His gas is gross and his changes of speed are ridiculous.  Now that he is stretched out and we're only 5 1/2 back before June has ended, I have a feeling I will be more adjusted to Joba being a starter than I originally thought.  As impressive as Joba was last night, he was only the second most impressive person in the building.

Those of you who have the Extra Innings package to watch our Beloved Bombers watched last night's game via the Pirates' broadcast, and the young man who threw out the first pitch and was later an in booth guest during the broadcast was the most impressive person in the building.  Meet John Challis:  A Pennsylvania native high schooler who is suffering from cancer.  In addition to his quick wit, his overall stance on things makes him the most impressive young man I have seen in sometime.  When asked how he is managing, his response stopped me cold.

"I am just dealing with the situation I was dealt, trying to make the best of it.  The only thing I am not doing is complaining about it."  Truly remarkable.  Best of luck, John Challis.

Well, let's see if the Bombers keep the offense rolling for Moose tonight - Go Yanks!

Go Yanks!

I am not necessarily for the DH in both leagues full-time, but why not in interleague play?  The poorest example to suit my argument is of course Sunday's rout over Houston, where the Astros' starting pitcher Roy Oswalt was one of the few productive hitters on his team.  That said, would the national league teams (and more specifically their pitchers) benefit from a half day off, only pitching without the hassles of risking injury running the bases and trying to hit?  Would their managers breathe a little easier knowing their stud starters can focus solely on pitching, and maybe even increase their offense with a better bat off the bench in the pitcher's spot, at least in the couple of dozen interleague games we are forced to stomach?

Typically at this point someone inevitably mentions the one or two barely competent "hitting" pitchers and it is a useless argument.  30 Big League clubs, 150 starting pitchers - less than a handful of them can handle the bat, there is no argument.  The one argument that does have some legs is that Wang could have been hurt just as easily being hit by a batted ball.  True enough, however, being part of his regular duties it certainly is much easier to swallow.  Perhaps if I were a fan of a national league club, forced to stomach nearly all of my team's games being played with only 8 hitters in the lineup, I would feel differently.  But there is no intrigue or anticipation for me to see Mike Mussina or Chien-Ming Wang step up to the plate - they're pitchers...I dont expect them to be able to bat in this day and age, which, most likely, is why they are pitchers!

Ok, so the complaining is done - now we need a replacement starter.  Great news:  Sidney "The Erratic Aruban" Ponson was just waived by Texas!  No thanks.  Hopefully the answer will come from within, and I am sure there will be trade opportunities - but if we didnt make "The Trade" this offseason what trade will we make now?  Only time will tell.

Bring on the Pad's, Go Yanks!

Purposely hit on the thigh by Tampa's Shields in retaliation for his blunders on Wednesday night, Crisp decided to keep the blunders rolling by then charging the mound.  While I disagree to the decision to charge the mound, I give Coco a lot of credit:  It takes brass to charge the mound knowing the first guy to your defense will be Julio (115 pound) Lugo.

My opposition to charging the mound ( and trust me it has nothing to do with being a pacifist ) was that Coco was due to get plunked, he even went so far as to ask for it to insure no one else on his team took one in the ribs on his behalf.  He asked for it to protect his team, and in turn Shields protected Coco by hitting him in the thigh.  Coco goes to first base and the whole thing is over, however, by charging the mound Coco all but insured another flare up down the road.  Had Shields head hunted him, I would have agreed with Coco 100%. 

With the two teams battling for first place, Shields "decision" to hit Coco in his first AB is certainly questionable.  It is in no way, however, as questionable as Toronto 2B Inglett dashing off to third on a one out line drive to Melky Cabrera in short left center field.  Cabrera had such an easy double play in order that I honestly believe it was his own shock that Inglett had already rounded third that distracted Melky from making the catch, not getting the double play and leading to a 5 run Blue Jay outburst in the Bronx.  It was truly a ridiculous play:  One team's mental mistake leads to their opponent's physical mistake, it was truly ugly.

