The Yankees had their chances to win this game. They now have to play the Angels and the Os tough.

Cliff, great first paragraph. That sums it up nicely.

I'm sure everyone agrees with me : your (and Alex') recaps are the first thing I check in the morning.

Sox Nation is very down this am. A Yankee win last night would have made things even better. We need to put them away by playing better baseball, then taking 3,4 games out of the 5 game series coming up.

After last night's lost, that hurt, I thought you all might at least enjoy a good laugh. Even if it's at the expense of ARod.

http://tinyurl.com/p583q

Good summary of the game, they certainly had their chances last night to put up bigger numbers offensively and make key plays defensively. Watching them leave runners on bases regularly is giving me ulcers.
Haven't checked the NY newspaper sites yet (this site is the first place to go!), but I've got a feeling they'll all blame A-Rod for the loss as usual.

Mussina got robbed with that 1-2 pitch on the outside corner -- in fact, it really wasn't even that outside. It should have been the third out.

I don't understand how some pitchers keep thier composure in situations like that. If I just had the final out in a crucial spot taken away from me by a blown call, I'd have been livid and probably thrown out of the game after I had my share of words with the ump. But to his credit, Mussina turned back to the mound after taking those couple of steps and continued on with his patented stoic look. The fact that HE had given up the next few hits to score a run is no excuse. When a pitcher's pitch count is getting up there and he gets the last out of an inning stolen from him, you can't blame him for giving up more hits. He shouldn't have been out there in the first place! sheesh.

Really frustrating game yesterday. Tons of bad memories, but remembering Melky's no doubt bomb makes me smile. Joe better get used to putting that young man in center field because having him on the bench next year would be a travesty.

Looking forward to the series against the Angels... I have three of their starters on my fantasy team, as its always easy to pick up young guns midseason. Even so, this Joe Saunders guy is a mystery, and a potential Untested Rookie Pitcher Game (TM) waiting to happen on a staff full of Untested Rookie Pitchers (am I getting that acronym right? URPs?)

Before this series I thought the White Sox were done this year, especially since their pitching staff appeared to be having a meltdown. But I was impressed this series, the middle of their lineup is just as good as ours, and their relievers looked (mostly) dominant. Taking 4 out of 6 on the season is nothing to be ashamed about, they played us tough in all those games. I personally don't think the Angels or Seattle are near as good as the ChiSox, so I'm not too worried about this month, especially if the other Sox continue to boot the season.

6 Close, it's Unfamiliar Rookie Pitcher.

I've had five different Angel starters on my fantasy team this year. Ervin Santana has been the mainstay. Jeff Weaver I drafted in a late round and dropped almost immediately. I traded for Kelvim Escobar but eventually dropped him. Jered Weaver has been my staff savior, and I just picked up Saunders, though I'm not starting him tonight.

8 There was controversy in my league regarding Weaver the Younger. A manager with a higher waiver priority petitioned for me (the league commish)to turn off the Don't Drop List so that he could drop Michael Young. I did so, and he never dropped the guy, because he was waiting to scoop Weaver off waivers (which is where new players go in my league). Four starts later, Jered was bound for the minors, and the manager dropped him in dissapointement. I knew my MLB option rules though, and 8 days later I picked Weaver back up, just in time for his permanent call up. The other manager hasn't forgiven himself yet...

I too have Santana, and I'm hoping its just a minor contusion from the ball that hit his knee last night...

6 I have Weaver and Wang, and they face each other on Sunday.

What to do, what to do...

8 In my auction keeper league, Kelvim went for $29. Ron Shandler convinced me he was this great pitcher and I went after him hard, he's been a huge dissapointment for that price.

I have Ervin in my league as well, I had drafted him when he was in the minors and he's been on my team since last year. Nothing better than low cost talent that produces.

I thought the Yanks played pretty well offensively. It was a fluke that the only runners scored on HRs. I think the fact that they are getting guys on base and getting their hits bodes well for future games.

10 Me too, actually. I also have Jeter, Posada, and Abreu, so dream scenario:

Yankees win 3-0
Wang CG W 5 K 0 ER ~5 H
Weaver 8 IP 8 K 0 ER 6 H, 3 BB
K-Rod (on my opponent's team this week):
1 IP, 3 ER, 3 HR
Jeter 2-3 BB, SB, HR, RBI
Abreu 2-3 BB, SB, HR, RBI
Posada 2-3 BB, HR, RBI

12 Now that is one of the healthiest, most rational points of view I've seen on this blog. And absolutely nothing like some of the reactionary outbursts last night. OBP is always good.

