Having said more than enough on this blog and others about the A-Rod role in the pop-up, largely in his defense, I'll avoid that topic for now and focus on something more productive and enjoyable, my daughter's softball game tonight. GLG's team, which I help coach, won 4-2 in a well-played, well-pitched game, and GLG played a huge part in the outcome. Ms. E. Hobbs, a terrific ball player on GLG's team, pitched a terrific three innings, allowing one run and making a sparkling double play by snaring a line drive up the middle and doubling a runner off first. She's some ball player, and great to see her abilities and headiness, far better than most boys her age in all honesty. With the score 2-1 in the top of the fourth, the bases loaded and two outs, the other team's lead-off hitter and excellent pitcher hit a screamer into the hole. GLG, playing shortstop, went to her right and snagged the ball with her arm fully extended, about eye-high, to end the inning and save at least two runs. It was a great play, made me beam with pride, and in all honesty was the play of the game by keeping the game tight. The next inning, GLG led off with a single (her second single of the night) and moved to second on a throwing error. After a couple walks, V the first baseman hit a single to score two, 3-2, and another walk brought in the 4th and final run. The next inning was the last due to time constraints, and though allowing a single, the pitcher settled in and struck out the side, 4-2, GLG's team. As much as anything, it was great just getting out, coaching, and rooting for the kids. There was a lot of turnover from last year, so all but two of the kids were new. Many of the new ones are very good, while others have never played ball before, so much of the coaching is just being encouraging, reinforcing fundamentals (such as calling for the ball!!), and having them keep their chins up after tough at-bats. They try hard, pay attention, and have a lot of fun, and it's really a blast to hear them cheering each other on and giggling hard in the dugout. They're a great group of girls, and I'm so glad I decided to help coach this year.

Let's get after Boston tomorrow, and take at least two of three. There's a lot of time left and a lot of ball to be played, but too much has already been wasted. It's time for the Yankees to remember that they're comprised of good ball players, and to just flush away the first two months, though that's easier said than done. Let's go, Yankees!

"I love winning, man. I f&*#ing love winning. You know what I'm saying. It's like, better than LOSING!"
    --Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh, "Bull Durham"

Indeed, and things got interesting near the end as the Yankees at long last pulled one out, beating the Blue Jays 10-5. The Yankees scored five in the first, chasing Howdy-Doody Litsch. Damon led off the game with a home run to right center. After Jeter struck out, Matsui singled, A-Rod walked and Posada did also, Giambi hit a sac fly to score Matsui. Posada then stole second (one of two stolen bases for him tonight) and Phelps drove in two with a two-out single to center, 4-0 Yankees. Cano then doubled to left (one of three doubles for him tonight) to plate Phelps, 5-0 Yanks. But the Yankees let the Jays slowly back into the game, giving up two runs in the third on a Rios home run, and another run in the fourth on a McDonald solo homer to make it 5-3 Yankees. The Yanks added a run in the 6th when Cano hit his third double of the night, and Melky smartly chopped the ball up the middle, scoring Cano as it squirted past McDonald into center. It would have moved Cano to third either way, so it was a smart play to bang it off the turf, and finally a nice piece of hitting from the kid. Brian Bruney looked good until he gave up a Matt Stairs golf shot to right with one on and one out in the 7th to make it 6-5. [I honestly thought that I would feel more nervous at this point than I did. I don't know if I was just being phlegmatic, or if all the losing had inured me to any butterflies, but I just didn't get in a panic. Thankfully my feelings were justified afterwards.]

Nuke LaFarnsworth made things interesting in the 8th, allowing a single to Howie Clark then retiring Lind and McDonald before hanging a slider to Rios, who rapped it for a single into right. Torre made the right move and brought in Mariano to shut the door, and he promptly did, looking sharp by inducing a weak grounder from Overbay to Mientkiewicz, who astutely avoided a shattered bat head to make the third out. In the 9th, Melky singled and hustled out of the box, but was only kept to a single on a good hustle play and throw from Vernon Wells. Damon's check swing was a de facto bunt, moving Melky to second. After Jeter was intentionally walked,  Matsui forced Jeter at second, making it first and third with two outs. A-Rod then singled sharply up the middle to make it 7-5, then things got testy. Posada hit a high pop up to third and, with Matsui having already rounded third and nearing home, A-Rod was circling the bases between shortstop McDonald and third baseman Clark, when suddenly Clark stopped, didn't backpedal, and let the ball drop to score Matsui and make it 8-5. McDonald was hot, probably accusing A-Rod as Ken Singleton wisely surmised of saying "I got it" as he passed behind Clark. The audio didn't pick up anything, so if he did, it was genius because it would have been loud enough for the other team to hear it, but no one else. A-Rod denied it and exchanged heated words with McDonald, then Jays hothead manager Gibbons. Either way, it was 8-5 Yankees, and A-Rod, again acting allegedly in Toronto, allegedly did something more productive than the NY Post front-page allegations. Maybe A-Rod's passing behind was enough to distract Clark, I don't know; if so, would Clark rather have had A-Rod run in front, which would have constituted naked interference? I think not. Giambi added a two-run two-out single, scoring A-Rod and Posada, who wisely stole second, to make it 10-5. Mariano mopped up in the 9th, with the only scare coming from a long fly out from Frank Thomas to the wall in right to end the game. At long last, the Yankees win.

Cano looked better at the plate than he has in a long time, banging three doubles and hitting an eye-high pitch into left for a single, a Yogi single. Matsui went 2-5, Melky 2-4, A-Rod and Posada 1-4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI apiece, Giambi 1-4 with 3 RBI (two with the single in the 9th and a sac fly in the 1st), and Phelps went 1-3 with 2 RBI. Crucially, seven of the Yankees ten runs came with two outs, more than the five runners left in scoring position, a key stat. Clippard was mediocre, allowing three runs on four hits (two HRs), while walking five and striking out three. At one point, he irked Posada by continually shaking him off, causing Jorge to shake his head openly, then wave his hand dismissively at Clippard. Hey, who is Jorge to tell some rookie AAA call-up what pitches to throw against a division opponent Posada has seen about 150 times? Clippard is lucky that he was dealing with Posada and not Thurman Munson, who probably would have sternly lumbered out to the mound, repaired his mask to the top of his head (covered by a wool cap and no helmet, old school to the end), and threatened to punch Clippard's rookie lights out right there on the mound. That's hardly an exaggeration, either.

But A-Rod's pop-up was classic, as Singleton said reaching deep down in the bag of tricks, going old school playground. Who knows if he said anything, my guess is he did, but if Clark were worth his weight in road salt he would have shown some nerve, called it firmly and caught that ball. The play broke the game open, it's as simple as that.  A-Rod hustles for this team, as he did last week when he went hard into second to break up the double play and came up hard with an elbow on Pedroia, who by the by went hard into second after Jeter. Good for A-Rod.

Good win, it's about bleeping time. Boston lost, the Yankees are 13 1/2 back. Let's put together a streak.

Edit: I should have mentioned this earlier, since I made a note to do so, but a very hearty congratulations to Johnny Damon for collecting his 2,000th career hit tonight. Let's hope that he can stay healthy and start contributing regularly. His ability to set the table atop the lineup is huge, and the Yankees need everything he can muster. Congratulations, JD!

Edit PS: The immediate post-A-Rod pop-up sniveling prompted a stern rebuke from the home plate umpire Eric Cooper to Jays catcher Jason Phillips to "shut the f*&# up!" when Phillips was yapping with Jason Giambi after the Jays got had on the pop-up gaffe. The on-field audio at Sky Dome is outstanding, and recalls how one could hear the exchange between The Big Eunuch and the home plate umpire at Sky Dome when he got thrown out for arguing balls and strikes. One should have been able to hear Clark yell "I got it!" yet didn't, which is what beginner ball players are taught to do to avoid any confusion.

Against my better judgment, I'm going to post early--and probably later, since I'm an admitted baseball and Yankees junkie despite how much anti-freeze has been in the fix lately--about some Yankees woes, and to perform some clean-up work from the comments sections. First of all, welcome aboard sentinel, Lola, Saif, and anyone else I've missed. I sure wish we'd had better times and circumstances to get us acquainted, but people don't get to pick their historical moments, just what they do with them. Either way, and regardless of what happens from here on out, a hearty welcome.

I'm going to reserve more detailed comments about the recent A-Rod fiasco until I hear more from him and others, but if it is true what the scandal-and-screed Murdoch-owned New York Post reported--that the night before the opening game of the Toronto series A-Rod was seen cavorting about Toronto with some busty blond who is not his wife--then the Yankees and A-Rod are clearly descending back into the Bronx Zoo days, only with far more losses. It isn't lost on me that these are ballplayers, and that they as a group have been among the biggest carousers in history. But in this day and age--again, if this is true--to be wandering about town (and Toronto is a big city) as such a high-profile person with some blond is such a stupid move that its only benefit is to provide some concrete answer about where A-Rod's and the team's collective head is. I'll wait to say more about this until another time, but for someone saying earlier how much he wants to stay in New York, this doesn't help one iota.  This far from justifies what A-Rod might have done, but as if there's nothing else to report about--the War in Iraq based on both lies and using a failed policy as the rationale for the continuation of that failed policy in Iraq; a malfeasant, lying functionally illiterate president; domestic spying; torture; politicizing the so-called Justice Department; outing a CIA agent whose husband revealed administrative BS about the war's rationale then lying about the outing; a Democratic Congress using the midterm elections as a "mandate" baton on the War in Iraq then turning tail and fleeing in funding appropriations that could have set a time line on a war that's lasted longer than US involvement in WW2--then again, what more can or should I expect from a Murdoch-owned media outlet that fished for a comment from al-Qaida about the 2006 Midterm elections after the Democratic Party's resurgence, or Faux News's promotion of faux news, Ann Coulter and Pat Buchanan's repeated appearances on TV to promote fascism and hatred, and the daily descent of Lohan, Hilton et al. posing as news? Yes, I'm going off, but it's been a long time coming, and that's just the tip of a very bilious political iceberg, believe me, but this is what's been brewing. Back to baseball.

Writing about A-Rod's alleged dalliances, and this season as a whole, literally has me shaking my head. In many ways this is far worse than 2005, when we were waiting for and expecting the team to snap out of its early-season funk. This team shows no sign of snapping out, or of being good enough to do it. I still believe it is, but their play is so bad and listless right now that, again, it's literally on faith that I wrote that previous sentence. Incorporating some of sentinel's commentary, I'm mixed on Cashman right now. I honestly don't blame him for dealing either The Big Eunuch or Sheffield. They were both cantankerous, self-centered cancers, and the Eunuch's skills had clearly eroded well before ever landing in NYC and shoving the photographer. Sheffield's play was always very good for the Yankees, but his cheap rendition in 2005 of Reggie Jackson's "straw-that-stirs-the-drink" self-inflation didn't wash in a city where the exploits of other, more humble and more integral players far exceeded his own. [BTW, if anyone gets the chance, amble over the the Boogie-Down Bronx blog and check out J's great post on Jackson, what a human being.] Anyhoo, Sheffield was more importantly a player without a position, not being the defensive right-fielder that Abreu is, and not being the first-baseman he claimed he could be on the quick. He would have been a good DH, yet the Yankees already had one in Giambi, and dealing him and his $21 million per year would have probably yielded little in return (more on that later, but the Giambi signing and keeping him as he clearly declined has also been one of the worst decisions in recent memory). No one could have predicted that Abreu would go in the tank the way he has, basically ensuring his ignominious exit at the end of this season. No one could have predicted that Humberto Sanchez's arm would give way and he would require Tommy John surgery before the season even began, or that Luis Vizcaino would be so Jekyll and Hyde. On these moves, Cashman's on somewhat safe ground.

