"the Yanks have been trying to put wheels on this pumpkin for far too long already"

Amen to that...though I hadn't heard it put that way before, that's pretty much the best summary of the Tanyon Sturtze experiment I've read so far.

One never wants to see a person get hurt - but if there was ever a fortuitous injury for this team, it's Tanyon Sturtze's back.

No offense to him, but I hope Tanyon's back prevents him from pitching for the next 6 months.

A front 5 in the pen of Mo, Lord Won'tPitchAgainAfter3rdOutRecorded-wacker, Dotel, Myers, and Villone sounds great, with no Tanyon to Sturtze things up. Short of making Proctor/Small a setup guy - and why would he with DoFarnMo? - I don't think its possible for Torre to misuse it. And imagine if Smith becomes one of 'Joe's guys'?

Suddenly things are looking rosy in the pen.

But doesn't being one of "Joe's Guys" entail getting worn out in some respect?

I'm very impressed thus far with Matt Smith - It's only been 4 batters, but he's certainly fared better in relief than Chacon has in the past few outings...

OT, but anyone else checked out Phil Hughes' Tampa numbers?

3gs, 16 ip, 1 er, 0.63 whip, 18/1 k/bb. Holy smokes.

And the kicker. He's 1 and 2. Tampa must've been shut out in the two losses.

"with no Tanyon to Sturtze things up". wow

4 Hughes is looking nice indeed. Next stop: Trenton.

As is Smith - makes you wonder how long before Villone is cut too.

It took him until the 14th game of the season, but Torre finally has the right nine guys on the field:

Damon
Jeter
Sheffield
Rodriguez
Giambi
Matsui
Posada
Cano
Phillips

Here's hoping we see something like this much more often going forward.

Cliff, now if only he'd swap sheff /giambi, and jeter/damon

8 I haven't linked my post about the Jeter/Damon leadoff debate on the sidebar, but if you search for "Out of Order" it'll be the first hit you get. My conclusion was that the difference between Jeter-Damon and Damon-Jeter is insignificant. I agree about the Giambi-Sheffield thing, however. I just don't understand how, of all possible combinations, Torre came up with one that burried his best OBP and put the two lefties back-to-back. The only reason I didn't complain in a post about it is that I figured Giambi would hit and Sheff would start slow and Torre would fix it by the end of the month, much like he did at the bottom of the order by pushing Cano up into the eighth spot, but Sheff is doing fine and the month is almost over.

Yankee Baseball at 9:30AM (PT)! Great way to start the day... unless they blow it again. ;-)

8 Definitely swap Giambi with Sheff right now...

Now yesterday, Wells would have snagged that. Maybe the breaks go our way today...

Glad last night's game was blacked out in retrospect, but today's is on both the Extra Innings package and ESPN...

4 Yeah, Tampa was shut out in Hughes' first and third start. And in his first start, the run he gave up wasn't even earned. Reason number 246537234 why win/loss records for pitchers suck.

That was a nasty curve ball Mussina just unleased on Adams.

14 Thanks Jete. I was wondering how Mussina's stuff looked. I'm "watching" on ESPN's gamecast, and I saw alot of "Strike - looking" in the first two batters.

13 Amen. Though you really need look no further than Johnson and Mussina to figure that out.

Anyone else notice that Ted Lilly is pitching a SHUTOUT so far? ;)

17 Nice!!!

16 Johnson and Mussina are numbers 12346323 and 23557645 respectively.

I just realized - here's Cano facing a lefty. Props, Joe. Its the only way Robbie will learn.

Ech, when is Cano going to learn to take a pitch? 0 walks this year so far, not good, and his AB was over before I knew he was up.

Fun stat given on YES, that I'm not sure ESPN said. Mike Mussina has set the order down in order 11 times this season...only Oswalt has done it more often.

22 - Interesting, thanks!

I assume that good pitchers do that more often than bad pitchers. Wonder if that stat correlates to anything?

I'd also assume that short relievers who set down the side in order frequently are precious commodities.

20 Torre's only sat Cano once this year and they've faced plenty of lefties (Zito, Affeldt, Santana, Chacin, now Lilly).\

17 I don't think that works with shutouts, but A for effort.

24 Clearly someone on a Blue Jays blog must have mentioned that Moose had a no-hitter going. ;)

How did Phillips look just before? Overmatched as usual?