Wow, I also have Weaver and Wang.

10 13 Me three. I'm starting them both. Though if you prefer to bet on one and sit the other, go with Wang at home over the regressing rookie.

Always better to bench the guy facing the Yanks, IMHO. that way, no conflict of interest. I have gotten to the point where I try to avoid drafting as many non-Yankee AL East players as possible.

13 I think expecting 5Ks from the Wanger is being rather optimistic, no?

16 With pitchers, yes, but I feel the opposite way with hitters. I always start the hitters who are facing the Yanks because if they get beat up by that guy I don't want the double wammy of not getting the points. The points serve as consolation. See the thing is I can deal if my hitter gets a 0 or a negative point total, but if a pitcher has a bad outing it's brutal, so in that case you wind up with the rooting conflict, but not with the hitter.

That was very poorly stated.

I actually made it a rule not to have any Yankee pitchers on my team. I found that it used to make me incredibly nervous whenever I'd watch them pitch.

16 I seem to have avoided AL East pitchers this season. But I had the 5th overall pick and couldn't avoid taking Manny. (A-Rod, Pujols, Vlad, J. Santana is how I believe it went).

I have 2 sons named Peter and Sam. One is almost 4 and the other is almost 2. How the heck do you guys have time for this !!!!

I know we're coming home now, but how is playing the Angels good? They always forcefully rape our team and put them in a month-long slump. I don't like this. We should have a 7 game lead right now if not for our own offense's impotence (that's right) and the Indians being on the Sawx payroll.

20 I just check my team each morning when I get to work. Besides, I don't have any kids (just a couple pets) and this is only the second season I've ever played fantasy (though I'm in a long-term keeper league now, so I'm in for good).

20 No kids, but I've come to condense my fantasy activities into one team, whereas in the past I'd have 3 or 4 teams, plus football, which I've since given up on.

Trying to root for different players for 3 different fantasy teams became quite maddening, although it seemed like I'd usually try and replicate the roster of the team doing the best at the time.

I do most of my fantasy dealings at work, and I pop open the Stattracker/Yahoo GameChannel while I'm watching the game on TV. I can see all my stats update as they happen.

15 I may sit Weaver, depending on how tonight and Saturday's games go. Also depends on my opponent - he had Mussina and Schilling going last night, and failed to get a win with either.

Stupid me, I benched Cliff Lee because I thought the Angels would come out swinging, and Lee's been inconsistent all year. I may just drop him and pick up another closer.

21 The Yanks are 18-17 vs. the Angels over the last four seasons (dating back to their Championship year of 2002).

Cliff/Pistolpete -

Impressive.... maybe next year I'll get into it. It's right up my alley (long time baseball fan and math teacher)

23 There are closers available in your league? Our league overvalues them so much that if a manager even hints at changing closers the new guy gets snatched up that day.

26 Same as in ours, but there's a few floating around - besides, closers are losing their jobs all the time. I currently have Mo, Putz and Osuka (only 10 teams in our league), and I'm keeping an eye on the Cleveland situation - Davis looked good against Boston, but then again so did Burgos.

Julio is also out there, but he only seems to get an opportunity maybe once, twice a week.

The commissioner of our league actually has six closers on his team - he's the guy who does all the 'snatching' as soon as someone goes down hurt. Last year I had Gagne, and words could not describe how annoyed I was to find he had already picked up Brazoban. He actually has the nerve to wonder aloud why no one wants to trade with him. Heh.

Owning a fantasy team is sort of like owning a child.

21 Respectfully, be quiet. We're fine.

27 Sounds familiar.

24 I think most of that is from last year, isn't it. So whatever it is that they beat us with isn't there anymore I guess. Do we just pitch around Vlad and try get their other guys out? It's a wonder how they still have Garret Anderson protecting Vlad.

30 Broken down by year it's:

2002: 4-3
2003: 6-3
2004: 4-5
2005: 4-6

Also, they've moved the hot-hitting Juan Rivera behind Vlad recently.

28 I very much doubt that. Besides which, "owning" a child?

30 Since I have apparently appointed myself the Sultan of Splits, here's Vlad's numbers from 2003-2005 versus the Yanks:

(Overall .328/.401/.584)
75 AB, 22 H, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 7 BB
.293/.369/.440
Yankee Stadium:
47 AB, 16 H, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 5 BB
.340/.426/.447

In the three games in Anaheim, Vlad was 3 for 9 with a solo HR and a walk.

