the thought actually crossed my mind this morning, "If George were still around, we'd definitely be hearing from him today."

not saying thats a good or bad thing, I just think its true.

Bad thing.! Don't miss it at all. I always thought it was tacky.

This is going to be a dogfight. Three good teams going at it. That's sports. GS never understood that.

7-2 Yanks.

Homers from A Rod and Puma.

Cano 2-5.

Reggie Jackson comes off the bench and sac bunts.

[3] THAT POST IS JUST INSANE!
Cano only gets 1 hit.

Dustin Moseley...LIAB™ ?

[5] Don't get it. Explain.

[6] Lightening in a Bottle, baby!

Youkalis is on the DL. It's kind of incredible that the Sox aren't just buried by now.

Oh, Teix, do it to me baby!

I hope this is not just a variation on the theme of the Yankees scoring two runs on the first two batters then getting shut down.

There goes A Rod's mojo again

[7] Aha. I guessed the "in a" part, but I got too hung up on the analogy with DIAF.

[12] I suppose one could lead to the other.

Stinky

[13] Oh, right, if you had a bottle filled with old newspaper and gasoline or something.

[15] Always remember:

http://tinyurl.com/28fh2l9

Hm..that did not look like the Austin-Kearns-plays-good-corner-OF-Defense that we heard about.

BTW, since some of us were bitching about Girardi's lineups the last couple of days, including me, it's only fair for me to say I like this lineup v. LHP.

Uh-oh...is the lightening out of the bottle?

Lightning. No "e".

[20] Dammit, I did that again.

(You and I are the only annoying people here tonight, so I am taking it on myself to be extra annoying.)

[20] Actually, I once had a teacher of mine write on a paper "Your a teribble spaller." He was correct, of course, and I think that I've gotten worse over the years despite writing for a living!

[22] I must be annoying, because I don't find you annoying at all.

[24] I take that as a challenge.

Rance Mulliniks is one of the Blue Jays announcers. That warms my heart because he reminds me of my youth, and his was one of my all time favorite baseball names.

[26] You mean you remember when he played?

I've listened to the Blue Jay radio broadcast a number of times. When I go to Maine with my family in the summer, I can't get the Yankees, so it's either the Red Sox or the Blue Jays (or nobody). When the Yanks are playing the Jays, it's perfect.

[27] I assume you are being sarcastic about me remembering him ; ). But of course I remember Rance...he played on the '85 Jays, who felled the '85 Yankees, despite the best season (arguably) of my favorite player (Mattingly), in THE formative baseball season of my adolescence!

See, there was the squeeze attempt, only a few innings too late. Stupid Girardi!

[22],[24] (When you speak in parentheticals, it's almost as though you're speaking to yourself, so technically he is right >;)

No way he was out. Show me the replay.

My main man Jeter is k-i-l-l-i-n-g me this year.

Oh, I wasn't asking whether you're old enough, only whether he was memorable. I am old enough but didn't remember the name.

[30] Oh shut up. I guess technically you were shutting up, since in parentheses all of your words are silent.

{chirp, chirp, chirp}

Rance Mullinicks is a hard name to forget, to be honest. So is Candy Maldonado and Gary Gaetti.

[35] Oh, and so is...
Uh....
It will come to me later.

[28] Damn Joe Cowley...

[35] Yes, Candy Maldonado...perhaps my absolute favorite all time baseball name. Or at least all time of the last 40 years or so.

Nicely turned, boys!

[8] Cameron is back on the DL also.

MP... what kind of writing?

[34] (Our minds are one... our thoughts are one...)

Mosely-Mosely seems determined to hand the Jays another run?

Terrible cut-off throw. Jeter is falling apart!

FUCK! Jeter and Mr. M cost us

Crap.

What is it with the Blue Jays?

Well, lightning or lightening, it's definitely out of the bottle now.

[41] seems...

Darkling in a bottle.

ARod plays WAY off the line. Saving singles and giving up doubles?

[40] I'm a history prof. I write history stuff...articles, one book.

[48] I guess it's like playing a shallow CF...you take away more hits but run the risk of giving up the big hit.

[49] What area of history?

[51] Ancient Greek and Roman.

Ruben Studdard headlines over Clay Aiken... isn't that like peanut butter and Miracle Whip on stale bread?

[10] Ahem.

[54] I thought I was the only here, I didn't know anyone was listening.

[52] Would you know of the Ancient Greek playwright Terence? My first acting role was in a retelling of his play Adelphoe ; it was distributed to Greek & Roman history departments here and there... just sayin'...