Phillips looked really bad in that AB. K'd on 3 pitches.

Cliffy, I'm with you (finally) on Phillips getting shot, but we know another 3 K's today is going to really hurt him.

28 Indeed. Of course I'll just keep blaming Torii Hunter. Curious . . . Torre, Torii . . . I smell conspiracy!

Something is amiss with Phillips (no pun intended). In Columbus averaged only 60 Ks in 2 years with about the same number of walks.

Here in the bigs, this year, he has 4Ks in 7 ABs. I know the dangers of small sample sizes.

But come on...

I have always liked Lilly when he was a Yankee and wished him much success when he was traded.

But I would love for ARod to hit one out here...

Foiled again. Intentional walk.

this will come back to bite the jays... i know it

It's one thing for Phillips to get fooled by one type of pitcher (fastball, curveball, etc.) or another, but he just seems to get fooled by everyone.

SSTN, just speculation - but if you were in Phillips's shoes, and you were pressing way too much in the hopes of finally getting your fair shoot, wouldn't that probably lead to 4Ks in 7 ABs?

Someone on the bench needs to tell Andy to relax. It'd be best if it came from Joe, along with a promise to keep playing him.

33 you were saying?

35
Right, Shaun. It's hard to get the timing of ML pitchers down when you get very few at bats, and they're far in between.

36 the game's not over yet... or something.

35 True dat. It would be really nice if he came out and said the obvious. You're the best hitter on the bench - you're going to be our DH.

Then let him play for 12 out of 14 games. And then evaluate with at least somewhat of a sample.

So, the Yanks double steal and get nothing out of it because the Jays just walk the righty and K the lefty. Is that how small ball leads to runs?

I'm not bashing the double steal there actually, I'm just trying to say that you score runs by getting hits. If you don't get the hits, the rest is just a lot of dancing around and risking outs that don't have to happen.

Following along through ESPN GameCast - obviously the stats aren't updated yet. Giambi vs TOR: .218, 0 HR's.

Someone get on that please.

Wow, Mussina is being really efficient with his pitch count. I like this approach a lot - let's hope this translates into more innings for the long haul.

Moooooooooooooooooose!

Moose is lookin good!

41 As per our last day game discussion, despite the flashy animation at ESPN, you just can't beat MLB's Gameday.

42 by "this approach" do you mean he just happens to be really on today? Because I don't think he is doing anything differently than normal, he just has all his stuff working.

30 Breaking pitches.

Come Andy - double in the gap...

46 I overheard Michael Kay say he was intentionally working in the strike zone more, instead of trying to nibble at the corners and then being forced to throw a strike when he's behind...

45 ::whiny voice:: But I like flashy animations!!!

46--- He is being alot more agressive

At least he's getting walks.

Okay - better than a K....

49 oh. Personally, I ignore everything Michael Kay has to say about Mike Mussina because his hatred for Mussina is irrational, therefore, I don't think he is logical in his analysis of him.

Okay, Phillips Ks on 3 pitches then walks on four? I have no idea what's going on.

OK Damon, show us what ya got here.

Was that an IBB on Phillips? If not, nice eye.

Anyone have high-def? What a difference if you switch back from YES to ESPN high-def.

Distracted by clients... are you telling me that Lilly is still pitching a SHUTOUT?

After 3 straight balls to Damon, I think I answered my own question 55. Lilly is losing it - time to cash in!

So Lilly completely lost the strike zone I guess.

I hope it 57 works better for you Bklyn than it did for me 17. ;)

Let's go Cap'n 'Clutch'!

53 I don't know if that qualifies as anything that would fall under 'irrational hatred'- seems like a fairly objective observation to me...

Safe! Safe!

NO! NO! NO! In broad daylight, no less! Horrible call!

Never had that ball

So, Moose is on today I take it? I just turned the game on.

Oh that had to be one of the worst calls all season.

60 I wuz robbed! ;-)

45 Minor complaint: ESPN needs a different color (yellow?) for 2 strike fouls though - you think the batter's struck out then you have to read the text.

68 Sorry meant MLB's Gamecast.

Here we go.