Yet it goes without saying that the Pavano signing was the worst in franchise history, and in the running with the Mike Hampton-to-Colorado signing and others as the worst in the free-agent era. 19 starts + $39.95 million = money down the stinking toilet. Worse than the original signing, which was bad because he was never a .500 pitcher but was sorely desired by the Red Sox as well, was the Yankees' failure to either void his contract after hiding his accident-related injuries and therefore committing fraud, to fight out the voiding issue into a buyout of Pavano, or to trade him due to hoping in vain that they could get some return on their wasted dollars. What a Waste.

My problems with Cashman, who probably would not be under fire if the team would perform up to its abilities, address the long-term and organizational. This team got older and more expensive on his watch as the Yankees of the 1980s did at key positions and with key acquisitions, and in some instances probably due to the pressures from Steinbrenner, who apparently wanted Sheffield instead of Vlad Guerrero. But Giambi's signing was especially bad, particularly in the past four years. He's been a pretty productive, but increasingly and now solely, a one-dimensional player. The last few years, he's been as brittle as a toothpick, with now a bone spur depriving him of his now sole asset--his power--and his ability to hit for average literally went away after his first year in pinstripes. He can't play first--never could, really--but the steady erosion of his other plate skills has made him a brittle Jack Clark with a bigger beer gut and a far heftier bank account. His grotesquely hefty contract has made him a doughy albatross around the organization's collective neck, and they, and certainly I am, must be counting down the days when he's gone. In addition to everything else, his mouth is idiotic, constantly waiting for one of his brittle feet to fall in his gaping maw every time it moans open. His pontificating about baseball, drugs and steroids has been a joke, especially from a beer-hound like him. I can't help but think that the Yankees' move to get beer out of the clubhouse has much to do with quotes like those that the terrific Pete Abraham has had from Giambi on his blog. His dearth of defensive skills has also forced the Yankees into a strange brew of Mientkiewicz, Phelps and Giambi as a hybrid first-baseman, as I've said before. The presence of the first two is directly related to Giambi's presence on the team, and the Yankees sorely need an entire first-baseman in one skin. The fallout from this has meant a bad bench and weakness at the bottom of the order. Bad moves, but they stem from the bad move that has been keeping Giambi. I respect Giambi's willingness to buck up and get out there, and his bat's power, but that's about it. Much more on him another time.

Mussina works very hard and still has some ability left, but he's likely going to be spotty for the Yankees this year, and next if they keep him. He simply lacks the velocity he used to have, drastically reducing his margin for error. He has enough smarts and ability to keep hitters guessing, has developed a terrific slow change-up, and will probably give the Yankees some good performances as he did last weekend, but he's more susceptible to allowing big innings because he has to fool people instead of fanning them. I'm still up in the air about his signing, but am willing to give Cashman the benefit of the doubt on this if for no other reasons than Mussina's professionalism and the Yankees' have needed him this year with the injuries. The signing of Pettite has been great, no question, regardless of what Pettite does the rest of the year. He's been great on the mound and a stand-up leader in a clubhouse of some recent shrinking violets. He's one of the all-time greats for the Yankees, and a welcome sight back for the Yankees. Kudos for Cashman for signing him.

The Igawa signing has been so bad that it scarcely merits attention. He struggled badly at Scranton last night, yielding 4 runs on 8 hits in five innings, walking 1 and fanning six, but doing so on 97 pitches. 97 pitches. Is his control problem really worked out when he needs 97 pitches to get through 5 innings? I have no idea what to do with the guy--lefty reliever, starter--but they'll have a few more years to decide unless they trade him for some hot and spicy chicken wings, which would be a good deal at this point, especially if they can get a tub of bleu cheese thrown in.

In sum, my take on Cashman has been mixed. Some things such as the injuries have simply been out of his control, as has the listless and atrocious play of key guys such as Abreu and Cano. But regardless of whether or not the current Yankee malaise is his fault, the Yankees have some real problems to sort out. They've stocked the farm system with some decent arms, but some are clearly not major-league ready while others (Hughes, Sanchez, Veras) are injured, and to get them ready will mean a baptism by fire that the team and fan base simply won't tolerate. Where the Yankees, oddly enough, are in trouble are with the bats as an organization. A-Rod may very well opt out after 2007, leaving them with absolutely no right-handed power hitting (Posada is switch, and Jeter is a terrific, but not a power, hitter). Jose Tabata is likely a few years away. Giambi is an albatross, Abreu is virtually assured of being gone unless he hits .375 the rest of the way, Melky is lost as is Cano, and the farm system, though better in recent years, lacks a stud prospect who can step in as Cano and Wang did in 2005 while Hughes is recovering. Simply put, it's up to the guys that Cashman and Steinbrenner brought in here to pull them out of it. If they don't, and perhaps even if they do, this team has some real long-term issues to address. That goes way beyond firing Torre, Gator Guidry, or any coaches in hasty moves that probably won't do anything long-term to help them play better. This team has issues beyond the immediate five-game losing streak, the injuries, or even A-Rod's purported hotel tryst. It is structurally unsound, and will likely need a good off-season bulldozing even if the Yankees stage a great comeback in 2007. This slump has just brought the fissures into greater light, and if it continues, people will have ample time to consider what needs to be done. I'm still hopeful that there will be a turnaround and subsequent great run, but time is running out, and the team's funk is very deep.

Removing one hand from rubbing my forehand to raise the fist as high as ever, Go Yankees!

[Edit: I neglected to assess the signing of Nuke LaFarnsworth, probably a mental Freudian slip. Trade him if you have no confidence in him, and the Yankees don't appear to have any confidence in him, not without reason.]

3-2 Jays, as the Yankees offense was stagnant for most of the game, wasted most of what few chances it did muster, and blew another very good start from Pettite. Giambi blasted a home run to center to tie it at 1 in the 7th, and the Yankees gave one back in the bottom of the inning.  Thomas and Hill singled back-to-back when catcher Jason Phillips hit a slow roller to 3rd. A-Rod fielded it and stepped on the bag, then threw one in the dirt which Phelps, having pinch-hit for Mientkiewicz in the top of the inning, couldn't get, allowing Hill to take third. Pitching against Royce Clayton, Pettite's slow set allowed Hill to cleanly steal home to make it 2-1, with Hill starting to run before Pettite had even finished setting his hands, amazing. In the 8th, Jeter and A-Rod reached on errors, and Posada drove in Jeter with a single to right. Yet Giambi struck out and Abreu again went meekly into that good night with a ground out, stranding A-Rod and Posada, part of the 8 LOB for the night, four of which were in scoring position. Well done. In the 8th, Lind doubled off Pettite, McDonald bunted him over to third on a ball that might have gone foul, but was close enough that A-Rod played it. With Proctor in and Lind on third, Proctor left a 3-2 pitch way up, making Rios's job of driving the ball to the outfield eminently easy, driving a sac fly to center to easily score Lind. Phelps, Cano and Damon presented no challenge to Accardo in the 9th, and the Yankees left with their tails between their legs again.

The Yankees are now 7-14 since Clemens announced his return. I would not have thought that at the time, and with Boston beating Cleveland, the Yankees are now 14 1/2 games back.

Redundant. Except for Hill's stealing home, I probably could have poached several other posts for the summary.

[Edit: I have the feeling that it's going to be a long, lonely night here at the Heartland, and I understand completely. People are clearly dispirited and with excellent reason. A loaded ball club is playing like yesterday's ****, and some seem downright indifferent. Abreu couldn't appear to be more lethargic to his own futility. Others simple seem unable to read the pitchers they're facing--who are far cries from Cy Young, I might add. Cano simply cannot stop himself from swinging at balls in the dirt. Wrong sport for that, buddy, try a sand wedge. A-Rod is slipping into some bad habits from last year, getting out on his front foot early in his swing and messing up his timing badly. The team, except for Jeter, seems to have conveniently ignored that there is no rule against hitting the ball to the opposite field. Too many guys, today Giambi despite his home run was the worst offender with a head-pulled, eyes-half-shut home run swing and miss in the fourth inning, are swinging for the fences, a sure sign of impatience. This team has home run hitters, but its bailiwick is wearing out other pitchers with patience, smart at-bats, and crisp hitting to all fields, not playing Mighty Casey.

They're clearly lost at the plate, and need a breakout--not one in which they score 22 runs in a game, but rather 66 runs in a week. A big blowout can easily be a fluke, but a hot week will reconnect the mental and muscle memories of plate success. It's getting late early around here, boys.]

After being gone for a great week, I was hoping that bringing some good vibes home would help the Yankees out of their doldrums. No luck, as the Yanks dropped their fourth in a row, 7-2 to the Blue Jays in a yawner. Apparently the much-publicized pre-game meeting did nothing to fire up the team as it stumbled against Dustin McGowan, mustering little offense and wasting what few opportunities they generated until Matsui's two-run blast in the 8th slightly narrowed the game to 7-2.

It's quite amazing how the Yankees, after starting the season with so much fanfare and offensive prowess have stumbled so badly, and have flailed offensively the past few weeks. So little has changed. Though Cano has begun to hit better lately, Abreu has continued to be terrible, and Giambi has fallen apart. Perhaps he can muster an apology of his own for his 4-44 stretch, injuries or no. As a side note, I'm uncomfortable with the release of his allegedly positive drug test for amphetamines, though I don't doubt the possibility that he actually took them; rather, the timing of the news immediately after his quasi-admission of having taken something that he shouldn't have, but that didn't help his performance, and more importantly his bashing baseball for how it didn't handle people like him, seems fishy. Just one more weird drama in a season lacking on-field heroics from most Yankees.

Again, this team better develop some mental toughness and offensive prowess or it will be buried, and soon. I'm confident that they'll play better, but uncertain how much ground they'll be able to make up. It's a heck of a hole they've dug for themselves, having earned every bit of the enormous 13 1/2 game deficit to Boston.

Sorry everyone for the radio silence over the past week and, no sentinel, it wasn't from a good corner weeping--justified though it might have been. My family and I, along with Frank the Sage and his immediate and extended clan, spent a glorious week along the southern shores of the Atlantic, where the weather was impeccable--there were literally four clouds I saw all week, on Thursday--and very warm. Everyone got a lot of sun, spent a ton of time in the pool and hot tub, and had lots of cold drinks and great food. We had Alaskan King Crab legs twice, which were the best crab I've ever had, we had swordfish steaks, we had raw clams twice and scallops twice, I made a spicy jambalaya for dinner that also went well with lunch and breakfast, and topped off with some good natural casing dogs with cheeseburgers. We also slung the pill around for a few days in the hot sun. We've been vacationing along the Atlantic for seven years now, and this past week was as good a time, weather-wise and for fun, as we've ever had. The wife took the girls to see the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" flick, and the Sage and I watched "The Big Lebowski" (first time for him) and "Young Frankenstein" (first time for me) at the big vacation house in surround sound. Just great stuff, and I haven't been in such good spirits for several years.