Ugly, for lack of a better word, is perhaps better defined by Cano's attempt to get a sacrifice bunt down.  A Sac Bunt.  Uglier than your grandmother's underwear.  But the Bronx's share of the day's insanity didnt end there.  The two greatest words since "Prevent Defense" rose up and bit Toronto on the butt with a 2 run lead in the ninth when ARod took second base on "defensive indifference" only to then be driven in by Godzilla bringing The Giambino to the plate in a one run game.

The rest, as they say, is history...history that came in the form of an 0-2 hanger that landed about 15 rows into the upper deck in right.  Adda, boy Jason...I say the walk off means you can keep the 'stache at least one more week. 

Bring on the Royals, Go Yanks!

Joba's stuff is ridiculous, and he proved last night that he can start in the big leagues.  (For the record I thought the balk call was bogus and that he didnt get some calls but his stuff while not perfect was certainly more than promising.)  The arguement isnt whether he is good enough to start, it's simply why would we want him to?  I said before you are limiting yourself with Joba's appearences to one potential win every five days from the rotation when he and Mo proved to be a rock solid combo who potentially can deliver 3-4 wins every five days.  Too me it just doesnt make sense.

Can Jonathan Papelbon be a starting pitcher in the bigs?  Maybe, but more importantly who cares?  The Sox like him right where they want him.  Granted the 5th spot in the Sox rotation isnt exactly as up for grabs as the Yanks' is, but with the return of ARod and now Jorge why is this the time to weaken the bullpen?  I guess the biggest problem I have with this is the two most important words relative to the success of Joba as a started have become Kyle Farnsworth, and that is troubling to me.

Maybe I just dont get...Go Yanks!

Speaking of length, it seems like a real long time since Robbie Cano did something memorable at the plate - adda' boy, Robbie.  His stroke has been suring up as of late although his production isnt translating, either way it was good to see him in that spot last night and producing in walk off fashion.

And as Skip was walking off the field in an early exit I was pleased with his performance.  Trust me, I adore Joe Torre, always have, always will, but if there was ever something missing from time to time it was a dramatic pump 'em up ejection during slumps, etc.  Now, Torre had his share, but it was his calm in the face of the storm that was more the backbone of his reputation.  I think we'll see a lot more fire from Girardi - and I enjoyed seeing it last night.

The call leading to Girardi's ejection was suspect enough, but my problem was more with the nature of how the call was made.  Guccione (the home plate ump) can't delay and then motion in perfect agreement with the catcher after the catcher claims a caught fall tip.  If the ump jumps out and makes the call first, right or wrong, Girardi doesnt get anywhere near as hot in my opinion.  It was a poorly called bad call, these things happen.

Well, it's two straight from my beloved Bombers and now Seattle comes to town - Go Yanks!

Today I am trying to understand exactly what Goose means when he says Joba Chamberlain's onfield "celebrations" arent "The Yankee Way."  20+ years removed from what has now become a Hall of Fame career does Goose think criticizing one of the teams most consistent performers while the team struggles in general to be "The Yankee Way?"

I guess the way I look at is simplistic:  Unless Goose intends on racking up a save or two for my beloved Bombers in 2008 then he should pipe down.  This is not intended to demean all former players in any way, but it should serve as notice not to spout off everytime a thought crosses your lips.  In reality, what did Joba do that was so wrong?  Did he taunt, did he motion toward Dellucci?  No.  Did he parade around the mound, did he exaggerate his exit from the field of play?  No.  Did he stand and stare at the hitter, or into the opposing bench?  No.

He apparently is guilty of being emotional after the only team to ever touch him up was served a healthy serving of revenge on his home field infront of his home fans...Apparently being emotional isnt the Yankee Way.  Really?  Ask a Yankee fan.

What's more is examining how Joba took the loss a couple of days prior - did he erupt and toss Gatorade coolers, did he run straight for the showers?  No.  Did he dodge the press and say all the wrong things?  No.  Goose, leave the kid alone.  If you want to ask some constructive questions let's start with why the hell we cant beat Tampa...

Go Yanks!