21 You could also say that if it weren't for some terrific starting pitching in July and a lot of smoke and mirrors - plus the KC Royals - the Yankees should be about eight games back by now. Chicago was frustrating because they might have won all three, but what they've done so far has been pretty amazing.

And for all that I've killed Joe over the years, I think his influence has been enormous. Other managers are better at in-game tactics; but when it comes to keeping a team on an even keel and getting through rough patches, he's unsurpassed.

Sorry to veer off the subject of the Yanks, but if anyone could give me some advice on a fantasy dilemma I have I'd appreciate it. I have both Haren and Kazmir on my staff, they're facing each other in Oakland tonight, who do I start?

28 & 32 I've got a 2 year old and I've been in fantasy leagues in the past (even won a few back in the day). Managing fantasy leagues is easy, raising children is not. However, they are well worth it. There is something special about having children that you can't undertand until you have them. When your son looks up at you and says "Daddy" for the first time you'll know what I mean...

35 Since Oakland's Mcffey Coliseum has been in the middle of the pack in Runs/game and near the bottom in HR/game, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't start both excellent pitchers. I prefer to hedge my bets when it comes to pitchers facing each other or my batters facing my pitcher. It depends on the league, but in my Head-to-Head 5x5 league, the only time I'd sit a pitcher is if ERA/WHIP are close and I'm well ahead in Wins or Ks, or they're pitching at the Rockies. Whether or notKazmir or Haren win, they'll both strike people out, and that's always good.

37 Thanks, I'll start both, I need the K's.

Hey Bama Yankee - how about the first time you see your son in a Jeter pinstripe jersey ? My oldest has #2, #51, a Wayne Chrebet jersey, a Chris Mullin (Warriors) and a Mantle shirt. All bought on the cheap on Ebay or similar sites (I refuse to pay big bucks), but it's cool seeing him in his Yankee stuff. It will be tough to raise him in pinstripes up here in Sawx land....but we're trying !

36 I tried managing last season and wasn't very good. If it's even more difficult to raise a child, I probably shouldn't attempt it.

It might end up a Red Sox fan!

31 and 33 Thanks. Jeez, apparently we've been doing OK. Damn, why does it always seem...whatever. Either way, if our pitchers can just work around Vlad and (damn it) Juan Rivera, we should be better off. Howie Kendrick looks to be a great hitter to come, but I don't fear the rest of that line-up.

Let's hope the Yanks do what they did in 2003 and murderize those Halos. By law of humanity and averages, our offense should be fully awake tonight.

Though I still have trouble getting over that we should be leading by 7 games right now... <:( Knihts of Columbus that hurts!

I'm not too pessimistic about the Halos coming to town. The whole AL West is not that great and they recently got beat up by the Injuns. We won't see Santana (arguably their most consistent SP) and Weaver should get butterflies in his first trip to The Stadium (as should tonight's SP). We've seen Escobar and he's been a roller coaster.

Here's change of topic.

Cano was very impressive on both sides of the ball against the Sox (dropped dp feed in game 3 aside), especially considering the layoff.

He's now hitting .333, and if he keeps hitting the way he did against Chicago it's not inconceivable that he could make a run at the batting title.

Right now, b/c of the 6 week layoff, tho he doesn't "qualify" as a hitter. You need 3.1 pa's for each game your team has played -- meaning Cano would need 344 pa's now. He only has 298.

Assuming he gets 4 pa's a game and plays in each of the Yanks last 51 games, he'll get 502 pa's. I believe that 502.2 is the number he needs to reach.

Now this might be moot, since even batting 6th or 7th he'll likely always get 4 pa's a game, and occasionally 5 or even more if the Yanks mash, but it'd be a shame not to see the kid listed at or near the top of the AL batting avg list at the end of the season if he sits a few games etc.

39 Yeah, I've got pictures of my son wearing Yankees stuff in my office here at work. People down here in Alabama like to tell me that I am "abusing" him by making him wear that stuff. Then they remember how the Braves got spanked twice in the WS by the Yanks and they quickly exit with their heads down mumbling something about Mark Wohlers not throwing a slider...

Here's an idea that I got from a magazine, you might want to try: I took a few pictures of my son (he's two) wearing my Mattingly jersey and my Yankee cap. I plan to take a picture of him every year to show how he grows into the jersey and cap.

