Monthly Archives: June 2008

I was ten when my parents split up. My mother broke the news to us in the car after dropping my father off at the Metro North Station. My twin sister and younger brother were in the back seat.  I was in the passenger seat. When she was finished telling us the what was going to happen, I turned to her and said, "Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll take care of you now."

We grew up quickly over the next few years. My father started dating a woman who lived on the same block as my grandparents on the Upper West Side, and soon they were living together. She was good to us, gave us sex education tips without shame or titilation–straight, blunt, sound advice. I remember seeing a shiny box, The Devil in Miss Jones, next to the other videos on a shelf in her bedroom, but I never had the nerve to watch it on the sly.

Everything was grown-up. When we visited my dad, we hung around adults.

Perhaps the most important discovery I made in her apartment was when I pulled a record from the shelf with a picture of a hippie sitting on a stool. The record was AM/FM, the lp that won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album and the one that put George Carlin on the map for good. It wasn’t a racy record–heck, by this point, we had Eddie Murphy to idolize–and it was dated, filled-with Vietnam Era references that I didn’t understand. But it had curse words as well as Carlin’s elastic imagination, nibble word-play, and funny-sounding voices. Carlin sounded like a grown-up kid.  Friendly, approachable, caustic, but decent.

We were hooked. I can’t tell you how much material I swiped from Carlin and claimed as my own when I was a kid.  Later, Carlin’s follow-up records, Class Clown and Occupation Foole became like the Torah for me (I still remember my old man taking us to King Carole Records on the west side; I proudly selected Toledo Window Box). There is his legendary routine about the seven words you can’t say on Television, and who’ll ever forget his contribution to the debate between football and baseball?

For years, in high school and throughout college, I would go to sleep with the sounds of a comedy record playing in the background. Bill Cosby and Carlin were always good choices–Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor were too lively for that time of night. I must have listened to "Occupation Foole" five hundred times easily. I know Carlins’ inflections, the rhythms of his voice, his faces, all of his characters, as well as I know a member of the family.

So, it is a sad Monday morning as George Carlin passed away yesterday at the age of 71. That is too young. He was from Morningside Heights in Manhattan and he ranks up there with Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor as one of the Giants of stand-up comedy.

I want to take this moment to thank him for everything he gave me.  He made me feel grown when I was a kid, and has made me feel young as I’ve gotten older.

We’re going to spend a lot of time waxing nostalgic about Yankee Stadium this year, sharing our own favorite memories and listing the all-time great moments. For all the Yankee highlights the place has seen, not to mention one of the most famous football games ever, the biggest event ever to go down in the House that Ruth Built may well have been the Joe Louis/Max Schmeling rematch which took place seventy years ago today (Here is audio from the fight).

In her review of "Beyond Glory," David Margolick’s acclaimed book about Louis-Schmeling, Joyce Carol Oates wrote:

Boxing is the most pitiless of sports, as it can be the most dazzling, theatrical and emblematic. Where race and nationalism are involved, as in the famous Joe Louis-Max Schmeling heavyweight fights of 1936 and 1938, two of the most widely publicized boxing matches in history, the emblematic aspect of the sport can assume epic proportions. When the second fight, of June 1938, pitting the 24-year-old American Negro titleholder, Louis, against the 32-year-old Schmeling, the Nazis’ star athlete, was fought at Yankee Stadium, the contest was as much between the United States and Nazi Germany as between two superbly skilled athletes. There were almost 70,000 spectators and an estimated 100 million radio listeners throughout the world: "the largest audience in history for anything."

