milledge sticks this time or the next time, he fits that brand better than 34-year-old Manny Ramirez, who, but for the Mets' reluctance to move a superb prospect, could be stopping in New York on the way to the Hall of Fame."

You know what? The Mets are in first place by four games. Everything is swell at Shea. The Mets might win the World Series and Lastings Milledge might win the World Series MVP.

I'm not saying the Mets need Manny Ramirez. Maybe the Mets wouldn't have picked up Delgado if they'd signed Manny. Whatever.

But you know what else? The Mets are not a freakin' brand.

You can turn down Hall of Fame ballplayers if you want to. Everything boils down to cost-benefit analysis and, despite the highest payroll in the NL, the Mets don't have unlimited resources.

You absolutely don't turn down Hall of Fame ballplayers solely because they don't smile enough.

Miles and Miles of Pregame Smiles.

"Once Memorial Day passes, it's game on."

The first two months of the season count, too.


"The Mets played their 50th game of the season last night, against the Diamondbacks in a battle of first-place clubs, setting up a summer of fun at Shea, a ballpark that has known such dark days since 1986."

Oh, Dark Days!

Doesn't anybody even remember the 2000 World Series? It was only five seasons ago. The Mets played in the 2000 World Series.

The Mets have also been in the playoffs two other times since 2000. They won 100 games in 1988. They won 90+ four other times and 88 games two other times.

Yes, the Art Howe era was exceedingly disappointing and so was the Dallas Green era. But a lot of baseball teams would take the Dark Days of the Mets. A lot of teams would take the Mets' payroll, too.

Maybe the Mets suffer because of the unending comparison to the Yankees ...


"Walk into the clubhouse and there is no sense of tightness like over in The Bronx, where pregame smiles are hard to find. Reyes smiles more in one night than the Yankees do all week ... "

:-)

:-)

:-)

Kevin Kernan should move out of his mom's basement and move into the Mets' clubhouse. If the Mets let him bring his cats.


"The Yankees are Wall Street. The Mets are Soho."

The millionaires on the Mets absolutely live in Soho and take the subway to work. Jose Reyes has to jump the turnstiles since he can't even afford a Metrocard. The Mets live in a rent-controlled walk-up and they don't even have clothes dryers, which is why you can often see their Mets uniforms hanging on clotheslines between tenement buildings.

Did you ever read that book by Upton Sinclair? That's kind of what it's like for the Mets players.
Do you remember that time the at Shea when the fire exits were blocked and all the young seamstresses dove to their deaths?

Dark Days, indeed.

Robinson Cano, Don't You Know?

My first thought when I read Lupica's following comment regarding the Yankee roster was, "Why does a Mets fan even care about the Yankee roster?":

"Melky Cabrera might not turn out to be Robinson Cano, but he's 21 and he's got talent and I hope the Yankees give him a full shot before they go chasing after Reggie Sanders or Bobby Abreu or somebody else."

I hate to go after Lupica on a rare occasion that he praises a Yankee player. But it's time to say something about Robinson Cano: Robinson Cano is not a very good baseball player.

Actually, I'm baffled by the degree to which Robinson Cano is overrated. I think that the logical reasoning center of Michael Kay's brain is overtaken by the orgasmic joy of watching a batter "go with the pitch" to the opposite field.

Luipca is hardly the only person who is overrating Cano. A very brief list:

• John Sterling regularly compares Cano to Hall of Famer Rod Carew.
• WFAN callers and hosts regularly claim that Cano batting ninth is like having "two leadoff hitters." Cano has one stolen base in his career.
  
• When the Yankees played on Fox, Buck and McCarver said that Cano would likely steal second base if he reached first base. Again, near as I can figure, Cano is lumped together with other speedy middle infielders. He's young, he's black, he's a middle infielder. Therefore, Cano must be fast. Well, he isn't.
  
• The sideline reporter (Peter Gammons or Ken Rosenthal?) said that the Yankees would have eight elite position players when Sheffield came off the DL. Ummm, okay, but Bernie Williams is not an elite DH and Cano is hardly an elite second baseman.