Rats. I didn't mean Cap'n 'Clutch' as pejorative, BTW, just that he'd be called that whether he's really clutch or not. Just like even some Yankee beat writers refer to A-Rod as 'Mr. Clutch'.

Catalanato overslid the bag and Jetes tagged him! I saw it!!!

The Yanks got screwed there, but it's really not the ump's fault they have left 8 runners on base.

I gotta say I like Gamecast's use of gray for fouls better than Gameday's all red. It's hard to tell if a red strike is a third strike or just another foul.

69
I agree.

An A-Bomb! You know the rest..

an AAAAbomb from AAAArod says Sterling. A go-ahead run by ARod.

You know when you're at a party then 'that guy' walks in and you know the tone is about to change?

There he goes again, padding his stats. /sarcasm

Nice piece of hitting there by Posada.

Posada's world famous base-running, but a run scores anyway, I'll take it!

Wow, did Lilly just miss his spot there? He gets Cano to swing and miss low and away, then gets a called strike more low and away and the next pitch is not outside and in the dirt, but down broadway? You can't tell me Zaun called for that.

81 I forget who posted it but someone in comments last year said Posada looks like he's caught between two cupcakes when he gets in a pickle like that, I love that imagery.

Poor Andy doesn't get a chance for a big hit there, I would have loved to see him up mid-rally with a man in scoring position.

Someone tell me who was watching it on TV - did they choose to throw to 3rd instead of trying to get Matsui at home?

Could someone with a TV picture (or mlb.tv) please explain what just happened?

Matsui got the red light at third, but Posada came charging around from 2nd and got caught in a run down...

Matsui scored while Posada was in the run down.

Yanks caught a break there

11 baserunners - 6 hits (not counting A-Rod HR) and 5 walks, and only 1 run. That will not happen often.

Thanks, Sliced 86.

Anyone else having trouble connecting? I keep getting "Problem loading page" errors.

86 Ah, that explains why no ribbie for Cano. Doesn't do my fantasy team any good, but a run is a run!

88 I've noticed it. I'll see what I can do.

8890 I'm working on it.

The Andy Phillips Paradox continues!

Phillips just looks overmatched against everyone

poor andy, i feel for him. he's trying to do waaaaay too much...

Much obliged 91, Ken!

I really like Leiter's comments. imagine the combination o'neal-leiter (no Kay) on the booth. unfortunately they feel that someone needs to do the play-by-play.

96 tocho, any choice examples to entertain those of us stuck with the silent robots on MLB Gameday?

Oh for Christ sakes.

97 he speculates what a pitcher may do on a given count and after a given pitch, and gives reasons why. describes the signs. essentially gives you a pitcher's point of view, and given that he was a very intelligent pitcher he give intelligent comments.

Based on the Gameday descriptions those last two by Adams and Frank the Cat were cheap hits ("soft liner to left field", "fly ball to center field"). True?

98 - fill us in!

I'll second Marcus's call 97 for good quotes from Senator Al.

I know the stats don't lie and I've seen it for myself over the years. But, I just can't give in to this ridiculous excuse any longer that Giambi needs to play the field in order to hit consistently. By his throwing performance yesterday and how silly andy philips looks today Giambi needs to find a way to learn how to DH more often. Do something because Andy needs more at bats. This is just ridiculous watching him looked overmatched because he doesnt play often enough to get use to playing. And I know today's performance will dictate his short future on this club and its not fair. The guy is good! Can Giambi get AROD's therapist number or something? Hypnosis will work, right?! It's worth a try. Cmahn!

Sorry TV watchers, I'm probably asking for WAY too many details.

I missed the Adams sequence, but the Cat and Wells singles were on pitches that appeared to be right over the middle of the plate above the knees. Bad location, is Moose losing his command here?

MOOSE WITH THE HUGE K!!!!!!!

damn. the outfield was terrible.

the first "hit" should have been caught by Matsui, especially without men on base should have been more agressive.

the second "hit" was a towering fly ball right in the middle of Damon and Sheff and neither charged the ball. I blame Damon as the CF is the captain out there.

dreadfull

Moose puts me in my place by clustering three low and away strikes to Glaus to get him swinging and retirnig Overbay on one pitch.

