Leverage anyone? It's the little legs that kill me.

Wham, Bam, the Monster Jam...I want some serious Score Truckage today, boyeee!

Nothing but matinees the next 4 games, then 6 consecutive west coast late-shows. Not a 7pm start in sight until July 16th.
I was not consulted about this, and do not approve.

The Blue Jays freefall continues, down 5-0 in the 4th.

Chase Utley out 5-6 weeks after thumb surgery ...
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/38039849/ns/sports-player_news/

[3] me either

The more you watch this team, the more it looks like they need to get another hitters. It has the same feel as 2000 just before Cashman git Justice. I am not sure who is available, but this offense seems to need a similar jolt.

I was not consulted in advance of Cano's home run, but I very much approve.

mr. cano is something else.

[7] on their way back from Akron, Walsh and D'Antoni need to swing by DC and sell Dunn on the idea of DHing

[10] doesn't dunn know he was born to dh?

i think we best leave those 2 to concentrate on the knicks.

[11] Gammons was saying the other night that he's "adamantly opposed to DHing" But whatever, Giambi learned to live with it. And its not like he would NEVER play the field, just rarely.

[12] wow, really? i didn't know that. i figured he would see the joys of being a dh and not have to trot his clumsy ass out to the field. that's one good thing about ortiz - he stays in his lane.

[10] [11] If it would help, Walsh and D'Antoni should get the Yanks' permission to tell LeBron he can DH a couple of games if he'd like to.

Meanwhile, Dunn can say whatever he wants, but I have no doubt he'd happily DH if he was traded to the Yanks.

Side note - why, of the possible injury prone DHs, did the Yanks (again) not sign Vlad "even away from Arlington I'm hitting .292/.341/.517" the Impaler? Sigh.

Oh, and did anyone else see that Braves/former Yanks prospect Arodys Vizcaino has a torn elbow ligament? Sure, its only partially torn, and he's only expected to miss 6 weeks, and he's still very young - but it made me feel a little better that the Yanks traded him away.

[14] twice the Yankees could've had Guerrero for a relatively reasonable price (I really don't think he would've raked them over the coals in '04), and twice they didn't bite. I don't get why, but they just have never wanted him. It's very weird.

nice rip Alex. short hop off wall in deep left center for those not watching.

[14] I had Vlad as at-best third on my list, after Matsui and NJ. I'm still pretty surprised he's been performing the best of the three.

First you show the power then you get the respect

[19] i believe in money, power, and respect

[17] nice, thanks!

[18] I mean they were all damaged goods to some degree coming into this season, but Vlad definitely has the most pure talent

[20] you'll be eatin' right

Granderson has GOT to sit against lefties, I'm thinking.

[14] [18] After last year, I would have put Vlad third on the list, too (Matsui #1), though I might have made him #2 given the Stick's propensity for breaking easily.

In 2004, supposedly Cashman wanted Vlad, but Da Boss wanted Sheffield. Sigh.

[23] yeah, not a good looking effort by Grandy there.

re: Sheff. Yeah, he's from Tampa, and George used to see him around town. Sheff talked himself onto the team.

[23] Right, Granderson against lefties is painful. I had Reed Johnson tops on my bench players list. Getting Randy Winn over him pissed me off then and now.

[23, 24] yeah the Sheff/Doc/Tampa connection was the deal breaker there. To be fair, we did get 2 MVP-worthy years out of Sheff, and he never really caused drama when he was here. After he left yes, but not while he was here.

I always respected the fact that after Boone got hurt he volunteered to play 3B if no one else could.

I really don't think the Yankees suffered for having Sheff/Abreu/Nady/Swish instead of Vlad. I realize the argument can be made, but I don't think it was such a big problem.

Dang, did not realize this was an afternoon game.

[3] Ugh. Though Saturday it will be fine. Have to do some house cleaning and it's going to be hot, perfect time to stay indoors with the AC running. And the Mud Hens in the evening.

[27] Fair point. That said, the dark days of 2006's OF might have been a lot easier if Vlad was there. I'm happy to have Swish, though, so I'm not complaining, just wondering.

That the Angels wouldn't have had Vlad, and thus would have been weakened, is also a tempting "what if?" thought.

[29] right. 2005 might have ended very differently.

I really liked Sheff, (dude came up big so many times) but I could have killed him and Bubba Crosby after that disaster in Anaheim.

The Yankees three biggest weaknesses have been on display today: Posada is an awful defensive catcher, the lineup hasn't hit for a month and the team has one reliable reliever.

After today's debacle, and that's what this game has been, will Cashman finally awaken and remedy the mistakes he made this offseason?

Jorge you are a goddamned mo mo

Crap. Well pitched game by CC too.

Time to fire up the ol' Score Truck.

[31] Who's to say that Cashman isn't doing anything?

Coming into this game, I don't think there was a pitcher peforming as poorly as Rowland-Smith. Not being able to score more than two runs off him is startling.

[34] He may be doing, but he isn't succeeding. This lineup has been exposed for some time.

good job Tex. America's Boyfriend (TM) is up.

Score this fuggin run and end this damn series, Alex.

Arod to the rescue.

AMERICA'S BOYFRIEND COMES THROUGH! YANKEES WIN!

[36] So what do you recommend, trading Montero for a defensive catcher, or another bat? Fire Kevin Long? Wait for Rodriguez to hit a HR?

[36] you're not gonna succeed at much with a month to go before the deadline and no team in fire sale mode yet.

wait.. one more inning.

damn, Alex is strong.

Mo time.