…Most of the chapters are impersonal historical accounts, culled from numerous sources, in which the author’s voice is subordinate to his material. Amid much summarizing, press clippings of the era, many of them painfully racist, provide candor and color; occasionally there are outbursts of a kind of comic surrealism, as in this rapid collage following the dramatic outcome of the 1938 fight:

"In the stands there was bedlam. Tallulah Bankhead sprang to her feet and turned to the Schmeling fans behind her. ‘I told you so, you sons of bitches!’ she screamed. Whites were hugging blacks. ‘The happiest people I saw at this fight were not the Negroes but the Jews,’ a black writer observed. ‘In the row in front of me there was a great line of Jews – and they had the best time of all their Jewish lives.’ . . . ‘Beat the hell out of the damn German bastard!’ W. E. B. Du Bois, a lifelong Germanophile who rarely swore, shouted gleefully in Atlanta. In Hollywood, Bette Davis jumped up and down; she had won $66 in the Warner Brothers fight pool. . . . ‘Everybody danced and sang,’ Woody Guthrie wrote from Santa Fe. ‘I watched the people laugh, walk, sing, do all sorts of dances. I heard "Hooray for Joe Louis!" "To hell with Max Schmeling" in Indian, Mexican, Spanish, all kinds of white tongues.’ "

If you didn’t catch HBO’s fine Joe Louis documentary earlier this year, it’s well-worth watching.

It’s difficult to fathom the magnitude of that night. But it begs the question: Has an event held at Yankee Stadium ever had a greater social impact on the entire country, let alone the rest of the world?

After being wowed by the Reds’ arms all weekend, the Yankees needed a hundred dollar bill performance on Sunday from their veteran, Andy Pettitte.  And that’s exactly what they got.  Pettitte was able to get himself out of a couple of dicey-looking jams, in the fourth and the sixth.  With the bases loaded and one out in the fourth, Pettitte fanned the pesky Joey Votto and then Jay Bruce to end the inning.  It was an overcast day, but the sun peaked-out just as Pettitte delivered the 3-2 pitch past Bruce. 

Two innings later, the sky was dark and the wind was whirling around the Stadium.  The wind was so violent, kicking up the infield dirt, Brandon Phillips had to step-out of the box several times before he could hit.  With runners on the corners and just one out, Pettitte got Paul Janish to pop a bunt up in the air, caught easily by Jorge Posada.  Pettitte stood on the mound, straight and tall, his pants rippling against the strong wind.  It brought to mind James Agee’s description of Buster Keaton: "mulish imperturbability under the wildest of circumstances."  Pettitte struck Votto out.

Jason Giambi’s mustache looked noticably darker than it did a day earlier.  When he was at the plate, it looked as if he was wearing one of those fake Groucho disguises.  Whatever he did, it worked, as Giambi collected three hits and a couple of RBI.  He also stole a base in the second inning.  He ran on a full count pitch to Posada, who took it for strike three.  When Giambi was on second, he looked toward the Yankee dugout and gave his boys a little shoulder shimmy shimmy ya. 

Kyle Farnsworth served up a solo shot to Junior Griffey in the eighth.  It was career dinger #601 for Griffey.  Mariano Rivera was called to record a four-out save after Farnsworth left the game with an injury to his finger.  Mo worked around two dinky singles to start the ninth, didn’t allow a run, and earned his 21st save of the season (in as many chances) as the Yankees salvaged the final game of the homestand, 4-1. 

The weatherman says we’re going to get summer storms this afternoon. Hopefully, they get the game in. I expect the Yankees to knock the hell out of the ball today, don’t you?

If you can’t beat ’em…eat ’em. 

I’ve never tried Cincinnati Chili, a truly weird n wunnerful sounding-dish, but my cousin Jonah and his wife Jenn absolutely love it.  Here is an introduction from Jenn, followed by a fool-proof recipe from the good people at Cook’s Illustrated (aka America’s Test Kitchen):

"My husband and I first learned about this chili recipe while babysitting our nephew Archer one Sat morning.  We had just discovered America’s Test Kitchen tv show and when they were demonstrating this recipe it literally stopped us in our tracks.  We sat enthralled at why someone would ever want to blanch ground chuck.  And then when we saw them mixing all those spices, we started salivating.  By the time they got to the buttered spaghetti, it was over: our jaws were on the floor, tongues agog a la Wyle E. Coyote.  America’s Test Kitchen = super geniuses.  At that point we both turned to each other and, without a word, we both knew what was for dinner that night.