Good luck on keeping your kids in pinstripes up there in Beantown...

44 - Bama -

Great idea, I too have a Mattingly shirt (one of the plain blue tees with the NY in front and name and number in back).

You should see/hear the crap we get when we run our errands in our Yankee gear. Most of it is in good fun - the older ladies and man always have a twinkle in their eyes as they tease us. Everyone else, especially guys in their 20s-40s....I stay away from ! My wife wanted me to get a Yankee sticker, or license plate frame for my car (a 1992 BMW 535i - very cool. I said no way - I don't need it keyed !

Off topic, but since the site is screwy, does anyone know if the game is on the Extra Innings package tonight? I know its a WWOR game, but I thought maybe we'd get the Angels feed.

43 The good news is, if Cano keeps hitting the way he did in Chicago - at a .500 clip - he'll win the batting title even if he falls a few PA short. They'd just add in the extra at-bats, and he'd still end up at .390 or so.

More realistically: in order to end up at .350, he'd have to hit .375 - .380 the rest of the way. That seems unlikely, so if Joe wants to rest him occasionally to keep him fresh for October, I'd have no complaints.

45 Or on blocks, or blown up, or...you gotta hand it to Boston fans, they can get very creative.

48 - (hey how do you underline again ?!)

I hear you. Sometimes I can't believe I ended up out here.

46 I went to the Direct TV list and it has the Yanks game on the schedule. I think they're on the same feed, just different channel #'s. Sorry, no Sat game though.
/cursing FOX

49, [#]

speaking of batting titles, did anyone catch this on-air exchange last night between Kay and O'Neill?

(paraphrasing)

O'Neill: We were talking earlier about catchers winning the batting title and I think the last catcher to win a batting titles was Thurmon Munson.

Kay: Thurmon Munson didn't win a batting title. He won the MVP in '76, but he didn't win a batting title. You're wrong!

(end of exchange)

WOW, was that not the tersest correction I've ever heard on the air between two announcers?!?!? Usually when an announcer gets something wrong on the air, the others try their best to correct them without making the other look bad...bad THAT was just plain rude.

anyone else catch that?

Joe in Boston:

I am in Gloucester, and I go through the same stuff with my 2 kids. My son has a Yankees cap and shirt. I'll let him wear it around town with me or his mother, and it's fun to get into good natured arguments around town with the old timers about raising my son a Yankees fan, but I don't dare send him to school with it (he's only 3). He's bigger than the other kids in his pre-school, and he could probably take them all ; ) but I really don't want my 3 year old getting into fights over a baseball team. Same thing with Yankees parephrenalia in my car - I don't need my car keyed or dinged over a baseball team. It is pretty hilarious though to walk down main street and see the stares from the shops when my son and I both have our caps on. It's like we're on a dare or something.

Andre - I'm in N. Andover. It's tough. My oldest is almost 4 and he's much bigger than his peers. Down deep though, he's a big wimp. I hope he stands up for his Yankee beliefs (or his dad's anyway !).

He actually has a Sox Nomar shirt that someone gave us as a joke gift, he asks to wear it knowing that it gets my goat !

Things have really changed around NEngland though - there is so much hatred for the Yanks. It's really sick. I don't really hate the Sox. But the whole "Yankee Sucks" and "Jeter Swallows" crap is really disgusting....cretins, all of them !

39, 44 - I don't have kids of my own, but I have nephews, 8 & 10 years old who are turning into huge Yankee fans (I think their aunt had somthing to do with that...heh heh!). I get take great pleasure in buying them Yankee wearables (yes, I'm a sucker...I pay those big bucks) because I know they'll wear it AND take care of it. Puts a smile on my face when my older nephew pulls out his satin baseball jacket to show to his friends and as they 'ooh and aah' over it, hearing my nephew tell them "yeah, my aunt Abby got that for me for my birthday!"

By the way - the older newphew, Dominick is a baseball player, and has started pitching more this season - you ought to see him do his impersonation of Moose's windup, he's got it down to a tee! It's hysterical!

46 50 Tonight's game is the Angels' feed from FSN featuring Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler, who are almost on a par with the White Sox announcers with their home team shilling. Tomorrow's game is the national Fox broadcast, but it may be blacked out depending upon your local viewing area.

52 I enjoyed that. It was terse though because the inning was over, so Kay didn't have time to explain. If he had time, Kay probably would've compared O'Neil to Hitler.