Wheewwwwww....still up by 1. Here it comes folks, the first definitive "How Joe manages the bullpen with a small lead" game for 2006

OK. Moose is done after this inning or the next. Let's see if Torre manages the rest of this game right. Time to bring in those arms we paid for and finally win a low scoring game. Thank God Sturtze is hurt.

104 I don't think he has lost his location, it was a bad defensive inning, that's all.

he looked great v. Glaus fastball, change-up, slider all at the same location but at 89, 70 and 80. Devastating for any batter

Sheffield certainly appears to have better places to be than playing right field.

Wow, 6 innings, 81 pitches - 61 (75%!) for strikes. Moose is on a roll.

At least with last night's blowout and Monday's off day, MyVilFarnMo ought to be ready to go today at a moment's notice.

111 "Gary being Gary"..?

109

Why should Moose be gone? He is only at 81 pitches.

Thanks for the report, tocho 106. Damon does have to take charge out there, he's the best of the three defensively by a safe distance.

113

More like "The Yankees Decline Their Option on Gary Sheffield" reports the Daily Bugle today. If we wanted someone who doesn't feel like playing efense, we should have signed Frank Thomas and traded Gary!

Hey, look at it this way. The Yankees uniform service is saving on soap cleaning the uniforms of Sheffield and Matsui.

114 Are you in a rush for Moose's arm to fall off already. We need him for the whole season here. We have hired arms in the bullpen waiting to be used in this situation. Their a waste if we don't test them now. Let Moose start the inning and pull him out once he looks a bit off on location. If he gets through it, great. If not, send in the relief for goodness sakes. No time to favor your veterans here, Torre.

116 Actually, the option business is what I meant by 'Gary being Gary' - he's not getting his 'respect' so he's not getting his uniform dirty..

Could someone please tell me what happened on the first pitch to Giambi? Gameday says "Pitch 1 - Missed Bunt"

Especially with the shift on, I think Giambi ought to show bunt - and maybe even try one - more often. But was the shift on?

tocho, thanks for all the updates!

Mati is slumpin a tad. He needs a hit here.

Did somebody lace my Subway sandwich with something or did Giambi really square to bunt there for strike one?

That was weird if it really happened.

See what I mean.

Insurance run, plese?

121 someone may have laced your Subway sandwich regardless, but yes, Giambi did square to bunt.

C'mon Matsui, you know better than to ground into a double play - that's Jorge's job.

Yeah, Jorgie!

Jorge picks up Groundzilla. Nice. C'mon Robbie.

125 And I gladly eat my words!

123 Wow. Ask and you do receive. That hasnt happened in awhile...

119 Yeah, Shaun P, the Giambi-shift was on bigtime... too tempting to resist, but it's been about a decade since he layed one down.

Thanks, Sliced 130. I may go off about needless sac bunts, but I think Giambi should show bunt more often, maybe even try a couple. If only to keep the over-shift honest.

117 but we also don't want those "hired guns" to be tired at the end of the season...especially when the starter isn't even at 100 pitches yet. I mean, if Torre brings in relievers here he gets yelled at for "overusing the bullpen."

Anyone else breathe a moderately huge sigh of relief whenever we get past Hillenbrand in the lineup?

Way to go Jorge.

Not to be negative, but this an issue I have with Joe. He may publically criticize a player for loafing but never takes any action. Otherwise Soriano's and Thomas's and TO's behavior becomes almost acceptable.

Frank Robinson was willing to bench Soriano all year. Following ANOTHER lazy break out of the box, he yanked him from the game the other day.

You get paid to play baseball, not to get respect from the Boss. Any decent employee/teammate will stick with his colleagues and take out his frostration with the Boss in the proper venue.

One loaf=One day off!

130 Actually, it's been less than a year, Giambi got a couple of bunt base hits last year, exploiting the shift.

OT somewhat, but why doesn't Gameday or Gamecast or any of the others show who's warming up in the bullpen? IMHO, that's a big piece of info they're missing.

On that note, is anyone up in the pen?

Cliff,

I remember. It nearly knocked me off my chair. But hell, it worked with the exaggerated shift on Jason. If he picks his spots, that can be an effective weapon in a cloe game.

Shaun P, movement in the bullpen just started after the Rios double. No word on who got up though.