The great thing about this recipe is that it’s super easy to throw together and it’s got enough interesting flavors to whet anyone’s palette. Since we made it the first time, we’ve been making it pretty much once a week.

I suppose you could sub ground chicken / turkey for the beef but what makes this dish delicious is the fat and I’m not sure chick or turk have enough of it (but I could be wrong).  The spices – in particular the cocoa – are what make it pop and give it a rich, beautiful color.

You must do all the required toppings for the big finale: the sharp tang of the cheddar, the sweet bite of the raw diced onion, and the mellow smoothness of the warmed red kidneys all add a nice dimension to the beefy, spiced chili.

While some people prefer to avoid having leftovers, for this dish it’s actually fine. It still tastes excellent the second time around (you can do both stove-top sauce pan method or the cover with foil in the oven method, though with the oven method the noodles do get a little crispy, if you’re into that)."

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On Friday night, Joe Girardi’s decision to intentionally walk Jay Bruce in the fifth inning–a move his pitcher Mike Mussina did not agree with–back-fired. However, the Yankees were also overwhelmed by Edinson Volquez. Johnny Damon said “He’s one of the better guys that we’ve seen in a long time.” Jason Giambi agreed. “He’s got Pedro-type stuff. You’ve got to tip your cap. The kid threw a good game.” As usual, Derek Jeter got right to it. “Sometimes guys are going to be better than you. He was better than us.”

A mere blip. It happens. I don’t think anyone expected the Yankees to get shut-down on Saturday afternoon by a kid making his major league debut. But that happened too. Fresh direct from Double A, Daryl Thompson woke up at 4:30 in the morning, was understandably amped up, and then went out and threw five scoreless innings, getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the second. Four other Cincy relievers combined to shut-out the Yankees, 6-0.

For the Yankees, Dan Giese, was equally impressive. Unfortunately, a throwing error by Giese in the seventh lead to a four-run rally by the Reds, enough to do the Yankees in.

Edinson Volquez out-dueled Mike Mussina on Friday night as the Reds beat the Yanks 4-2. It was a terrific evening at the Stadium, weather-wise, and the Yankees had their chances–the tying run was at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, and Jason Giambi just missed a change up with two men on in the seventh (he would hit a long fly out to death valley, another one he was just behind). Mussina scattered ten hits over eight innings but really only made one mistake–a flat fastball to Jolbert Cabrera in the fifth. Johnny Damon lost a fly ball in the lights to start the inning:

“I saw it, I felt I had a bead on it,” Damon said. “Then, you’re seeing shadows. It makes me disgusted. I didn’t realize it hit off my glove. That’s tough to overcome when you’re facing a tough pitcher. Unfortunately, losing the ball in the lights cost us three.”
(Lapointe, N.Y. Times)

It was a night of near-misses.

Volquez was a lot of fun to watch. He was “effectively wild,” but not like Daniel Cabrera. He wasn’t wild enough to be hitting guys. But his pitches darted every which way. More to the point, when he fell behind in the count, he was able to come up with the big pitch. He was supremely confident, and why not? He hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any start this season.

It’s hot n hazy again in New York today. A 1:00 start promises to bring plenty of heat.

Let’s Go Yan-Kees!

Cincinnati Reds

2007 Record: 33-39 (.458)
2007 Pythagorean Record: 71-91 (.441)

2008 Record: 33-41 (.446)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 32-42 (.431)

Manager: Dusty Baker
General Manager: Walt Jocketty

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Great American Ball Park (104/105)

Who’s Replacing Whom:

Joey Votto replaces Scott Hatteberg
Jay Bruce replaces Josh Hamilton
Paul Bako has taken playing time from Dave Ross and Javier Valentin
Corey Patterson replaces Jeff Conine
Jolbert Cabrera is the latest to fill in for Alex Gonzalez (DL)
Andy Phillips is filling in for Ryan Freel (DL)
Paul Janish is filling in for Jeff Keppinger (DL)
Edinson Volquez replaces Matt Belisle (minors)
Johnny Cueto replaces Kyle Lohse and Bobby Livingston (DL)
Francisco Cordero replaces David Weathers as closer
Weathers replaces Todd Coffey (DL)
Jeremy Affeldt replaces Mike Stanton
Bill Bray inherits Jon Coutlangus’s innings
Mike Lincoln replaces Victor Santos