Somehow, I never expected that Dustin Moseley would be starting for the Yankees.

[56] A little. In fact, he was a Roman playwright, though he adopted Greek "new comedy" models. The Adelphoe is a classic...city v. country, indulgent dad v. strict dad. It's been used and reused for centuries!

[57] That's not surprising, given how hard it is to predict baseball.

i don't like when the yankees look like dog shit.

So, when do we begin to seriously question the whole Cervelli is really good defensively because my eyes tell me so thing?

[56] Check that: Latin. My mistake.

That was weird. It almost looked like he hurt his hand or something.

[60] You don't like that?

Speedy, gritty, gutty Marcus Thames!

[60] I'm listening on the radio, so they sound like it, too...

[59] Suzyn?--people try and try and I just say, "Forget it! It's not basketball! It's not football!"

[64] no weeping, i don't :{

[61] I thought the numbers say that Cervelli isn't all that great defensively, and the only reason he looks so good is because Posada's the primary.

[68] No weeping in baseball.

And since people are asking me questions about myself...[67] Weeping, weren't you working on a diss. in medieval studies? what's the story? Or should I not ask?

You know Maddon would put on a play in this situation.

Terence probably would too, come to think of it. Big audience and all.

[69] Oh yes, I agree, except that I don't think he even *looks* that good even in comparison to Po'.

Wow... does ARod look completely cooked or what?
Our 2 most disappointing players: Jeter and ARod.
You just can't predict Baseball.

I HATE seeing people in the stands on the phone.
It's soooooo not Baseball.

[72] Maddon:Terence::Girardi:Plautus.

HAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHA.

That's a little classics humor.

[74] Any discussion of "most disappointing players" on the Yankees has to include Granderson...at the top of the list in my estimation. Which is not to disagree with your broader observation.

[75] At least you're not there listening to them, like I was last night.

[71] Hahahahah!!! Yeah, maybe don't ask.
Actually, I just got myself a new adviser so hopefully we'll all turn over a new leaf. Hope to be done by this time next year. And I'm preparing to do my western civ adjuncting, which I love. I finally caved and ordered a textbook for the little buggers. It should make things better. I'm glad I tried to reinvent the wheel but it's nice to have the textbook and appreciate that it's already been reinvented a thousand times.

I think the Yanks are 1 for 12 tonight on balls hit in play. That makes me slightly optimistic about the rest of the game.

[77] While I'm not ready to give up on him, I agree that he is probably the most disappointing player this season.

[80] Just don't get tooptimistic on us.

[79] Oh dear...always use a textbook. By that, I mean, order a textbook and then lecture on whatever you want. But for most students, the textbook is a security blanket (even when they don't read it). Plus it allows you to shunt off annoying factual questions in class: well, Timmy, you can look that up in the text. And if you are really slick, you can drop here and there how the textbook is outdated or incorrect: What Sally, that's what the textbook says...well I guess that's *one* interpretation, if you completely the new archaeological evidence.

What department are you in--history, english, something else?

Derek really cannot catch up with the fastball.

Oh, Derek.

[84] The numbers bear that out. He has been hitting grounders at a career high rate

[83] Heheh. Yes, indeed. The textbook will prove to be my security blanket, too. It's a lot of work to teach exclusively from the sources if the class refuses to hold up its end of the conversation. Still, the textbook I'm using is a sourcebook with good intros and commentary (before, in an effort to save them money, I just used online sources--never again).

(I'm in history. But I also have an MA in religious studies.)

This game is flying by

[24][25] Trans-continental time lag...I find you both equally annoying so the competition is ON! :)

Is this game worth following? Are the Yankees going to fall to 2nd place now?

[86] Can you explain the correlation between batspeed and grounders?
Is it that, because you get to the ball a split second later, you're always striking it as it descends, nipping the top half only but never the middle or bottom?

Greetings from hot and steamy Atlanta... I'm hoping to get together with the alarmed for dinner shortly

[87] I stopped trying to save the students money when I began to notice that most of them had more personal electronics and nicer clothes than I do. That, and I figure the one stinking thing they can spend money on that's remotely noble is a book.

[89] Is it worth following? Well, not really. But given that the Yankees seem committed to completing it in around two hours, you might as well follow along for the last few innings of futility.

[91] No way! Awesome.
You must give us a report on the dinner. I mean, as a food writer.

Well, Dustin Moseley > AJ Burnett, anyway. Faint praise.

