The Rangers have the best offense and worst pitching in baseball, so naturally they beat the Yankees 2-1 in their series opener in the Bronx last night. Alex Rodriguez's mammoth fourth-inning home run into Monument Park off accounted for the Yankees' only run. By then, the Rangers already had their two runs, plating a one-out Ian Kinsler double in the third and a lead-off walk to David Murphy in the top of the fourth. Mike Mussina struck out eight, including Milton Bradley four times, and took the hard-luck loss. Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras, and Dan Geiese each pitched a scoreless relief inning to keep the Yanks within a blast. The Rangers bullpen countered that by retiring all ten batters it faced over the final 3 1/3 innings.

The Yankees had just four hits all game, all off Feldman, but three of them were for extra bases. After Alex Rodriguez's homer in the fourth, Jorge Posada doubled with two outs, but Robinson Cano grounded out to strand him. With two outs in the sixth, Jason Giambi hit a legitimate triple to right field, his first three-base hit since 2002 and just his second in his seven seasons with the Yankees. That hit drove Feldman from the game and Frank Francisco came on to strand G-bombs by K-ing Posada. Giambi would prove to be the last baserunner the Yankees would have all game.

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Texas Rangers

2007 Record: 75-87 (.463)
2007 Pythagorean Record: 78-84 (.483)

2008 Record: 42-41 (.506)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 40.5-42.5 (.488)

Manager: Ron Washington
General Manager: Jon Daniels

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Rangers Ballpark in Arlington (100/100)*

Who's Replacing Whom:

Josh Hamilton replaces Mark Teixeira and Brad Wilkerson
Milton Bradley replaces Sammy Sosa
David Murphy inherits the playing time of Kenny Lofton and Victor Diaz
Brandon Boggs replaces Nelson Cruz (minors)
German Duran replaces Jerry Hairston Jr. and Travis Metcalf (minors)
Chris Davis replaces Jason Botts (minors)
Jarrod Saltalamacchia is filling in for Gerald Laird (DL) in the lineup
Max Ramirez is filling in for Saltalamacchia on the bench
Vicente Padilla reclaims Edinson Volquez's starts
Scott Feldman is filling in for Jason Johnson (DL) who replaced Kameron Loe (minors)
Luis Mendoza is filling in for Doug Mathis (DL) who was filling in for Brandon McCarthy (DL)
Eric Hurley replaces Robinson Tejada (minors)
C.J. Wilson has inherited Eric Gagné's save chances
Eddie Guardado replaces Ron Mahay and Wilson's set-up innings
Josh Rupe replaces Wes Littleton
Jamey Wright has ceded his starts to the gaggle of starters listed above and moved to the bullpen to replace Willie Eyre
Warner Madrigal the latest reliever to attempted to fill in the remaining innings pitched by Mike Wood, John Rheinecker (DL), Akinori Otsuka and others last year.

25-man Roster

1B - Frank Catalanotto (L)
2B - Ian Kinsler (R)
SS - Michael Young (R)
3B - Ramon Vazquez (L)
C - Jarrod Saltalamacchia (S)
RF - Josh Hamilton (L)
CF - Marlon Byrd (R)
LF - David Murphy (L)
DH - Milton Bradley (S)

Bench:

R - Brandon Boggs (OF)
L - Chris Davis (1B/3B)
R - German Duran (UT)
R - Max Ramirez (C)

Rotation:

R - Vicente Padilla
R - Eric Hurley
R - Scott Feldman
R - Kevin Millwood
R - Luis Mendoza

Bullpen:

L - C.J. Wilson
R - Joaquin Benoit
L - Eddie Guardado
R - Jamey Wright
R - Frank Francisco
R - Josh Rupe
R - Warner Madrigal

15-day DL: L - Hank Blalock (3B), R - Gerald Laird (C), R - Jason Jennings, L - Kason Gabbard, R - Doug Mathis, L - A.J. Murray
60-day DL: R - Brandon McCarthy, L - John Rheinecker, R - Thomas Diamond

Typical Lineup:

R - Ian Kinsler (2B)
R - Michael Young (SS)
L - Josh Hamilton (RF/CF)
S - Milton Bradley (DH)
L - David Murphy (LF/RF)
R - Marlon Byrd (CF)
L - Frank Catalanotto (1B)
S - Jarrod Saltalamacchia (C)
L - Ramon Vazquez (3B)

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It ain't easy being Lou. 

Before there was Manny being Manny, there was Rickey being Rickey.  At least according to a New York Times piece from the late 1980s I read about Henderson not too long ago.  Manny being Manny is cute so long as he hits like a Hall of Famer.  Sammy Sosa was chased out of Chicago the moment his skills declined.  While I don't think the same holds true for Ramirez in Boston--hey, two championship rings buy a lot of rope--have you noticed that Manny being Manny has become a catch-phrase to take Ramirez off-the-hook whenever he acts like a putz?  Chacon got released.  Manny apologies.  Chacon is washed-up, Manny still rakes.  Manny being Manny.  Sort of like Shaq being Shaq. 

According to reports, outfielder Brett Gardner has been called-up to the majors.  David Robertson made his debut yesterday, allowing a run. He didn't have command of his curve ball but the heater looked lively.

I don't know what's wrong with Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui, but it would not be a surprise if he has a serious ligament issue. If this was a minor cleanup situation, the Yankees could keep Matsui out now and have him back sometime in August, but that is not how the Yankees are handling this. If Matsui is seriously injured and eventually requires season-ending surgery, it figures the Yankees will be poking around and looking for an outfielder -- or a first baseman.

With Godzilla on the shelf for who knows how long, there has been talk of Barry Bonds.  The fellas over at No Maas are all for it.  What do you think?  I don't imagine that it'll happen but it'd sure keep us busy with banter, man.

I watched most of yesterday's game on the Mets' network, listening to Gary Cohen and Mex Hernandez call the game.  I like the Met guys, although Cohen gets jacked-up more now that he's on TV.  That's fine because in general, he just gets out of the way and let's the action unfold, without the need to put exclaimation points on every call.  I know Cohen grew up rooting for the Mets which is why I was puzzled at something he said yesterday. 

Ron Darling, the third guy in the Met booth, was calling the game for the TBS Game of the Week, and over at YES, David Cone and Ken Singleton were doing with the game with Michael Kay.  Cohen mentioned that the grouping of Hernandez, Darling, Cone and Singleton represented the four best trades in franchise history. 

I get the first three, but to suggest that the Mets got the better of the deal that sent Singleton, Mike Jorgeseon and Tim Foli to the Expos in exchange for Rusty Staub seems misguided at best, sentimental at worst. 

The trade took place on April 2, 1972, a few months shy of Singleton's 25th birthday.  In his second season with the Expos, Singleton played 162 games, hit .302/.425/.479, with 26 doubles, 23 dingers, 100 runs scored, 103 RBI and 123 walks, good for a 148 OPS+.  In comparison, Rusty Staub's best season with the Mets from 72-75 was 1975 when he hit .282/.371/.448 in 155 games, with 30 doubles, 19 dingers, 93 runs scored and 105 RBI, good for an OPS+ of 131.  Staub was three years older than Singleton and by 1979 he was a platoon player.  In a long, 23-year career, Staub's line is .279/.362/.431.  In a much shorter career (15 seasons), Singleton's line is .282/.388/.436.  After the trade, Singleton put up OPS+ seasons of 153, 165, 152, 155, and 142.  They were all full seasons.  Staub, put up OPS+ seasons of 131 and 137 in full seasons, and 147 as a pinch-hitter for the Mets in 1981.

Jorgensen and Foli had some productive seasons too. 

Maybe it's me.  I was too young to follow the team during the early 70s but looking at the numbers, I'd say this was one of the worst trades in Met history. 

Joe Girardi has yet to be impressed with Ian Kennedy.

Here is the latest from Tyler Kepner and Pete Abe:

"Right now we're not really thinking of him," he said. "We like the way our other (starters) are throwing the ball. I mean, you have to earn your call-up. … You have to earn your spot back. You have to pitch well to earn your spot back. He has to pitch well. He was optioned out, this is him getting right. This is like the other 175 players in the minor leagues, or however many there are."

I wanted a split, and I wanted the Yanks to beat Oliver Perez. I got the split. Perez didn't throw a three-hitter as I feared, it was a two-hitter. Seven innings. And he didn't walk a batter. Believe that. Eight K's too. The Mets' southpaw, fighting to remain in the rotation, was brilliant on Sunday as the Mets shut the Yankees down, 3-1. The Yanks had four hits on the afternoon.