25-man Roster:

1B – Joey Votto (L)
2B – Brandon Phillips (R)
SS – Jolbert Cabrera (R)
3B – Edwin Encarnacion (R)
C – Paul Bako (L)
RF – Ken Griffey Jr. (L)
CF – Jay Bruce (L)
LF – Adam Dunn (L)

Bench:

L – Corey Patterson (OF)
R – Norris Hopper (OF)
R – Dave Ross (C)
R – Paul Janish (IF)
R – Andy Phillips (IF)
S – Javier Valentin (C)

Rotation:

R – Aaron Harang
R – Edinson Volquez
R – Johnny Cueto
R – Bronson Arroyo

Bullpen:

R – Francisco Cordero
R – Jared Burton
L – Jeremy Affeldt
R – David Weathers
L – Bill Bray
R – Mike Lincoln
R – Gary Majewski

15-day DL: R – Ryan Freel (UT), R – Jeff Keppinger (IF), R – Jerry Hairston Jr. (UT), R – Josh Fogg, R – Todd Coffey
60-day DL: R – Alex Gonzalez (SS), L – Kent Mercker, L – Bobby Livingston

Typical Lineup

L – Jay Bruce (CF)
R – Jolbert Cabrera (SS)
L – Ken Griffey Jr. (RF)
R – Brandon Phillips (2B)
L – Adam Dunn (LF)
R – Edwin Encarnacion (3B)
L – Joey Votto (1B)
L – Paul Bako (C)

Harpo doin the Gookie.

This was the can’t-miss, home run, bust-a-gut move for Harpo Marx.  Whenever the Marx brothers were doing a show and started to bomb they’d send Harpo up to do the Gookie.  Once he busted it on you–seemingly out of nowhere–you were at his mercy.

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It’s impossible to discuss New York baseball without mentioning the Yankees AND the Mets. They’re inextricably linked, going back to Casey Stengel. In my opinion, Mike Lupica and William Goldman, in their superb and hilarious book, “Wait ‘Til Next Year,” – which is unfortunately out-of-print now – did the best job of describing the differences of the two teams and not only how they perceive themselves, but how they want their fans and the media to perceive them.

That is, of course, if you believe in the adage that perception is reality.

I got to thinking about this in the 72 hours since Willie Randolph’s unceremonious dismissal, and instantly compared it to Joe Torre’s resignation last winter. Both situations were mishandled by their respective former employers. Both proved to be high-caliber public relations gaffes. Both men, through the professional way that they handled losing their jobs, elicited sympathy from the media that was simultaneously channeled into anger at the Yankees and Mets. With the Randolph situation, the blunder was viewed as another in a long line of managerial miscues in Queens. The Times’s William C. Rhoden went so far as to proclaim that the Mets are “again the subject of national derision.”

That’s the perception. I’m a believer in the adage.

YANKEES – JOE TORRE

·         The Yankees were coming off a 12^th straight playoff berth under Torre but a third straight loss in the Division Series. When the expectation is to win a World Series and anything less is viewed as a failure, despite the trials and tribulations of getting to the playoffs, the effort wasn’t good enough.

·         Torre, up for a new contract, received a one-year offer from the Yankees that included a paycut, but was laced with incentives provided the team won the division, then each subsequent round of the playoffs, and the World Series. Torre considered the Yankees’ offer an insult, which he didn’t need as an incentive to win. Bob Costas jumped all over this and made it a hit point on his HBO show.

·         Torre resigned. Every local news media outlet staked out his house to get a glimpse of him in advance of his closing press conference, which YES broadcast live. Torre, after a brief statement, fielded questions for more than an hour.

·         The local beat writers and columnists had choice words for Randy Levine and other members of the Yankees’ front office. And while the reaction to Torre’s leaving was mixed, the consensus was that he was one of the greatest managers in team history, and was the perfect fit for this city and this team, particularly in the savvy way he managed the media circus on a daily basis. In short, he respected the writers and reporters, and the feeling was mutual.