The truth?

Cano is a .300 singles hitter with little power, no speed, and no walks. His play at second base is erratic. Cano may get better, but he's hardly an elite second baeman at this stage of his career.

The Yankees certainly don't need to trade these young players. They're inexpensive and they're contributing. These guys might even develop into superstars. Cano and Cabrera might turn into Pete Rose and Bernie Williams. But they might turn into Pat Kelly and Ricky Ledee.

B-Wags Brings the Heat!

It's obviously too early to judge Billy Wagner's four-year signing. But since you're judging his first quarter-year with the Mets, you should at least be honest about it:

"Billy Wagner, Mets: The largest contract ever given to a reliever, on an annual basis (four years, $43 million, or $10.75 million a year), has brought excitement and some controversy to the Big Apple. In other words, Wagner's paying off. He's blown three saves, but he's converted on 10 tries, he has more strikeouts than any regular NL closer, he still brings the 100 mph heat and he's made back-page headlines for everything from his choice of theme music to his opinions on his former team, the Phillies.

Bottom line: Money well spent."

Ten saves out of thirteen is good? That's 77%, in case you were wondering. Braden Looper was ran out of town with a higher save% than that.

You know what else is funny? The meltdown vs. the Yankees didn't even count as a blown save. The Yankees had too big of a lead when Wagner came into the game, so it wasn't technically a save opportunity. But Pedro Feliciano got a blown save.

Oh, and for what it's worth, Wagner absolutely does not bring 100 mph heat anymore. I don't know if he'll get more velocity when the weather heats up, or whatever. But he's typically throwing low 90s and getting people out with off-speed stuff.

It seems that John Donovan truly believes that Wagner has been worth it simply because Wagner says a lot of stuff that draws attention to the Mets. This kind of thinking is getting out of hand.

The fans want their team to win ballgames. It's quite reasonable to think that Wagner will help the Mets in the future, even though he has been merely mediocre so far this season.

But if back-page attention is the true goal of the Mets, then maybe they ought to pay Anna Benson $40 million and tell her to wear a wet tee-shirt in the dugout.

Don't Call It A Comeback.

I've been here for years
Rockin' my peers
Puttin' suckas in fear.

I remember this was one of the first topics I ever discussed on this blog. Must have been about two years ago and the Yankees were getting credit for all sorts of so-called comeback wins.

At the time, I established some Felz rules for a comeback.

1) The number of runs you're down exceeds the number of innings left in a game.
2) The opposing team's closer is in the game.
3) You don't reasonably expect to win.

Something like that. The Felz rules don't change too much.

Another Felz rule is that Lupica is stupid:

"The Mets came from behind again yesterday. They came from behind the way they did on the Yankees last weekend, the way they did against the Phillies on Tuesday and Wednesday night, the way they have an awful lot this season."

First of all, if you lose the game, then you didn't really come back. You only momentarily came back. The final come back is actually the only come back that counts.

The Phillies jumped out to a 3-run lead in the first inning and came back from the emotional devastation of Reyes's 3-run homerun. The Mets were only losing for one whole inning and only losing by 3 whole runs.

Those little buggers from Philadelphia sure played hard the whole nine innings. Oh, and they also came back from the emotional devastation of a 16-inning loss the other night. The Phillies could have packed in the whole season right then and there.

The Yankees had a legit comeback against the Mets just the other day. Down 4-0 in the ninth with the Mets' closer pitching.

The Yankees were down 9-0 to Texas and down by one run with one out to go. I know Texas doesn't have the World's greatest bullpen, but 9-0 is certainly enough to make Lupica lose interest and change the channel.

The Yankees fight all the way to the parking lot, don't they? Even in game one vs. Boston, the Yankees scored 4 runs with two outs in the ninth before eventually succumbing.

Naturally, the News and others mocked ARod's ninth-inning homerun as "meaningless" rather than praising the Yankees for their moxie and gumption.