[94] Whatever it is, bank on thelarmis not eating it >;)

My wife just casually suggested that it "seems ridiculous to got through all this" (i.e., marked balls, etc) every time ARod comes up. I agree.

Alex has zero oomph left in his swing.

That was meek.

Time was, that was a warning track shot, at least.

[92] Agreed.

I hate when Sterling does that...

[93][95] Well, seeming as the alternative is "working" (deadly dull assignment looking at Chinese pharmaceitcal industry...yawnn...) I will follow along.

Your guys chat about university is making me jealous, I regret not finishing the PhdD and being in school again..waking up at 11, "studying" in the library...it's a good life, yes?

[100] It was a big swing. Off the bat I thought it was some kind of shot, at least. Instead, it was a weak-ass fly ball. Something is dreadfully not ok.

[101] If you factor out the sadistic, kafkaesque hazing, and disproportionate compensation, it can be, yes.

[101] Kafkaesque hazing...brilliant! But, I was facing that here while trying to navigate the insanely hierarchical Japanese academic tradittion..which basically means working for your prof and never questioning his theories...you can guess how that ended up...

A-Rod, real bargain at $300 million, well done HalHank!

[102] How is he moving? Maybe not having the second surgery is proving to be not ok...

It's the EIGHTH already??

Jesus! Not even two hours yet.

ARod is cooked.
Girardi should get him a bunch of hookers and give him 3 nights off. Maybe have Jeter over for 1 or 2 of them.

He certainly ain't helping the team.

[101] Don't forget all of the drugs and wild sex. Academia rocks ✌.

[107] That's what Maddon would do.

Well.... due to Red Sox injuries, we should at least get the Wildcard.

[105] He looks fine at third. I've not noticed any physical inhibitions on that count.

[106] At the rate this is going, it can't end soon enough...

My pop in Bklyn just mailed me this, very cool:

"1944 when Charley "Red" Barrett played for the Boston Braves. Barrett was a career .500 pitcher during eleven seasons with the Reds, Braves, and Cardinals. It was on August 10th of that year, playing his former team, that Barrett made history. He threw not only the shortest night game in history at one hour and fifteen minutes, but also the complete game with the fewest pitches ever. Barrett needed only fifty-eight pitches to shutout the Reds 2-0 with only two hits and no walks."

[105] Actually, that's not true. I think I remember a ball last week, to is left, that I was a little surprised he didn't get to.

Oh no.
Can we trade Kerry Wood right now?

I know where we're going with this and frankly, I have no stomach for it.

I don't really care, but why is Girardi pulling Moseley here? I'm not following his pitch count. Otherwise, I can't believe that he's worrying about platoon match-ups now.

[116] I think they are, in fact, concerned about his pitch count. He was only at 85.

What did I say?

Kerry Wood fits in well with this bullpen, huh?

I didn't even recognize Wood all clean shaven and kempt. He looks thinner than I recall.
.
.
.
But also sucky, apparently.

How do the Jays do it? Leading MLB in homers...by a mile.

But still have a sucky OBP.

[117] OK, that makes sense. Like I said, I'm not following all that closely, so I had no idea what his pitch count was.

One thing you've got to hand to Moseley...he is an excellent fielding pitcher.

Oh are you kidding???? DFA him now please, Chan Ho Wood is not what this pen needs!

[119] Meet the old Eighth Inning Guy...

[121] The last two batters were sort of a microcosm of that, no?

No, I mean the reverse!

Meet the new Eighth Inning Guy!

Whatever.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.
Frick and Frack.

[127]

♬ Meet the new 8IG...same as the old 8IG! ♬

[116] I'm waiting for Girardi's book with Tom Verducci at the end of the season explaining all his decisions among other things he obfuscated during his Yankee Years...

I just don't understand how Cashman can spend $200million and still have such a crappy bullpen...perplexing...the pen is like this: (Weeping & MP, this for you!)

"It was Chaos and Night at the first, and the blackness of darkness, and hell's broad border;"

[121] Dave Kingman, among others, made a career of it.

The Washington Nationals placed slugger Adam Dunn on waivers on Tuesday afternoon

Brian Cashman's trade deadline looks better and better each game.

I haven't checked on how he has being doing lately, but it's time to replace Cervelli with Romine. Cervelli has become an absolute zero.

[130] It's simple. I'll explain it to you.
Relief pitchers aren't good pitchers. Because if they were good pitchers, they wouldn't be relief pitchers.

