Johnny Damon CF
Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Jason Giambi DH
Jorge Posada C
Robinson Cano 2B
Melky Cabrera LF
Craig Wilson 1B
Nick Green 3B

Ichiro Suzuki CF
Willie Bloomquist 3B
Jose Lopez 2B
Richie Sexson 1B
Eduardo Perez DH
Kenji Johjima C
Yuniesky Betancourt SS
T.J. Bohn RF
Chris Snelling LF

Jarrod Washburn P

We need A-Rod back. Robbie is needed toward the top of the line-up more than Jorge, but that would make 3 straight lefties with Abreu and Giambi. Even when A-Rod comes back, 4 of our top 6 guys are lefties. Not that that's bad, but a good lefty reliever could kill us.

Her nickname is Bean, so there you go.

http://tinyurl.com/gqero

===
Alex Rodriguez remains out with an illness but is in uniform and took some batting practice. He hopes to be back in the lineup tomorrow. The Yankees are 3-0 when A-Rod doesn't play. They have scored 21 runs in those games and hit .331. But that's a total coincidence, right? Hello? I mean it has to be.
===

He also reports that Cairo ran the bases today, and Andy started swinging the bat.

And Pavano pitches for the Clippers tomorrow.

11 I vote for option 3.

2 I totally forgot about the Eduardo Perez v. Randy Johnson factor! Perez is hitting .290/.389/.710 off Randy with four homers in 31 ABs and is the batter Johnson was ejected for throwing near back in June when the Indians visited the Bronx.

Another Phillip Hughes start tonight Ho-Hum.

He can make a difference in the bullpen right now. All year I've said they should just shut him down, but if hes going to throw 30 more innings this year he should probably do it in New York.

yup...we are going to a bunch of runs

I think they'll keep Andy on the DL until rosters expand. I suspect they wanted Guiel instead of Andy even before the "injury." They need an outfielder, not another infielder.

But Andy's out of options, and they aren't sure he'll clear waivers.

And they're teaching Guiel how to play 1B.

teaching Guiel to play first, what is Mattingly doing holding clinics ? Sheff, Guiel....good news is that anyone but Giambi with a glove in hand is where you want to be...

Guiel+RHP =_____?

The answer, Mr. Torre?

Green is younger, and that might count for something. But Cairo was the first string 2B for the Mets last year. Nick Green was DFA'd by Tampa.

Ooh.. nice hit.

Wow, and IF hit against a drawn in IF.

Ugh, I see that the next stiff singled in the run anyway.

And Sexon ropes a double. This night is starting to look sucky if RJ can't screw his head on.

It's a moot point now, though. All those runs scored anyway.

58 He's not average, he's great, except for those innings he gives up runs. If you take those away, he's awesome (why I hate the, he was great except for one or two bad innings line).

I like Washburn since he is also a Packer fan.

Damon needs to cash in here.

Roger Clemens has been through 3 different "eras" with 3 different strike zones, and adjusted his location with every one of them.

Expecting anything but mediocrity in the post season from Johnson is a pipe dream. If Joe doesn't admit to himself that Wang is his best pitcher, Moose second best, and at this point, Lidle is likely third best, and that Wang and Moose are going to have to go on 3 days rest at some point in the post season, we will lose.

Unless we catch fire in a bottle with Pavano--yes, it is possible--Joe simply cannot rest these guys as much as he has the past few years in the post season. I watced "Game 6" with Michael Keaton the other night (not a bad flick) and I had forgotten that Clemens had gone on 3 days rest three times that post season to get Boston into a position to win the series (AND GAME 6 WASNT EVEN A MUST WIN AND HE STARTED AND KEPT THEM IN IT, GOING 7 I THINK, GIVING UP 1 or 2 RUNS!). You can bet your first born that Joe Torre would not have started Clemens, he would have trotted out whomever was next in line to start on regular rest, and that is where being a players manager is great for players, but horrible for the ball club.

I love Joe, but if he pulls another horse shit move like starting Kevin Brown in a game 7, instead of understanding who gives him the best chance to win, he has to be fired at the end of the season. It doesn't matter what circus tricks you pull to manage the team into the playoffs, if you butcher them once you get there. If we are in a deciding game and we have Wang on 3 days or Moose on 3,4 days, we have to take our chances. This Joe, is how teams win playoff series, not by making sure the starters have enough rest to make their next NOVEMBER START!

But we've also lost to the O's at home, split with the Angels, and lost 2 of 3 to the White Sox. If we lose this game, that will be another series loss to a less than stellar team.

Right before we got Bobby, there was a stretch where we were winning pretty much every series (9-1-1 record in 11 series), and the biggest complaint was our inability to sweep, and our house money lineups in games we lost.

Our offense seems more impressive these days, but the starting pitching seems to be much more of a question mark. Torre's remark a while back about us having the best starting 3 (Wang, Moose, RJ) seems silly now.

I agree. That is why I pray that Joe doesn't butcher it. If we face Santana-Liriano or Chicago finds someone to step it up along with Garland, we be in big big trouble with Joe managing this club's staff.

Go Yanks!

Bruce Hurst started 3 times in the 1986, Games 1, 5, and 7 (which was originally rained out, giving Hurst a 3rd day of rest. Oil Can Boyd was originally scheduled to start.)

Joe usually saves the pitcher that he considers his ace for the 3rd game which he considers critical in the event of a split in the first two. If Joe considers RJ his ace, he won't be pitching against the other team's aces anyway.

I'm sorry, but rules are rules, and his jersey should say Suzuki, not Inciro. It's a pet peeve of mone going back to the very brief period when players were permitted to put whatever they wanted on their backs (including ads). Maybe the third baseman for Atlanta should just come out tomorrow with Chipper on his back!