To explain how stupid this is, I turn over the rest of the post to Steven Goldman:

"We’ve heard a lot of fanboy complaints about how Alex Rodriguez’s ninth inning home run on Monday was meaningless, how it was typical of his lack of clutch hitting and true Yankeeness, or patriotism, or what have you. This is, well, stupid. First, it contains the assumption that a player can choose when he hits his home runs. Second, whenever a player hits a home run, he cannot know the outcome of the game. Sure, there’s a likelihood of an outcome, but as Yogi says, it ain’t over ‘til it’s over. As long as the game is alive there’s a chance for a team to rally, no matter how far down they are. Conversely, adding another run to your lead can never hurt because no lead is ever completely safe, just more safe or less safe.

Last week’s almost-unheard of comeback against the Rangers should have underscored this point.

Each time Rodriguez goes to the plate, no matter the game state, his job is to not make an out. Whether he does that by hitting a single or a home run, walking or getting hit by a pitch, or running to first on a dropped third strike, it really doesn’t matter. To criticize him for succeeding in this is merely ignorant."

Everyone point at the silly Mets fan.

Where was Mike Lupica when Kyle Farnsworth dropped that slider on Big Papi?

I'm not saying that Lupica is obligated to write about every baseball game played by a New York team. But he's missing some good baseball if he ignores the Yankees and focuses on the Mets.

When I say "focuses on the Mets," I mean "secretly sneak into a private room with a copy of the Mets fan guide, gaze lovingly at a headshot of Carlos Beltran while imagining Jose Reyes legging out a triple.":

"The Mets came from behind again yesterday. They came from behind the way they did on the Yankees last weekend, the way they did against the Phillies on Tuesday and Wednesday night, the way they have an awful lot this season. This time they didn't win the game. So they didn't sweep the Phillies, even though they easily could have, the way they didn't sweep the Yankees, though they should have. It doesn't change a couple of things: They have been the best baseball show in town this season. And one of the best in baseball."

I say the Yankees "should have" swept the Mets. In game one, ARod was safe at second base in the first inning. So he would have scored. Then, Damon would have been playing deeper and caught Wright's fly ball. In game three, the Yankees left 15 men on base. The Yankees "should have" won.


"They have made you watch every game until their last ups. You watch until Carlos Beltran hits one toward the parking lot in the bottom of the 16th, or strikes out in the bottom of the ninth."

I don't really know what to say. If you're a fan of the Mets, I suppose you'll stay up until 1:00 am to watch 16 innings. If you're not a fan of the Mets, I suppose you won't.


"The Yankees may yet get healthy, get their pitching worked out, all the rest of it. They might break more attendance records at Yankee Stadium ... There is something a little old about that, the way the Yankees are a little old.

The Mets feel new."

Yes, the Yankees are a little old. Like when Andy Phillips came off the bench last Saturday to beat the Mets, beat the Mets, come to the park and beat the Mets, bring the kiddies, bring the wife, guaranteed to have the time of your life.

The Yankees are running out Cabrera, Wang, Cano, Phillips, Crosby, and even an occasional Kevin Reese sighting. Colter Bean is a great story. He's goofy and fat. The '06 Yankees vary in age and ability, but at least they're "fresh!"

The Mets just added ancient El Duque. Same old story. Seen him before in New York. Can you get any more ex-Yankees since you already have Torre Jr. managing your team?

El Duque joins young kids like Billy Wagner, Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez, and the newest face of them all, 47-year-old Julio Franco.


Settle down, Lupica. You rip the Yankees for adding Damon because Damon's too old. Then you praise the Mets for adding El Duque whose age supposedly doesn't matter. In the midst of all this, Lupica doesn't wonder why the Mets traded Benson for Julio in the first place.

The Mets started out 12-2 and have played .500 since. Which team are they? Are they going to win 100 games or 84?

Your streak of lightning over there at shortstop has a big, fat .317 on-base percentage. So the sage ombudsman Julio Franco doesn't seem to know what he's talking about when he links Met success to Reyes's on-base percentage.

Just drop the charade, Lupica. You're not even a sports journalist. You're a silly Mets fan.