I thought that the house had a computer, but it only had high-speed Internet, and we didn't know about the lack of computer until we got down there and no one brought a laptop, hence the lack of communication. I did see the first and third games of the series with the Red Sox, both victories, but the other games not on ESPN I missed, and probably for the best given what I heard.  I'll post more tonight after the game with the Jays, but needless to say this season will either bring one of the greatest comebacks, or be one of the biggest and most expensive busts, ever. I'm still hoping for the former, but am increasingly fearful of the latter.

I just posted a comment over on the Yankees Chick blog, and I'm glad I did. There was an exchange between one Saif, who frequently posts on Geoff's terrific Bleeding Pinstripes blog, and Beth of Yankees Chick about grappling with the ongoing malaise befalling the Yankees. Each good people and fans, they took different approaches to this recent slide--Saif more sanguine with "Chin Up" (hence the title, to which I'll get, but credit Saif), Beth more acerbic. I commented to try to bridge between two good people, and just to exhale some of my views from earlier, when I had other family obligations prohibiting my posting earlier, probably for the best either way.

Interestingly, and I say this not to take the easy way out, both Saif and Beth are completely right in their views of how to react to this 18-21 start. Saif has emphasized that the Yankees will rebound, and such streaks and swoons are the nature of baseball. Beth has dealt with the immediate and the undeniable fact that the Yankees are not a good team right now. Both are right. It's just a matter of feeling for what will come next. The problem comes from the Yankees themselves, who this year have given only the indication that we simply don't know what to expect from one day to the next from them, equaling 18-21. I agree--the Yankees are not good right now, and such streaks come in baseball, with a good one coming. I also fully admit that while there is some analysis to back this up, it's primarily based on faith that I say it.

If for no other reason, I believe it. I believe it with every fiber in me, they will bounce back high. There is character and toughness on that team, and it won't last much longer that good ball players, really historically good hitters, will continue to struggle en masse. It very rarely happens. Could it this year for the Yankees? Absolutely. But I don't believe it will. Today's game was terrible, just frustrating from soup to nuts. But even though the Yanks hit into 3 double-plays, and were inert offensively, upon reflection Garland had them locked down. He made good pitches, especially to the lefties, locating good pitches in on the hands, but just inside enough so that the lefties couldn't risk taking the pitches. Garland is good, and got himself out of some trouble just as Wang did last night. Today was lousy, but it was more good pitching than bad hitting decisions, certainly not always the case lately, for example in Game 1 of yesterday's double-header.

There are lots of reasons I could give, and tons of historical comparisons with lessons for being patient with the Yankees this year (1978 Yankees, 2005 Yankees, 1951 Giants, 2006 Twins just for starters). These things happen more than people may realize, though not always in such dramatic fashion or from 14-16 games back. I may do more about that later or tomorrow, but for now, I'll just say this: I believe they will be better, and soon. I think that A-Rod showed us as fans last year how fragile confidence can be, even for great and future Hall-of-Fame players. The Yankees lack confidence right now, and rightly so. They need some success, but it's there for them. In what form it will come I know not, but when it does it will come with a dramatic and long-overdue spark--a comeback win, a big rally, a stretch of seven games with 100 hits. It will come. They're 39 games into 2007, not 99. It's early and, other than for most of the first 10 games of May, the Yankees have just not had good hitting and good pitching in the same game much at all. They've also hit the ball hard, but right at people or just shy of leaving the yard--A-Rod twice to the wall and once right at Crede against Chicago, Abreu today, Jeter right at someone, Matsui right at the left-fielder today.

In the late 1990s, I often found myself so busy with family, work, school, union organizing and other things that making time for the Yankees was hard, almost impossible for the games live and, if so, usually in bits and pieces. I always followed them, but was at times diverted to other things for stretches. But the faith in them never waned. Ever. I just believed that they would be focused, playing hard, and more often than not getting the positive results they deserved as long as they did the right things. I don't say that simply to draw on positive historical memories--far from it--but rather to say that it's important to remember that though times and players were quite different in say, 1998, we as fans and they as players didn't know that 1998, as one example, would work out the way it did. They didn't have the clarity of historical hindsight. They had to stick with approaching games, day-to-day, with hard work and, when things didn't go right or they struggled (and even the championship teams faced their struggles--losing streaks, hitting slumps, bad pitching, personal problems, family deaths, et cetera), they had to maintain the same approach. Sometimes the same approach yields entirely different results. I firmly believe that though some of these guys have gotten into bad habits--Abreu and Cano as the worst examples--others like A-Rod need to just keep doing the same things. They can't conflate bad results with being bad players. They need to keep believing they're good, and soon enough they'll remind themselves and us of that tenfold. They need to keep their chins up.

We don't know what the rest of 2007 will bring, heck what tomorrow will bring, for this team. But I'm harking back to the faith I maintained when I wasn't nearly so fortunate regarding seeing and listening to games. I'm holding on to that faith with everything I have. This team will bounce back, and even money it will be in a big way, with the bats. When they play badly they play really badly, in stretches and unfortunately as a team and deserve the criticism that comes with that. Let's just be ready to praise them when the good stretches come, and they will, and to savor them all the more. I have faith that it will happen, and that chip won't ever leave my pocket.

4-1 White Sox, in yet another uninspired Yankees performance. Maybe I'll post more later, I've got some other more important stuff to do in the meantime, but this one barely merits more than the title to this post for now.

I wish I had mentioned this last night, especially since I made a point to write it down after it happened, but Jorge Posada tied Bill Dickey last night for 11th place on the home run list in Yankees history. It's just amazing for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is tying the first of many great Yankees catchers. Dickey was an incredible Yankee, a real leader on some of the greatest teams in baseball history. Some of years were just incredible, even in retrospect from this era of inflated statistics and statistical analysis. For example, in 1937, on easily one of the five greatest teams in baseball history, here were Dickey's numbers according to Baseball.Reference.com, which are just incredible:

Games   AB   H       R    2B     HR   RBI   BB     SO     AVG     OBP     SLG
140       530  176    87   35     29   133     73     22    .332     .417    .570
To reiterate, on this team that went 102-52 and scored 979 runs (even more than the great 1998 team) and allowed 671, with DiMaggio hitting 46 home runs and driving in 167, batting .346, scoring 151 runs and striking out only 37 times, with Lou Gehrig hitting .351 while banging 37 home runs, driving in 159, scoring 138 runs, drawing 127 walks and striking out 49 times--all ridiculous numbers in any era--Dickey's numbers not only come close, but he struck out a mere 22 times in 1937. That goes well beyond just getting good pitches to hit in one of the greatest all-time lineups--Dickey, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Red Rolfe, Tony Lazzeri, Frank "The Crow" Crosetti, George Selkirk--Dickey had a lifetime average of .313, and never struck out more than 37 times in a season, which he did in 1939, yet another of the greatest teams of all-time. For much of the 1930s, his strikeout totals were in the teens. Dickey was also an incredible defensive catcher, a big man especially for that time among baseball players, and was extremely tough. It was Dickey whom Casey Stengel brought in to help Yogi shore up his defense, after getting consistently burned by the Brooklyn Dodgers on the base paths in the 1947 World Series, and after losing confidence between shifts from behind the plate to the outfield in 1948. He did a heck of a job coaching Yogi, and a better job as a player.

That's the man whom Posada tied with his blast last night, one of the greats of the Yankees and the game. I'd say that for far more than just this recent hot streak, Posada deserves to have his place among the incredibly rich pantheon of Yankees greats and great Yankees catchers, joining Dickey, Yogi, Elston Howard, and Thurman Munson. Jorge's been a rock in the Yankees lineup for a decade, and has never been more indispensable to this team than right now, both offensively and defensively. Hats off to you Jorge, you've gotten better with age. In your own quiet way, you're the guts of this team.

Lots to talk about with the double-header split today, with the Yankees losing Game 1 5-3, and taking Game 2, 8-1. The opener was marred by missed scoring chances by the Yankees and bad location by Mussina in the last 2 1/3 innings of his start, while the nightcap saw the Yankees get a very good start from Wang, and score six of their eight runs with two outs.

Starting with Game 1, Mussina faced White Sox rookie John Danks and, given the Yankees' patented uncertainty recently against rookies and pitchers they've never seen, it came as little surprise that the Yanks struggled against Danks who, in fairness, pitched pretty well. Each pitcher breezed through the first three scoreless innings, with Danks allowing only a bloop double to Posada in the second (and subsequently stranded him at third), and Mussina only allowing two singles. The Yankees squandered an opportunity in the fourth. Jeter and A-Rod hit Danks hard despite making outs, with Jeter lining sharply to center and A-Rod sending Sweeney to the wall in left. Posada singled and Matsui, who is really starting to warm up, walked on four pitches, yet Phelps flew out to Erstad in center to end the rally. Mussina surrendered a home run to Konerko to right-center, missing his spot and grooving a fastball belt-high down the middle, easy pickings for the slumping Konerko.

I coincidentally called Abreu's tying home run to lead off the fifth, saying as he entered the box, Come on BA, get out of the slump and get it back right here, and Abreu summarily smacked the first pitch on a line to left-center, the best hit ball he's had in three weeks. After Melky and Cairo made outs, Damon singled and Jeter scalded a single up the middle to charge a two-out rally, but A-Rod's foul pop was caught by Crede at the wall to end the rally and strand two. With one out, Iguchi made Mussina pay for a mistake by doubling to right-center, a pitch for which Posada gave the target on the outside corner yet Mussina left over the plate. With two outs, Erstad clubbed another Mussina mistake, this one chest-high, to right to drive in Iguchi. After Erstad stole second, Uribe sent one to the wall in left only to be robbed by Melky, who made a terrific leap to steal a home run from Uribe and keep it 2-1. The Yankees again responded right away in the top of the 6th, with the red-hot Posada leading off with a single. After Matsui struck out looking and Phelps showed no patience against a now-struggling Danks by flying out on the first pitch, Abreu singled to left and Cabrera drove in Posada with a double down the left-field line, tying the game at 2. Again the Yankees stranded runners in scoring position when Cairo whiffed on a high curve, keeping the game 2-2.

The White Sox went ahead for good in the bottom of the sixth when Pierzynski led off with a home run to left. In fairness to Mussina, this wasn't a bad pitch, at the knees and slightly off the plate, but the ball carried well. 3-2 Chicago. With one out, Dye doubled to left and Mussina plunked Mackowiak on the right knee, after which Crede singled to center to score Dye, 4-2 White Sox. Vizcaino relieved Mussina and immediately left one hanging, allowing Iguchi to hit a sac fly to fairly deep left. Melky nearly threw out Mackowiak at the plate, but the throw was slightly off, allowing Mackowiak to score just under Posada's tag. It was a whale of a throw from Melky, a real asset in the outfield. 5-2 White Sox. Phelps homered to center in the 8th to close it to 5-3, but the Yankees got no further, with Damon watching life, and a fastball at the knees on a 3-2 count, go by to end the game.  Of the 7 LOB, 5 were in scoring position, not good at all in a close game when the Yankees struggled to get base runners. Striking out 10 times, including seven against Danks, was damaging to say the least.

