Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Giambi 1B
Cano 2B
Molina C
Cabrera CF

lineup courtesy Pete Abe

4 Amazing that we're even talking about Giambi, Damon and Moose and the All Star Game.

Give me a win Moose!

Let's go Bama-Yank!

Roll Tide and Go Yan-Kees!

Cy Moose gets the double play!
Nice d by the middle infielders.

Robby Cano - Don't ya know! Great play (at least based on what I heard).

My gosh is Moose working it.

I blame global warming for melting the Internet.

Good thing Hochevar was the first pick in the entire draft a couple of years ago, or this game would have "URP" written all over it.

Bama will feel lucky - at this rate, he'll be out of the Stadium well before rush hour.

Doh!

C'mon Molina!

.324/.354/.486 during the day
.188/.235/.269 at night

53 Maybe, but would you want to have Posada's bat for later? I assume you'd PH him, then have Moeller go in to catch so that Posada actually gets some rest.

I hereby formally apologize for thinking your career was over and wanting you shipped off to San Diego.

59 61 Thanks. The way this game is going, I can't find fault with it.

It sure would be nice to see some pitches this inning.

If Cano keeps having trouble at night, maybe its a vision problem?

We need Bobby to work an eleven pitch walk next inning to make Hochevar burst into flame.

When the Yanks return from the field it's got to be Shut Out Intervention time.

PAs per K in night games:
2005: 8.3
2006: 8.0
2007: 8.3
2008: 14.1

PAs per BB in night games:
2005: 41.5
2006: 30.0
2007: 15.3
2008: 21.1

Ergo, I don't think its a vision problem ...

(funny, I thought it was mainly cause they still have Richie Sexson on their roster)

Thanks a lot, A-rod. Loser.

did you pick Da'Tara also? Great call!

=)

Bama is feeling damn good right now, I'd imagine.

Me, I'd probably send Edwar out there, or Veras if he's available today.

Speaking of relief, doesn't KC have a lefty in the bullpen? Strange decision to bring in Ramirez with Matsui, Giambi, Cano due up.
I mean, it worked nicely for them, but still.

there have been many blog articles noting Cano's extremely low BABIP this year, when compared to prior years, and given his current good line drive rate (line drives translate into hits more often than fly balls or grounders, of course)

maybe he is just hit unlucky?

He can rest on the flight to Oakland.

I can't stop laughing now

Just a base hit, Bobby. Let's put this one in the books on the good side.

"Giambi has even been playing decent defense at first base, remarkably: at 10.01, his Range Factor is above the league average of 9.51, his .995 fielding percentage is right at the league average, and his FRAA Rate is also at 100, exactly average."

87 ?

worth another shot.

179 Yawn.

Of course, I think Betemit should be starting at 2B

err

This was a pathetic performance up and down...splitting with the Royals at home is beneath an embarrasment.

No way around it, this is a .500 team.

There would have been a tiny consolation in Soria getting the save since he's on my fantasy team, but the dude loaded the bases and hosed my WHIP.

I don't take part in game threads and I only clicked on the comments here to browse through the last 36 messages.

Why don't I take part in game threads? Because there's a lot of hateful people here. Someone makes an out and the player is the worst person in the world. I'm glad the game threads are available, maybe it keeps someone from beating their pets.

RZG I don't think it is a matter of hateful people, myself. I think it is a function of the internet and speed of posting, mixing with passionate fandom. I suppose I wonder why someone feels a NEED to swear in a thread at a batter who has a lame hack in the 9th. What need in them is assuaged or addressed? Community? We ALL hate Farnsworth's guts? Or Cano's today?

Alex, I get your joke about the saved canines and felines, and obviously the site works best when not moderated or controlled, but I'm with RZG and a few others in finding the banter way more appealing AWAY from the game threads. And yes, of course, the solution is easy and needs nothing from you or Cliff ... some of us just tend to stay away.

william, honestly, I have to assume you have followed the game for some time. To say splitting with ANY team is 'beneath an embarrassment' is ... an embarrassing remark, even allowing for heat of the moment (and the day). That isn't how this sport WORKS.

Today? A brutally hot day did what weather sometimes does and distorted athletic performance. Both pitchers reaped the benefit. No one hit well. I actually expected a sloppier game than we got.

Like the Mets at the end of last year, there are many teams who underperform and many teams that lose games they were 'not supposed to lose'. Venting frustration is one thing.... we all need to do that. But saying the same 'Yankess suck' thing, over and over, game after game, and even year after year, is tiring.

I will say there are many Banterers who have left the site because of this. Look how many game threads 3 years ago had well over 500 comments, and how many different people there were. Far more then now.

It's a shame.

I'd have to disagree. It wasn't splitting with any team, it was splitting with the Royals. They lost 11 in a row on the road. They were a poor offensive club.

If people want the "Yankees suck" thing to end, I'd suggest they stop sucking. They could start this by not splitting with the weak sisters of the league.

Just because we may not have the large number of commentors we used to have doesn't mean that they have totally left the site. Sometimes they resurface when something interesting besides the game comes around. Besides that, people have lives of their own. Jobs, family, etc; you know, life.

Life... it's an interesting dynamic that has developed here over the years, one that was really tested and worthy of analysis by the online/real life passing of our own Jim Dean last season. I had a conversation with myself after that (http://tinyurl.com/54z8nq) and I've concluded that to be here and be a part of it all is to take it all for what it is, good and bad.

I know it's not easy to ignore certain things (how I know that!), but that's when you have to ask yourself what's really important to you here and as a person in general. I like to be happy and positive, and I owe no one an apology for that, anymore than I would expect the negative people to apologize for their issues.

I accept that there are people here whose first instinct is to be negative, but one should never let another person define you or deny you something you enjoy. I enjoy Banter, but I take what I want from it, give what I can to it and go on with my life. We all have work to do, we all have family and friends; Banter can't replace that and is not supposed to.

I think many of us have grown beyond the simplicities of baseball chat and have incorporated many other things into and from Banter as a sign of that growth. It's all around Toaster, in fact. Negativity will always be a part of the conversation, and sometimes it will dominate. But it has not defined us and will pass in times as people grow. Don't let it defeat you, just continue to plant knowledge and hope that people like me will reach it eventually.

It's too hot for all this. Keep yourselves hydrated and wait for the next one. Peace, y'all >;)

241 I think the poor play of the Yankees has more to do with the team's poor play than negative comments on game threads. I agree that it isn't useful to simply say XYZ sucks (just as "yippee...Arod is great" doesn't bring much to the table either), but too many here get bent out of shape over how others choose to express themselves. Both positive and negative comments have a purpose...one is to express frustration and the other is too express joy. That's exactly what you'd expect from a game thread...the highs and lows and ebb of flow of the game and the different reactions of people who really care about the outcome.

I actually don't mind the Yankees losing. I love baseball, win or lose, and if they have to build for the future this season, fine.

But the sheer meanness of the game threads is just a drag. I still come by once in awhile, but it's not like it was two or three years ago. One of the perils of success, perhaps.