The best moment of the game came in the fourth with Derek Jeter on second and the Mets ahead, 2-0. Perez fell behind Alex Rodriguez 3-0, and then Rodriguez destroyed the 3-1 pitch, high and foul to left field. So close... The TV cut to the blimp angle which showed lightning cracking through the New York sky--it started raining but the game wasn't delayed. Perez fired two more fastballs and Rodriguez put good swings on them but could only foul them back. Another fastball, foul tip. I kept waiting for him to go to the slider. But Perez challenged Rodriguez with another fastball, right in Rodriguez's kitchen. Rodriguez swung and missed it. It was a Junior Miss Bob Welch-Reggie scene (Rodriguez just missed all day long; in his next at-bat, he skied a pop-out two miles in the air, and in the ninth, he narrowly missed a homer against Billy Wagner).

Darrell Rasner did okay; Jose Reyes had another lapse in form, as he threw down his glove in anger after making a throwing error in the eighth inning (a ball first baseman Carlos Delgado should have caught), but the Mets got a much-needed win all the same. Delgado had a solo homer, Bill Wagner got the save.

If the Yankees could only win one game this weekend I wanted it to be today's game. That's what I was saying all last week. I said two things: I hope the Yankees split the series and if they can only win one, let them beat Oliver Perez on Sunday. Perez is like AJ Burnett to me. Not as good, but still. Loads of talent, great "stuff" yet hopelessly erratic. Million Dollar Arm, Ten Cent Head kind of guy.

Of course, I'm more than half-expecting Perez to go out and throw a three-hitter. Walk five guys but still win.  He is 4-1 lifetime vs. the Yanks.

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Mr. Freeze was at it again today--making it look easy at the end of a long afternoon that included a rain delay.  The Yankees did their part against Johan Santana (7-7) who was good, not great, giving up three runs in six innings.  Good enough to lose.  The home plate ump didn't help him any, either.  Andy Pettitte (9-5) was better, allowing two runs over six, solo shots to David Wright and Ramon Castro respectively.  

Jose Reyes got himself picked off of second base with another runner on first and David Wright at the plate in the fifth.  It was the play of the game.  Yesterday, Emma wrote that the Yankees left runners on base like it was going out of style.  Today, the Mets had plenty of Girbaud's sagging around the bases.  Carlos Beltran whiffed four times.  Veras and Farnsworth held the Mets in check in the seventh and eighth and then came Rivera, who has been as automatic as he's ever been in his long career. 

Carlos Delgado was first and Rivera fed him string of cutters.  Delgado got good wood on one of them but it was a pitch designed to be hit foul.  With two strikes, Rivera showed no mercy; instead of trying to freeze Delgado with a fastball on the outsider corner, he buried another cutter in on the hands.  It looked like a wicked, late-breaking slider and Delgado had no chance, swinging over it and catching nothing but a breeze.  Fernando Tatis was next, he took the first two pitches, and found himself ahead 2-0.  But Rivera evened the count and then got Tatis to hit a soft fly ball to Abreu for the second out.  Trot Nixon was last and he went quickly--swinging at two inside cutters and then looking at a fastball on the outside corner. 

It wasn't fair but it was swift.  Twelve pitches, ten strikes, 0.74 ERA. When he's on his game, Rivera truly is The Unfair One.

Yankees 3, Mets 2.

Andy and Mo are a good combination, you could look it up. 

It is hot and hazy, muggy and awful in New York today. A late afternoon start pits Andy Pettitte against Johan Santana. Promises to be a good one.

Let's Go Yan-Kees!

Working from home has many benefits. What does that have to do with this column? It's nice to have the game on in the background — even if it's on mute — while conducting conference calls and closing deals. It's also nice to walk five feet to the den when Game 2 comes on and you can just veg out and absorb New York baseball.

Watching the night game of the Shea half of Subway Series XII — with the sound on, this time — got me thinking about a lot of things about the events of yet another Day-Night Doubleheader in the City. 

• Mike Francesa's conniption on the air yesterday was hysterical. Echoing much of the fan sentiment, he railed on the Yankees' relief pitching, primarily Edwar (leave off the last "D" for disappointing), "Mr. Wonderful" Ross Ohlendorf, and LaTroy Hawkins, who has not been the same since stealing Paul O'Neill's number. As part of the rant, he claimed that the Yankees need to buck up and spend the money to get a starting pitcher, as they will not make the playoffs with three dependable starters. I agree with one point he made, however: to not have a lefty in the bullpen when you have a $220 million payroll — and no, Kei Igawa doesn't count — is unacceptable.

• Michael Kay mentioned how yesterday was not considered a doubleheader, it was two separate games, and would be treated as such. Had the Mets won the regularly scheduled night game, it would not have been a sweep. Since the Yankees won, it's not considered a split. The Yankees won one game, and the Mets won another.

Huh? This logic is like the scene in "The Princess Bride" when Westley and Vezzini are matching wits to see who will drink the wine goblet spiked with Iocane powder. I wish I was there to see the looks on the faces of David Cone and Ken Singleton.

To quote a T-shirt that one of my colleagues at the office wears: "If a tree falls in the forest, do the other trees laugh at it?"

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Join Will Carroll, Jay Jaffe, Steve Goldman, Joe Sheehan and Derek Jacques for a good, old-fashioned BP pizza feed on Monday night at Foleys, starting at 8 pm.  I'll be there as well.  Love to see ya. 

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The Yanks and Mets took turns kicking each other in the ass yesterday. The Yankees wasted scoring opportunities early against Mike Pelfry in the first game and the Mets returned the favor against Sir Sidney later at Shea. Writing in the New York Times, Jack Curry, who ghosted Derek Jeter's autobiography, was critical of the Yankee captain in Game One:

Before the Yankees' bullpen imploded, Derek Jeter made a questionable choice in the fourth. With Melky Cabrera on first and no outs, Jeter, who entered the day with a .386 average against the Mets, sacrificed Cabrera to second. The Yankees pay Jeter $19 million a season to hit, not to bunt. While it would be illogical to blame a nine-run loss on one misguided bunt, the Mets outscored the Yankees, 12-2, after the Yankees left the bases loaded in the fourth.

It was one forgotten bunt in a marathon game, but it was one of the plays that wounded the Yankees and revived the Mets. The Mets used some erratic Yankee relievers as their smelling salts, pelting them the way Jeter usually pelts the Mets. But Ponson, the unlikely savior, made sure it was not a futile day for his new team, helping it gain a split.

Today's game doesn't start until close to four. Pettitte v. Santana promises to be a good one.

Yanks return the favor, blast Pedro, Mets: 9-0. 

The Subway Series got off to an ever so slightly rocky start for the Yankees this afternoon with a muggy, slow 15-6 crushing. Dan Giese was both uncharacteristically sloppy and, apparently, contagious, as the Yanks' bullpen spent much of the afternoon in the throes of a prolonged nervous breakdown. The result was a rout that … wait, what was that noise?! Did you guys hear that? Oh, never mind – it's just Carlos Delgado's massive sixth inning grand slam finally landing.

Ahem. Anyway, neither starter was all that great today– Pelfrey only made it through five innings – but the Yankees kept stranding runners like it was going out of style, for a grand total of lucky 13, while the Mets let neither Giese or any of his ineffective replacements off the hook.

But, on the plus side... it only took four hours!

There were too many big hits today to recap in full, but here are the essentials: the Mets took the lead in the first inning on a David Wright RBI single, then again in the third on a Carlos Beltran home run, and finally for good on a Carlos Delgado double off Edwar Ramirez in the fifth. Delgado's back-breaking grand slam -- deep, deep, DEEP into the right field bleachers -- came just an inning later, off of Ross Ohlendorf, and Delgado went on to set a new Mets franchise record with nine RBIs, after an additional three-run homer two innings later.

The Yankees did have their moments early on – Giambi and his 'Stache of Doom came through again; Jeter banged out his 400th career double; A-Rod 3 for 4 with a long home run – but nothing that really constitutes an even silver-ish lining.

In fact, this could be a pretty tough weekend all around for the Yankees, given the pitching matchups. Obviously it goes without saying that baseball's a funny game, and anything can happen on a given day, and blah blah blah, but: Sir Sidney Ponson vs. Pedro Martinez? Oy. Sure, Pedro's not his old self, and his last start was a disaster... that still just doesn't sound good, does it?

Those of you brave enough to face the Ponson Adventure this evening, comment away here. I'd recommend emulating tonight's starting pitcher in at least one regard, though, and keeping plenty of booze on hand.

The first of two will be played in the Bronx.  Then, a trek cross town for the night game at Shea.  I'm hoping the Yanks come away with a split this weekend. 