[132] That's not really as much of a story as it sounds. It's revocable waivers, so they'll just pull him back if a team makes a claim. They're just trying to see what interest there might be. If their asking price was high before July 21, I doubt it drops after that point.

[134] Tampa's bullpen is full of fire-balling young bucks..we have Kerry Wood...there's a difference!

[132] I would be surprised if he makes it far enough for an AL team to claim him.

I hate to give them the credit, but the Red Sox are really having an amazing season considering all the injuries they have endured.

[130][134] Yeah, I agree with RIYank on this one. It's hard to build a BP because relievers tend to be flaky from year to year and within a season.

Tampa is a team with a very good FO. Add 10 years of getting the best picks, and they have a stocked farm.

[136] I bet you the Rays' bullpen will be weak in September. Just watch. Every year, somebody or other has a great bullpen, and then suddenly it sucks.

[136] Like 2008, the Rays have cobbled together a dominant bullpen. My first inclination is to give Maddon credit for that.

[128] Except we *do* get fooled again! And again. And again. And again...

[136] The Yankees had fireballing bucks as well: Aceves, Joba, Marte, Robertson, even Albie and Melancon throw pretty hard. But it's hard to predict who is going to pan out in a given season. Add in a couple if injuries...

[140] Top picks ain't the reason Tampa's doing so well

[145] Grit and hustle? Wheaties? Maddon?

[139] I know, it's true, it's true!
Still, you'd think...

Sigh.

I gotta go -- stuff, you know how it is. I was unhappy anticipating that I'd miss the end of the game, now not so much.

Ciao. Winning streak starts tomorrow.

Memo to Girardi: Kearns is a pinch hitter in only the most desparate situations.

Talk about subtraction by addition. These moves by Cashman really seem ripe to backfire.

The Yankees are now playing poorly in almost every aspect of the game. Not base-running, but only because they have chosen not to have any base-runners.

HBT thinks Dunn has a good chance of being traded after the deadline. He makes so much money that the Pittsburghs and Baltimores of the league aren't going to claim him...in case they end up having to keep him.

I sometimes can't get over just how unlucky Mitre is.

Hard hit balls off Mitre? How unlucky.

The Yankees are very lucky that Boston has suffered so many injuries.

[151] Then why not trade him before the deadline? I'm asking seriously. Why would they have such a high price tag before the deadline, essentially forcing teams to wait until after the deadline when (it seems to me) his trade value will be lower?

[131] There are sure a lot of "Dave Kingman jerk" articles on the web...

I'm not laughing at this game. Someone needs to get their a$$ kicked for this game.

10. monkeypants
August 3rd, 2010 at 7:21 pm

I hope this is not just a variation on the theme of the Yankees scoring two runs on the first two batters then getting shut down.

Sigh.

[151] True, but Dunn has to make it through the NL before an AL team can put in a claim. PIT and BAL may not put a claim on him, but the Jints or Phils could.

[156] Yep. This team needs a little Billy Martin managerial ass-kicking, or something.

[155] Playing chicken, I guess.

Happens all the time...players get traded after the deadline, when it would be easier if they'd gotten it down before the deadline.

I suppose they may be thinking his price could go up. Especially if a contending team has a lot of injuries (Boston?)

[133] I have to agree that Cervelli is just painful to watch, at this point.

It was fun while it lasted, but that's over. No one liked my joke that Cervelli makes it seem like Bang the Drum Slowly had a happy ending. At least that guy died with some dignity.

That's just great. The Yankees are now getting a full train run on their asses. I hate to say it, but I had a terrible feeling that the Jays were going to come in and absolutely kick the Yankees' asses. I don't know why I even watched. Fortunately, I missed most of tonight's game by choice, so my blood pressure isn't quite as high as last night.

Hey, look on the bright side - at least the Yanks can block waiver deals now!

The new additions have mucked everything up - but like I said in another thread, that's inevitable. If they have real value, they will have been worth it. If they are collectively as useless as I fear they might be, then this is every bit as bad as it seems.

One big problem that led to this digger the team is on right now? CC hasn't been pitching like an ace. They need him more than ever, and he hasn't been awful, but he has had three starts in a row that were simply not the dominant starts we needed out of him. I'd still like someone to explain to me why Girardi has let him throw so many pitches in those starts, btw. In each instance, it seemed pointless and potentially destructive.