Game two was far better. Wang pitched very well through seven but he wasn't perfect, escaping jams in the 4th and 6th. In each inning, Wang allowed the first two on with no out--two singles in the 4th and a single and HBP in the 6th. In the 4th, Wang got Konerko to fly to center, and Mackowiak to fly to shallow left on one pitch, with Crede grounding out to A-Rod, who was very good defensively tonight, to escape trouble. The 6th wasn't quite so smooth. Dye flew out to center on one pitch and Wang struck out Konerko, but Mackowiak singled in Erstad to make it 2-1, yet Melky ended the threat and the inning by throwing out Ozuna by a mile as he tried for third. Wang threw seven strong, allowing six hits, one run, one walk, while striking out three and inducing 11 ground outs on 91 pitches. Well done, and just what the Yankees needed.

The Yankees' offense did in Game 2 exactly what they couldn't in the opening game, hit in the clutch, plate runners with two outs, and add on in late innings. In the third with two outs, Matsui pasted a ball over Erstad's head in center to score Jeter (who reached on an error) and Giambi to make it 2-0. In the 7th, Melky walked to lead off and Mientkiewicz bunted him to second. After Posada pinch-hit for Nieves (hey, he got six whole innings off!) and flew out to center, Abreu drove in Melky with a single to right, 3-1 Yankees. Jeter smoked a triple to center to score Abreu, 4-1 Yankees and, at this point, all four RBIs were with two outs. After Nuke LaFarnsworth walked two and threatened to walk the bases loaded in the eighth until he retired Mackowiak on a weak pop to Cano, the Yankees broke it open in the 9th. Melky homered to left off Sisco and, after Mientkiewicz flew out to deep right-center, Posada homered to deep left-center, 6-1 Yankees. Abreu grounded out, Jeter walked, Giambi singled, A-Rod walked to load the bases, and Matsui singled to center to make it 8-1. In all, the Yankees had 9 hits and worked 5 walks in the nightcap, a good amount of base runners earned. Mariano mopped up in the 9th to get some work in, allowing a cheap, broken-bat bloop single to Sweeney, but eventually retiring the side in just 15 pitches, hopefully meaning he'll still be available tomorrow if necessary.

In the double-header, Matsui was 3-8 with 4 RBI, Abreu was 3-9 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs but struck out 3 straight times against Contreras, A-Rod was 0-8 but hit four balls very hard, driving two to the wall. He's off, but he's also not missing by much, yet his average his drastically fallen to .311. Posada was 3-5 with 2 runs and an RBI, Jeter was 2-8 with 2 runs scored, but now has an 11-game hit streak. Melky was 2-6 with 3 runs and 2 RBI, not bad. The bullpen wasn't overworked despite the double-header.

Tomorrow's rubber match has Matt DeSalvo, trying to prove he can pitch well to a team besides the Mariners, going against Jon Garland. Bad first game, but a good response in the second. Let's get some momentum and win this series. Despite their cold hitting, the White Sox are a good team with excellent pitching, a real challenge against whom to win a series. Let's get it done tomorrow afternoon.

It was announced at 7:45 EST that the Yankees game would begin at 9 p.m., though it is still raining in Chicago (and pouring where I am in the Midwest). It looks like more late-night ball. Let's Go, Yankees!

[Edit: Make that a 10:15-10:30 start. The rain has abated, but not completely stopped. Late-night baseball it is.]

Starting for the Yankees tonight:
YANKEES
Damon DH
Jeter SS
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Matsui LF
Phelps 1B
Abreu RF
Cabrera CF
Cairo 2B

Apparently, Sean Henn was sent down and Ron Villone was called up from Scranton, where he was pretty good. Giambi is still nursing a sore heel, and Cano is sitting. My guess is that Abreu might tomorrow if he doesn't relax and hit. It's good to see Posada hitting cleanup, he deserves it with his hot streak.

Though it has finally stopped raining in Chicago, my guess is that there's a chance that it will rain again in Chicago around the 8:11 EST start. I wouldn't be surprised, depending on how the weather radar shakes out, if there is a brief delay, either due to rain or to avoid a start followed by quick shower. I'll try to stay posted, and hopefully will have lineups soon.

I have to say that I'm thankful to have spent much of Mother's Day with my better half and the kids out at dinner, running a couple errands, and watching the kids play outside, given not only the Yankees' 2-1 loss but also the decrepit manner in which they lost. More on that below, but we enjoyed a terrific feast at a seafood place for Mother's Day, my wife's choice. She got king crab legs, a lobster tail and shrimp, I had a huge fillet of blackened tilapia, GLG had lots of linguine, and the little guy hammered the kids' menu. With cheesecake and ice cream for desserts, I am honestly still feeling a bit full right now, and with all due humility, I can pack it away. Great stuff. About the game, um, not so much. Runners in scoring position stranded by Mientkiewicz's inning-ending double-play, A-Rod's inning-ending strikeout, Putz whiffing the side in the 9th to strand Matsui. Ugh. I can't get on A-Rod too much because he carried the Yanks in April, but not admitting that he's in a slide right now would be ignoring the obvious. Yet far more than A-Rod's moderate slump plague the Yankees right now.

What is occurring with the Yankees lately is both frustrating and par for the course this year. The team lacks consistency for several reasons. New players are finding boring and enervating ways to kill rallies and lose games. Some key players, most notably Giambi and Damon, are playing hurt and the results predictably haven't been great. Though Damon has started to hit better, Giambi's average and power numbers have free-fallen in May. Abreu and Cano have been nothing short of terrible this month. While Abreu at long last finally worked a walk, he and Cano each went 0-3 again, with their averages plummeting to .236 and .237 respectively. Woeful. Though it would have been naive to expect A-Rod's gaudy April numbers to continue, it is also fair to say that he's slumping a bit now, though not nearly as badly as Abreu and Cano.

Equally frustrating, this offensive tailspin has coincided with much better pitching, especially from the starters, than the Yankees received through April. Rasner was decent on Friday, and Pettite was good yesterday, allowing 9 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk and striking out 2 in 7 1/3 innings and 100 pitches, 65 of which were strikes. It's hard to ask for much more than what Pettite has supplied, and that he has precious little to show for his starts is very frustrating. Other than for about the first 10 games of May, the Yankees have failed to combine good hitting with good pitching. It's been one or the other, and sometime neither, more than they've had both.

Given that White Sox lefty starter John Danks has only allowed a .167 average against lefties this year, I would strongly consider sitting either Abreu or Cano against him Tuesday. Sitting both would be ideal, but given that Cairo is a terrible hitter, the lineup would be dramatically weakened if both sat. Then again, it's hard to imagine it any weaker than it has been the last several days. Torre has given them ample chance to hit their way out of these slumps. It's surely bound to end soon--they're far better hitters than they're showing and, given how they've slumped for literally the entire first half of May, they're due for a rebound and very soon. But this won't come without more patience at the plate, and staying back a bit in the batters box during swings. Their mistakes seem to come from lunging, especially at breaking balls. Maybe they're just not picking the pitches up well and nothing more. I don't know, but I do know that they're due to face two right-handed pitchers in Contreras and Garland who, when on, will keep the ball down and change speeds well. They like to get ahead with the fastball and sink most pitches from there. I'm not sure if swinging at the first pitch will be the answer, for Abreu, Cano, or any of the hitters given their recent impatience and poor performance in handling pitches. But I also know that letting Contreras and Garlend get into grooves will be perilous for the Yankees, who are already eight games behind Boston and floundering for some consistent success.

This stretch will tell a lot, with the Yankees facing the White Sox, Mets, Red Sox, LA Angels of Superfluous Acronyms, Blue Jays, Red Sox and White Sox again, with the final three series (10 games) on the road. Of the next 22 games, the Yankees' going 12-10 would get them back to .500, and they should shoot for 14. Playing good ball against these good teams would give them a serious boost of confidence, and just as importantly would get them back into the hunt in the East where it's the Red Sox and everyone else right now. There's no other way to do it.

Time to show what you're really made of, boys. There's still lots of baseball left, but you've already wasted valuable time. Let's get going.

Let's Go, Yankees! Let's Go, Yankees! Let's Go, Yankees! Let's Go, Yankees! Let's Go, Yankees! Let's Go, Yankees! Let's Go, Yankees! Let's Go, Yankees! Let's Go, Yankees! Let's Go, Yankees!

Good win for the Yankees, 7-2, with each team doing all its respective damage in the first three frames. The Yankees sent 10 batters to the plate in the second, scoring five runs and working over Miguel Batista.  In the second, Giambi walked, Matsui doubled, Posada and Mientkiewicz hit consecutive RBI singles, Cano lined out, Damon doubled to score Posada and Abreu singled to plate Mientkiewicz, and the Captain singled to score Damon. In the third, the Yankees chased Batista, with Matsui and Posada hitting back-to-back singles, Mientkiewicz advancing them with a sacrifice, and Cano singling to score Matsui, with an error on right fielder Jose Guillen allowing Posada to score. 7-0 Yankees.

Though Matt DeSalvo allowed two runs in the bottom of the third, he again supplied a good start for the Yankees and earned his first major league win, going 6 2/3, allowing 7 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks and striking out two. Good for you, kid. Myers pitched to one batter to finish the seventh, Nuke LaFarnsworth seems bent on keeping his ERA below 5, working a relatively uneventful eighth, and though Mariano allowed a four-pitch lead-off walk and got an error on a ground ball to Mientkiewicz--far from a routine error, Mientkiewicz had to lunge to his right on a crossover, but the ball hit the outside of his glove, a ball he should have had, but not exactly a ball rolling through his wickets either--the Yankees showed vast improvement in the run-down play execution by getting Lopez out in a rundown play after Ichiro's ground ball to A-Rod, and Vidro hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game, 7-2 Yankees.

Good: Jeter went 3-5, continuing to raise his average to .376, were it not for Ichiro being perfectly positioned in the 9th, Jeter would have collected his fourth hit on a ball he scalded. Matsui and Posada each went 3-5, with Matsui upping his average to .267 and Posada bringing his up to a great .369, just a great tear for Jorge. Between the hits and walks, the Yankees had 15 base-runners earned (combining hits and walks). Matt DeSalvo was quite good, and is showing promise and the ability to pitch to Seattle. Next, he gets the chance to pitch to the rest of the major leagues.

Bad: A-Rod has cooled precipitously in May. Though hitting .279 for the month, he is 1 for his last 13, and 4 for his last 24, For the month, A-Rod has only one home run, has scored eight runs, driven in five, struck out five times and walked five times. His walks, including another one tonight, have kept the on-base percentage acceptable. Though getting a hit and RBI, Abreu's 1-5 night might earn him a seat soon. Cano went 1-4. Given that there is a day game after a night game indicating that Nieves may catch tomorrow, the lineup for Sunday might be interesting. A few players such as Abreu and Cano have earned, unfortunately, seats for a day but, if Nieves catches, the lineup would be seriously weakened with Melky and Cairo, though DHing Posada might be a good idea given his torrid stretch.  We'll see.