Should the Yankees continue to take "Melk" with their outfield cup of coffee? That was the question posed earlier this week in an interesting New York Sun article by the Yes Network’s Steven Goldman. An able and long time chronicler of the Yankees, Goldman feels the Yankees should shop Melky Cabrera, making him a key piece of a package for a pitcher that could cushion the blow caused by Chien-Ming Wang’s foot injury. I’m inclined to agree with Goldman, though I do think the Yankees should wait a few weeks until the timing is just right to move their starting center fielder.

At one time I was a major supporter of Cabrera, fully believing that he would become the next Roy White, but with a much stronger arm that would allow him to play center field on an everyday basis. I saw Cabrera as a player who could hit .280 with lots of walks, hit 15 home runs a year, steal 20 to 25 bases, and give the Yankees above-average defense in center field. I have my doubts now. Though still only 24, Cabrera just isn’t improving. He could still hit 15 long balls a year, but I’m starting to think he might be a .260 hitter who doesn’t draw as many walks (his bases on balls rates are going down, not up), and a defender who repeatedly takes bad breaks on balls hit over his head. I’m thinking more Roberto Kelly now than I am Roy White. That doesn’t make Cabrera a bad player; he just appears that much closer to average, making it imperative that the Yankees surround him with star players in left and/or right field. And given the age of Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu, who knows what the Yankees will be throwing out in left and right field as we move closer to 2010.

Inevitably, the question becomes: who replaces Cabrera? As Goldman points out, the Yankees have a solid candidate in Triple-A center fielder Brett Gardner, who has always been capable of getting on base, but has added more power and better defense to his minor league resume this summer. Some of the Sabermetric naysayers downplay Gardner, projecting him as no more than a No. 4 outfielder because of his lack of power. I’ve read at least one analyst predict that he’ll amount to nothing more than Jason Tyner. But Gardner’s numbers indicate to me that he could just as easily become another Brett—Brett Butler—who was one of the most underrated outfielders of the late 1980s and nineties. Butler never hit more than nine home runs in a single season, but he somehow managed to achieve a nearly .380 lifetime on-base percentage while playing capably in center field. Yes, I’ll take anything close to that from Gardner, who at last look was sporting a .414 on-base percentage with 30 stolen bases and three home runs for Scranton/Wilkes Barre.

According to all of the scouting reports I’ve seen, Gardner has far more speed and slightly more range than Cabrera, which should make up for the difference in arm strength. The fact that Gardner bats left-handed shouldn’t be a deterrent either. Although Cabrera is a switch-hitter, he has never hit particularly well from the right side, so he does nothing for the Yankees’ problems against left-handed pitching. Another part of Cabrera’s problem is his streakiness. When he’s hot, as he was earlier this season, he looks like a player on the verge of a breakthrough. But that is invariably followed by a long cold snap, which makes him a drain on the back end of the Yankee lineup. Cabrera finds himself in such a slump right now, which is why the Yankees should wait before pulling the trigger on a deal. A .254 hitter with middling power won’t draw much on the trade market, but a .280 hitter with that same level of power and a dose of speed might. If the Yankees are smart, they’ll wait for the next Cabrera hot streak, which might be timed to happen just before the July 31^st trading deadline.

That brings us to our next problem, which is general manager Brian Cashman. Frankly, I’ve lost all confidence in Cashman’s ability to do anything but wait for the next pitching prospect to get hot at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre. Cashman really doesn’t make trades any more, now does he? Quick now, name the last trade of substance that Cashman has made. It took me awhile to remember that it was the Scott Proctor-for-Wilson Betemit exchange, a smart transaction by Cashman but one that has had little impact on the Yankees given Betemit’s frequent injuries and backup status. So quick now, what was the last major trade that Cashman made, one that did have an impact? If we don’t count the Gary Sheffield deal, which thus far has had no positive impact on the major league roster, then the answer would be the Bobby Abreu trade, which dates all the way back to July of 2006. Let’s face it, Cashman isn’t exactly Charlie Finley, Whitey Herzog, or Trader Lane when it comes to making swaps.

So what has happened with Cashman? I get the feeling that, much like former general managers Terry Ryan and Bill Stoneman, he just doesn’t like to make trades. Or perhaps he’s been burned by so many of his trades involving pitchers that he’s become gun-shy. Whatever the reason, he’d prefer to hold onto all of his prospects, especially his pitching prospects, which he hordes as if he were stocking up on canned goods during War of the Worlds. Heck, he won’t even trade pitching prospects for prospects who play other positions—like catcher and shortstop, where the Yankees could use future help—which explains why over 60 per cent of the Yankees’ 40-man roster consists of pitchers. Since trading Cabrera alone is not going to bring back a frontline pitcher, the inclusion of prospects will become a necessity to any trade.

Packaging Cabrera with one or two pitching prospects (guys not named Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy) might bring the Yankees the kind of frontline starter they will likely need to catch the Rays and maybe even the Red Sox in the American League East. Without such an addition (someone like C.C. Sabathia, Erik Bedard, or Joe Blanton), the Yankees might have to settle for third place. And third gets you nothing in baseball these days—except a cliched cry of "Wait ‘Til Next Year."

Bruce Markusen writes "Cooperstown Confidential" for MLB.com.

My good pal Hank Waddles has an interview with Richard Bradley, author of The Greatest Game: The Yankees, the Red Sox, and the Playoff of '78, over at Broken Cowboy:

BC: You mentioned that you spoke to a lot of players and people connected with the game. Even though we're talking about a game that was played thirty years ago, I'm guessing that the people you spoke with didn't have any trouble recalling its details. Were you surprised by how vivid some of the memories were?

RB: Actually I was surprised at how faulty some of the memories were. I think this is something that happens with iconic events. At some point, say, a faulty memory might get introduced into the conversation, people misremember things just a little bit, and then they repeat it over and over again until it becomes established fact, at least in their own minds. I'll give you an example. I went down to Florida to meet with Bucky Dent, and I was talking to him about his home run which he hit on a 1-1 count. Remember, this is one of the most famous home runs in the history of the game, far and away the most famous thing that Bucky Dent ever did on the playing field, and Bucky thought – and was adamant – that he had hit that home run with two strikes on him. He said that, and my ears kind of perked up, and I interjected and said, "Actually, no, there weren't two strikes." And he said, "Oh, yeah there were." And I felt kinda bad, because…

BC: Because you had seen the tape.

RB: Who am I to say to Bucky Dent what the count was? But in fact, I'd always wondered because the first pitch of that at bat was arguably a strike and a check swing by Dent. And I've always wondered if on some level in his memory he didn't sort of think that maybe that had been a strike, and maybe he remembered it that way.

Here is an excerpt from the book. Enjoy.

Yankee life, says Mike Mussina; minor league life, says Dan Giese.  Either way, last night's game will be made up on July 10th.

Yo, I just wanted a chance to post a picture of Kent Tekulve, a name that I couldn't pronounce for the life of me when I was a kid. 

Let's Go Moose!

Over at BP, Kevin Goldstein has the lowdown on which Yankee farm hands could replace Joba as Mo's set-up guy. In order of "prospecty goodness":

Marc Melancon: Someone didn't give Melancon the note about Tommy John survivors having problems getting their control back. In 54 innings this year, the former University of Arizona star has walked just 10, while limiting opposing batters to a .209 batting average. Both his sinking fastball and his hard curve rate as plus pitches, and with the way he's throwing at Double-A (1.57 ERA in 11 games), he could be in line for a September look.

David Robertson: As a small righty, Robertson doesn't pass the scouting sniff test, but he keeps getting hitters out, easing concerns about his height. In over 130 innings as a pro, he's yet to give up a home run, and in 28 appearances between Double- and Triple-A this year, he has a 1.74 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings. With a low-90s fastball and outstanding slider, Robertson may not have Melancon's upside, but he might get the call sooner.

J. Brent Cox: Like Melancon, Cox missed all of last year due to reconstructive elbow surgery, and like Melancon he's impressed people upon his return. Spread across three levels and now at Triple-A, Cox has posted a 1.38 ERA in 22 games. The one knock against him is that he doesn't miss many bats (only 13 in 26 innings), but he makes up for it by inducing a good number of groundballs.

After the first game of the inter-city double header tomorrow, Lo-Hud columnist Sam Borden is going to troop from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to Shea out in Flushing, Queens. It's a ten mile hike. Sam has set-up a donation page at The American Cancer Society. Yesterday, in an e-mail, he wrote "This isn't something The Journal News is involved with or affiliated with, which is why I'm not publicizing it on the paper's web site. It's just something I think is important, and am hoping to get as many people to know about it as possible." So, yo, good cause here, peoples. If I didn't have to work tomorrow and wasn't still gimpy with a bad ankle, it's just the kind of thing I'd love to join. Regardless, I'll post Sam's write-up on Saturday.