132 With a tricky club like the Orioles coming up and no low scoring, close wins to be accounted for this year. I think this is a must win game don't ya think? Especially, when Moose has been superb. You have the relief, use them.

134 Stormer, I couldn't disagree more, Torre and his staff and the Yankee mainstays have a record of not letting a lack of hustle, particularly in a young kid like Soriano or Cano, go unaddressed for even a half inning. Now, some guys just aren't going to bust it no matter what, and some guys (Sheffield, Sori) are going to hit so well regardless you'd be hurting the team to bench them for nonchalanting, but I think this sort of thing is actually one of Torre's strong suits, and I can only imagine with Bowa and Pena around it will be more so.

There is one Phiilips who is playing well this year. Unfortunately his name is Brandon Phillips and plays for Cincinatti.

Phillips with an infield single.

135 Wow. I've seen him get a few infield singles chopping the ball toward third, but don't recall ever seeing him make contact on a bunt, but I stand corrected.

Hey, Phillips grinds out an infield single!

A HIT!

phillips got a hit!!! following the bernie logic this would guarantee at least 15 more AB's

139 There are no must-win games in April. Every win counts the same at the end of the season.

136 I heartily agree.

Any details on that Phillips infield single? A weak grounder in the right place? Sigh. Phillips needs to be hitting the ball in the air the same way guys like Kenny Lofton and Juan Pierre need to be hitting it on the ground.

Cliff,

140 I sure hope so. And I agree with you concerning the younger guys.

It's just very frustrating to watch. Whether it hurts the team or not, you simply cannot let a Frank Thomas or Gary Sheffield dictate how hard they get to play on defense. You punish them because the game is more important than the numbers they put up on offense.

Cliff,

Phillips, just deep in the SS hole, too deep to get a decent throw on him.

Arggh! I thought was going to fall in. Damn, you Wells.

Farnsworth is warming up in the Pen

Congrats on the infield single, Andy!

Why are there pickoff throws going to 1B? Is Joe trying to get him out on the basepaths? ;)

BTW, I want to sincerely thank everyone who's watching this game on TV and takes the time to answer my questions. If it wouldn't completely destroy the little production I'm creating at work, I would just spring for mlb.tv and be done with it.

Simone,

That's what solid defense will do. Someone should keep track of just how many runs Sheffield costs us out there.

Hey, Phillips has been on base two out of four times today! Bah. Disappointing day from Andy, but as many have said above, what can you expect from someone who sees live pitching once a week if he's lucky? Still, he DHed over the weekend, startet at first today, if he can get in one game per series he could start to come around.

Plunk! Unintentional.

I can go for an A-Bomb right now

Strike at the Shoe tops! Jesus!

Now that was just unnecessary, Alex.

156 You'll get a three-pitch K and like it!

Cliff,

Were there any changes within the Umpirng ranks this year? They have been particularly bad for some reason.

Mussina starting the 8th. Gets the first out.

Moose in for the 8th! Heresy!!!

If Moose falters even a bit this inning I hope Torre has the sense to send in Farnsworth

153 FWIW - SG over at RLYW says that, according to Zone Rating, Sheff was -16 runs last year. ZiPS, Marcel, and PECOTA all project him for -7 FRAR this year. That's not great, but its not bad.

http://tinyurl.com/lvo2k
http://tinyurl.com/pnoag

I do not have Dewan's Fielding Bible handy, or I'd give stats from that too.

Oh Christ. Here comes Farnsworth

Nice outing from Mussina.

Thank you for listening Mr.Torre

Here comes Farny!

160 This year is the first annual umpire exchange program. MLB decided in order to team up with youth they are doing a umpire exchange program with 15 little leagues across the nation. So far it has paid dividends as little league umpires are getting to experience big league games, and MLB umpires are faced with real fat kids other than Posada caught in between a cupcake on 2nd and another on third.

All said, that was pretty much a moosterpiece. That's our ace, folks...

163

Be careful what you ask for.

Now bring in Farns. Tying run at the plate, and he won't have to pitch the ninth.

165 You have to give the guy a chance. He is capable of being very effective.

Ah, Lord Won'tPitchAgainAfter3rdOutRecorded-wacker, time to end this threat, eh?

170
deer god on that pun Bklybomber. I bet you got a gazelle-ion of them.