METS – WILLIE RANDOLPH

·         Presided over a team that lost a 7 1/2 –game lead in the final two weeks of the regular season to miss the playoffs. With roughly the same team returning, save the addition of Johan Santana, expectations were high.

·         A slow start, plus various incidents in which Randolph let his true feelings about race emerge — taking umbrage to the coverage on SNY — led to rumors of his firing.

·         The Mets held a press conference two weeks ago to say that Randolph would not be fired.

·         The Mets, after a 3-3 homestand and a double-header split with Texas, fly out to Anaheim to play the Orange County Angels who Claim To Be From Los Angeles to Reap More TV Dollars in the LA Market.

·         GM Omar Minaya uncharacteristically flies out to Anaheim, unannounced, with the decision having been made to fire Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson and first base coach Tom Nieto. Following the Mets’ victory Monday, he calls them into a room at the team hotel and informs them of the decision.

·         Minaya claims it was his decision, but it doesn’t help change the thought that the Wilpons and Minaya had Randolph fly to California and be fired there in order to avoid the intense scrutiny at home. In fact, it may have made it worse. Wednesday’s Daily News backpage of a frowning Mr. Met with the headline MEET THE MESS said it all.

·         Randolph wishes the Mets well, is thankful for the opportunity to have managed the team.

The media’s job now is to highlight the facts and present them as they come to the fore. There has been and will continue to be analysis of the situation for as long as the Mets continue to struggle. If they turn it around, you might see comparisons to the Billy Martin-Bob Lemon switch in 1978.

But that also comes back to Willie Randolph. 

The public face on how the Mets treated Randolph – if there were rumors surrounding his job security at the beginning of the year, why not fire him after the collapse last season? – is another example of the Mets demonstrating why they’re considered the “other” team in New York. They’re not unlike the New York Football Jets in that, organizationally, no matter how hard they try, they mismanage various events to inspire anger and hurt among the media and fan base.

Not that the Yankees and Giants are without their flaws. However, but in my observations, bungled organizational matters are forgotten with the on-field product. Regarding Torre, Yankees fans, while they may agree on his resignation coming at the right time – and even that the offer was an insult, it appears they’ve forgiven the Yankees’ brass for the way it was handled. Mets fans will hurt for a long time, and the media will perpetuate that hurt unless the organization does something to fix it. 

That’s where the differences lie between the Mets and the Yankees.

Variety has a wonderful new issue out celebrating 50 years of the Dodgers being in L.A. Our good pal Jon Weisman has his talented finger prints all over this one. I contributed two pieces to the issue–one, my picks for the ten best baseball movies of them all, another, a sidebar on ten memorable baseball scenes in non-baseball movies. Let me know which baseball flicks you think were robbed. Also, give me some more examples of good baseball scenes in non-baseball movies. There are many more of them than decent baseball films. I didn’t even mention the Mantle-Maris scene in that old Doris Day movie, or the grenade-thrower from "Under Fire" who loved Dennis "El Presidente" Martinez.  Or the softball game in "Gung Ho."  Or…

The Yankees extended their winning streak to seven games by completing a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres yesterday afternoon. Joba Chamberlain got the start and turned in his first truly dominant major league start as he struck out nine Padres in 5 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on four hits and three walks.

The run came in the fourth when Brian Giles led off with a single, was pushed to second by a walk to Adrian Gonzalez, and scored when Tony Clark, hitting from the left side, hit a flare to the line in shallow left that hopped into the stands for a ground-rule double. Prior to that, Chamberlain worked himself into a bases-loaded jam in the second, but struck out Scott Hairston, got an out at home from a wild pitch, and struck out Khalil Greene to end the inning. The play on Gonzalez came when Chamberlain skipped a pitch past Jose Molina, then raced home to cover the plate. Molina gathered the ball and fired to Chamberlain, who actually set up to block the plate and got the tag down on Gonzalez before the Padres first baseman was able to get his foot around him to the dish. Chamberlain didn’t allow a hit in any of his other innings and ended his outing with a pair of strikeouts. Had he been more efficient, he could have gone deeper, as he had retired seven of his last eight batters when he hit 100 pitches.