(Shaking fist at baseball gods)

Thanks. But my pont was that Clemens started three times on three days rest during that post season because they lose otherwise. Jow would never do that, not even with a 20 year old.

99

Exactly! But if he needs him again on 3 days rest in a deciding game, or to come out of the pen, he'll never do it, and it's frustrating. Its right up there with calling the infield in against a reliever who broke more bats that any other that season.

Why hasn't Ichiro played CF before now? Seems like he'd be a natural.

Besides if the Yankees ever needed RJ on 3 days rest, it is a guarantee that the series is lost anyway.

But no, that's not what I meant. It just seemed like a turning point of sorts. Several people here have noted that. Not that I think it's related; it's just a convenient marker.

"(i) A league may provide that the uniforms of its member teams include the names of its players on their backs. Any name other than the last name of the player must be approved by the League President. If adopted, all uniforms for a team must have the names of its players. "

From the Official MLB rules:

1.11
(a) (1) All players on a team shall wear uniforms identical in color, trim and style, and all players uniforms shall include minimal sixinch numbers on their backs. (2) Any part of an undershirt exposed to view shall be of a uniform solid color for all players on a team. Any player other than the pitcher may have numbers, letters, insignia attached to the sleeve of the undershirt. (3) No player whose uniform does not conform to that of his teammates shall be permitted to participate in a game.
(b) A league may provide that (1) each team shall wear a distinctive uniform at all times, or (2) that each team shall have two sets of uniforms, white for home games and a different color for road games.
(c) (1) Sleeve lengths may vary for individual players, but the sleeves of each individual player shall be approximately the same length. (2) No player shall wear ragged, frayed or slit sleeves.
(d) No player shall attach to his uniform tape or other material of a different color from his uniform.
(e) No part of the uniform shall include a pattern that imitates or suggests the shape of a baseball.
(f) Glass buttons and polished metal shall not be used on a uniform.
(g) No player shall attach anything to the heel or toe of his shoe other than the ordinary shoe plate or toe plate. Shoes with pointed spikes similar to golf or track shoes shall not be worn.
(h) No part of the uniform shall include patches or designs relating to commercial advertisements.
(i) A league may provide that the uniforms of its member teams include the names of its players on their backs. Any name other than the last name of the player must be approved by the League President. If adopted, all uniforms for a team must have the names of its players.

Damn you, Ichiro!

Yeah, Damon!

It's not that he would never ever do it, he just waits until its too late.

Is there anyone here who really thinks Brown gave us the best chance to win that series? Moose on 3 days, Duque who was a question mark but well rested. Hell, I'd take Duque in a game 7 right now with confidence tha the game wouldn't get out of hand. Clemens isnt a stud because pitched well when he was 25 in big games, but because he did so when he wasn't. I guess I just see it coming. I see it when Joe drags Proctor out there when he doesn't need to, but I also see Joe trotting out Jaret Wright or Cory LIdle to start a game 7 when he has Wang or Moose on short rest.

He always seems to manage the post season like its a given that they will play the next game. In the playoffs, your job is to try to put together a solid plan, of course, but your job is most importantly to win the game that you are playing, period!

Most recently, if coaches and managers had done that, the Dallas Mavericks are NBA Champs, and the Yankees win or lose in the 2004 World Series, but they don't lose to Boston.

Of course, you are right about the money. Allowing him to defile his jersey was all about selling replicas in Japan.

The bad news is they'll probably still bring it against the Yanks.

You don't think every Rodriguez, Jones, or Johnson would like to do the same thing. Without rules and some sense of tradition, we're the NFL or NBA, and I don't want that. I understand that place of birth blah blah blah, play a role in Japanese names, but thems the breaks.

I am certaain that Latin players would have loved to have moved past the racist behavior the press exhibited towards Clemente in the beginning by printing his comments verbatim, but most clubs still refuse to pay interpreters and we have barely made one step forward in this regard. It would be a huge surprsise if a member of the press asked an Asian player who doesn't speak great English a question in English, and expected him to answer it in Enlish. (Most every club pays a full time interpreter for Asian born players) Yet no one thinks anything about the press asking Latin players questions in English that they don't fully underatand (Just as I don't fully understand Spanish, and most Asian born players don't understand English) I for one would like to hear what the player actually has to say once he completely understands the question. An articulated response instead of what we get now. It makes me feel bad to be a baseball fan every time I see it. I guess all I am aking for is fairness. MLB and the Clubs shouldn't treat Latin players like second class citizens and Asian players like royalty, simply because many Asian born players are willing to make demands on the clubs for interpreters. Is it because their skin color is as light as caucasions? The Union should have stepped up to the plate on this years ago, but they are equally to blame.

I am not a fan of ESPN, but Outside the Lines did a great piece on this if you can find it.

The team and number wouldn't distinguish him?

There is no out that the Angels won't run into.

It only looks like it should be close.

Guiel: "OK, black coffee for Mr. Torre, cream and sugar for Mr. Mattingly. Who had the tea?"

Of course, Figgins and company will be primed for the Yanks' arrival.

No doubt their "offense" is resting up to kick our asses this weekend.

And effin Figgins flies out on the first pitch.

That mofo was 3 for 13 in this series and did squat. Bet he goes 7 for 13 vs the Yanks and scores 7 or more runs.

I'm actually thankful that our bullpen got a break though (outside of Villone), and the day off on Monday before we face the Tigers and Twins at home next week will be big. Everyone looks like they're dragging this week.

Is that the rule Mr. Hudler?

You're right.

This season is far from over. Very, very, far.

Could be very interesting. He and Mo are both pretty well rested for the stretch run. Giddy up! Next month's 4 game series is going to be "Kill or be Killed!"