Let's win the series and enjoy the day off before a tough stretch against the White Sox, Mets, Red Sox, LA Angels of Superfluous Acronyms, Blue Jays, Red Sox, and White Sox again on the road for no good reason--17 of the next 23 on the road. If the Yankees can go 14-9, that would indicate marked improvement, poise under pressure, and guts. To do that, the Yankees need significantly improved contributions from Abreu, Cano, Damon and Giambi (the last two have likely faltered from injuries), and obviously pitching, especially quality starts. I see good things coming, but we need the team effort, not just a few people.

A good win, let's get the series win, and Go Yankees!

Happy Mother's Day to my better half and all other mothers out there.

I have to say that I was glad to be out for drinks and fun with my friend, easily the greatest history graduate student I've ever encountered, and his family during the so-called game. The kids got to play and have a lot of fun together, and the adults talked over a few cold coldies. My friend's neighbor brought over some home brews, cloudy wheat beers which were excellent, and we chatted in relaxing fashion as a hot day turned into a cool night, infrequent for our weather lately. Thank goodness, because I got the distinct impression that when I got home in the bottom of the eighth, and saw the Yankees down 3-0, sitting and watching the Yankees through that bilge would have been a colossal waste and, having sat through most of yesterday's debacle, I have a one-debacle-per-week-quota.

I get the impression that Rasner was decent but far from stellar, yet decent enough to have kept the game close--5 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, and a strikeout on 78 pitches. Proctor pitched two perfect innings to help keep the game close, but the Yankees anemic offense had little chance, not having advanced a runner to third base all game. Washburn neutralized more than the Yankees as a whole but lefties Abreu, Matsui, Damon, and Cano in particular, allowing them one hit out of fifteen at-bats, with 5 strikeouts, including 2 by the rather ineffective Abreu. Horrible. The problem with this particular problem is that it's very difficult to sit a couple of these slumping players. The Yankees have one real back-up outfielder--Cabrera, himself not hitting well--and a back-up infielder who is a good glove and absolutely no stick in Cairo. Thin bench options make it difficult for the Yankees to find in-house/in-team solutions when key players, particularly the lefties, simply don't hit.

Yet this extends far beyond this game. Abreu, Matsui, and Cano are in prolonged slumps, and the numbers aren't good. I don't believe that statistics lie; rather, they provide a glimpse into a greater truth, based on situations and human interactions. In the cases of Abreu, Matsui and Cano, the statistics are pretty telling:
[from best to worst in May]
Matsui: .268 BA, 8 runs, 8 RBI, 4 BB, 5 K
Abreu: .223 BA, 4 runs, 5 RBI, 0 BB, 10 K
Cano: .180 BA, 2 runs, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 10 K

The numbers, believe it or not, get worse when broken down even further:
After going 5-13 in the sweep in Texas last week combined, Matsui has gone 6-28 in the next 8 games. Abreu, after going 3-5 in the 15-11 debacle, has gone 6-29, with 2 runs scored, 5 RBI, and 6 strikeouts. In the month of May, in 11 games, Abreu has yet to draw a walk. Cano has been dreadful. After going 4-5 in the 10-1 game against Texas (when Hughes pitched 6 1/3 no-hit innings), Cano has gone 3-35, with 4 RBI, 1 BB, and 9 K. Miserable to pathetically wretched. If someone told me that Abreu would go 11 games without working a walk, I would have immediately requested a drug test. Cano has had a putrid May. The Yankees cannot win while these key players flounder.

Hitting swoons will occur with any team, and with the Yankees, especially early in the season, they seem to occur as a whole team. In a lefty-heavy lineup, the Yankees cannot afford to have Abreu, Matsui, and Cano all slumping simultaneously, which is what is happening.

DeSalvo goes tomorrow, and the Yankees can use another gem as they got from him last Monday.  Go Yankees!

"It's like watching murder through your fingers at the theater."
        --"So Long, Bernie," The Lowest of the Low

"Well, this stinks."
        --Plankton, "Spongebob Squarepants"

Leave it to the Yankees. When they do something, they sure leave little doubt about it. From the get-go, there was just a feeling that the Yankees were sluggish and the Rangers took full advantage, pounding out 16 hits and trouncing the Yankees, 14-2. Wang was not good at all today, wearing out as his outing went on. With the game tied at one in the fifth, the wheels came off for Wang and the Yankees, and they never came close to recovering. Gerald Laird tripled to right-center on a ball that Abreu misplayed. It appeared as though the ball carried on Abreu, and he got shy near the wall on a ball that, better judged and approached more aggressively, could have been caught. Things got progressively worse from there. Wang got Lofton to ground to short with Jeter playing in, momentarily keeping Laird at third. On a ground ball from Wilkerson that should have spelled the second out and at least kept the game tied, the Yankees went Keystone Cops. A-Rod cleanly fielded the ball and threw quickly to Posada, trapping Laird in a run-down; Posada ran Laird back a bit and threw to A-Rod, who tried in vain to run Laird down instead of throwing the ball to Wang, who was waiting for a few seconds at home. A-Rod failed to throw the ball, and Laird dove safely in at home, allowing Wilkerson to advance to second on the run-down. There were two mistakes in the Yankees' execution--Posada should have run Laird farther back to third, only running him back part of the way, and A-Rod should have thrown the ball to Wang, who could have avoided a collision with a good throw and a side-step to tag the slow-running, hobbled Laird. 2-1 Texas became 3-1, then 4-1, as Texeira doubled and Cork Sosa singled. Wang induced Hank Blalock to hit into his second 4-6-3 double-play to end the inning, but the damage was done.

Wang was clearly rattled after the run-down conundrum, keeping too many pitches up higher than usual. In fairness to Texas, a good-hitting team that has been successfully masquerading as a poor-hitting team thus far this year, the Rangers hit the ball well, and Sosa hit a couple balls that were actually pretty good pitches. They were due to break out against the Yankees, and did in a big way, after having lost five straight this year to the Bombers. They exploded for three more in the seventh to finish off Wang, and cremated Vizcaino and Henn for seven runs in the eighth to salt this away.

Melky hit a home run off Brendan McCarthy in the third to tie it at one, and the Yankees added, or were given, a two-out run in the 7th when Kata dropped a ground ball from Damon in the infinitely dangerous transfer of the ball from the glove to the hand, allowing Mientkiewicz to score from third. Other than that, it was all Texas, sending the Yankees off on their long flight to Seattle with sore rear ends.

Jeter went 2-3, upping his average to .368. Melky hit a good home run, and Mientkiewicz went 1-3 to raise his average to an increasingly respectable .238, while making a great snare of a Kinsler liner in the 4th. If Mientkiewicz can get his average to about .250 or higher, the Yankees can certainly live with that, as they did when Scott Brosius hit .247 and .230 in 1999 and 2000 while providing excellent defense. Of the .258 bunch entering the game, Matsui got a hit in four at-bats to keep his average there, while Abreu and Cano continued to slump, each going 0-4 and lowering their averages to .250. Kevin Long can deny it all he wants as he did in the WCBS radio pregame show, but they're slumping, period.

I claim partial responsibility for this loss. Before this ten-game stretch, I blogged that the Yankees' taking 7 of the next 10 would be a good run, and I was right--fortunately on it being a good run, and unfortunately on winning 7 and not more. Yet the team has righted its ship, and other than today and last Friday, has gotten excellent pitching, especially from the starters. I'm not sure if today was more Texas's explosive hitting or the Yankees' bad pitching--probably some of both--but I'm willing to give the Rangers sufficient credit. They hit the Yankees' best starter hard, even good pitches Wang made, and made others pay dearly for mistakes.

On to Seattle and another West Coast swing. Keep the coffee and caffeinated soda ready with the 10:05 EST starts Friday and Saturday. I'll be there for blogging pleasure, hopefully not mine alone.

Go Yankees! Bad ending to the last ten, but seven of ten is a lot better than the previous ten were.

[Edit: I wanted to mention this earlier, the Rangers' 3-5 hitters went 10-14, with 5 runs scored and 10 RBIs, including Victor Diaz's pinch-hit grand slam against Henn. That's quite an explosion. I also think that the Yankees had a hard time discerning McCarthy's fastball and change-up, accounting for their poor offensive showing. Matsui and Abreu were just flailing against McCarthy, pulling off the ball and failing to steer the ball to left field.]

[PS Edit: After seeing highlights on ESPN of today's game, it seems as though A-Rod tagged Laird just before he touched home in that run down, making that two missed calls this week that cost the Yankees, both of which were tags on the rear end. Though this one wasn't nearly as egregious as the blown call against Seattle, it might serve the Yankees well not to tag runners on the rear any more.]

Courtesy of Pete Abraham's Journal News blog, here are the starting lineups for the Rangers-Yankees game:

YANKEES
Damon CF
Abreu RF
Jeter SS
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Mientkiewicz 1B
Cabrera LF
Wang RHP

RANGERS
Lofton CF
Wilkerson LF
Teixeira 1B
Sosa DH
Blalock 3B
Kinsler 2B
Kata SS
Cruz RF
Laird C
McCarthy RHP

It seems as though the Yankees are proceeding with their plan to rotate outfielders and DH hitters despite Giambi's bone spur injury, and likely to keep Cabrera's very good arm and glove in the field. This is a good thing. It keeps the others fresh, some of them (Damon) have needed a break due to physical maladies, and Cabrera is probably due for a good offensive bounce. I wonder if Abreu will be next to DH or, given his own very good defensive skills and his outfield assist yesterday when throwing out Texeira, if he'll continue to play the field. Though the Yanks lack Giambi's bat, this is still a very good, dynamic offensive team with Posada back in the lineup, and with a healthier Damon able to run and steal again. I also wonder if Torre, given A-Rod's good hitting but power-slumping May, might give him a half-day off by DHing him in Seattle or Chicago. It's getting to be about that time to rest a player now and then and, given the stretch of quality opponents the Yankees are in the midst of, this might be that time.

Let's get the sweep.

At long last, the Yankees reached the .500 mark after a difficult April, beating Texas 6-2 to win 7 of their last 9. Mussina gave the Yankees another high quality start, going 6 strong innings and giving up 3 hits, 2 runs, walking one and striking out 2 in 85 pitches. He's thankfully been very sharp since returning from his groin injury, going 11 innings while only allowing seven hits, three runs, one walk with five Ks. Very impressive, and his change was dancing down and away from lefties all night. With the bullpen having been rather rested lately, Torre used five relievers in the last three innings, including three to get through the seventh. I'm not sure if this was because Torre planned to use lefty-on-lefty match-ups, or rather that Bruney's allowing a hit and a walk spurred the move for Myers against Wilkerson. They got the job done, but it certainly took a while to play it out.

Speaking of which, was it handful of quaaludes night in the Bronx? Two guys ran out onto the field and came way too close to Matsui, then into the infield. After the Tom Gamboa incident in Chicago, you just cannot trust any lone knucklehead barreling out onto the field of play. Most are harmless, but that's not a certainty. Thankfully Mariano, though interrupted twice, was able to bear down and retire them, looking good in the process. Though he yielded a single to right from Sosa, he wore Kinsler out with repeated doses of two-seam fastballs in. His pitches had lots of movement, and he displayed good control.

