No HDLR Tonight

Hi Jason. Hopefully the team will find a way to score some runs against Greinke. I hate having this doom and gloom feeling before a game. I guess I will try to have positive thoughts. If Greinke keeps his nerves in check, he can be very good. Thankfully it is early into the season, and I have to keep my own nerves in check. I do hate the later start, but it gives me an hour to see if the Tigers can find their offense.

this is the dissertation on the housewives of orange county?

Yes indeed, Mike. It explores the social subtexts and discursive constructions of upper-class silicon-laden women who shill themselves for purely selfish reasons, while purporting to involve themselves in what they playfully term "families," another hilarious construct in the show. I'm currently working on a silicon-based diorama based on an episode last year, when hilarity ensues as middle-aged bacchanalians descend unannounced on their children away at college. Vicki the obsessive-compulsive is doing a keg-stand, and the son is doing a shot for every tenth of a point that his GPA is under 4. By the end of the night, his GPA and mother's IQ meet in a sloppy, drunken embrace

you're killing me.

it looks like the game is on...thank goodness jorge seems to only have a minor injury.
high hopes!

oh no-shelley sent to SWB...and we're facing a lefty tomorrow.

That's unfortunate luck, and Duncan would have been a good fit to hit tomorrow, finally, against a lefty. I guess they sent the guy with options, and I guess it's too early to declare Betemit DFA'd--though not by much.

Ian Kennedy has just been scratched for some unknown reason, and Bruney will start. What the heck is going on?

what's up ...IPK scratched!!!

no news on LoHud.

bruney starting

now may i start to panic?

Mike, grab the Grey Goose and swill. I may have to put the diorama on hold and lay on a bender tonight.

Lead-off BB for Damon, nice.

I really don't drink. I may have the odd glass of wine from time to time, or a beer, but not very often. KYLE FARNSWORTH will be totally responsible for my rehab stint.

There seems to be a little bit of a misunderstanding . I would love to see the Yankees win it all in '08, but if they do , seeing Damon dancing around the field in a Yanks uni will be ugly . The rest can go crazy (except Nuke , of course ) . And when I say I 'hate Damon it is meant as a baseball player . I never hate players as persons , never , at least not because of what they do on the field ( i.e. John Rocker , Jose Canseco , i hate em' for all the B.S. they have put baseball through). And as for Giambi , I will always begrudge having him on my team . He's underperformed sooooo much . I mean , last year this steroidal bust earned
the astronomical sum of $23,428,571 ( making him the highest paid player in the team , not A-Rod ) for these numbers :
83 games , 14 HR , 39 RBI , a "nifty" .256 avg. . Plus he's just mediocre with the glove , just admit it people . Anyone with first baseman glove ( as Phillips demonstrated) can do better than him . You might say , yeah , but this guy has a .356 OBP! So what !!! I want the DH of my team ( which Giambi resumably was in '07 ) to be the designated HITTER , not the designated WALKER , especially since he is as fast as a sea turtle on land running the bases . Plain steroidal bust is what he is . Period . He's had only one good season in pinstripes , and that was eons ago in his first year . And as for A-Rod , i'm 50-50 on him right now . He's had only one good postseason series ( against Minnesota in '04) . And if you are only going to count his '07 April ( c'mon now guys , aRE u all being serious here) when the Yankees won the outstanding number of 9 games out of 23 , then rest assured I know I'm right about A-Rod needing to do more to become a Yankee legend .MVP's don't mean much to a team ( 2003 Rangers , wink * wink* ) , as we have seen all too often . Like I said before , I will always reserve my right to dislike overpaid stars , especially when I know I'm right ,
even though people around want to defend the undefendable . I'm tired of typing for now .

Will forever say ,
first thing in the morning :
Go Yankees !!!

p.s. Damon and Giambi went 1 for 7 with 6 LOB's , those dreaded LOB's , last night . And Girardi's call was brilliant , especially when it did rain . No delay was called though .

A few things, sentinel. First, you seem to be "moving the goalposts" of the debate, in contemporary political parlance. The previous discussion centered primarily around how the players were performing now and how the team is currently constructed--not their historical performances. I agree with some of what you say, but think there's more to the story about Giambi and A-Rod. Giambi has had more than one good season. In 2005, he had two bad months for certain, but still ended up with 32 HRs, 87 RBIs and a .271 AVG which, considering he pulled it up about 100 points in the last few months, is pretty decent in all. Also, he helped carry the team down a monster second half stretch to bring them into the playoffs. His 2006 saw a .253 AVG, but with 37 HRs and 113 RBIs, that's pretty good. The problem with him is his becoming a mostly pull hitter. On his defensive liabilities, I agree. No one said he was a good first baseman, just that he's done well at first so far this year. He has been somewhat of a bust, as I've written before, but that also has much to do with injuries. Did steroids affect that? Possibly, though we don't know. The injuries, we know and shouldn't leave that out.

On A-Rod, I certainly didn't "only count his '07 April," and yes I'm being serious here. He had a monster YEAR, with May showing some tailing off but otherwise being consistently great on a per-month basis by any sober assessment. Again, we weren't discussing A-Rod's being a legend but needing to carry the team. There is a fundamental difference. On players being overpaid, most are, sure. Relative to performances, that would render most disappointments. But the market is what it is. Without A-Rod last year, the Yankees would not have made the playoffs, period. We all know how important early-season games are, and we're being reminded of that yet again this year. A-Rod's play last April (and the rest of the year) went far to putting the Yankees into October baseball. A couple more players hitting well in the first half--other than A-Rod, Jeter, and Posada consistently--could have given the Yanks the division. A-Rod's year--not April--meant that much.

To be frank, sentinel, you either need to read more clearly or stop making things up. The notion that I was simply crediting A-Rod's April really ignores most of what I've written about him on this blog. That wasn't how I characterized his 2007 season whatsoever. Nor was I--or anyone else here--"defend[ing] the undefendable." Mike and I were putting things into a broader context to be fair to people and try to see the big picture, and to avoid giving the impression of pressing the panic button after about 1/20th of the season had passed. If you want to discuss the team, great. Players, their years, and their worth, OK by me. Statistics, terrific. The history of the game and its participants, even better. But do so on honest terms, rather than concocting straw men that don't represent another person's actual positions, then retreat to jejune "I know I'm right" refrains.

anybody that can drop jejune into a sentence gets my vote...

Sorry I forgot to respond to your comment Dianna. I was busy yesterday and wrapped up in the lousy game. I'm not sure which feelings you had while watching the game, but mine were along the lines of nausea. Since the Tigers finally won a game, maybe the Yankees can finally find their offense.

No need to apologize Jason, I realize your busy. I do appreciate it though. The feeling of nausea about sums it up. Another game when you have to face the fact, that the game is over. For me, it was the lead-off homer off Farnsworth, and I knew.
I watched Montreal take the first game against Boston. It was a great game. The Yanks must have found a little offense tonight. I missed most of it, and look forward to your game summary. The Yanks, and the Habs won. Not a bad night at all. Have a great night, and let's hope the bats show up at Fenway.