173 Agree completely. These are the situations he needs to nail down if he's going to be usful at all.

173 He's also capable of being really, really bad.

Got Wells, only Glaus to go!

Your lack of control is troubling, Lord Won'tPitchAgainAfter3rdOutRecorded-wacker, but an out is quite acceptable.

Steve Phillips just said "Gary Sheffield certainly seems very disinterested in defense today" on ESPN.

If that moron can see it, time to bring the hammer down! Stats or no stats.

Yeah, but he was effective this time; give him a chance

Lord Farnsworth has smitten Sir Glaus of Troy! Pip pip and all that...

There's still a chance that the bombers will score 6 runs in the top of the 9th.

180 Who are we gonna send out to right field?

181 He'll probably be effective about half the time. The story od his career. Doesn't make me miss Tom Gordon any less.

That Cameron for Sheffield rumor last year is starting to look better these days, huh.

I know Bernie is more effective against lefties, but...Williams PHing for Giambi? Here we go...

Meanwhile, here is Bernie used in exactly the right way - pinch-hitting vs a LHP for a lefty DH. Well done, Joe.

Not a bad use of Bernie either. Tea man is starting to manage.

184

Does it matter? Bubba? Bernie? You don't not sit him because you don't have a replacement, that gives the slug exactly what he wants.

well since giambi was HBP and his arm is swollen, who would you propose pinch hit for him? Cairo?

Sheesh. Torre can't win with some people.

186 MIKE Cameron? For Gary Sheffield?

WTF? No, you do not pinch hit for Jason. It isn't a 17-1 blow out. Jason is much more capable of reaching the seats.

I'd like to hear O'Neil's take on Sheffield's defense this year. I bet Sheff wouldn't like it.

I had a few minutes between day and night meetings. I saw a little of Moose and he looked very LARGE. Farnsworth will be enormous for us if he can do that consistently. Here's to getting it done today. 188 MFD right on per Bernie.

185 Oh, I won't argue there; I would love to have Flash still around

184 Bernie in right would be more disastrous, and Bubba shouldn't even be considered an option.

193 Giambi's arm is swollen. He can not bat. That is why he was pinch hit for with Bernie.

Ryan es en Fuego!

191
Was Jason's arm hurting? Otherwise he is still more of a threat than Bernie.

BJ just made the Yanks look silly

191 Fair enough. I'm stuck watching this thing on Gameday, I didn't know about the injury to Giambi. And if I missed it in the comments, sorry about that.

BTW, has Gordon even gotten into game yet down in Philly?

198
Ah, ok then. Nevermind /emilylatilda
Thanks.
Mo time.

Metallica is playing in my head, as I sit here typing this. Time to close the door, Mo.

Holy smokes, Mo?! I totally forgot about him. I'm not even kidding.

Meanwhile, you guys need to lay off Sheffield, he's one of the best hitters in the league, you can't replace him and he more than makes up for his glove with his bat, much like Jeter.

206 Eespecially when the other option is Bubba Crosby.

Yeah, Gordon already has 1 blown save, and a few scary saves.

Is Sheff as averse to everyday DHing as Giambi? Get one of the Kevins to play some RF and you have a much better lineup.

Cano!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who the hell was running there? Me? He should have been out but he shouldn't have been out by a mile.

I'm all for Melky being called up to play right field and moving Sheffield to DH. Of course I think Cabrera has to maintain his current pace (well at least a good pace, as I don't think he'll continue batting .400ish) in AAA for a couple of more months before that happens.

Nice play by Cano.

Rob, Do you know Cano?

"Shea Hillenbrand grounds out, pitcher Mariano Rivera to second baseman Robinson Cano to first baseman Andy Phillips."

Ah, the old 1-4-3 putout. WTF?!?!

"Oh Gawd; thank you for granting my beloved Yanks the ability to win a close game... finally. Amen." About F'ing time.

And all is right in Yankeeland.

Th-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh......

Nice to finally win a low scoring game. Didn't it take until after the All-Star game last year before the Yankees did that?

Yankeees win!

Sheff hits better as DH based on a small sample, but until the team has someone with a greater offensive potential than Phillips who can play the OF, there's no point in putting him there. Besides which, don't forget that Sheffield has an excellent arm, which takes back some of the extra bases his fielding style give sup.