The Yankees bats did their damage in the first four innings against an erratic Tejeda, working six of their eight hits and three of their four walks against him, and jumping on him early with a four-run, thirty-six pitch first. Jeter delivered three RBIs, two with two outs in the fourth after Mientkiewicz doubled, Nieves (who actually got a hit later then neglected to stop at first and was thrown out at second) laid down a very good bunt, Damon walked and stole second and, after Abreu flew out to shallow left, Jeter ripped a single to left, again turning on an inside fastball and pulling it cleanly. After going 2 for 3, Jeter raised his average to .362. Damon's two hits brought him to .263, Abreu and Matsui each went one for four with an RBI, with Abreu hitting second to use his patience, and to hopefully jump-start his languid bat. Mientkiewicz has hit very well this month, bringing his average to a modest but vastly improved .234. That the team managed six runs on eight hits and four walks without Giambi and Posada (who will catch the day game tomorrow with Wang throwing) is a positive not to be overlooked.

Let's get the sweep tomorrow afternoon, Yanks. Although Brandon McCarthy pitched well last time out against Toronto, he's been banged around a lot this year, and the pitching match-up definitely favors Wang and the Yankees. Abreu, RC, and Matsui are all hitting .258 and though they've contributed this year, there is far more that they're capable of. When they join in the hit parade, this team will be hard to beat, as they've proven the last nine games.

Since the Yankees have won six of the last eight and have played markedly improved baseball over the last week plus, I figured it would be a good time to make a brief assessment of what has transpired during that stretch. It's impossible to get around the fact that starting pitching has made the biggest difference in the Yankees' recently improved fortunes, resting a bullpen that has been overworked but is still talented. In seven of the last eight games, Yankees pitching overall has yielded three or fewer runs, with the 15-11 loss being a sore-thumb anomaly. In this, as you surely remember, Igawa allowed eight runs in four innings plus, Bean allowed four without recording an out, Vizcaino allowed two in one innings, and Myers, in an outstanding mop-up job, allowed one in four very good innings. More specifically analyzed, here are some statistics to illustrate how good Yankees pitching has been in the last 8 games. Because the 15-11 game is the outlier statistic, I broke down the ERA with and without it:

Starters' ERA for 8 games: 2.57
Starters' ERA without the 15-11 game: 1.20

Relievers' ERA for 8 games: 4.88
Relievers' ERA without the 15-11 game: 2.84

While the offense has continued to be excellent (more on that below), terrific pitching has doubtlessly fueled this surge. It has also broken up the string of games in which the Yankees used five or more pitchers. That has occurred only twice, once in the 5-2 win last Thursday because it was Mussina's first game back, and he admitted after the game that he was gassed, and the other time when Rasner gave a terrific start Sunday, but he reached the 80-pitch wall that seems to have befallen him in all his starts so far. Twice the Yankees have used four pitches in the last eight games--the first game of the doubleheader last week, and the shootout loss against Seattle (again, mainly thanks to Myers for gutting it out for the team, well done). Three times the Yankees have used three pitchers and, had not Hughes unfortunately been hurt he might have gone all the way with a no-hitter, and another when Matt DeSalvo contributed a great first start with the Yankees in Monday's loss. Once the Yanks used only two when Wang flirted with baseball perfection, retiring the first 22 Seattle hitters in an outstanding performance Saturday. These are very good trends.

While it would be difficult to expect the Yankees very low starters' ERA to stay below 3, even more so to hover near 1 if one excludes the 15-11 game, it would not be unreasonable to expect the starters to have an ERA near four, give or take, and perhaps more importantly, to go deep into games. Another statistic worth remembering is that during this excellent eight-game stretch, Yankees starters have averaged over six innings pitched. Hughes went into the seventh and might have gone longer, Pettite went six last week and seven last night, Moose went 5 in his return which can be excused, Rasner went 5 2/3 but it's excusable when the bullpen is rested from the efficiency of the other starters, Igawa was terrible in maintaining his one-good one-bad performance pattern, Wang went eight very strong innings, and DeSalvo went seven strong Monday night. Numbers don't always tell the whole truth, but there is truth in numbers, especially with the pitching in this latest ascent.

The hitting has stayed hot, averaging 6.63 runs, 11.6 hits, and 4.5 walks issued per game--over 16 base runners not counting errors and hit batsmen. That's an amazing total and sure to contribute to victories through the sheer number of opportunities the Yankees create through patient, quality, and effective at bats. At the same time, the Yankees have left 73 men on base, over 9 per game on average. Yet with the other statistics mentioned above, the terrific pitching, and more statistics I'll add shortly, I'm not nearly so worried about this as I would be otherwise. While the Yankees have clearly left too many runners stranded, including 10 LOB in the last four straight, in part this has been a product of how many they've had on base. Adding together the number of hits and walks in each of the last eight games, the total base runners (without errors and HBP, for though these matter, I decided to eliminate the statistical factors that the Yankees couldn't really control) from hits and walks are 20, 10, 14, 22, 17, 14, 14, and 18. With totals such as those or close to them, the Yankees are bound to cash in a reasonable percentage of the time, and have lately.

Crucially, the Yankees have amassed 19 2-out RBIs in the 8 games, including five against Seattle in the 15-11 debacle, four in the 5-2 win, and three each in the 8-1 and 5-3 victories. Though the Yankees stranded 10 and had only 1 2-out RBI in Monday's 3-2 loss, that is the only time in the last eight games when one can say that missed opportunities helped cost them the game (as did the blown call at second and the blown save). Other than that, I argue that the high LOB totals contain a kernel in them about which we ought to be sanguine--the sheer number of base runners the Yankees have had. Additionally, the 2-out RBIs have come at the right time in these games. Two of the Yankees four runs in their 4-3 win, and four in the 5-2 win in the doubleheader--six out of the nine runs they scored that day--were with two outs. Over the weekend, in the 15-11 loss, the 8-1 win, and the 5-0 win, they had 5, 3, and 3 2-out RBIs respectively--an important total of 11, contributing either a significant minority or an actual majority of each game's total in the three games. It isn't always the number of runners left on base, but rather whether those runners left on actually cost them the game, or if the number of runners left on was offset by opportunities the team cashed in with two outs. The Yankees have cashed in, and will continue to do so in all probability when they get around 16 hits and walks per game combined.

Lastly on this, the number of runners LOB compared to the number of runners in scoring position stranded, when cross-referenced with hits and walks in each game, is as follows:

10-1W--11 LOB, 5 RLSP (runners left in scoring position) 2-outs, 14 H, 6 BB
4-3 W--6 LOB, 3 RLSP 2 outs, 8 H, 2 BB
5-2 W--7 LOB, 3 RLSP 2 outs, 11 H, 3 BB
15-11 L--9 LOB, 5 RLSP 2 outs, 16 H, 6 BB
8-1 W--10 LOB, 7 RLSP 2 outs, 12 H, 5 BB
5-0 W--10 LOB, 7 RLSP 2 outs, 10 H, 4 BB
3-2 L--10 LOB, 6 RLSP 2 outs, 10 H, 4 BB
8-2 W--10 LOB, 6 RLSP 2 outs, 12 H, 6 BB

There is good and bad in this, and it shows that statistics can tell us a lot, must be situated within the game circumstances themselves, and do not necessarily indicate success or failure. Yes, the LOB totals are too high, and in six of the eight games, the RLSP totals have been half or more than half the LOB total, but that the Yankees had so many runners, and did plate enough to win in most instances, is the more telling indicator to me. If the Yankees continue to get  14-16 hits and walks per game combined, they are bound to score enough to win even if the pitchers aren't quite as light-out as they have been because that hits-walk total has contributed to lopsided scores, thus allowing for some wiggle room for pitchers.

The terrific pitching is reason number one for winning six of eight, but the bats have been a close second. It is worth remembering that the offense can be expected to continue to be very good and highly productive, since Abreu, Matsui, Damon and Cano--historically clutch players--are due for improvements, making this stretch doubly remarkable from an offensive standpoint.

I spent the first hour or so of the game working with GLG on the softball field throwing long toss, hitting grounders, and tossing about 75 pitches for her to hit, and she availed herself quite well around. So I was thoroughly pleased to come home to see the Yankees opening their lead from 4-1 to 6-1 with an A-Rod blast to center in the 5th. After cooling off with the power numbers in the last week, understandably given his amazing April, this was a welcome sight. His average has stayed high, now at .358, an important statistic indicating that he's seeing the ball well, and that his dip in home runs and RBIs did not correspond with a prolonged slump.

The Yankees were strong all around today, getting very good starting pitching from Pettite, who threw 7 innings of 7-hit, one run ball while walking two and fanning four. The bats provided plenty of offense. A-Rod, Jeter, Posada, Cano, and Mientkiewicz each had two hits, with Abreu and Damon adding a single and double respectively, to propel the Yankees to a sound 8-2 drubbing of Texas. Importantly, the Yankees worked six walks, including two by Matsui even though he was hitless tonight.

I agree with the move to drop Abreu to 7th in the order. It's no offense to BA, a terrific hitter, but Torre has certainly done the same to Matsui in the past when he's slumped, and BA has been off kilter at the plate for two weeks now. Additionally, with Posada swinging a good stick, and with Matsui warming up, the Yankees need their best going at the top. Abreu will still get plenty of good pitches to hit after RC in the lineup, and Mientkiewicz is starting to contribute regularly, hitting .409 in May to raise his average to .230 to complement his great glove.

Though Henn allowed a run in the 9th and Proctor had to throw 26 pitches to get through the 8th (one hit and a walk), this one was far out of reach. I'm glad for Pettite because his hard work and excellent starts deserve to have had more "W's" next to them. Yet this offense is just too good to be kept down for long, and they showed it tonight. Excellent top-to-bottom contributions.

This is now six of the last 8 and, other than the 15-11 debacle last Friday night, Yankees pitchers have allowed three or fewer runs in 7 of those 8 games. Not bad, especially with the injuries. Let's keep it rolling and win, then seep, this series.

[Edit: Pete Abraham of the Journal News and Bryan Hoch of Bombers Beat blog have reported that Jason Giambi has a bone spur in his left heel, making him doubtful for tomorrow. What procedure if any he will have performed on it I have no idea. This isn't good news obviously, and comes during a good stretch for him. It might also help to explain the recent cold stretch in his power numbers, since his left foot, his back/plant foot, is the sore one. Although he and Torre say that he should continue to be able to play on it with some regular therapy, I also wonder if a special cushion insert would do him any good. A bulkier shoe won't take away any speed he didn't have anyway. We'll see. As the Yankees have done with the starters, they'll have to weather the storm and pick each other up. Lots of good patient at-bats and cashing in with runners in scoring position can make up for this injury but, with Abreu cold and Matsui still rounding into form, this hurts.

Also, and I feel terrible for neglecting to post this earlier, our thoughts and prayers go out to Frank Torre and the entire Torre family. Apparently Joe's brother Frank contracted pneumonia after kidney transplant surgery, and was re-admitted to the hospital. From a distance, Frank, we're thinking of you.]

[PS Edit: I went back and watched the plays that Mientkiewicz made in the 5th, and he was just dynamite with the glove. He fielded a push bunt from Laird far from first and dove to try to tag Laird, who avoided Mientkiewicz but missed first and seemed to pull a muscle in the process. Noticing that Laird never touched first, Mientkiewicz alertly dove and tagged the bag with his glove. Tremendous smarts and hustle. After catching a pop-up for the second out, he caught a short-hop smoker to his left, making it look easy then taking it to the bag for the third out, tying a major league record with 78,423 other major leaguers by making three put-outs in an inning. Just a terrific display of defense, smarts, and hustle.]