More Fun With Joe Torre Quotes.

Homeruns by Manny Ramirez seem to fluster the skipper.

On Monday, Torre gave us this prime example of a dangling participle:

"It looked like he tried to do something with Manny, which is not his neighborhood. It's Manny's neighborhood. Not his neighborhood."

"It" is just the all-inclusive, universal "it."

"He" must be Chien Ming Wang.

"Do something" is certainly vague. Unless Chien Ming Wang instantaneously reached a singularity with the Universe while standing on the mound at Fenway Park, then Wang had to be "doing something." Unless you're dead, you're doing something. Even then, you're decomposing. In this particular sentence, "do something" means "throw a pitch."

In conclusion, Torre is saying something about somebody's neighborhood.


On Tuesday, Yankee fans waited in rapt attention for the skipper's angry reaction to Ramirez's styling at home plate:

"I wasn't even watching. Manny's a good guy. I can't get into that stuff."

You weren't even watching?

I totally understand. I know what you were probably watching: Go Taylor!

Jeff Passan: Hall of Fame Writer.

"Every Hall of Famer did something unique."

Seriously? Every Hall of Famer did something unique? Can you provide some well-resarched examples?


"Babe Ruth hit home runs."

Yes, hitting homeruns is very unique for a baseball Hall of Famer.

I really can't think of any other Hall of Famers who hit homeruns.


"Ozzie Smith backflipped.

Yes, Ozzie Smith backflipped.

That's the best example you could come up? Unique in the way he runs onto the field between innings?


"Vizquel will be the one who caught balls backward and nipped runners by half a step."

Alright. If you say so.

I'm convinced. Put Omar Vizquel in the Hall of Fame.

This whole time, I didn't think Vizquel was any more qualified than Alan Trammell or Frank White.

Oh, yeah. He isn't.

.425, 74, 192 would be acceptable.

YES Network message boards? I love you:

"A-Rod needs to do this more often. Of course he's not always going to get the big hit, but if he gets it three out of five times, people won't be on his back. He did a good job Tuesday.

yanksworldchamps456"

Of course he's not always going to get the big hit. If he just bats .600 in clutch situations, that would be cool with me.

It's Outta Here!

"The Mets suffered their most spectacular meltdown in recent memory on Saturday, and one day later, they found themselves trailing and in danger of losing a Subway Series that at one point looked headed toward a Met sweep."

At what point did the Subway Series look headed towards a Met sweep?

The high point for the Mets was heading into the ninth inning of Saturday's game with a 4-0 lead. They already won game one and were about to win game two.

At that point, how on Earth did Michael Obernauer, or anybody else, know the Mets were going to win Sunday's game? At that point, the odds of a Mets sweep are 50%-50%. Maybe a little better since Glavine is better than Small.

Then, after game two, the odds of a Mets sweep shrunk to 0%.


"That's when Carlos Delgado delivered what may well go down as the most important swing of the Mets' season."

For the Mets' sake, I really hope that is not the most important swing of the season. I'm sure they've got some important at-bats coming up in the pennant stretch against divisional opponents.


I know that Saturday's loss had the first-place Mets and their $100 million payroll on a downturn that most teams would have never been able to recover from. Once the Yankees took a 2-0 lead on Sunday, I figured the Mets were beginning their descent to last place.

Then, Carlos Delgado hit a homerun.

Torre gets what he asked for.

"Before the game, Joe Torre met with his players to remind them not to overexert themselves in the absence of the injured Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield."

Somebody has a Red Sox fetish.

"If you look at the baseball season that has been played so far, the Most Valuable Player in the American League, and maybe both leagues, might be Jonathan Papelbon, the Red Sox new closer."

On the "Sports Reporters" show, Lupica was more forceful than he is in print. After a gratuitious reference to Jason Giambi's steroid use, Lupica said that Papelbon was the MVP of baseball in the 2006 season. He also praised Francona for going with "the Kid."

I actually laughed out loud.

You know what? I don't even have to tell you who the MVP of MLB is if you look at the baseball season that has been played so far. I don't even have to give you a hint, but I will.