Fortunately the Yankee bullpen did its job. The Yanks had tied the score in the bottom of the fifth when Melky Cabrera walked, stole second and third, and scored on a Molina sac fly. Jose Veras got the final out of the sixth in relief of Chamberlain, then in the bottom of that inning, Derek Jeter singled, stole second, moved to third on a Bobby Abreu groundout to the right side, and scored on an Alex Rodriguez single. Veras pitched around a pair of walks in the seventh. Kyle Farnsworth pitched around an Adrian Gonzalez single in the eighth, and, once again, Mariano Rivera struck out the side in the ninth. Rivera has struck out 25 men in his last 16 innings.

It was a clean, crisp game, and a rewarding 2-1 victory for the Yankees, though it would have been nice if Chamberlain had picked up the win for his efforts. With the win, the Yankees became the eighth team in baseball to reach 40 wins. Next up: Dusty Baker’s Reds.

The Yankees have scored a minimum of eight runs in their last four games and are on a six-game winning streak. Today they send Joba Chamberlain to the mound and will face a far less heralded rookie in Josh Banks.

The Yankees have actually seen Banks before, as his first two major league appearances came in relief for the Blue Jays last year against the Yankees. In his debut in Toronto, Banks retired Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, and Johnny Damon in order. A week and a half later in the Bronx, he gave up a run on a walk to Hideki Matsui, a Robinson Cano single, and a Jose Molina double (he also saw Cabrera and Damon a second time, striking out Melky and walking Johnny).

Banks posted a 6.80 ERA in triple-A this year, was claimed off waivers by the Padres in late April, and snuck into the major league roster after both Chris Young and Jake Peavy went down with injuries. The 25-year-old righty started out in the bullpen, but after pitching six shutout innings in the Padres 18-inning win over the Reds on May 25, he was granted a rotation spot, which he nailed down with a complete game victory over the Giants in his first start and a 2-1 win over the Mets in his second.

A command and control pitcher with marginal stuff, Banks hasn’t walked a man in 20 innings since entering the rotation, and has been extremely efficient with his pitches, needing just 101 for that complete game and not topping 77 in either of two six-inning outings. That makes him an interesting contrast to Chamberlain, who has filthy stuff, but has struggled with walks since moving into the rotation, and can thus use up a lot of pitches rather quickly. Joba’s peripherals went backwards against the Astros in his last start, but despite his four walks, he was cruising along at 89 pitches through six when his turn in the batting order came due, thus ending his outing there. This afternoon, the limits will finally be off . . . mostly. I’m sure the Yankees won’t want him to throw more than 100 pitches, but that’s a respectable limit for any rookie, and Joe Girardi won’t have to pinch-hit for him. For all the hype that has come before, this afternoon should mark Chamberlain’s true debut as a full-fledged American League starting pitcher.

Dayn Perry has a new blog.  In his latest post, Dayn raves about Michael Lewis’ long piece about Cuban baseball in the new issue of Vanity Fair.  Perry writes, "I can say, without exaggeration, that it may be the finest example of long-form sports journalism I’ve ever read."  That’s enough of a recommendation for me.  Sold.      

Giorgio Morandi is one of my favorite painters.  He was a little old Italian guy who almost excusively painted still life pictures.  They are humble and deeply satisfying–he’s a painter’s painter.  Even though the subject matter is traditional, his pictures tackle space, form and composition just like the great modern abstract painters.

The reason I mention him, is because looking at his drawings and paintings is a simple but cherished pleasure for me.  And last night was filled with simple pleasures. It started when I arrived home with a dozen white roses for my wife.  I got caught in the rain and was soaking wet but didn’t mind a bit.  When the rain stopped, we saw a rainbow outside of our apartment window in the Bronx.  Later, a full yellow moon beamed high in the black night.  The weather was crisp and unseasonably cool, almost too good to be true.  