54 You'd think it would have died down somewhat, in light of 2004.

Somehow I figured it would only encourage them.

56 Should have said "Tonight's Extra Inning's game is the Angels' feed."

My buddy has been trying to instill Yankee hatred in my godson, but I'm undermining that. Plus, he a bit of a rebel so he may come over "to the dark side". But we're out in No. Cal, aka ambivalent baseball fans.
Last year we took another buddy's kid, who was just learning to walk, to a Yanks/A's when the Yanks were going for the sweep. The little one used the mini broom we brought as his crutch all day. At first A's fans were mad, but you can't hate on a sub-2 year old. It was hillarious. And when they completed the sweep it was even better. Of course, fellow Bomber fans LOVED it.
52 You think Paulie let Kay get away without having a stern talk sans-microphone? Yeah, me neither.

57 I know it was right before the end of the inning, but it wasn't the lack of follow up that caught my attention but it was those two little word, "you're wrong!" that stood out to me.

Kay, Kaat, Paulie, Singleton and Leiter make their share of gaffs on the air, but I've always imagined that they have little sheets of paper that they pass to each other as notes to make corrections rather than doing it on the air...but this was a doozy.

Kay has some kind of grudge or something against O'Neill. It's really quite striking, some of the things he says to him. Wish I knew what the deal was with that.

I'm not sure if there's a grudge or not. I don't know that it's fair to speculate either.

In any case, they did follow it up in the next inning. Kay said it wasn't Paulie's fault. They both blamed the guy who handed him the stat sheet.

58 I agree. That, plus 9/11 and the effect on NYCity and its' people....you would think people would temper their hatred.

I've said this a million of times before, Red Sox fans teach their kids to hate the Yanks before they teach them to love Sox -- it's pathological.

64 Of course, most of the local Boston media doesn't help things at all. The worst part is that so many of the otherwise kind people of Massachusetts/New England just mindlessly go along with the hatred. I think I would drop dead of shock if, say, Dan Dan Shaughnessy or one of the Herald writers wrote a "irrational Yankee hatred has gone too far, its time for it to end" column.

I live in Medway (near the MA/RI border) and my wife refuses to take our 8-month old daughter out in any Yankees gear, as she (my wife) has gotten enough garbage just for wearing a Yankees hat.

66 Sounds like they're not much different than soccer hooligans (well, except verbal rather than physical). I appreciate a good trash talk as much as the next guy, but harassing women and children (unless they initiate it) is uncivilized.

I attended the game last night at "The Cell" with my 14-year-old daughter, who wore her White Sox shirt, in disharmony with my Yankee shirt and cap. Well, she's a Chicago native, and at least she roots for the Yankees when they're not playing a Chicago team. My wife got the tickets as a birthday present for me. The tickets, with a face value of $38 each, are labeled "Lower Level Reserved." I naively thought that meant the lower level of the grandstand, but it turned out to be the bleachers! So we stayed under cover during the 86-minute rain delay. The game was scheduled to start at 7:05, but it was raining then and the tarp was down. There was an announcement at about 7:15 that the game would start at 7:40, but the rain didn't let up until after 8:30--and no further announcement was forthcoming. I whiled away the 86-minute delay by conducting an unscientific survey of fans wearing team-branded insignia. Results: 148 in White Sox gear, 44 in Yankee garb, one Detroit Tiger hat. Oh, and one fan with a Yankee cap and a White Sox shirt! "Confused," my daughter called him. A White Sox souvenir shop under the stands displayed exclusively White Sox attire, except for one Boston Red Sox cap!

Cliff's game summary was superb. Here are some other comments. I was amazed that fans in the bleachers, over 400 feet from home plate, confidently criticize ball-and strike calls. I suppose bleacher fans in other stadiums do the same. When an opposing player strikes out, the PA system blares a recording of Ken Harrelson, the world champion of hometown shill TV announcers, exulting with his trademark "He gone!" Can you imagine anything comparable at Yankee Stadium? No, because the Yankees have too much class, while the White Sox have too little.

When I attended a Yankees game at the Cell a year ago, a foul-mouthed White Sox fan a couple rows above threw beer on me. (A fight was averted only because my wife pleaded with me to turn the other cheek.) I experienced nothing like that last night, but as we were exiting after the game, a long chorus of "Yankees suck!" was voiced. What low self-esteem White Sox fans must have. Do Yankee fans ever yell, "White Sox suck!" or "Red Sox suck!"?