The guy who has hit 22 homeruns is more valuable than the guy who has pitched 22 innings.

The Joe Torre Story.

So, I was at work yesterday, keeping tabs on the Yankees' afternoon ballgame on the Interweb.

Step off, Mike Bloomberg. I also identified and prioritized 31 BAU items which were discovered during UAT of the POD system. You know what, pal? Until one brick is put in place, you can kiss my butt.

So, I see that Wright starts the seventh inning of a scoreless game. After Wilkerson homers, Wright leaves with a runner on base and the Yankees down 2-0 in the seventh.

Torre brings in Erickson and Villone and the Yankees eventually lose 6-2.

I'm not blaming Erickson, Villone, Wright, or even Torre. The offense only scored two, which is not enough. It just seems to me that Erickson and Villone are pretty low in the bullpen pecking order to be pitching in the late innings of a close game. I'm bothered by this because I get the sense, once again, that Torre just doesn't care all that much about winning this particular game. The Yankees fell behind by two runs in the seventh inning and Torre was willing to rest the bullpen and get ready for the Mets.

Now, I drew this conclusion based on very little information. It just seems like Torre was willing to let one go. It's still early in the season, we got a split with Texas, we've played high-profile games vs. Boston and we've got upcoming high-profile games vs. the Mets.

When I got home and flipped through the channels, I happened to tune into Yankee Replay in the wondrous top of the seventh inning.

It's fun to watch because I know what's coming. The seemingly inconsequential 2-1 pitch to Wilkerson that is fouled off on a check swing. Kaat and Singleton singing Wright's praises and pointing out the benefits off his low pitch count. He still looks strong, doesn't he? Smiling sisters in the stands waving to the camera. Little do they know that their afternoon is going to be ruined on the next pitch.

But I know.

Here's the amazing part. The jaw-dropping observation.

When the score was 0-0 in the top of the seventh, Proctor and Myers were warming up in the Yankees bullpen.

This means Proctor and Myers were available to pitch and Torre would have used them to preserve a tie game in the seventh inning.

As soon as Wilkerson hit a 2-run homerun, the YES Network camera showed Ron Guidry on the phone to the bullpen instructing Proctor and Myers to sit down and Erickson to start warming up.

Even though I knew it instinctively, I still couldn't believe it.

Joe Torre's strategy completely changed because of two lousy runs. Torre stopped caring about winning today and started his Triage garbage. Lose the battle to win the war, huh?

If you're going to use Myers and Proctor in a tie game, why won't you use them when your team is only down by 2 runs? What kind of strategic tipping point is that?

2-0.

Top of the 7th.

Joe Torre gave up.

I knew it.

Yankee tunnel never darker.

These are probably the darkest days in Yankee history. For sure.

Worse than last year's 11-19 start. Worse than the Stump Merrill era. Worse than the day Lou Gehrig was diagnosed with a disease that was so rare that the disease is named after him. Worse than the day Thurman Munson died.

Playing .590 ball and 1/2-game out of first place and the Yankee tunnel has never been darker:

"This is supposed to be the year in which the Subway Series is actually a fair fight, but the Yankees have bigger problems to worry about this weekend than the Mets."

Like every other year.


"Bigger problems such as a woefully depleted group of outfielders.

Bigger problems such as another injured starter."

Does he mean Bubba Crosby? Or does he mean Carl Pavano?

I like Bubba well enough, but if his injury qualifies as a "big problem" to a major league ball club ...


"Bigger problems such as the Big Unit.

So while this very well may be the season in which the Mets — the so-called little brothers in this rivalry — have grown up and can stand on level terms with the Yanks, the series is not exactly the Bombers' focus."

Borden's argument is a Monty Python routine:

The Yankees have a problem. They're playing the Mets. But an even bigger problem is the pitching of Randy Johnson. Who pitches tonight against the Mets. Which is a problem since they're playing the Mets. With Randy Johnson pitching. Which is a problem since Randy Johnson is pitching. Against the Mets. Which is a problem.