If there was a management (or ownership) directive for Joba to "mix it up" allow me to retort:  Leave Joba alone.  The slider & fastball combination has proved to be near perfect - why tweek it?  We sent Kennedy down, lost Huges for 2 months and will be seeing a lot of Igawa and Rasner so we'll need the typical Joba guaranteed late game stops if the offense finally breaks out...Of all the fixes this pitching staff needs changing Joba's pace isnt one of them.

Go Yanks!

ARod to the DL, eeesh.  Ensberg will have to pick it up...when I think of anything more obvious to state I'll be back.

Go Yanks!

Roger Clemens.  Tired.  If this egomaniacal lunatic had just kept his mouth shut and gone the way of EVERY OTHER NIT-WIT NAMED IN THE MITCHELL REPORT he'd still be going to the hall of fame, first ballot, married, with his assets in check.  After the dog and pony show he's dragged us thru he'll be lucky to manage any of that at this point.  A more likely scenario now for the Rocket appears to be prison, no ballot required, divorce & losing 'half" his cash.  Mindy McCreedy was only the tip of the iceberg as two others have apparently surfaced...Mrs Clemens was helpful talking Roger's way out of Boston, I wonder how helpful she'll be now. 

Speaking of people who love hearing themselves talk, Curt Schilling popped back up on my radar this morning but in an unexpected way.  I love the guy as a competitor, but being trapped in New England with him is unbearable - he's everywhere, does commercials for everything, constantly commenting on everything, etc.  But today he got my attention in a good way:  I was unaware until this morning that he is working to restructure his contract to AVOID COLLECTING bonuses due to him based solely on fitness.  He has come in a little heavy in recent years so he had incentives for meeting certain weight requirements...Given his preseason injury he doesnt want to collect on those bonuses unless he is healthy and actively helping the team win from the mound.  Good on you, Curt.  That's about as rare a thing as you'll see in professional sports.

What could be more rare?  How about those pesky 1st place Tampa Bay Rays!?  Getting to see them 18+ times a year I have had time to become a fan of some of their players and have enjoyed watching them turn the corner.  Now dont get me wrong, the Rays wont win the AL East or make the playoffs, lets not get crazy, but they have some top notch talent down there, just ask a Red Sox fan after the weekend sweep the Rays threw down on them.  They can hit, they can run and they are actually beginning to muster some starting pitching which will only improve when Kazmir returns.  I am biased because he came from my home state, but just imagine this team with a healthy 5 tooler like Rocco Baldelli, his injuries were a shame.

Equally as shameful was my selection of Mike Lowell on my fantasy team.  The pick in and of itself wasnt shameful as much as the injury that dumped him on the DL from which he is expected to return today.  He basically went down to all fours to make a play at third and strained the thumb on his glove hand, the thumb on the bottom hand of the bat, making him infinitely useless in the field, at the plate or in my fantasy league.  One interesting thing that was infinitely clear from his injury, however, was how versatile Kevin Youkilis is.  Every team wants a guy like Youkilis.  My stud third baseman will be down for a bit as his right quad recovers and Morgan Ensberg will be more than servicable as a defensive replacement, but Youkilis' offensive production out matches Ensberg.  I understand we arent exactly comparing bench players here because Youk plays everyday.  Moreover he was able to play third in Lowell's absence because The Mayor was able to step in at first.  My beloved Bombers have more DH's and first basemen than you can count, but if Sean Casey and Youk can cover a loss like Mike Lowell and the Sox dont skip a beat then who really has a better bench?  Now that bothers me.

Well, that's all for now...Go Yanks!

Since my Pitching 101 rant Moose has been moving the ball much better, purely coincidental no doubt, but all I care about is the results.  Changing arm angles, throwing some crazy slow off speed junk...Moose is clearly making the adjustment.  If you had a chance to see the ridiculous 68 mph change up he thru to Casey Blake you know what I mean.

The injury bug is proving to be as nasty as midges in October.  Jorge on the DL - what?  I thought it was some sort of Yankee by law that those words were to never be phrased in that order, ever.  But it has to happen I guess.  I know Dr. Andrews is the best in the business but I get a little uptight whenever his name comes up in a Yankee discussion.  Right now Molina is pulling his weight but the "what ifs" are starting to pile up.