Given that regular commenter Mike has posted a very good question as a comment to a previous thread, I thought that I'd locate it in its own post, and deservedly so. Below is Mike's original comment on which anyone interested can respond:

"hey guys i have a question for everyone. I've always loved the fact that baseball has kept with the old time tradition of not using instant replays. i mean in football with all the challenges and so forth it has made what was always a boring sport, all the more intolerable. the fact is that umps are almost always correct in their calls. tonight was grotesque to say the least, but I'm still against bringing in the instant replay. what are some of your thoughts?
mike"

It's a very good and relevant question, and I have my own opinions, but would much rather hear from others.

"What happened, Dad?" GLG burst into the living room asking as I tried to stifle the profanity that used to come so naturally before she was born many moons ago. Not satisfied with a verbal explanation, I employed my vast theatrical skills--well, I got a bit histrionic, not a skill but a fault actually--to physically recreate the crime scene. "After the Yankees suffered a cheap broken-bat infield hit to allow Bloomquist to first, he tried to steal second when Jorge made an outstanding throw. Even though it was behind the runner, who was stretched out like this," as I laid out on the living-room carpet, skillfully avoiding rug burn, about two full feet short of the TV, "Cano tagged him on his rear end as he was about this far away from the bag, about where the TV is, but the ump called him safe. Terrible, just terrible!!" [I'm a double-up adjective guy when things are really screwed up.] I wailed as GLG drew the chalk outline around my rendition of the stiff in the living room. Immediately afterward, Seattle tied the game on a cheap bloop single. Horrible, horrible. [see what I mean?]

Yet the pain didn't end there. After Mariano whiffed a feeble Sexton on three pitches and retired Guillen, he left a 96-mph fastball hanging about sternum-high for Beltre, who summarily deposited it just past the 399-ft. sign in left-center, 3-2 Mariners.

All was not lost, however, as JD worked a single. Jeter feebly forced out JD at second but later advanced to second on a wild pitch from J.J. Putz. Yet Abreu, who was 1-5 on the night, looked off-stride the whole night, waving at breaking pitches and looking wanly at a called third strike to end the game. Sadly Abreu, who has been solid for the Yankees since acquired last July, has been in a terrible slump for the last 2 1/2 weeks, and his timing has gone south. 3-2 Mariners. It may be time to seriously consider dropping Abreu to 5th or 6th until he regains some form and confidence in that swing, and moving Matsui up.

The Yankees left ten on base, which was doubly unfortunate given the good hitting by Mientkiewicz, Posada, Jeter and JD, and the great start by Matt DeSalvo, who allowed 3 hits, one run, and three walks in seven innings on 89 pitches. He was very good and pitched harder than I thought he would, given the characterizations of him as a control pitcher who kept the ball down. He did that, but also routinely threw in the low-to-mid-90s with movement, a very impressive performance, easily the best debut stint for the Yankees this year--a year in which they have set the record for the most different starters used with 10 in the span of 30 games. It's unfortunate that they're 14-16, and in some ways it's amazing that they're 14-16 given the amazing rash of injuries they've sustained. Nuke LaFarnsworth was very good also, with broken-bat and bloop singles scoring a run that should have been an out with sober umpiring. Such is baseball, and I believe that the Yankees will get their share of breaks during the rest of the year. This one, however, hurt us badly.

If there is an upside other than Clemens returning to the Bronx in a few weeks, it's that the farm system of arms has shown some bright spots--DeSalvo, Hughes, Henn and Rasner, with a pinch of Britton--this Spring. All hasn't been great by any means, as the quiet but important demotion of the erratic and mainly ineffective Igawa has shown, but some players have availed themselves quite well. 

Disappointed? Certainly, but I'm keeping my head high. DeSalvo, you deserved a better fate. Nuke, keep coming around. Mariano (though I'm not qualified to proffer advice to any Hall-of-Famer), let's keep those blazers down. We'll be fine, despite this bad loss.

n. Substance; weightiness; high seriousness; serious or dignified demeanor; authoritativeness; weight [Latin: weight, heaviness, seriousness].

The signing of Roger Clemens added gravitas to a team and organization not lacking in seriousness or substance, but one that needed a strong presence in its starting rotation. Clemens shored that up immediately. Clemens is a serious, hard-working, proud, great, and smart pitcher. No one in the history of the game has outworked him, and few, such as Nolan Ryan, have ever matched his work ethic and dedication. Exactly what his on-field contributions will be when he returns are uncertain. I myself predict a good, not great, 2/3 of a year from him, but that would be a significant improvement from what most of the revolving door of fill-ins, call-ups, and other semi-deserving regulars have given the team. [If Clemens in roughly 23 starts contributed a 12-7 record, with a 3.70 ERA, that would be good and good enough for a team that's very solid or better in most aspects.] To me, the more important contributions from Clemens are the intangibles. His presence alone on the Yankees cannot be overestimated. The team does not lack seriousness or work ethic, yet the addition of a player who embodies such characteristics as well as anyone is a weighty plus, to say the least. This team will no longer be looking over its collective shoulder toward the sad spectacle of Pavano, wondering if this highly wasteful, expensive milquetoast of a free-agent pitching bust will at some point contribute to the team as its pitching staff careens from one injury to another. I'm quite sure that most of the players already wrote him off to some degree, but this makes it official, and surely solidifies his banishment to Tampa for a slow rehab, surgery that still seems unnecessary from what I've heard, and as much as anything jettisoning useless baggage in favor of someone whose presence is unmistakable. It makes the end of Pavano's wasteful tenure in pinstripes all but certain. Clemens won't whine and snivel about his situation, or avoid eye contact as he fields pointed questions during interviews. Clemens will be in the weight room every day, demanding as much as his body can give in order to contribute to the team's success. Clemens will set an example not of inherent fragility and uselessness, but of strength, conditioning, of an approach that at all times insists upon preparing for success. There is no slough in him or what he does as a player. Gravitas.

Clemens will no doubt contribute to the greater good of the team simply by pitching every fifth game, and by his presence in the dugout, locker room, weight room, and in endless conversations with players, great players, whose respect he, his accomplishments, and his presence commands. He isn't someone who needs to prove himself, yet works continually as though he has something to prove. People like John Kruk have said that this team has lacked an identity, and to a certain degree he may be right. That's no longer the case. The addition of Clemens adds a person who is a great teammate, and also one who demands accountability from himself and others. Whether or not he is an in-your-face player, as Tino was as a Yankee, I know not, but I do know that players seeing his hard work and preparation on a daily basis will carry that with them, and will push themselves that much harder because they have an object lesson in hard work and preparation in their midst. Listening to Mike Stanton talk about Paul O'Neill echoed that very quality of leadership. O'Neill wasn't a player to ride other players. Jeter and others invariably talked about how great, kind and generous a teammate O'Neill was. Yet O'Neill rode himself mercilessly, to a fault in fact, and pushed himself to achieve to such a degree that Stanton said, and I paraphrase, "On the days when you came in but lacked the motivation, all you had to do was look over there at a guy like O'Neill, and you knew that if you couldn't muster the effort for yourself, you knew you had to for him, because he killed himself to win." That's Clemens, and his efforts command such respect from everyone around him. Gravitas.

Clemens now has the chance to work with guys like Phil Hughes, Wang, Proctor, Igawa, Farnsworth and others, to instill his knowledge of the game--always underestimated in favor of paeans to his power and stamina. Clemens is a smart pitcher, and knows himself, his capabilities and his limitations very well.  Who knows, some of those pitchers might begin tinkering with a split-finger fastball to complement their various arsenals after working with Clemens, and likelier, might add some muscle mass and physical discipline to avoid the physical breakdowns that have been all-too common thus far. It couldn't hurt Igawa, for example.

Exactly where in the rotation Clemens fits (#1-5) is anyone's guess, but it matters little. At this point in his career, he doesn't need to be the number one guy, though his competitive streak will in all likelihood push him to prove that he can be, which is a good thing. As far as assessing some order for the staff when Clemens arrives, I would peg it as follows: Wang, Pettite, Clemens, Moose, and Hughes, who should certainly get a significant chance to earn a regular spot among a rotation whose only regular quality in the first five weeks has been its continual irregularity through injuries and ineffectiveness. I put Pettite at # 2 not simply because he has been very good this year so far, but mainly because a top three of Wang, Pettite and Clemens is potentially excellent and offers as good a mix of pitching strengths as any three Yankees starters. Wang throws very hard and keeps the ball down, preventing opposing batters from regularly driving the ball deep. Pettite has developed very good off-speed pitches in the last half of his career to complement his fastball which, though dipping to the 88-90 range from the low-to-mid 90s, is still effective. Clemens will throw in the low 90s, and adds an excellent split-finger fastball that most on the Yankees don't throw, as well as a good change-up.

The significance of the Clemens signing extends far beyond his abilities on the mound, not inconsiderable even at this late stage of his career. He adds presence, real leadership to a team that has leaders, but has lacked consistent leadership to date. That's no longer the case. Clemens will insist upon accountability because he's a winner, and insists upon winning and an attitude that constantly pursues it. He commands respect in ways most players in the history of the game did not, and which the person he's immediately replacing--Ol' Glass @$$--never could, in a million years. Those who dismiss the signing, some of which are Boston fans, deride Clemens and Yankees fans whom they claim view Clemens as a "savior," a fruitless and insipid point on numerous levels, and hypocritical to the core given the fawning obsequiousness that so many lickspittles in "Red Sox Nation" exhibited when the Red Sox paid over $100 million in posting fee and salary for Matsuzaka. I, and most other Yankees fans, do not see Clemens as a savior, but rather a key component in this team's quest to repeat--for the 10th straight time--as AL East champions, and to win the World Series. Clemens adds as many intangibles as he does with his on-field ability, a very good addition to a team playing better every day. He adds leadership, seriousness, maximum effort, camaraderie, appreciation for his place on the team and the team's history, and courage.

Clemens adds gravitas, alone worth his signing.

Today was nothing short of outstanding all around for the Yankees. Amazing that on a day that saw Darrell Rasner go 5 2/3 strong shutout innings, Matsui reach the 2,000-hit milestone and membership in Japan's Meikyukai (the "Association of Great Players" in Japan), and a rough collision and two beanings precipitate a benches-clearing incident resulting in Scott Proctor and Joe Torre's ejections in a 5-0 win, the story of the day is the signing and return to the Bronx of the greatest right-handed starter of the last 25 years, Roger Clemens. It's just enormous news, instantaneously solidifying the rotation and providing a big boost to the team and fan base. More on this below, but it was tremendous to see Clemens in the owner's box wearing one of his championship rings, doing an interview, waving to the fans, and having the signing posted on the scoreboard to the delight of the unaware fans and players alike.

