Let's hope playing in Camden Yards - where the Yanks have always hit well - will help smooth over any wrinkles in the offense.

Also Matsui's ab with 3-0 was uncalled for-that was just plain stupid. Killed a potentially huge inning.

Hope we can play smarter tonight.

(It's a Language Log posting about overstate/understate and the very common confusion surrounding their use, especially when negated, as with 'cannot'.)

6 There's a part of me that's okay with that. I almost feel like that one loss is an important rest/reboot game. That said, they do need to mix in a few sweeps against the cupcakes.

I don't think that's what's going on in the run-of-the-mill use of "I could care less". (There's a very long discussion of the 'ironic' interpretation at that blog I linked, though you'd have to search for it.)

Multiple negations can be very, very hard to parse -- the linguists at Language Log are interested in when and why. Here's the one that most amazed me:

"The Skilling indictment demonstrates in no uncertain terms that no executive is too prominent or too powerful and that no scheme to defraud is too complex or too fancy to avoid the long arm of the law."

(Said by Deputy Attorney General James Comey upon his indictment of Enron Ex-CEO Jeffrey Skilling.)

Also, there were a lot of almost hits, or almost outs (like if Melky makes that catch on the triple, or that really great play by Pena later on). Sometimes those things happen, its why a bad team can sometimes beat a good one. They won six in a row, they are going to lose a game here and there. I'd rather it be one like last night with Igawa on the mound, then blowing a 2-1 lead when Clemens or Wang is pitching.

Busy travel day today. Here's a tidbit that I don't know if it means anything or not. When I walked into the ballpark at Camden Yards a few minutes ago, Kei Igawa, his interpreter and his suitcases were on the way out. Stay tuned for more info.

yaaaaayyyy! They do read the Banter. I can just see Cashman barking at his assistant, "What's Jim Dean saying today?!"

He ends up saying Skilling's case shows that nobody is too prominent to escape; presumably he meant it shows that nobody is too prominent to be caught!

And I wouldn't want to overstate or understate that I could or couldn't care less where he ends up or begins down.

Looks like the Big 10 is finally moving into the 21st Century, looking to add one more team and a championship game. That could have avoided the free pass debacle that happened last year. Woo hoo!

3 and 4 You know, Jeter's gonna strike out sometimes. That's just the way it goes.

One can overstate fire and passion as driving forces, however. You do need players who do the right thing in the right situation everytime. Cairo, as 23 points out, is the quintessential example of the sort of player that does this. A roster full of Cairos would complete every sweep situation presented to the Yankees.

I don't agree with the contention, but what I think happens is during a long tiring season, some games the players try with every bit of skill to win the game, and in a couple handfulls of games, players act just like what they are, employees, and simply put in a days work. It is unavoidable when you play 162 games in 180 days. To many of us its larger than baseball, to many of them it is just a job, and there is nothing wrong with that for the most part. They get paid every two weeks just like everyone else. I've always found the "no competitor wants to lose," and "every player competes as hard as they can because they want to win," quotes and media coverage to be absolute garbage. There are scores of players in MLB who "couldn't care less" whether the team wins or not. Being baseball players doesn't make them any different than any employee in any endeavor, some work harder than others. To assume that baseball players enjoy some greater level of competiveness simply because they have the skills neccessary to play this game than that of the general public is downright silly.

Seriously. 6. Maybe. I think Jeter wants to win every game. I think A-Rod and Matsui want to win every game. I think Melky wants to win every game, I think Cano wants to win every game, I could go on.

I don't think dudes who make it to the big leagues are like "whatever," when it comes to winning and losing. Because if that was their mindset, they wouldn't be in the big leagues to begin with.

Making it to the Major Leagues takes a blend of unbeliveably rare natural talent, unbelieveable luck, and unbelieveable obsession with what you do. I don't buy that Melky or A-Rod or Abreu are phoning in at bats on some days, and on other days decide, "you know, I'm really going to try to hit this pitch this time."

It's too hard a game to play. If they half assed their concentration, they wouldn't even foul pitches off.

How hot is it down there? ND? No way in hell do they give up a National TV Contract and a free pass to make their own schedule, with another free pass (See last season) to get into a BCS game without doing anything to deserve it. Many compare the hatred for ND to the hatred for the Yankees, only when the Yankees lose, they miss or are out of the playoffs, when ND loses, they cash in a big pay day in a BCS or other Bowl game.

My guess is a team like Iowa State or Colorado will end up in the Bg 10. Pitt has an outside shot, given the Penn State/Pitt Rivalry that would ensue. Iowa State plays Iowa every year anyway, and Colorado is a sexy pick.

It would be great, last season Ohio State would have had to play Wisconsin, who would have wiped the field with them.

Having ND as an independent is enough to undermine the BCS and Bowl Directors, having a big time conference with no Championship game has been too much. It will be about time when this finally happens. Coaches are against it, but AD's and Presidents are for it, so hopefully it will happen. Why should the Big 12 and SEC have teams get yanked from the National Championship while Ohio State can ride right in there in a Bentley? The only alternative is to take League Championship games out of the BCS equation, otherwise its inherenty unfair the way it works now, insofar as the Big 10 is concerned. I don't know anyone who actually watched the games last season, and ignored the media coverage, that thought Ohio State had a chance in that game. But thank god for the media, I made a killing betting on that game :). Thank you ESPN!

Really, BFOG+ is a much more objective measure of individual effort.

In no way did I mean to suggest that the Yankees weren't trying, or that a loss implies any sort of judgment of their morals or character. But post 6 posited a "win the series" mentality on the team, and post 7 expressed contentment with that as a fan.

I don't think that's good enough, especially in this particular stretch where they play bad teams. If they're going to make a run at Boston, they have to beat up on these teams, including some sweeps - they're not going to win every one of those series against Detroit, Boston and Los Angeles of Anaheim of Hauppauge of Chichicastenango.

So when it's KC, and they've pounded them in the first three games - losing the fourth was a disappointment. It's one more game that they have to win against someone better than the Royals.

But Guthrie is right-handed. Right?

I never argued that last night's loss was attributable to anything other than a periodic failure. What I was saying is that players are just like most people, they get tired, and sometimes just get through the day and want to get home. I don't think that's all that crazy of a position, do you? And being human beings, when others give that impression, it will be incorporated by others around them, its not like I think they are trying to lose.

If there are really and Banterers who are content with the loss I'll be pretty surprised. If some of you don't think that the 3-1 series result was a good result, then I guess I just disagree.