Speaking of piling up, so are the number of games missed by ARod who apparently wont play tonight in the Bronx against Detroit.  I know its preventative: sit him now to get him back sooner than later, I get it.  But this is New York, no one is that patient.  Girardi will have to protect ARod and Ensberg will have to produce.  Production from some of the still conspicuously quiet bats brings me to my final point, footwork in the batters box.

I wrote a few posts back that Robbie Cano was "stuck in the middle" or off balance at the plate...Paul O'Neill later referred to it as "drifting."  I am noticing the same thing from Ensberg to a lesser extent.  The two have completely contrasting styles at the plate.  Cano is all about timed movement while Ensberg is basically statuesque.  Regardless, the common thread of all hitters is their footwork.  What Ensberg lacks in footwork is what Cano has too much of.  I understand these guys are big leaguers for a reason, and I am not talking about any drastic changes being required, just pointing out the subtleties of the game.  Both of these guys, as examples, need to simplify things to increase their production.  I know Cano will do it, and I think Ensberg can too.

Back to the Bronx, bring on the Tigers - Go Yanks!

Looking back to Sunday, Pettitte was excellent.  He was perfect into the fifth until a swinging bunt broke that up but continued right along.  It was great to see him dealing.  NOTE TO PITCHERS EVERYWHERE:  Get the ball, get your sign, pitch & repeat.  See Andy Pettitte.

ARod...was yesterday enough of a breather or will I be rooting on Morgan Ensberg tonight?  I am hearing mixed reports that it is day to day and then simultaneously that a stint on the DL isnt out of the picture...I prefer bad news early and often, but as a seasoned New England Patriots fan I understand certain intelligence is not always forthcoming. (Update:  The Yanks' homepage is reporting ARod will rejoin the team in Chicago tonight and be re-evaluated prior to game time.)

It was nice to see Joba back and given the time he'll need to shake off the rust I am sure he was happy to see the rain close in on Sunday afternoon.  He'll be fine.  It's so hard to remember he is still only a kid.  Speaking of children, Hank, please pipe down.  Joba stays in the pen.  Period.

My reasoning may be simplistic, but I believe it to be logical:  Why hope your (other than Mo' and Joba) shaky bullpen can get Joba one win every 5 days when he can get you 3 or 4 wins every 5 days once your offense wake's up...?  From a different angle, Joba can not just wake up and start, he's not stretched out right for that, even given the efforts in spring training.  So do you weaken the bullpen temporarily while Joba gets stretched out in the minors?  I guess you do if you want to go 11-19 for April again. 

If the '90's taught us anything it's that turning 9 inning games into 6 or 7 inning games is paramount when you have a lights out backend of your pen.  Given the youth of Hughes & Kennedy and the ever adjusting Moose, all three barely capable of giving you 5 innings on a consistent basis, the Yanks need to be making games as short as possible.  Making Joba a starter only weakens that opportunity.  I just dont understand Hank, even given his lineage.  You want to add a spark to your currently .500 team, fine, but say something that makes some sort of baseball sense without labeling your manager and GM "idiots" by inference.

What a pleasant surprise Chad Moeller has been...a career .220 something guy giving you a .350 stint while both of your catchers are on the mend.  I wouldnt expect it to last for on and on, but it certainly is comforting for the moment.  Hopefully Jorge will be back behind the dish this week and we can get back to normal.

Finally, I leave you with this:  How come the only people you ever hear sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" are already at a ball game?  How come you never hear anyone singing it, let's say, at the supermarket.  I was at the supermarket yesterday with my wife, and I would much rather have been at the ball game...so I broke into song.  My wife hates off days too.

Off to Chicago, go Yanks! 

The slower the pitch, the more movement it should have.  That said, movement in and of itself is seldom enough if pitches are always down, or always up, or always in, or always away.  There in lies the key:  The slower the "stuff" the more variety is required in location, up, down, inside and away.  That's it.  That's all you need to know to be a successful big league pitcher with sub 90 MPH stuff, change the eye level of the hitter.