I started, but didn't finish the research, but that was a rare inning in which Arod and Tex both had hits. Through May 20, the pair had hits in only five innings.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

[40] Getting at least a bench player more useful than Pena, Russo, Curtis, Huffman, et al. After, Branyan was just acquired by the Mariners on the cheap. Why couldn't the Yankees have made that move?

[43] Amazing. Now don't tell the authorities, I think it's illegal.

Let's go, Mo.

[45] Because Branyan can't play the infeld like Pena, isn't as versatile as Russo, and can play the OF slightly better than Marcus Thames?

It is right to give Mo thanks and praise.

Mmmmmm, Mo.

Puttin heads to bed...

[47] But he can hit, and the Yankees don't have a DH on days when Arod and Posada are in the field. At the least, he is an excellent lefty pinch hitter. He would be an asset on this team. Russo, Huffman and Curtis are essentially the same player. No reason to carry all three.

that series sucked, but sweet way to end it.

[45] Excellent point, Branyan would have helped.

Anyone know when Miranda will be healthy? What the heck is wrong with him, anyway? The bench is really an embarrassment. I'm cool with one, MAYBE two of Russo, Pena, Curtis, Huffman, but all 4 is a cryin shame.

I got comments but need to take a breath. I just got done telling mlb.com that they better stop cutting off the post game before "sounds of the game" or else...

[53] yeah you need one of pena or russo as uif; and probably one of curtis or huffman to back-up the of, but good lord all 4!
with no real dh and with several important hitters have off-years for them to-date this lineup is not as long as it was hoped to be.
hopefully the asb gives a time to recharge.

Ok...

Two guys showed their enormous balls in this game - CC and A Rod.

A Rod rescued virtually everything with that ridiculous belt.

What exactly do you say about CC?

For the most part, CC was *exactly* what an ace is all about. A stopper. CC was dominant and was taking the 7 runs, 7 runs thing and telling the Mariners it wasn't happening today. Not with him on the hill.

And yet, this is not the first time this has happened. Am I alone in thinking that we've seen a number of instances now when CC, as great as he is - when he loses it at a high pitch count, it just isn't happening?

This part isn't so ace like, and yet, what he did in the first seven innings can't be overstated.

But this game was all about the two guys who, (with Cano thrown in there in some fashion) looking at things overall, are clearly our best two non-Mo deity players. Mo is Buddha and cannot be ranked.

So... I don't think any of us disagree that this team has serious problems. We've all been saying it for some time. And I hate to do this - but I certainly agree with William that lacking any quality arm besides Mo in the bullpen makes Girardi's decision that much more difficult when CC seems to be clearly losing it in the 8th.

Of course, William, in saying this, gives some sympathy to Girardi, which is interesting... but I guess it's Cashman's turn on the coals today (and he certainly had a very questionable offseason).

And the question of Posada as catcher certainly reared its head. That was pathetic and disastrous. And YEP - checked pitch fx, and that passed ball was WELL within the strike zone. 2-2, not 3-1. Kay correctly pointed out what a difference that is.

It's been the weird thing - we see so many flaws in this team, but with some bashers, a lot of excellent starting pitching, bubble gum and Mo, we have to acknowledge that the team has the best record in baseball.

And I think it's fair to say that I was flat out right that the Rays built up that ridiculous record by playing a weak early schedule. I showed it statistically, and it's been borne out.

But we got some real problems ourselves.

I wrote a bunch more, but it wasn't very interesting, so I'll leave it at that.

I don't know that anyone is going to drop by this thread, so I may post this again, but it seemed relevant, in light of last night's conversation.

As the game went along, I was thinking that Kay and Leiter were doing a particularly good job - they were informative, interesting, and on point. Of course, everything is rainbows and fresh daisies when CC is dealing.

And then came the 7th. In the 7th inning, when the game was so obviously on the line, when you needed to be following along with CC pitch by pitch, Kay and Leiter were having a long, distracting discussion about Edwin Jackson's no hitter and his pitch count. The 7th was a great summary of why I have a problem with the duo.

In the 8th, where situation critical went to situation life support, they had hit on yet another tangent - Strasburg being on the all star team. How in the world can that be a topic of conversation when an extremely important game for the course of the season is right at the decision point?

To Kay's credit, he did pull it back in, realizing that what was happening demanded the attention of the guys in the booth. But they should have never started down that road to tangentville.

Hey, Team, was at the game today! Brought along my kiddo and his friend.

Second trip, first this year.

Is it me or are crowds less into games than they used to be?

Like for example, the SECOND I saw Jorgie let that ball get behind him I was overcome with a feeling of dread that the whole fucking ballgame got away from us in that second. (I was right, of course.) But the thing is, it felt like I was the only one in a stadium full of Yankees fans who actually noticed, let alone cared!

Also, the clapping with two strikes thing seems to have nearly died completely.

We were sitting way the fuck out down the right field line for about half the game (those were our assigned seats) and we were perched out more or less above the plate for the other half.

Also, Robbie's shot? Fucking beautiful. Sooo fluid. So effortless.

Sabathia's ability to change speeds looks soo impressive in person. Real wizardry.

Alex' shot was *powerful.* Such strength.

And finally, Mariano Rivera. My God. I swear to God I was nearly in tears watching him. My kid asked me what was wrong, we won and I told him I was simply in awe. As he was pitching I made sure to keep him focused, "That's Mariano Rivera, one day, when you're a grown up, you'll be able to say you saw him. You'll never see his like again so pay attention. Watch his delivery. So perfect. That's Mariano Rivera."

And finally, I found it really hard to leave after the game, as always, because I'm just so transfixed by the enormous green field. Really, is there anything more beautiful than a baseball field? *Especially* in the Bronx! Such an oasis.

In other words, we had a fabulous time, overpriced crappy food and nonstop noise and advertising notwithstanding.