Yer Welcome.

(... title courtesy of Alex Belth, thus sparing you all from the truly repugnant Joba-related puns I'd been planning. You owe him more thanks than you'll ever know).

I missed Tuesday night’s game, which was apparently for the best. On Wednesday, by contrast, the Yankees were able to meet the goal Joe Girardi set for them during his pre-game interview: “to not stink." Indeed, the team smelled like lilacs and Driven during their 10-0 cruise past the Pirates.

Joba! I’m sure eventually we’ll all settle down and get used to Chamberlain pitching every fifth game, but the bloom’s not off the rose yet. Plus “Joba!” is still super fun to say. He was excellent last night, throwing 6.2 controlled innings of 7 K, 1 BB, 0 R ball and earning his first official win (though the Yankees won the last three games he started, too).

For the most part, Chamberlain dominated. He got in a bit of a jam in the second inning, with two runners on and no out, but both had reached base on relatively soft base hits, and Chamberlain followed with a strikeout and a fly out. Jack Wilson then stroked a hit to short right field, but Pirates third base coach Tony Beasley made the puzzling decision to send Ryan Doumit – who, remember, is a catcher – home from second, even though Abreu was already picking up the ball as Doumit rounded third. (Third base coach: one of those thankless jobs where, if people actually know your name, it means you’ve screwed something up). Abreu’s throw home was good, and Jorge Posada stood there waiting for Doumit for so long that he would’ve had time to plant a small spice garden next to the batter’s box if he’d felt like it. Inning over, and that's about as sticky as things ever got.

As for the offense, the Yankees picked away at Zach Duke until he was removed for a pinch-hitter after five innings, at which point they unloaded on the Pirates relievers. Whether this was a “the bats are waking up!” moment or a “the Pirates’ bullpen is terrible!” moment, I’m not entirely sure.

The scoring began in the first, when Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu scored on a Jason Giambi groundout – helped out by an error on Pirates’ shortstop Jack Wilson, the victim of an aggressive (though clean) Alex Rodriguez slide into second. The (newly darkened!) Porn ‘Stache of Doom struck again in the third, scoring Jeter, who had his best game in many moons: three hits, two of them doubles. On top of that, he eked out a hard-earned walk in the sixth that set the stage for the game’s biggest blast, a three-run Bobby Abreu homer that broke the game open. Robinson Cano homered, too, and had three hits total; every starter had at least one, except Chamberlain, and even he did his part offensively.

At the plate, Joba takes just the kind of swings you’d expect him to: full speed ahead, aiming for the fences, to the near-hysterical amusement of the Yankees bench. I was briefly concerned that Jeter and Posada were going to pull something, they were laughing so hard. Chamberlain did work a walk his first time up, however, then laid down a nice bunt his next time up, and finally got some good wood on the ball in the sixth, though he hit it straight to the right fielder. When his flare was caught Joba strode off the field all serious and poker faced, until he got a few feet from the dugout, at which point he could no longer suppress a massive, infectious grin.

He finished his night in with two outs in the seventh inning, not quite able to close it out before his pitch count climbed to 114 (76 of them strikes); but Ross Ohlendorf finished the frame for him, and Jose Veras preserved both the win and the shutout in the ninth.

Finally, much has been written about the 1960 World Series, but I recently happened across a nice piece of writing about the 1927 Series between the Yanks and the Pirates. This was one hell of an overmatch; that ’27 New York team, as I’m sure most of you know, won 110 games and is widely considered one of the most dominant ever. It's by Frank Graham, who covered the team for the old New York Sun, and I found it in an old book called Press Box: Red Smith’s Favorite Sports Stories. (Which has a few gems, in case you’re wondering, but an awful lot of pieces on boxing and horse racing, neither of which I’m very invested in unless I have money on the line). Here's Graham on the day the Yanks arrived in Pittsburgh, and took batting practice before the first game:

In the stand the Waner brothers, great ballplayers in their own right but little men, stood talking with Ken Smith, New York Mirror reporter, as the Yankees slugged the ball. Ruth hit one over the fence in center field, Gehrig hit one high in the seats in right field. Meusel hit one over the fence in left field. Lloyd turned to Paul.

"Jesus," he said fervently. "They're big guys!"

Paul shook his head. The Waners walked out. Most of their teammates followed them. They had seen enough. It is undoubtedly true that right there the Yankees won the Series. Before a ball had been pitched in competition, they had convinced the Pirates that theirs was a losing cause.

And, later in the article, with the Yanks up two games to none and back in New York:

...a newspaperman in a cab with Lazzeri and three other players said:

"If you fellows don't wind this Series up in these next two games, I'll shoot you."

And Lazzeri said: "If we don't beat these bums four in a row, you can shoot me first."

The other players nodded. That's the way everybody on the ball club felt.

Here’s my question: who would win a Series between the 1927 and 1998 Yankees? I'm inclined to think that modern athletes -- bigger, fitter, stronger, possibly injecting cattle hormones -- will generally win out, but how do you bet against Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig at their absolute peaks, plus a staff of Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock, and the fabulously named Urban Shocker? Discuss.

Yanks need a lift from their young gun.  I expect the offense will get the led out too.

Let's Go Yan-Kees!

I don't have as many records as I once did.  It's what happens when you live in a small space and have a life long habit of collecting more stuff.  In with the baseball books, out with the records, you know how it goes.  I've sold some vinyl, and put the majority of them my collection storage, leaving me with just a couple of hundred at the crib.  I don't know if there is a story behind every record I own, at least not a good story, but there usually is a fond memory, so I figure I'd start a new series, highlighting a piece of wax each week.

First up is the classic Bam Bam, performed by Sister Nancy.  It's been sampled to death, but my favorite treatment is "Just Hangin' Out," *off Main Source's debut album.  Back before re-issues flooded the market about a decade ago, you actually had to hunt around for records.  This one wasn't that hard to find but it took me a minute.  When I found it, the store clerk, a Dub afficiando, sniffed at me.  "That isn't even the best track on the record."  Maybe not.  There are a few other good joints.  But none as memorable as "Bam, Bam."  Least not for my money.

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HBO is planning a retrospective.  Peep, don't sleep.

Jay Jaffe is pretty funny too.

Johnny Damon is hurting. According to the Post, he could be headed to the DL. Pete Abe says Hideki Matsui won't be playing the outfield anytime soon.

Bottom Line:

"The whole game bothered me, we stunk, we stunk," Girardi said. "We keep putting [runners] out there. We have to turn it around because we are missing opportunities. We had a lot of opportunities. The defense didn't help us, the pitching didn't help us and the runners in scoring position ..."

..."I don't think he needed to express that," said Alex Rodriguez, who went 0-for-5 and hitless in two at-bats with runners in scoring position. "We all were upset."
(N.Y. Post)

Due to a quirk in our schedule, Cliff isn't available to present his usual series preview tonight (he'll miss the Subway Serious too, but will be back for the Rangers). I'm not going to even front and try to do what he does so well. But I can tell you that I'm really looking forward to watching this series, and not only because the Yankees should be able to handle the Pirates. No, it's more because PNC ballpark is one of the most breath-taking Stadiums in the country. At least it is on TV. Which means it'll be three times dope on HD-TV.

The cityscape beyond the center field wall is a tremendous sight. I've never been but a few years ago they held some kind of throwback night where they turned off the electric scoreboard and the booming soundtrack. They only effects that night came from the organist. I can't recall wanting to be at a non-Yankee game more in recent years. Another time, during Rickey Henderson's final year with the Mets, the legend was thrown out attempting to steal second base. As he trotted off the field, the organist played "The Old Gray Mare." Now, that's old-timey style.

So, instead of our regular preview, let me direct you over to our good pal Pete Abe, who has the starting line-ups, pitching match-ups as well as a couple of roster moves (we have a new face in left tonight).

Ain't nuthin else much to say 'cept the obvious:

Let's Go Yan-Kees.

Lovely piece by John Branch in the Times the other day about an 89-year old organist Lambert Bartak.  Worth a click.  Man, baseball organists are a beautiful thing, no?

I'm a sucker for oral histories.  I just love 'em.  They are the kinds of books you can pick-up and put-down at your leisure.  And they don't have to be perfect in order to stimulate convesation, debate, and get the old juices flowing.  Change Up: An Oral History of 8 Key Events that Shaped Modern Baseball, by Larry Burke and Pete Foranatele is a fine addition to your baseball library. You can argue about the chapter selection, which is half the fun, but that'd really be missing the point, because it is what is in the chapters that's winning.