At the Stadium, there was Robinson Cano, who is really starting to swing the bat well, and Joe Girardi seeking out Melky Cabrera on the bench after Melky lined-out in the second inning, then offering him words of encouragement.  Later, Melky made a head-first slide into second that looked more like a belly flop into a swimming pool.  It was a potentially reckless play but one that gave his teammates a good laugh. 

There was the joy of watching one of the all-time greats in fine form.  Alex Rodriguez stole a base, made a wonderful throw to end the fourth inning and crushed a solo home run off of Jake Peavy.   David Cone, who just keeps getting better, looser, funnier, John Flaherty and Michael Kay provided entertaining and informative commentary throughout.  At one point, Kay mentioned that the demonstrative Peavy does not curse and he asked Cone if he ever had any teammates that did not swear.  "None that I trusted," said Cone.

There was pleasure to be found in the Yankees not folding, even after Edwar Ramirez gave up two solo homers and Kyle Farnsworth gave up one of his own.  What makes a fan feel better than insurance runs?  Uh, Johnny Damon’s doing pretty well these days, ain’t he?  And there was Mo, of course, getting a brother-to-brother double play to end the game.  Finally, there was the pleasure of watching the game on-line with the Banterites, who are not only insightful but funny.  Diana had the best line of the night, even though she invoked one of those dreadful 80s pop songs that stick in your head for days:

We can score when we want to
We can kick your team’s behind
Cause your team can’t score and if they can’t score
Well they’re no threat to mine

The Yanks looked they were going to waltz to another easy win in the early innings of last night’s game. Darrell Rasner cruised through the first two frames, striking out four (three of them looking) and the Bombers plated three runs against Jake Peavy. However, Rasner struggled in the third, walking three, giving up two runs, and getting the final out on a drive to deep center with the bases loaded. That made a game out of it at 3-2 Yanks.

Alex Rodriguez killed a Jake Peavy pitch dead to make it 4-2 in the bottom of the inning, and the Yanks made Peavy work enough that, coming off an elbow injury, he was pulled after four innings and 93 pitches. The Yanks then added another run in the fifth against former Red Sock Bryan Corey when Rodriguez singled, stole second, and came around on a Jorge Posada single. Rasner walked five men in five innings after walking just three in his previous 42, and Edwar Ramirez came on to pitch the sixth and seventh. Ramirez set down the side in order in the sixth, striking out two, but with two outs in the seventh he gave back both insurance runs on back-to-back homers by Adrian Gonzalez and Brian Giles.

Homers were Edwar’s big bugaboo in his major league debut last year, but he had only allowed one in his previous 29 innings this year in the majors and minors combined, so, despite the flashbacks, I’m willing to credit Gonzalez and Giles here. After all, they were the two guys I warned you about in my series preview. After the game, Joe Girardi brushed off those homers, both of which came on fastballs down and over the plate to the lefty batters. Of course, he also brushed off the leadoff homer Kyle Farnsworth gave up in the eighth despite the fact that Farnsworth is allowing 2.5 homers per nine innings on the season. To Farnsworth’s credit, he had been homer free in his previous seven outings/innings, and on the year, just six of the batters he has faced who haven’t homered have scored. The Farnsworth homer was the first in the major leagues by Padres prospect Chase Headley, who was called up before Tuesday night’s game and got to play his natural position last night in place of the defensively inferior Kevin Kouzmanoff.

The other good news on that homer is that it was preceded by two more Yankee runs, the latter of which was driven in by Rodriguez, who led the Yankee charge with a 3-for-4 night. After Farnsworth’s frame, the Yanks got Headley’s run back on a Wilson Betemit double (Betemit was also 3 for 4, but made an error at first base in the first and was caught stealing in the sixth) and a Johnny Damon single (Johnny was 3 for 5 with a successful steal).

Mariano Rivera came on in the ninth and gave up a leadoff double to Edgar Gonzalez (the elder Gonzalez’s second two-bagger of the night), but struck out Brian Giles and got the younger Gonzalez to hit a looper to Derek Jeter that doubled his big brother off second to seal the Yankees’ 8-5 win.