Let me put it this way: If the Yankees are focused on Randy Johnson's pitching, then the Yankees are focused on playing the Mets. Since Randy Johnson is pitching against the Mets. The two events are inseparable.


Boy, Sam Borden sure listed a lot of problems for the Yankees. Maybe it's true that the Yankee tunnel has never been darker and the Mets are on oncoming train.

So, Sam Borden, how badly are the Mets going to beat the injured, unfocused Yankees when they play this weekend?:

"Yankee beat writer Sam Borden:

Yanks 2 of 3

After seizing victory in last year's Subway Series prediction contest, I see no reason to go away from the chalk."

But you just said the Yankee tunnel was never darker.

You just said the light at the end of the tunnel belongs to the oncoming Mets.

You just said this is supposed to be the year in which the Subway Series is actually a fair fight, the Yankees have bigger problems to worry about this weekend than the Mets, bigger problems such as a woefully depleted group of outfielders, bigger problems such as another injured starter, bigger problems such as the Big Unit, so while this very well may be the season in which the Mets — the so-called little brothers in this rivalry — have grown up and can stand on level terms with the Yanks, the series is not exactly the Bombers' focus.

Then you pick the Yankees to win 2 out of 3.

Felz Fan Rules.

When not to cheer:

• When the pitcher on your team strikes out the pitcher on the opposing team. Congratulations, Mr. Feller, you really worked your way out of that jam. That was like fighting your way out of a brown paper bag.
• When the pitcher on your team throws a strike on a 3-0 pitch. Unless you're being sarcastic.
• When the batter on your team hits into a fielder's choice and beats the relay throw to first base, thus avoiding the double play. No love for merely avoiding a double play.
• When the batter on your team moves a runner to third base with one out by grounding out to second base. This is overrated and bad. You think you are smart because you think you understand the intricacies of small ball, but you're not smart, because Jeter is a .320 career hitter. Stop teaching this stuff to your children. Teach them that the batter needs to try to drive in the run himself.
• When the batter on your team moves a runner to third base with one out by hitting a deep fly ball. See above.
• When the batter on your team hits a deep fly ball for an out. Almost doesn't count in baseball.
• When somebody on the opposing team hits a homerun against your team. I don't care if it's Cal Ripken, Mark McGwire, or Tino Martinez's triumphant return as a Devil Ray. Yes, you root for the uniform.
• Runner moving up to third base with two outs. Yeah, yeah, I know. A wild pitch or a balk. Not likely, stupid.
• When a player on the opposing team gets hurt.
• When the scoreboard tells you to.
• When your team is getting bitch-slapped 14-3 and they just put another runner on base.
  

When not to boo:

• When the batter on your team is hit by a pitch. This is good for your team. Four in a row and you've got a run.
• When the batter on your team strikes out. An out is an out. Strikeouts are just part of the game. Besides, all the big strikeout hitters are in the Hall of Fame. So, I guess you can boo strikeouts if you want to, but then you should boo every out.
• When the Canadian National Anthem is being played.

The most confusing play in baseball:

• Team A is batting, Team B is in the field. Runner on second with one out. The batter hits a deep fly ball and the outfielder makes an outstanding catch. Fans for Team B cheer for the catch. The runner tags up to third base. As the cheering for Team B dissipates, the fans for Team A cheer the advancement of the runner. I don't like plays where fans of both teams get to cheer.

In praise of the DH.

Gary Cohen takes a brave stance against the DH:

"Gary, would you like to see the DH rule in the National League? Do you like the rule or not? I’ve been a Mets fan since 1973 and will die one. My joke has always been, I have two favorite teams -- the Mets and anyone who beats the Atlanta Braves. Thanks, Dave Hill, Ogden, Utah.

Dave, I think a lot of Mets fans share your sentiments, although they might substitute the word 'Yankees' for 'Braves.' As for the DH, the answer is a definitive 'NO.' It’s an awful rule, always has been and really detracts from the beauty of the game, the strategy and the fan experience. Hopefully, someday the game will be rid of this abomination."