Now let's apply it to some big league realities.  Let's take, for example, Manny Ramirez...let's just say he's facing, oh, I dont know, Mike Mussina for example.  Let's say Manny took Mussina deep in a prior at bat, and now Moose has turned the tables and jumped out to an early 0-2 count, both strikes down and on the outside corner.  Manny has two options, and only two options:  Look down and in, or look for a 3rd consecutive pitch down and away.  Why only those two options you ask?  Why doesnt Manny have to look up and in or up and away?  Because Mussina never gave him a worry he would throw there.  At no point in any at bat did Moose throw anything other than low and in, or low and away - HE NEVER CHANGED THE EYE LEVEL OF THE HITTER.

So what happens, you ask?  Manny was ready for low and in, but Moose tricked him up, throwing a 3rd consecutive pitch low and away, this time for a ball, bringing the count to 1-2.  How many options do you think Manny has now?  I'll give you hint, 1.  Manny decided to zone in on low and in and he got his wish, and he didnt waste the opportunity taking Moose deep to left.

The moral of the story is this, rather than being worried about Kyle Farnsworth throwing behind Manny later in the game, we should be concerned about why Moose didnt do it when he had Manny set up 0-2.  Change the eye level of the hitter, right?  0-2 after two low and away strikes, perfect time to throw one off the plate up and in.  Back him up a bit, change his eye levels, and most importantly not allow Manny to sit and focus in one zone and then give him his wish. 

I said early in posts that Moose appears to have matched his "stuff" with the right mental approach, throwing slow, slower and even slower to marginalize hitters' ability to stay balanced.  That's all well and good, but if he continues to avoid our simple lesson from today, he'll be in big trouble...especially against Manny Ramirez.

On to Baltimore, Go Yanks!

Now, dont get me wrong - I dont mind a little 2 and 1/2 hour morsel on a Monday night in Tampa, or Baltimore, and given that there are 8 times more of these than day long Yankees vs Red Sox games I do get my rest, rest that is well used to survive these knock down, "drawn out" titan clashes.  The players and coaches will utter every cliche available to tell us Red Sox vs Yankees games are just like any other, and you have to take them one game at a time, etc...But the reason these games last forever is because they all know the truth:  This is the greatest rivalry in all of professional sports, a rivalry so intense from the owners down to the clubhouse guys that every pitch is magnified ten fold.

4 hours and 8 minutes...and I still can't get enough.

Go Yanks!

The rest of the weekend was a bust.

Tiger...it's called a putter, I am fairly certain you have seen one before...In fact I believe you have even used a few, but you wouldnt know it by your performance on Sunday at Augusta.  Eeesh.  Shooting even par in those conditions was impressive, but the round should have been better by at least 5 shots (holes 4, 8, 10, 13 & 14 specifically).  Make sure Trevor Immelman takes care of your jacket.

Montreal appeared to be in control until they played down to the hapless Bruins on the road for a game 3 overtime loss (their first loss to Boston in the past 152 games head to head.)

And that brings us to my beloved Bombers...In Saturday's loss, after that ridiculously managed rain delay, I can understand ARod jumping on the first fastball he sees from Papelbon (and he fouled it straight back, just missed it) but in the next inning, Jason Giambi, what pitch were you looking for?  First and second pitch straight strike heat.  It's Jonathan Papelbon, good thing you took the fastballs to 0-2 so he could give his splitter a little practice.

And its not all on Giambi, when you get the walks the Yanks were given this weekend and stranded as many as they did its an epidemic.  THEY WILL HIT, I KNOW THIS, I AM ONLY ASKING WHEN?

Moose walked the tightrope on Saturday and I didnt think he was sub-par, I just dont understand leaving him in to pitch to Manny, although Bruney's inability to get Youkilis next seems to make the argument academic.  Was Hughes overthrowing?  It appeared to be the case to me, but it doesnt account for the pitch selection.  It seems those calls are coming from the bench, but it was at times predictable.  I still think Hughes will be fine eventually, but with a young gun you have to protect his psyche as much as his arm...He needs to right his own ship before he suffers a string of early hooks.

Well, off to Tampa Bay before returning briefly to the Bronx for revenge on the Sox.  Let's get a streak going.

Go Yanks!