Here is Thomas Boswell on the one-of-a-kind shortstop, Cal Ripken, Jr.

Everyone on Earth saw that he was a prototypical third baseman except for one person: Earl Weaver.  Only Weaver had the imagination to see that Bobby Bonner needed to go and that Ripken would work as a shortstop.  I was covering the team then as the daily beat writer and there is no question that this was 100 percent Earl Weaver against universal indifference or mild hostility to the idea from everybody else in baseball.  Nobody else though Cal Ripken could play shortstop.  Period.  Anybody who says differently wasn't there and is wrong.

I guess we can credit Weaver for helping pave the way for Jeter and Rodriguez. 

In a wonderful chapter on the Latino Wave, here's Luis Tiant:

I don't go to my country for 46 years.  I want to go before I die to see my country, to see some of my family, if they're still alive.  I haven't had contact with them for a long time.  My aunts--I think, I know I have a couple of aunts still alive.  One time I was on a cruise ship over there in Key West.  You can see Cuba right there.  It was so close you could see the cars and the people.  It makes you sad.  You're that close and you can't go to your country.  Forty-six years here is a long time.  You say the number easy, but it's a long time, a lot of days and nights.  A lot of Latino players from the other countries, like two weeks before the season was over they all talk and laugh, "I'm going to go back to my country and go to Christmas and eat and party every day."  And, I sit down there and listen to them, and they're happy.  All of these lucky guys.  They can go back to their countries, and I don't know when I'm going to go.  It's amazing.  It's a real bad feeling.  You have to do what you have to do.

For a more detailed look at baseball in Cuba, check out Michael Lewis' long piece for Vanity Fair.

I like driving enough.  I got my permit at sixteen like everyone else in the suburbs.  But I've never owned a car, never cared to, and have never had anything but a passing interest in them.  I live in a city where you don't need a car--though that never stopped my old man, one of the true Manhattan crackpots who prefer having a car (he knew the alternate side of the street laws better than he knew the Passover Haggadah).  As a kid, I loved saying the word "Volvo," and could recognize the boxy cars easily.  Everyone loved a VW bug.  But my favorite American car was a Cadillac.  And only becacuse I liked the how the tail lights looked.  

I have a general memory of being a kid leaving my grandparents apartment at night.  As we waited for my father to pull the car around, we waited under the canopy of 15 West 81st street, across the street from the Hayden Planetarium and the Museum of Natural History, I looked at the bright red and yellow lights moving up and down the street.  I was usually half-asleep.  I remember being captivated by tail lights on the Caddy's.  They weren't the usual, blocky lights, they were sleek slits of lights, standing erect. 

My other favorite car was the plump, old Citroen's, which I saw often during visits to my mother's family in Belgium.  They really did it for me.

Any of you guys care about cars? 

If so, which ones float yer boat?

Derek Jeter is the leading vote-getter in the American League for the All-Star Game. He's the guy you want to build a team around, he's the most overrated player in the game. He's a future Hall of Famer, yet Jeter has struggled through much of the first half of the season. Mark Feinsand has a good piece on the Yankee captain in the News today:

Jeter won't even offer a guess at the reason for his declining numbers, but Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long has his own theory.

"I can tell you that he probably lost 30-35 points in his average due to his hand injury, but he'd never admit that," Long said. "His swing wasn't the same, he was favoring it and he got into some problems when it came to staying behind the baseball, which has always been his strength. He still contributed and helped us in other ways, but his hitting suffered."

...Jeter began expanding his strike zone, swinging at pitches on the corners or off the plate. As Long watched those bad habits, he knew something wasn't right.

"How much damage can you do with a pitch that's (a foot) off the plate?" Long said. "Since he's been healthy, he's had to get out of some of those bad habits, and now he's starting to put a little something together."

Meanwhile, in the New York Sun, Steven Goldman explains why the Yanks should move Melky Cabrera:

The reason the Yankees can deal their starting center fielder for need without opening up another hole is the performance of prospect Brett Gardner at Triple-A Scranton. The speedy center fielder is currently batting .292/.408/.436 with 10 doubles, nine triples, three home runs, and 52 walks in 73 games. He has also stolen 29 bases in 37 attempts. Gardner, 24, will not be an impact player in the major leagues. However, given his patience, a .275 batting average, and his ability to run balls down with his speed, he should be at least as productive as Cabrera and provide a better on-base threat at the bottom of the order, creating more opportunities for Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, and the top of the lineup.

Finally, could the end be near for Mike and the Angry Puppy? Say it ain't so.

For more than ten years I've talked about records, record labels, record producers, rare 45 b-sides and comedians with my dear friend Alan who knows more about records and record history than anyone I know, and it's not even close.  When we see each other, we usually go right into an old Carlin routine, or a Lenny Bruce sketch, or Bugs Bunny riff.  Alan was the first guy I thought of this morning. When he got into work and saw the red light on his phone, he knew who the message was from 

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 I couldn't resist.

Here's my beard.
Ain't it wierd?
Don't be sceered,
Just a beard.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking: A dreaded Red Sock. (Or is it Red Sox?) But there is method to my folly. After all, this card comes from Topps’ 1978 set, the favorite set of Bronx Banter chieftain Alex Belth. And it is an intriguing card because of its rather surreal appearance.

Over the years, Topps has airbrushed logos and uniform colors on countless cards, but during the seventies and eighties it was pretty rare for the company to use anything but actual photographs of players on the cards. In this case, we find an example of a card that seemingly had no photograph, only an apparent drawing, from the cap and the uniform to the player’s face, neck, and hair.

So who is Mike Paxton and why was a picture of him drawn onto his 1978 Topps rookie card (No. 216), rather than photographed? Well, I could answer the first question easily enough, but the second query remained a bit of a mystery. An ordinary player, Mike Paxton is probably best remembered for being included in the trade that sent Dennis Eckersley from the Indians to the Red Sox; in the deal, Eckersley and backup catcher Fred Kendall went to Boston in exchange for Paxton, veteran right-hander Rick Wise, third baseman Ted Cox, and catcher Bo Diaz. Prior to the trade, Paxton had risen through the Red Sox’ farm system in the mid-1970s, emerging as one of their better pitching prospects despite the lack of an overpowering fastball. As a rookie in 1977, Paxton made an immediate impact, winning 10 of 15 decisions as a sometime starter and reliever. Standing only 5’11" and sporting a lower body nearly as bowlegged as Bucky Dent, Paxton compensated for a lack of velocity with tenacity and a willingness to throw inside that earned him the nickname, "Bulldog."

More significantly, the soft-spoken Paxton was—and presumably still is—deeply religious, a devout Baptist and a member of the Fellowship for Christian Athletes. Initially, I thought that explained why his image was drawn and not photographed for the 1978 Topps card. Although I hadn’t been able to verify this through any written documentation, I had heard it speculated that Paxton and another pitcher, Seattle Mariners left-hander Rick Jones (who was featured on a 1977 Topps card), didn’t want to be photographed on their cards for religious reasons. Topps has always negotiated its contracts with players on an individual basis, so it seemed possible that Paxton and Jones specifically made the request for drawings, and not photographs, on their cards. While the religious interpretation seemed like as good a reason as any in explaining why a photograph wouldn’t be used at a time when photos of players were in large supply, it didn’t explain why Paxton’s two subsequent Topps cards (1979 and ’80) featured photographs and not drawings. Thus, the mystery continued.

As it turned out, religious reasons had nothing to do with the "drawings" on the Mike Paxton and Rick Jones cards. There existed a much simpler explanation, which I received from former Yankee public relations man Marty Appel, who has also done public relations work for Topps over the years. Appel says that it was simply a case of Topps not having color photographs for either player. As a result, Topps took a couple of black-and-white photos and "colorized" them, giving them the effect of looking like drawings. So technically this card does feature a photograph, though it has been given the Ted Turner treatment.

Yes, sometimes there are easy answers to seemingly complex mysteries; you simply have to know whom to ask.

Bruce Markusen writes "Cooperstown Confidential" for MLBlogs at MLB.com.

When it comes down to it, the story is the thing. Whether we are talking about one of the great comics like George Carlin, or a great movie, a magazine article or blog entry, we are attracted to stories and to storytellers. Baseball of course is replete with wonderful stories, some true, some not. (As Rob Neyer explores in his new book, sometimes the truth can only get in the way of a good story.)