My first reaction is, why is anybody still questioning the existence of the DH, as if the existence of the DH was up for debate?

The DH rule has been in effect since 1973. That's 33 years. That's 1/3rd of baseball's existence. The DH rule is not going anywhere.

The DH is used in every professional baseball league in the world except for the NL. The DH is used in the minor leagues of NL teams. The DH is used in college and high school. The DH is used in every foreign country and even in the World Baseball Classic.

Why? Fans like the DH.

The beauty of the game is not pitchers striking out on three pitches. The fan experience is not enhanced by pitchers striking out on three pitches. The Strategy* argument is quite dubious, and most fans don't get all that jazzed up about managerial strategy, anyway. As Tom Kelly said, double switches ain't rocket science.

* Gary Cohen and many others seem to confuse "strategy" with "move." In many instances, when an NL pitcher is pinch-hit for, the "strategy" is a no-brainer.

Tie game, 8th inning, 2 on, 2 out. You pinch hit for the pitcher. 100% of the time. The game situation just made the decision for the manager. It's an easy decision. It is an easy decision masquerading as complex strategy.

In the AL, when do you take out your pitcher? It's not always such an easy managerial decision. Just ask Joe Torre as he flips a coin and chooses between Tanyon Sturtze and Scott Proctor.

End of *

I know fans like the DH. I also think players like the DH.

Let's go with the idea that the different rules generally lead to different types of play. The so-called "NL style" is small ball and the so-called "AL style" is sit back and wait for a three-run homerun by a big, strong, slow guy who can't field.

Now, it's 2006 and all the Corey Pattersons and Quinton McCrackens of the world look around. What do they see?

They see the AL is dominating the NL. I don't care so much about All Star games or even World Series results. Just list the best teams in major league baseball. List the best players in major league baseball. The AL is where it's at.

My hunch is that the DH has a lot to do with this. Players like to rake and they like to play on offenses that rake. Come to the AL and I promise, we won't ask you to bunt.

Join us. Join us. Join the Dark Side. Baseball is good when you score runs and drive them in. Your agent will like us, too. You can drive in 100 runs every year.

I don't know if the trend will continue. The current AL dominance might be an aberration. Check back in ten years and the NL might be dominant again.

But, if the trend continues, the NL might be forced to adopt the DH in order to attract the game's best hitters. I wouldn't bet on it, but I know this is far more likely than the AL getting rid of the DH.

A few more blessings and we'll be in last place.

From the Yes Network message boards, monitored hourly by George Steinbrenner himself:

The Hideki Matsui injury is devastating to the Yankees. Matsui gave the offense some balance and another lefty power bat. However, with both he and Gary Sheffield sidelined, the Yankees will be forced to play more small ball to try to manufacture more runs. Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise. Also, we will get a chance to see if Melky Cabrera is the real deal on a daily basis.

snadler

Which is it, snadler? Is it devastating or is it a blessing in disguise?

Let's pretend it's a blessing in disguise. Because without Gary Sheffield and without Hideki Matsui, the Yankees will be forced to play small ball.

I just hope the Yankees don't get really blessed with injuries to Giambi, Jeter, Posada, and Rodriguez.

In a very short period of time, snadler and everybody else will realize that the Yankee offense is less effective without Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui, even if the offense gets a few excellent sacrifice bunts by Bubba Crosby.

Remember last night when Timlin struck out Giambi and Rodriguez with the tying run in scoring position in the 7th inning? Jim Kaat was displeased. These free swingers are ruining baseball.

Kaat sure was excited when Miguel Cairo batted against Papelbon in the 8th. A pesky little hitter like that can put the bat on the ball and bloop a game-tying single. Except Cairo struck out, too.

See, while everbody is hatin' on the all-or-nothing hitters in the Yankee lineup, the alternative is nothing-or-nothing.

Mike Vaccaro Writes Words and a Newspaper Publishes Them.