In other news, Hideki Matsui had his left knee drained and hopes to avoid the disabled list, but almost certainly won’t be in the lineup this afternoon as the Yankees go for their second straight sweep and seventh straight win.

In his last turn, Jake Peavy pitched six scoreless innings in his first start after an elbow-related DL stint. In his last turn, Darrell Rasner was beat severely about the head and neck by the typically mild-mannered Oakland A’s offense. Peavy needed just 72 pitches to get through those six innings against the Dodgers. He’ll likely be pulled before he hits 100 pitches today. Rasner, despite that beating, has still only allowed three homers and walked just six men in 42 major league innings this season, and hasn’t allowed a homer in any of his last three starts. Peavy was the best pitcher in baseball last year, but couldn’t deliver the Wild Card to San Diego in their one-game playoff against the Rockies. Rasner is 0-3 with a 6.35 ERA in his last three starts.

So there’s that.

Hideki Matsui’s left knee is hurting, so he sits tonight and will see a doctor tomorrow. I’m hoping his knee is just reacting to the wacky changes in atmospheric pressure. Here in New Jersey we’ve had different weather every two hours today. Cool and crisp like an early spring day. Downpour. Overcast and humid, but dry. Downpour. Sunny and hot like a perfect summer day. Downpour. It’s not raining now, but the sky is darkening and I can hear thunder in the distance (make that directly overhead . . . yikes!).

With Matsui out, Wilson Betemit will play first base while Jason Giambi moves to DH. In contrast to his persistent career-long split, Giambi has been a better hitter when not playing the field this year (.297/.458/.622 vs. 252/.383/.563). For those of you filling out All-Star ballots, the Big G leads AL first baseman in VORP this year and Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon, Giambi, and Matsui are all among the top dozen ALers in the stat.

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Pete Abraham’s game-post last night was chock-full-of-goodies, but my favorite part, a bit of information that my wife also shared with me (she learned it from S. Waldman on the radio), came from Ron Guidry, who called Chien-Ming Wang and told him, "You can pitch but you can’t run."

A Wocka, wocka, wocka. 

Cyd Charisse passed away yesterday.  A finer pair of legs have never graced the Silver Screen.  If you’ve never seen her work, I suggest you start with The Band Wagon and Singin in the Rain. 

Last night I got on the subway and stood next to two beefy, corn-fed couples.  They were young, blond, in their twenties, all wearing shorts, a sure sign that they are from out-of-town (it’s not that New Yorkers don’t wear shorts, we do, but in the summertime, suburbanites and tourists seem to almost exclusively wear shorts).  One of the guys had a tatoo on his leg.  They were talking loudly.  I turned to one of them and asked where they were from. 

"St. Louis.  How did you know we were from out-of-town?"

"Just a hunch." 

The foursome was headed up to the Stadium for their first, and only, trip to see the Yankees.  Next, they are going to Boston to catch the Cards play the Sox. 

I thought of them later in the evening as I was watching the game on TV.  What an ideal night to visit the old place.  Sure, it wasn’t a great game–the Padres inept performance made sure of that, as Cliff already noted–but the weather was gorgeous (not a rain drop in sight), Alex Rodriguez hit a bomb, Giambi hit two, including a real shot to left center, Robinson Cano got in some good hacks, and in a blow-out game, the out-of-towners were treated to a vintage three-K performance by Mariano Rivera.  There’s a Yankee Stadium memory for you, tension-free and made-to-order.

Rodriguez also made two nifty plays to his backhand side, showing off his strong arm in the process.  But it should also be noted that his Manny Ramirez impression in the seventh inning cost him his first triple of the season.  Rodriguez hit a line drive to straight away center and judging by the way he left the box, watching, jogging, he thought it was good enough for his second homer of the game.  Instead, he cruised into second and not third.  It’s a lot easier to see a player Cadillac-it when his team is up, 8-0.  Still, Chubb Rock could have been standing on third with his first triple since May 31st, 2006.