I don't know, Cliff. He has a strong arm, but is it accurate? I don't really recall him making any decent throws over the years.

I think it's more accurate than Vlad Guerrero's, though not as strong. He's not Ichiro, but it'll stop a guy from taking a base he might have taken on, say Matsui were he to shift over (which wouldn't improve the RF defense, by the way).

Cliff,

Then why not throw Melky out there. In order to "square" the move, all Melky has to do is put up better numbers than Bernie and Phillips, which won't be all that difficult.

I'd rather see that than DH'ing Phillips every day.

223 Give it time SS. Andy really does deserve a shot - if you've seen his minor league numbers and not just 40 scattered AB's across three seasons:

http://tinyurl.com/fysd9 (or at right).

After that legit shot (50 to 100 closely packed AB's), sure Melky enters the discussion but only if he's still mashing AAA. Even then we might be rushing him (again).

My bet is we see Pena before we see Melky and then only if Phillips is cut. Mitch Jones is also finally showing an eye for BB's - and he might warrant a call-up later in the summer too - depends on how he continues with pitch selection.

152 I actually think you get more done with MLB.TV since you're not staring at the computer waiting for something to happen when nothing's going on.

I got it and use it eveyday as radio, and take looks at it when something intresting is taking place (for example, today I watched all the 7.1 innings by the Moose, it was a slow day at the office and all, but he's my favorite pitcher and enjoy these type of masterpieces by him).

in other words, you learn to work with it and I find it more productive than the green gameday screen with the "on-field delay" or "coach visiting to mound" thing.

225 tocho, you can only watch the yanks on MLB.TV if you are not in the Yankees' broadcast market, right?

If you live in NYC, i think all Yanks are blacked out via internet.

226 i live in mexico, I wouldn't know. but if that is the case, why would you state that you live in nyc then? you could probably use the billing info of someone you know outside nyc.

as a baseball fan, is it wrong to hate schilling?

I mean I know he's great and we should appreciate his dominance, but I've never hated clemens, wells, maddux, ryan, pedro, or even beckett.

But this guy, man, I can't stand anything he does.

228 I hate F'ing Curt Schilling so much that the sight of him pisses me off. I hope when the Yanks play the Sox, someone lines one off his pitching arm. Call me what you will, a meathead, low class, not a true baseball fan; whatever I don't like the son of a bitch. So no Tocho, when it comes to Schilling let the hate spew.

229 I agree, the guys sucks. He defines loud-mouthed gas bag. He's the Bill O'Reilly of baseball, always has some bone headed screed on the topic of the day. Today's is "young pitchers aren't allowed to pitch inside" (re: Kazmir). "Why not?" you ask. Because due to their lack of control, they may hit someone. "But Schilling hit someone in the head during SPRING TRAINING, and then had the gall to say it's that guy's fault (!?!?) for not getting out of the way!" Well, I can't explain that one, and that's probably the main reason I hate the guy.

It's ok to hate schilling (as long as we have him and you have randy). Probably the way I hate Arod. A beckett fastball to the back would be a beautiful thing.

Besides, we're all hypocrites anyway. I had heard so much crap about damon from yankee fans, now you love him. If schilling came to the yankees and was 4-0 with a 1. whatever era you'd be kissing his ass.

If there is one person who will try and talk his way into HOF, this a** Schilling maybe that. Cant stand the guy, and "tocho" u dont need to feel guilty, everywhere he has played.. some of his own teammates cant stand him.

That said, i would not want him to get wacked by a pitch and get schooled by the Boston media how he is a warrior and make him a SUX martyr, he should be in there and should get shelled HRs and doubles, like crazy!!

OT Rant Here: Flippin' channels on the package tonight; just caught the Twins come back and beat the Halos at home in extras. The walk-off HR was just over the baggie fence in right — which was a few feet to the left of where Posada's "near HR" was (which hit the vertically extended baggie in the corner.) Jorgie's drive seemed about 20 ft. higher. MLB, please demo that joint during the next Twins road trip. Thank you.

231

One big difference between A-Rod and anybody else:

GOAT

Yeah, yeah - clutch, smutch - one Serious is all it will take to clear up that nonsense for the reigning MVP.