Has anyone ever read Prophet of the Sandlots, Mark Winegardner's gem of a book about travelling with Tony Lucadello, one of the most successful scouts in big league history? If you haven't, there aren't many baseball books I'd recommend more. Lucadello signed a ton of guys, including Jim Brosnan, Alex Johnson, Toby Harrah, Larry Hisle, Fergie Jenkins and Mike Schmidt. Like many scouts, he was a great storyteller. Here is a scene, featuring Carl Loewenstine, one of Lucadello's protogees:

Though Carl is in his late thirties, with a drawl, a bushy red mustache, a chaw of tobacco, a Dodgers World Series ring, and friends in the country-music business, he has more in common with his mentor than appearances suggest.  After Tony secured him the full-time job with the Phillies in 1979, Carl was first assigned to the Deep South.  As we sat in an unheated press box in rain-soaked Dayton watching mediocre playes flail about on a muddy field, Carl started telling stories.  The best involved a quaest into deepest bayou country on the trail of a huge high-school dropout with a blazing fastball, no shoes, a drinking problem, and a pregnant twelve-year-old girl friend.  Carl ended up signing the kid, whose can't-miss fastball couldn't save him when he left his minor league team in Oklahoma to rob a bank, tryingo to get enough money for the girl friend to buy her own house.

I asked why baseball has always been such fertile territory for stories and storytellers. My theory is that ball players, coaches, and scouts have so much time to kill that those who can tell the best, funniest, most ornate stories are naturally the most popular, which helps them stay in baseball, which allows them to amass and embellish more stories.  Carl nodded, spat, and said maybe so.  "My own theory on that," he said, "is that every player in major league baseball has overcome the odds.  Only a tiny fraction of the players who are stars in high school or college ever get signed.  Then, probably only one in two hundred of those players make it to the majors.  Then, only about half of the those players stay around long enough to say so. Of the ones who do, most are out of the game in five or six years.  Your players who make it, really make it, are one in several million.  Everybody's a long shot.  But there's always that chance.  And that's the great equalizer, the thing you'll find in most every real baseball story."

Ah, to be able to hang with the likes of grouchy old' Don Zimmer for a spell. Or Joe Torre. David Cone might offer some good ones as the season rolls along, and I bet Giambi's got more than few good stories to tell, dont' ya think?

I was ten when my parents split up. My mother broke the news to us in the car after dropping my father off at the Metro North Station. My twin sister and younger brother were in the back seat.  I was in the passenger seat. When she was finished telling us the what was going to happen, I turned to her and said, "Don't worry, Mom, I'll take care of you now."

We grew up quickly over the next few years. My father started dating a woman who lived on the same block as my grandparents on the Upper West Side, and soon they were living together. She was good to us, gave us sex education tips without shame or titilation--straight, blunt, sound advice. I remember seeing a shiny box, The Devil in Miss Jones, next to the other videos on a shelf in her bedroom, but I never had the nerve to watch it on the sly.

Everything was grown-up. When we visited my dad, we hung around adults.

Perhaps the most important discovery I made in her apartment was when I pulled a record from the shelf with a picture of a hippie sitting on a stool. The record was AM/FM, the lp that won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album and the one that put George Carlin on the map for good. It wasn't a racy record--heck, by this point, we had Eddie Murphy to idolize--and it was dated, filled-with Vietnam Era references that I didn't understand. But it had curse words as well as Carlin's elastic imagination, nibble word-play, and funny-sounding voices. Carlin sounded like a grown-up kid.  Friendly, approachable, caustic, but decent.

We were hooked. I can't tell you how much material I swiped from Carlin and claimed as my own when I was a kid.  Later, Carlin's follow-up records, Class Clown and Occupation Foole became like the Torah for me (I still remember my old man taking us to King Carole Records on the west side; I proudly selected Toledo Window Box). There is his legendary routine about the seven words you can't say on Television, and who'll ever forget his contribution to the debate between football and baseball?

For years, in high school and throughout college, I would go to sleep with the sounds of a comedy record playing in the background. Bill Cosby and Carlin were always good choices--Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor were too lively for that time of night. I must have listened to "Occupation Foole" five hundred times easily. I know Carlins' inflections, the rhythms of his voice, his faces, all of his characters, as well as I know a member of the family.

So, it is a sad Monday morning as George Carlin passed away yesterday at the age of 71. That is too young. He was from Morningside Heights in Manhattan and he ranks up there with Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor as one of the Giants of stand-up comedy.

I want to take this moment to thank him for everything he gave me.  He made me feel grown when I was a kid, and has made me feel young as I've gotten older.

We're going to spend a lot of time waxing nostalgic about Yankee Stadium this year, sharing our own favorite memories and listing the all-time great moments. For all the Yankee highlights the place has seen, not to mention one of the most famous football games ever, the biggest event ever to go down in the House that Ruth Built may well have been the Joe Louis/Max Schmeling rematch which took place seventy years ago today (Here is audio from the fight).

In her review of "Beyond Glory," David Margolick's acclaimed book about Louis-Schmeling, Joyce Carol Oates wrote:

Boxing is the most pitiless of sports, as it can be the most dazzling, theatrical and emblematic. Where race and nationalism are involved, as in the famous Joe Louis-Max Schmeling heavyweight fights of 1936 and 1938, two of the most widely publicized boxing matches in history, the emblematic aspect of the sport can assume epic proportions. When the second fight, of June 1938, pitting the 24-year-old American Negro titleholder, Louis, against the 32-year-old Schmeling, the Nazis' star athlete, was fought at Yankee Stadium, the contest was as much between the United States and Nazi Germany as between two superbly skilled athletes. There were almost 70,000 spectators and an estimated 100 million radio listeners throughout the world: "the largest audience in history for anything."

...Most of the chapters are impersonal historical accounts, culled from numerous sources, in which the author's voice is subordinate to his material. Amid much summarizing, press clippings of the era, many of them painfully racist, provide candor and color; occasionally there are outbursts of a kind of comic surrealism, as in this rapid collage following the dramatic outcome of the 1938 fight:

"In the stands there was bedlam. Tallulah Bankhead sprang to her feet and turned to the Schmeling fans behind her. 'I told you so, you sons of bitches!' she screamed. Whites were hugging blacks. 'The happiest people I saw at this fight were not the Negroes but the Jews,' a black writer observed. 'In the row in front of me there was a great line of Jews - and they had the best time of all their Jewish lives.' . . . 'Beat the hell out of the damn German bastard!' W. E. B. Du Bois, a lifelong Germanophile who rarely swore, shouted gleefully in Atlanta. In Hollywood, Bette Davis jumped up and down; she had won $66 in the Warner Brothers fight pool. . . . 'Everybody danced and sang,' Woody Guthrie wrote from Santa Fe. 'I watched the people laugh, walk, sing, do all sorts of dances. I heard "Hooray for Joe Louis!" "To hell with Max Schmeling" in Indian, Mexican, Spanish, all kinds of white tongues.' "

If you didn't catch HBO's fine Joe Louis documentary earlier this year, it's well-worth watching.

It's difficult to fathom the magnitude of that night. But it begs the question: Has an event held at Yankee Stadium ever had a greater social impact on the entire country, let alone the rest of the world?

After being wowed by the Reds' arms all weekend, the Yankees needed a hundred dollar bill performance on Sunday from their veteran, Andy Pettitte.  And that's exactly what they got.  Pettitte was able to get himself out of a couple of dicey-looking jams, in the fourth and the sixth.  With the bases loaded and one out in the fourth, Pettitte fanned the pesky Joey Votto and then Jay Bruce to end the inning.  It was an overcast day, but the sun peaked-out just as Pettitte delivered the 3-2 pitch past Bruce. 

Two innings later, the sky was dark and the wind was whirling around the Stadium.  The wind was so violent, kicking up the infield dirt, Brandon Phillips had to step-out of the box several times before he could hit.  With runners on the corners and just one out, Pettitte got Paul Janish to pop a bunt up in the air, caught easily by Jorge Posada.  Pettitte stood on the mound, straight and tall, his pants rippling against the strong wind.  It brought to mind James Agee's description of Buster Keaton: "mulish imperturbability under the wildest of circumstances."  Pettitte struck Votto out.

Jason Giambi's mustache looked noticably darker than it did a day earlier.  When he was at the plate, it looked as if he was wearing one of those fake Groucho disguises.  Whatever he did, it worked, as Giambi collected three hits and a couple of RBI.  He also stole a base in the second inning.  He ran on a full count pitch to Posada, who took it for strike three.  When Giambi was on second, he looked toward the Yankee dugout and gave his boys a little shoulder shimmy shimmy ya. 

Kyle Farnsworth served up a solo shot to Junior Griffey in the eighth.  It was career dinger #601 for Griffey.  Mariano Rivera was called to record a four-out save after Farnsworth left the game with an injury to his finger.  Mo worked around two dinky singles to start the ninth, didn't allow a run, and earned his 21st save of the season (in as many chances) as the Yankees salvaged the final game of the homestand, 4-1. 