Well, I had a feeling that things could go very wrong in this seven game homestand. To be crude, this team better nut up, and fast, or they might just dig themselves a bit of a hole. It may be team meeting time, as silly as that sounds for a team one game off the best record in baseball. But they better start playing for the jugular. Boston will show no mercy to a team that's been playing like a bunch of gutless hacks. I have hopes they can turn it around from here, but the intensity needs to go up a bunch of notches.

And tell Bud to shove those numbered balls into a dark place. Enough of them. Who gives a shit about his 600th home run? How about some wins? Yeah, I'd like some wins.

Teix is slower than I thought

[160] Youkilis could be out for the season, so Dunn would make a lot of sense for them. They have the money, the prospects and can claim him before the Yankees and Rays. Epstein may not think it is worthwhile, but if he is watching the way the Yankees have been playing, a move like Dunn could make the difference.

Wow. After yesterday's interminable game, this one was downright brisk.

Ugly, but quick.

Off to make some phone calls. Maybe I'll check in later for the post mortem bitching and commiseration, which is usually pretty entertaining!

I missed most of the game again. Am I to presume that Romero features some kind of off speed pitch?

[165] I no I have nothing more to say. Like most, I think they need a foot up their collective ass. What really makes me sick is how SCARED guys like AJ and Joba look on the mound. Be a frickin' man, for Godsakes. Play for the throat, and if you lose, fine. But right now guys like that are flat out cowards, and I would hope they get called out for it.

Right now, I'm also disgusted at how little the Yanks seem to care about protecting their home field. They rolled over like bitches in these first two games. Losing is one thing, but this is pathetic.

Still, there's always tomorrow!

"I know" (not "I no") - the Yanks have destroyed my cognitive abilities. I should start watching sports with more sequins.

[166] You can also safely assume that he throws with his left hand!

Jack Curry's comments from the broadcast were pretty amusing in retrospect. He said he made the three trades to give Girardi as many options as possible (is that a good thing?), especially if they face lefties in the playoffs. Well, if this is the lineup we are going to see come playoff time, this is probably all "mute" anyway. I can just see John Danks and Cliff Lee salivating at the thought of facing Austin Kearns and Francisco Cervelli.

[161] The way this team was structured, one would expect at least three runs and likely more. CC and even Vasquez have lost games that they pitched well enough in, but the lineup didn't show up.

Am I wrong in suspecting the players are gassed?.Is it the weather? Is it conditioning? Are they losing focus? Too many moves that backfired throughout? I can only go by what it sounds like, and it sounds like these guys are 2008 all over again; a collection of fragile psyches waiting for someone to do something right and falling apart the minute something goes wrong.

Wow, I just noticed the "38 Pitches" blog link on the right! Went there once..maybe time for some comedy after this loss, will head over there now..

[170] Presumably in the playoffs Lee would face Austin Kearns and Jorge Posada, if that makes you feel any better.

It would be awesome if someone would alter that mural of the Boss to have a seriously pissed off frown. Dude is dead, and I'll bet he's still angrier than I am.

I hope that A Rod will mercifully hit his 600th soon, Andy will come back, the new additions will sort themselves out, and sometime in the future we'll be able to look back at this little stretch and laugh. But I have to admit that I am surely concerned.

Also, I have the solution to the Yankees offensive malaise. Joe Girardi just needs to send yet another wildly different lineup out there tomorrow. Pick which three starters "really need a rest!" and start from there.

I say

LF Gardner
CF Granderson
1B Berkman
3B Rodriguez
2B Cano
C Posada
DH Thames
RF Kearns
SS Pena

[166] Kay agrees with you. He notes that the Yanks are thrown off-balance by a good changeup. And Romero has a good changeup and an excellent curve.

[171] The problem in 2008 was that a team designed to hit its way to the playoffs, didn't.

[176] The Yankees are thrown off balance by a mediocre changeup. They're thrown off balance by a change up that doesn't change up off of anything.

[173] Presumably....but with Girardi, that's far from a given.

[171] Like I mentioned in the postgame thread from yesterday, new additions always require sorting out, and that may be part of what is happening. They also are playing teams that they don't match up fantastically against. The Rays are not only good, but speedy, the Jays crush inconsistent pitching and have a number of hurlers the Yankees have trouble with, etc. (I hope the truth isn't closer to "the Yanks have trouble matching up with teams that don't suck).

A Rod's thing has been a distraction, imo. You're certainly right about CC pitching well enough to win - but the team is going through a funk, and my point is that in those stretches, you kind of need your ace to throw a flat zero, and win a downward momentum stopping game. CC is certainly good enough.