68 Sadly Yankee fans yell "Boston Sucks" all the time. They also yell "Mets Suck" a lot. Interestingly, from my experience, the Boston chant doesn't come out unless the Sox are the opposing team or a fan wearing Boston gear is spotted. The Mets suck thing comes out more randomly, however.

And fans in any and all locations bitch about balls and strikes, that's the way it's always been.

69 I always hear a "Yankees suck" chant coming out of Fenway regardless of who they're playing. You could hear it clearly over the TV when they played Cleveland last week. I never here "Sox suck" or "Mets suck" at the Stadium unless they're the opposing team but I don't doubt Cliff one bit.

My credo: root for your own team, not against the other one.

69 My theory is the '(Another Team) Sucks' chants derive from some sort of visual stimuli - whether it be a fan wearing another hat, jersey, etc, the Diamondvision showing highlights, or the scoreboard displaying a losing result from said team.

I know I've gone along with a 'Boston Sucks' or a 'Mets suck' chant on more than one occasion, but to harass an opposing fan to the point of personal insult is just unnecessary & classless - even inside the confines of the Stadium.

When I was there on Wed., our section(115 along 3rd base line) had about 30-40% Yankee fans. The next section over had probably 50% Yankee fans. We did get a few Let's go Yankees chants off.

The 10-year old Yankee fan behind me would have gotten a beating if he wasn't a kid. He was pretty obnoxious.

There was a fight in the bleachers in the 8th or 9th inning, but am not sure why.

72 Now that I think about it, it was probably more like 20-30% in our section and 30-40% in the other section, but I digress.

mlb.com headline from the other day:
"Damon leaves game with groin stiffness"

Feel free to make whatever jokes you want.

74 If that lasts for more than 4 hours isn't he supposed to consult a doctor?

Schadenfreude (n): Taking pleasure in another's misfortune.

Reading Red Sox blogs during their five game losing streak to Tampa and Kansas City is the perfect example of Schadenfreude. Or of Chicken Little Syndrome. Either one, really.

76 I haven't tried that, though I did listen to the White Sox postgame Wed night on the trip home from the game.

I'm amazed at how much more civil Yankees stadium seems to be than Fenway. Living in MA, I only get to 1 or 2 Yankees Stadium games per year, when I'm visiting family. I've seen people tossed from the Stadium for making obnoxious or rude comments about opposing players or Red Sox fans.

Contrast that with Fenway - it seems like you're in the extreme minority if you're NOT making lewd or obnoxious comments to opposing players or fans, and it's completely tolerated (and sometimes encouraged) by Fenway employees.

It's really sickening (or maybe just pitiful) when you watch a Red Sox game with any opponent other than the Yanks, and a Yankees suck chant breaks out loud enough that you can hear it on tv.

78 Its even worse when you're at such a game. Once, two innings into a Sox-Marlins game - after having listened to the Fenway PA guy extoll the virtues of "Friendly" Fenway Park for 10 minutes before the first pitch - I heard a "Yankees suck!" chant break out when the AL East standings were shown on the Fenway display. (This was pre-2003, BTW.) Friendly indeed.

And I'll never forget when, during the celebration of the Patriots 1st Super Bowl win, how some of the Pats led a million-plus crowd in a "Yankees suck" chant from the steps of Boston City Hall. It still angers me today.

Nick Green is in the lineup in place of Robbie. And Fasano's in for Posada.

As Mike from Canton says (a famous Yankee fan- caller on WEEI)...

"cretins, all of them"

Hey Cliff, pistolpete, others who were in on the fantasy discussion this morning.... I took care of my Weaver v Wang problem by trading Weaver to the other Jered-obsessed guy for Ryan Howard, straight up. I have a hunch about regression to the mean...

80 Well, we had all of two days of our A-Team line-up. But Po needs rest I guess. Is Sounders that good a lefty? And more importantly, PLEASE tell me our team has seen this young pitcher before, or else I'll anticipate it with fear of another repeat of Saturday.

79 Shaun P - that chant (I can't even type it) always struck me as the lamest think around. BTW, we were in Kennebunkport yesterday...this little shop had a "Yankees Stink" shirt. I thought that was OK

83 I'm guessing Joe's doing it beacuse the game went so late last night.
They haven't seen him yet, but he hasn't started a game outside of LA/ANA/OC so let's give him a good old fashioned Yankee welcome (to the tune of 6+ runs).