The weatherman says we're going to get summer storms this afternoon. Hopefully, they get the game in. I expect the Yankees to knock the hell out of the ball today, don't you?

If you can't beat 'em...eat 'em. 

I've never tried Cincinnati Chili, a truly weird n wunnerful sounding-dish, but my cousin Jonah and his wife Jenn absolutely love it.  Here is an introduction from Jenn, followed by a fool-proof recipe from the good people at Cook's Illustrated (aka America's Test Kitchen):

"My husband and I first learned about this chili recipe while babysitting our nephew Archer one Sat morning.  We had just discovered America's Test Kitchen tv show and when they were demonstrating this recipe it literally stopped us in our tracks.  We sat enthralled at why someone would ever want to blanch ground chuck.  And then when we saw them mixing all those spices, we started salivating.  By the time they got to the buttered spaghetti, it was over: our jaws were on the floor, tongues agog a la Wyle E. Coyote.  America's Test Kitchen = super geniuses.  At that point we both turned to each other and, without a word, we both knew what was for dinner that night.

The great thing about this recipe is that it's super easy to throw together and it's got enough interesting flavors to whet anyone's palette. Since we made it the first time, we've been making it pretty much once a week.

I suppose you could sub ground chicken / turkey for the beef but what makes this dish delicious is the fat and I'm not sure chick or turk have enough of it (but I could be wrong).  The spices - in particular the cocoa - are what make it pop and give it a rich, beautiful color.

You must do all the required toppings for the big finale: the sharp tang of the cheddar, the sweet bite of the raw diced onion, and the mellow smoothness of the warmed red kidneys all add a nice dimension to the beefy, spiced chili.

While some people prefer to avoid having leftovers, for this dish it's actually fine. It still tastes excellent the second time around (you can do both stove-top sauce pan method or the cover with foil in the oven method, though with the oven method the noodles do get a little crispy, if you're into that)."

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On Friday night, Joe Girardi's decision to intentionally walk Jay Bruce in the fifth inning--a move his pitcher Mike Mussina did not agree with--back-fired. However, the Yankees were also overwhelmed by Edinson Volquez. Johnny Damon said "He's one of the better guys that we've seen in a long time." Jason Giambi agreed. "He's got Pedro-type stuff. You've got to tip your cap. The kid threw a good game." As usual, Derek Jeter got right to it. "Sometimes guys are going to be better than you. He was better than us."

A mere blip. It happens. I don't think anyone expected the Yankees to get shut-down on Saturday afternoon by a kid making his major league debut. But that happened too. Fresh direct from Double A, Daryl Thompson woke up at 4:30 in the morning, was understandably amped up, and then went out and threw five scoreless innings, getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the second. Four other Cincy relievers combined to shut-out the Yankees, 6-0.

For the Yankees, Dan Giese, was equally impressive. Unfortunately, a throwing error by Giese in the seventh lead to a four-run rally by the Reds, enough to do the Yankees in.

Edinson Volquez out-dueled Mike Mussina on Friday night as the Reds beat the Yanks 4-2. It was a terrific evening at the Stadium, weather-wise, and the Yankees had their chances--the tying run was at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, and Jason Giambi just missed a change up with two men on in the seventh (he would hit a long fly out to death valley, another one he was just behind). Mussina scattered ten hits over eight innings but really only made one mistake--a flat fastball to Jolbert Cabrera in the fifth. Johnny Damon lost a fly ball in the lights to start the inning:

"I saw it, I felt I had a bead on it," Damon said. "Then, you're seeing shadows. It makes me disgusted. I didn't realize it hit off my glove. That's tough to overcome when you're facing a tough pitcher. Unfortunately, losing the ball in the lights cost us three."
(Lapointe, N.Y. Times)

It was a night of near-misses.

Volquez was a lot of fun to watch. He was "effectively wild," but not like Daniel Cabrera. He wasn't wild enough to be hitting guys. But his pitches darted every which way. More to the point, when he fell behind in the count, he was able to come up with the big pitch. He was supremely confident, and why not? He hasn't allowed more than three runs in any start this season.

It's hot n hazy again in New York today. A 1:00 start promises to bring plenty of heat.

Let's Go Yan-Kees!

Cincinnati Reds

2007 Record: 33-39 (.458)
2007 Pythagorean Record: 71-91 (.441)

2008 Record: 33-41 (.446)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 32-42 (.431)

Manager: Dusty Baker
General Manager: Walt Jocketty

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Great American Ball Park (104/105)

Who's Replacing Whom:

Joey Votto replaces Scott Hatteberg
Jay Bruce replaces Josh Hamilton
Paul Bako has taken playing time from Dave Ross and Javier Valentin
Corey Patterson replaces Jeff Conine
Jolbert Cabrera is the latest to fill in for Alex Gonzalez (DL)
Andy Phillips is filling in for Ryan Freel (DL)
Paul Janish is filling in for Jeff Keppinger (DL)
Edinson Volquez replaces Matt Belisle (minors)
Johnny Cueto replaces Kyle Lohse and Bobby Livingston (DL)
Francisco Cordero replaces David Weathers as closer
Weathers replaces Todd Coffey (DL)
Jeremy Affeldt replaces Mike Stanton
Bill Bray inherits Jon Coutlangus's innings
Mike Lincoln replaces Victor Santos

25-man Roster:

1B - Joey Votto (L)
2B - Brandon Phillips (R)
SS - Jolbert Cabrera (R)
3B - Edwin Encarnacion (R)
C - Paul Bako (L)
RF - Ken Griffey Jr. (L)
CF - Jay Bruce (L)
LF - Adam Dunn (L)

Bench:

L - Corey Patterson (OF)
R - Norris Hopper (OF)
R - Dave Ross (C)
R - Paul Janish (IF)
R - Andy Phillips (IF)
S - Javier Valentin (C)

Rotation:

R - Aaron Harang
R - Edinson Volquez
R - Johnny Cueto
R - Bronson Arroyo

Bullpen:

R - Francisco Cordero
R - Jared Burton
L - Jeremy Affeldt
R - David Weathers
L - Bill Bray
R - Mike Lincoln
R - Gary Majewski

15-day DL: R - Ryan Freel (UT), R - Jeff Keppinger (IF), R - Jerry Hairston Jr. (UT), R - Josh Fogg, R - Todd Coffey
60-day DL: R - Alex Gonzalez (SS), L - Kent Mercker, L - Bobby Livingston

Typical Lineup

L - Jay Bruce (CF)
R - Jolbert Cabrera (SS)
L - Ken Griffey Jr. (RF)
R - Brandon Phillips (2B)
L - Adam Dunn (LF)
R - Edwin Encarnacion (3B)
L - Joey Votto (1B)
L - Paul Bako (C)

Harpo doin the Gookie.

This was the can't-miss, home run, bust-a-gut move for Harpo Marx.  Whenever the Marx brothers were doing a show and started to bomb they'd send Harpo up to do the Gookie.  Once he busted it on you--seemingly out of nowhere--you were at his mercy.
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It’s impossible to discuss New York baseball without mentioning the Yankees AND the Mets. They’re inextricably linked, going back to Casey Stengel. In my opinion, Mike Lupica and William Goldman, in their superb and hilarious book, “Wait ‘Til Next Year,” – which is unfortunately out-of-print now – did the best job of describing the differences of the two teams and not only how they perceive themselves, but how they want their fans and the media to perceive them.

That is, of course, if you believe in the adage that perception is reality.

I got to thinking about this in the 72 hours since Willie Randolph’s unceremonious dismissal, and instantly compared it to Joe Torre’s resignation last winter. Both situations were mishandled by their respective former employers. Both proved to be high-caliber public relations gaffes. Both men, through the professional way that they handled losing their jobs, elicited sympathy from the media that was simultaneously channeled into anger at the Yankees and Mets. With the Randolph situation, the blunder was viewed as another in a long line of managerial miscues in Queens. The Times’s William C. Rhoden went so far as to proclaim that the Mets are “again the subject of national derision.”

That’s the perception. I’m a believer in the adage.

Let’s examine the sequence of the two events and how they shaped the public perception of the two situations, and the media coverage:

YANKEES – JOE TORRE

·         The Yankees were coming off a 12^th straight playoff berth under Torre but a third straight loss in the Division Series. When the expectation is to win a World Series and anything less is viewed as a failure, despite the trials and tribulations of getting to the playoffs, the effort wasn’t good enough.

·         Torre, up for a new contract, received a one-year offer from the Yankees that included a paycut, but was laced with incentives provided the team won the division, then each subsequent round of the playoffs, and the World Series. Torre considered the Yankees’ offer an insult, which he didn’t need as an incentive to win. Bob Costas jumped all over this and made it a hit point on his HBO show.