Back to matchups, I've always suspected that the Yanks are the better team, and yet still don't match up fantastically head to head with Tampa. Which means if they somehow pull out of their blah period and make it to the ALCS, it's going to be a doggone nail biter, even if we win.

I think they can turn it around - although if Jeter continues to be a problem in the leadoff spot, that's a problem...

All seasons have ups and downs, and this is a tough stretch that has come at a time of some dislocation. They had the Boss dying, the A Rod thing, and the trading deadline and the new additions come one after the other. I think they are not playing go for the throat baseball. Well, it's time to play with some venom. We'll see if they can.

At the heart of this lineups struggles right now are:

1) An "everyday" player who cant hit lefties in Granderson.
2) A cleanup hitter who is probably dealing with nagging injuries, but now is most affected by the weight of a milestone.
3) Overreliance on Cervelli, who is an awful hitter.

and the one we'd all like to ignore

4) The continuing decline of Derek Jeter at the top of the order.

What exactly is "go for the throat baseball," anyway?

[181] I don't know if we'd like to ignore it, or with his off year in 2008 if we even can ignore it.

[182] Playing like you're not waiting for something bad to happen. Going at 200% out of the box and sliding into second like you don't give a crap if you break someone's leg. Throwing pitches with intention, not with wavering hopes.

Fire on the bench and on the basepaths?

I don't know. If you don't think it exists, fine. It may be Sunday softball, but my team is back to back to back to back in a league with some damn fine players. I'm a law student and was gone for the last one, but they replaced me with a 6'2, 200 lb. corn fed kid from the midwest who played college ball. Why did my team win? Because we play like we want to kill you for nine innings, and more if it takes more. We come at you until the game is over, and if the score isn't in our favor after the last out, fine. But we play hard, and sometimes when one team is playing with more intensity than the other, that other team will crack.

Looks like the Rays may close out the Twins and gain sole possession of 1st

Heh, an almost brawl in Boston...

[182] Probably "don't rest your best players daily when you're in a pennant race"

[186] But then, it's not Girardi's fault that some of the players he's been handed are very good, but are old. I do agree, though, that it feels like this team got a little complacent - with blame on everyone, on that count. Time to snap out of it.

[180] I agree. It seems like this happens every year. New additions seem like they should improve the team, but don't...at least not for the first week or two. Takes awhile to absorb the newcomers.

[188] I mean, it's just a matter of simple logic. In simplest terms, a workplace is a workplace. Think of any job, and now think of a few firings and few new hires, and imagine that the new hires threaten to takeover certain responsibilities and might make more employees irrelevant and, eventually, fired.

Now play at that workplace in front of fifty thousand people.

[185] Maybe losing the division will light a fire under the team

Second place Yankees.

I have a feeling this weekend is going to be very ugly for one of the two teams.

[184] If you have a bunch of 6'2, 200 players with college ball experience, I wouldn't be surprised to win a few games myself... I've played with all kinds, and while red-asses are amusingly annoying, I find it more productive if my players execute the way they're supposed to, instead of ranting and raving like someone who just left the asylum.

[187] I think much like his bullpen management, he takes a sound principle to the illogical extreme.

Can anyone name the last time the Yankees lineup featured the same nine men, in the same batting order, in the same positions, three days in a row?

Ugh, [189] should say "think of a few firings and a few new hires..."

I used to write for a magazine. I hate to say it, but new hires were even more unsettling than the firings.

[193] Can anyone name the last time the Yankees lineup featured the same nine men, in the same batting order, in the same positions, three days in a row?

What difference does that make? I bet you Stengel rarely if ever used the same lineup three days in a row and he was a genius. Of the things to complain about with regard to Girardi or Cashman or the players, this is not one of them, at least in my mind.

[192] We don't. But there are certainly a number of guys in the league who played college ball. I think prior to the kid's arrival, none of us (on my team) were ex-college ball types - it was just a team of good athletes. And it's not about any ranting and raving - we play our asses off, we play as a team, we believe we're going to win, and yes, we are a fiery bunch. But I think there are probably a couple teams in the league with more talent. We still beat them.

[193] I'm not sure if that even matters. No matter where a player is in the lineup or what their role is on the pitching staff, their job is to get on base or to get a batter out.

[194] I knew what you were trying to say, and the overall point still stands.

[193], [195] In last game's wrap up thread I commented on this. I do think there is potentially a statistical argument made for why it's problematic to play certain games with four substitutions in the lineup.

[197] Thanks. I hate when the loss of a single letter threatens the meaning of an entire sentence.

[196] On any given day...