Rasner was terrific, going 5 2/3, allowing three hits, no runs, walking two, and striking out 4 on 80 pitches. Though he lost control in the 6th--floating pitches high and walking batters--
and has only thrown about 80 pitches in all his starts, he was very good and had to be. Jarrod Washburn pitched his typical good game against the Yankees, matching Rasner blank for blank through 4 1/2 innings. The Yankees punched through 2 runs in the 5th that got some tension boiling. Phelps hit a bloop single to no-man's land in shallow left-center and, after the dynamic duo of Cairo and Nieves made surprising outs, Damon worked a walk after getting behind 1-2. Jeter then lined an RBI single to center, precipitating a collision at the plate when Phelps ran over Johjima, who was near the plate until right before Phelps arrived. Though he took a small step forward, Phelps may have felt that Johjima had the ball, or decided that he needed to move Johjima before the catcher stepped forward. It might have been unnecessary, though it's impossible to tell and the timing seemed close.

Either way, Seattle didn't take kindly to Phelps blasting Johjima at the dish. The next time he came up, in the 6th, Washburn plunked Phelps on the upper left arm, to which Phelps offered no visible objection yet prompting an umpire's warning to both benches. In the top of the 7th Proctor, who finished the sixth for eventual winner Rasner, threw behind Yuniesky Betancourt, who immediately pointed his bat at Proctor and yelled in anger. Proctor invited him out to dinner at the mound and, while they discussed dinner plans, the rest of both teams thought they'd make it a buffet and joined in the dinner plans. The umpire threw out Proctor and Torre, and after some heated discussion around home plate if Smith & Wollensky's or Tavern on the Green should be the place of choice, Torre and Proctor left early to contact the restaurant.  It has been a chippy series, with Igawa throwing dangerously close to Ichiro's head after surrendering three home runs in his Friday night debacle, and White beaning A-Rod on the elbow late in yesterday's game. Chances are good that this will carry over into tomorrow' nightcap, especially with the Yankees taking two in a row.

Matsui joined Meikyukai in the bottom of the sixth on what was initially ruled an error on Raul Ibanez, who lost a ball in the sun that allowed Matsui to get to 2nd. The error call, a tough one given the sun, was later reversed and Matsui made it moot with an RBI single to right in the 7th to score Abreu. This is a very big honor for Matsui, and I sincerely hope that the honor at some point was announced at Yankee Stadium. If it was, I couldn't hear it over the YES broadcast team. A very hearty congratulations to Matsui, an excellent and classy ball player, easily one of the top two players with Ichiro to come to the US from Japan.

"Roger Clemens Is Now a Yankee!" read the scoreboard in the bottom of the 7th, inciting loud and prolonged applause from the fans, and surprised smiles from the dugout, with Pettite, Posada, Moose, and Gator Guidry visibly excited. Who could blame them? This stabilizes a rotation that has been reeling with injuries and inconsistent pitching, and will no doubt provide an emotional spark to a club that has won 5 of 6, and is bouncing back from a terrible April. I am unsure how much we can expect from Clemens when he officially enters the rotation--likely in a month--but expecting consistent quality starts is far from asking too much. He'll eat innings, throw hard, spare the bullpen unnecessarily long and frequent stints to mop up his messes, and will probably work out with not just Pettite but Hughes as well. If and when the Yankees decide to keep Hughes up, and I think he would be as good a choice as any for the 5th starting spot, just imagine the chatter that will occur with Clemens and Pettite resuming their rigorous workout regimens with Hughes joining them. If and when Hughes stays up, he would be very wise to join them. He is a good young pitcher, but can use a bit more strength to allow his fastball some more juice, and who better for a young right-handed power pitcher to work with today than with one of the greatest, hardest-working right-handers of all time? It's a great signing regardless of the millions doubtlessly involved for his talent, work ethic, knowledge to instill in Hughes and others (Bruney, Proctor, Wang), and his no-quit team play. Who could have even seriously imagined he would have gone to Boston, especially when parts of its fan base (e.g. Bill Simmons) so quickly and proudly admit to burning his jersey when he was traded to the Yankees, as if he should have been loyal to Bostonians and refused a trade to the greatest sports franchise, the chance to win a ring (he won two), to play with great players and before great fans, and when the Boston franchise turned its back on a player deemed to be "in the twilight of his career!" Yeah, Boston was in the running. Sure.

Huge, just huge. A rotation in about 4-6 weeks of Wang, Pettite, Moose, Clemens, and Hughes. Yeah, that looks pretty darn good to me. Starting pitching, health, and good smart at-bats. It looks as though those are coming together bit by bit.

Welcome back, Roger!

Last night's game was painful to watch, so much so that, after I decided to catch the archived version on MLB.TV after GLG received an award through school last night, I eventually shut off the game after the Mariners' nasty 8-run 5th, already knowing the result and knowing why Igawa was terrible--balls up in the zone, hanging change-ups and a dearth of mound presence with runners on base.

In stark contrast, Chien-Ming Wang was masterful today, throwing a perfect game through 7 1/3 innings against the same team that spanked the Yankees for 20 hits and 15 runs last night. He unfortunately lost the perfect game with one out in the eighth, allowing a home run to Ben Broussard to spoil his historic trajectory. His final line does not do justice to his dominance tonight--8 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 103 pitches (65 strikes), 14 ground outs, 6 fly outs. Just amazing, and he created some majestic buzz among the 51,701 at the Stadium today as he continued to mow down the Mariners.

The offense was very good from top to bottom. Jeter responded to the end of his hitting streak by going 3-for-4 today and driving in 2 runs. A-Rod was 1-3, hitting .366 for the season and scoring 2 runs, Posada has stayed hot, going 2-4 to up his average to .344. Doug Mientkiewicz got in on the action, going 2-4 to up his average to .194. Who knew that he was a Weaver-killer, going now 16-28 in his lifetime against The Weave after today?

The bullpen got some much-needed rest, with Bruney quickly mopping up the 9th. A-Rod made two terrific plays at third to keep the perfect game intact, making a great play twice on Lopez--in the 3rd to rob him of a double, and in the 6th on a slow roller. Very well done, and the team needed to respond in confident fashion after yesterday's pitching collapse.

The Yankees impressively swept both today's double-header and the three-game series against Texas, relying on good pitching and timely hitting--an outstanding combination--to win the nightcap 5-2, after pulling in the make-up game this afternoon 4-3. This evening, Doug Mientkiewicz belted a two-run home run to right-center in the second to give the Yankees an early 2-0 lead. After Texas scored on a sac fly off a sharp returning Mike Mussina (more on him later) to Abreu to cut the lead in half, the Yankees responded with 2 in the 7th. Matsui led off the 7th by smoking a double down the right-field line, which stirred the many Yankee faithful in Arlington to begin "Let's Go Yankees!" chants. RC flew out deep to left, allowing Matsui to tag to 3rd. Mientkiewicz worked a good at-bat but struck out and as Posada, again not getting the full game off due to Nieves's weak bat and the close game, drew a walk, the fourth ball from Frank Francisco went wildly back to the screen, allowing a hustling Matsui to score from third--an excellent way to cobble together a key insurance run, the game-winner as it turned out. Melky singled to center, his bat showing life in the double-header, after which Jeter drove a single to right to score Posada, 4-1 Yankees, scoring both runs in the inning with two outs and adding on important insurance runs.

After Nuke LaFarnsworth allowed a long Mark Texeira home run into right-field upper deck, he settled down to retire the side in the eighth, with Abreu making up for a cold bat by flashing good leather as he made an excellent catch in the right-field corner on a ball hit deep by Ian Kinsler. The Yankees made it 5-2 in the 9th when Posada and Jeter each doubled into the left-field corner, with Jeter's second two-out RBI of the night inspiring "Derek Jeter!" chants from the Yankees fans, no doubt including "Mo In the 9th" Mike, who must have loved the sweep. Mariano allowed a broken bat bloop single just over RC to Wilkerson, and an opposite-field single from Kata to left, to begin the 9th but then proceeded to whiff Laird on three consecutive 93-mph cutters, then got Kenny Lofton on a 4-6-3 double play to end the game, the double-header, and the sweep. Outstanding!

Mussina was excellent in his start, averaging just about 13 pitches per inning in his five innings of work to earn the win. Mussina allowed four hits, one run, no walks, and struck out three (the side in the 2nd), showing a fairly lively fastball as he threw 49 of his 64 pitches for strikes. Terrific return for Moose. Not to be overlooked, Scott Proctor worked a clutch 7th, putting up a goose egg after the Yankees scored 2 in the top half of the inning to make it 4-1. Proctor walked Wilkerson, then later gave up a single to Kata to make it 1st and 3rd, one out, but got Lofton to fly out to left as he failed to score Wilkerson on a good throw by Matsui. In a pivotal at-bat, Michael Young worked Proctor over a bit, seeing 11 pitches in all and fouling off six, including five in a row, before flying out to Abreu in deep right. That Proctor worked out of the jam, and didn't yield to a good but slumping hitter like Young, to keep it 4-1 was one of the most important segments of the game. Great work, Proctor.

The Yankees played the right team at the right time, getting some good at-bats from Matsui, Cabrera, A-Rod, Jeter, Posada, Giambi and even Mientkiewicz with the home run, this double-header. Matsui is heating up, going 4 for 8 with 2 RBI and a run scored, upping his average today from .207 to .262. Jeter has a 20-game hitting streak, and has hit safely in 59 of his last 61, going 4 for 9 today with 2 RBIs and a run to make his average a sizzling .349. Giambi went 2 for 3 in the opener with his fifth home run, keeping his average high at .323. Cabrera showed signs of life, going 4 for 8 today to get his average up to .218, and Posada went 1 for 4 today, stroking the double in the ninth to keep his own average hot at .329. A-Rod laced two more hits in the second game tonight, a total of I believe five through the hole into left in the series, excellent hitting.

The pitching was on the whole very good. Henn was a little erratic, walking two in the night game. Bruney beaned Sammy Sosa with a wicked heater on the head, thankfully the helmet spared him a certain nasty injury. Vizcaino blew the lead in the opener today, but Matsui's clutch RBI double after Texas intentionally walked Giambi before immediately returned the lead for good. Mariano was very good; of the two hits allowed in the two saves today (both in the second game), only one was a decently hit ball. His cutter was hard and with lots of late movement. Moose and Pettite gave the Yankees exactly what they needed, good quality starts that kept Texas mainly shut down, and allowed the bullpen not to be overworked as they followed up very nicely on Hughes's great start Tuesday.

It will be a late flight back to New York, but I can imagine that they'll be in a great mood after the sweep. The Yankees get a break by not having to face Felix Hernandez in the upcoming series against Seattle, instead facing Jeff Weaver and his 18+ ERA. Yet they'll also see Jarrod Washburn, who always seems to give them fits.

12-14 and out of last place. Onward and upward. Go Yankees!

P.S. Many heartfelt thanks to the MLBlogs gang for listing my blog with a few other Yankees bloggers on the front page of MLBlogs.com. I greatly appreciate the plug, and am honestly glad to be blogging through this forum.

Edit: Shame on me for my forgetfulness, neglecting to mention that in the first game of the double-header, Jason Giambi started a 3-6-3 double play in the third, then promptly clocked a home run out in the fourth. Good defense is good defense and needs to be acknowledged, regardless of the unexpected source. It's about as frequent as Manjaya making a diving catch. Thankfully Giambi doesn't showboat like a cheap sideshow clown after his home runs like that miscreant Manjaya does.

This will be brief. Great job by the Yankees taking a close g