·         Torre resigned. Every local news media outlet staked out his house to get a glimpse of him in advance of his closing press conference, which YES broadcast live. Torre, after a brief statement, fielded questions for more than an hour.

·         The local beat writers and columnists had choice words for Randy Levine and other members of the Yankees’ front office. And while the reaction to Torre’s leaving was mixed, the consensus was that he was one of the greatest managers in team history, and was the perfect fit for this city and this team, particularly in the savvy way he managed the media circus on a daily basis. In short, he respected the writers and reporters, and the feeling was mutual.

METS – WILLIE RANDOLPH

·         Presided over a team that lost a 7 1/2 –game lead in the final two weeks of the regular season to miss the playoffs. With roughly the same team returning, save the addition of Johan Santana, expectations were high.

·         A slow start, plus various incidents in which Randolph let his true feelings about race emerge -- taking umbrage to the coverage on SNY -- led to rumors of his firing.

·         The Mets held a press conference two weeks ago to say that Randolph would not be fired.

·         The Mets, after a 3-3 homestand and a double-header split with Texas, fly out to Anaheim to play the Orange County Angels who Claim To Be From Los Angeles to Reap More TV Dollars in the LA Market.

·         GM Omar Minaya uncharacteristically flies out to Anaheim, unannounced, with the decision having been made to fire Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson and first base coach Tom Nieto. Following the Mets’ victory Monday, he calls them into a room at the team hotel and informs them of the decision.

·         Minaya claims it was his decision, but it doesn’t help change the thought that the Wilpons and Minaya had Randolph fly to California and be fired there in order to avoid the intense scrutiny at home. In fact, it may have made it worse. Wednesday’s Daily News backpage of a frowning Mr. Met with the headline MEET THE MESS said it all.

·         Randolph wishes the Mets well, is thankful for the opportunity to have managed the team.

The media’s job now is to highlight the facts and present them as they come to the fore. There has been and will continue to be analysis of the situation for as long as the Mets continue to struggle. If they turn it around, you might see comparisons to the Billy Martin-Bob Lemon switch in 1978.

But that also comes back to Willie Randolph. 

The public face on how the Mets treated Randolph – if there were rumors surrounding his job security at the beginning of the year, why not fire him after the collapse last season? – is another example of the Mets demonstrating why they’re considered the “other” team in New York. They’re not unlike the New York Football Jets in that, organizationally, no matter how hard they try, they mismanage various events to inspire anger and hurt among the media and fan base.

Not that the Yankees and Giants are without their flaws. However, but in my observations, bungled organizational matters are forgotten with the on-field product. Regarding Torre, Yankees fans, while they may agree on his resignation coming at the right time – and even that the offer was an insult, it appears they’ve forgiven the Yankees’ brass for the way it was handled. Mets fans will hurt for a long time, and the media will perpetuate that hurt unless the organization does something to fix it. 

That’s where the differences lie between the Mets and the Yankees.

Variety has a wonderful new issue out celebrating 50 years of the Dodgers being in L.A. Our good pal Jon Weisman has his talented finger prints all over this one. I contributed two pieces to the issue--one, my picks for the ten best baseball movies of them all, another, a sidebar on ten memorable baseball scenes in non-baseball movies. Let me know which baseball flicks you think were robbed. Also, give me some more examples of good baseball scenes in non-baseball movies. There are many more of them than decent baseball films. I didn't even mention the Mantle-Maris scene in that old Doris Day movie, or the grenade-thrower from "Under Fire" who loved Dennis "El Presidente" Martinez.  Or the softball game in "Gung Ho."  Or...

The Yankees extended their winning streak to seven games by completing a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres yesterday afternoon. Joba Chamberlain got the start and turned in his first truly dominant major league start as he struck out nine Padres in 5 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on four hits and three walks.

The run came in the fourth when Brian Giles led off with a single, was pushed to second by a walk to Adrian Gonzalez, and scored when Tony Clark, hitting from the left side, hit a flare to the line in shallow left that hopped into the stands for a ground-rule double. Prior to that, Chamberlain worked himself into a bases-loaded jam in the second, but struck out Scott Hairston, got an out at home from a wild pitch, and struck out Khalil Greene to end the inning. The play on Gonzalez came when Chamberlain skipped a pitch past Jose Molina, then raced home to cover the plate. Molina gathered the ball and fired to Chamberlain, who actually set up to block the plate and got the tag down on Gonzalez before the Padres first baseman was able to get his foot around him to the dish. Chamberlain didn't allow a hit in any of his other innings and ended his outing with a pair of strikeouts. Had he been more efficient, he could have gone deeper, as he had retired seven of his last eight batters when he hit 100 pitches.

Fortunately the Yankee bullpen did its job. The Yanks had tied the score in the bottom of the fifth when Melky Cabrera walked, stole second and third, and scored on a Molina sac fly. Jose Veras got the final out of the sixth in relief of Chamberlain, then in the bottom of that inning, Derek Jeter singled, stole second, moved to third on a Bobby Abreu groundout to the right side, and scored on an Alex Rodriguez single. Veras pitched around a pair of walks in the seventh. Kyle Farnsworth pitched around an Adrian Gonzalez single in the eighth, and, once again, Mariano Rivera struck out the side in the ninth. Rivera has struck out 25 men in his last 16 innings.

It was a clean, crisp game, and a rewarding 2-1 victory for the Yankees, though it would have been nice if Chamberlain had picked up the win for his efforts. With the win, the Yankees became the eighth team in baseball to reach 40 wins. Next up: Dusty Baker's Reds.

The Yankees have scored a minimum of eight runs in their last four games and are on a six-game winning streak. Today they send Joba Chamberlain to the mound and will face a far less heralded rookie in Josh Banks.

The Yankees have actually seen Banks before, as his first two major league appearances came in relief for the Blue Jays last year against the Yankees. In his debut in Toronto, Banks retired Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, and Johnny Damon in order. A week and a half later in the Bronx, he gave up a run on a walk to Hideki Matsui, a Robinson Cano single, and a Jose Molina double (he also saw Cabrera and Damon a second time, striking out Melky and walking Johnny).

Banks posted a 6.80 ERA in triple-A this year, was claimed off waivers by the Padres in late April, and snuck into the major league roster after both Chris Young and Jake Peavy went down with injuries. The 25-year-old righty started out in the bullpen, but after pitching six shutout innings in the Padres 18-inning win over the Reds on May 25, he was granted a rotation spot, which he nailed down with a complete game victory over the Giants in his first start and a 2-1 win over the Mets in his second.

A command and control pitcher with marginal stuff, Banks hasn't walked a man in 20 innings since entering the rotation, and has been extremely efficient with his pitches, needing just 101 for that complete game and not topping 77 in either of two six-inning outings. That makes him an interesting contrast to Chamberlain, who has filthy stuff, but has struggled with walks since moving into the rotation, and can thus use up a lot of pitches rather quickly. Joba's peripherals went backwards against the Astros in his last start, but despite his four walks, he was cruising along at 89 pitches through six when his turn in the batting order came due, thus ending his outing there. This afternoon, the limits will finally be off . . . mostly. I'm sure the Yankees won't want him to throw more than 100 pitches, but that's a respectable limit for any rookie, and Joe Girardi won't have to pinch-hit for him. For all the hype that has come before, this afternoon should mark Chamberlain's true debut as a full-fledged American League starting pitcher.

Dayn Perry has a new blog.  In his latest post, Dayn raves about Michael Lewis' long piece about Cuban baseball in the new issue of Vanity Fair.  Perry writes, "I can say, without exaggeration, that it may be the finest example of long-form sports journalism I’ve ever read."  That's enough of a recommendation for me.  Sold.      

Giorgio Morandi is one of my favorite painters.  He was a little old Italian guy who almost excusively painted still life pictures.  They are humble and deeply satisfying--he's a painter's painter.  Even though the subject matter is traditional, his pictures tackle space, form and composition just like the great modern abstract painters.

The reason I mention him, is because looking at his drawings and paintings is a simple but cherished pleasure for me.  And last night was filled with simple pleasures. It started when I arrived home with a dozen white roses for my wife.  I got caught in the rain and was soaking wet but didn't mind a bit.  When the rain stopped, we saw a rainbow outside of our apartment window in the Bronx.  Later, a full yellow moon beamed high in the black night.  The weather was crisp and unseasonably cool, almost too good to be true.  

At the Stadium, there was Robinson Cano, who is really starting to swing the bat well, and Joe Girardi seeking out Melky Cabrera on the bench after Melk