"They'll be without two-thirds of their regular outfield for at least as long as it takes Gary Sheffield to ease off the DL, meaning the two corner slots will be manned by the three-man wrecking crew of Bubba Crosby, Melky Cabrera and Bernie Williams. Suddenly it isn't so much a question if the Yankees can score 1,000 runs this season, but how many games they can be expected to field 1.000 with that adventurous threesome manning the lawn."

Hideki Matsui can't catch a cold in left field and My Butt is a better fielder than Gary Sheffield.

With an outfield of (left-to-right) Crosby, Damon, and Cabrera/Williams/Kevin Reese, the Yankee outfield is improved defensively. The Yankee offense will absolutely suffer.

So, it's exactly the opposite of what Vaccaro just said.

On the bright side, this is the young, fresh, exciting, speedy team everybody always wanted! Too bad they can't hit, but at least they are from the farm system.


"For kicks, the Yankees were also reminded of just how tenuous their pitching is. For the second time in three games against the Sox, they received a dreadful outing from their starter, Shawn Chacon, and the results in the bullpen were decidedly mixed."

Shawn Chacon was not dreadful.

Cooperstown isn't calling so they can put his jockstrap into the Hall of Fame, but he only allowed 1 run in 4 2/3 innings.

Chacon absolutely was a little lucky due to outstanding defensive plays by Crosby and Damon. You know, the same guys who can't catch the ball and will spend the rest of the season bumping into each other like lost little children, throwing the ball into the bullpen instead of just hitting the cutoff man, aimlessly wandering Death Valley, waiting for Matsui to get off the DL.


"What's worse is, the Red Sox bear the look of every great Yankee team of recent vintage. They get key two-out hits. They not only got a couple of well-placed breaks last night, they took advantage. Tim Wakefield mirrored what Mike Mussina gave the Yankees a night earlier."

Last night, the Red Sox were 1-for-10 with RISP until the go-ahead "hit" that Jeter fielded in his glove and threw into the first baseman's glove. That was a two-rbi "hit" that proves that Boston is gritty and clutch.

Wakefield gave up 3 runs in 6 innings. Which isn't bad by any means. It is a quality start against a tough lineup. But, if Chacon was "dreadful" ...

By the way, all 3 Yankee runs came on two-out hits! Key two-out hits. The kind of key two-out hits that bear the look of every great Yankee team of recent vintage.

I can't explain the Jeter error, though. Maybe he was rushing the play. It looked like he was rushing. First play of the game, pressure of playing the Red Sox. That was not the kind of key defensive play that bore the look of every great Yankee team of recent vintage.


"Maybe most important, Jonathan Papelbon came in and coolly recorded a four-out save, serving notice that if the guard hasn't yet been changed between the teams' two closers, whatever gap that's left is narrowing by the minute."

Duh.

When will you learn not to take on the Great Mariano?

Hideki Matsui Breaks Wrist.

Bad news for the Yankees.

Devastating news for the porno industry:

"And, of course, he likes to watch his much vaunted porno collection, tapes that he often trades with Japanese reporters. As one Japanese journalist put it, describing Matsui's affinity for such unique Japanese cultural institutions like the no-panties shabu-shabu in Japan, 'Matsui is a horny guy. All of us are horny, more or less. But Matsui doesn't attempt to hide the fact.' "

Janey One-Note Predicts The Future.

I promised I wouldn't read the Daily News' Subway Squawker site because it's just too easy:

"I don't want to be a Janey One-Note here, but to act as if Alex was the reason the Yankees lost Tuesday is ludicrous, and to suggest that he's never had a big hit against the Red Sox is simply rewriting history. Does his homer to win the game off first-time closer Curt Schilling last July, to name just one example, ring a bell? Like the caveman in the Geico commercial says, 'Next time, maybe do a little research.'

I vividly remember that night in no small part because I called the shot; as soon as I saw Curt come into the game, I predicted that A-Rod would hit a homer off Schilling.

And I predicted tonight's shot in the fifth inning. Jon called when Alex was up against Crying Curt, and I told Jon that he was going to hit a homer off Red Light, which he did about 10 seconds after me saying it. And, as promised, I even did a little jig in the office, just to celebrate the moment!"