Playing hooky today, with the game on TV again. Hopefully today's performance is a little better.

let's get em, Phil.

I am most pleased with the lunchtime feast I've prepared for myself.
-Thin-sliced chicken breast/lettuce/spicy mustard/freshly ground pepper on a huge hunk of ciabatta bread
-bag of Blazin Buffalo & Ranch Doritos
-20 oz bottle of seltzer water.

most pleased, indeed

Rats!
no pickle..

c'mon, Cap!

Am i the only on *not* rooting for a two run HR here?

4) ...only one not rooting...

[4] was just thinking that...

[4] on the other hand, maybe if A-Rod hits it...

[4] rooting against the "two quick runs and retreat to zombieland "gameplan of late?

ARod should bunt.

MK AGREES WITH ME!

Let's all watch ARod's swing. Is he rotating the hips as he should?

Sweet. Finally.

a Centaurian blast!

Good news: ARod hits #600 and our long national nighrmare is over.

Bad news: first inning two run HR.

Congratulations on #600 Alex! Too bad you just cost the Yankees the game though.

what a relief!
for those not watching. ball retrieved by a stadium staffer off the netting over monument park.

See what happens when Teix doesn't steal ARod's mojo.

YAY ROD!!!!

bullshit, blue. Cano looked safe. Replay please...

16) are you sure? We really have to wait to check if that is one of ARod's specially marked balls.

On the replay it looked like a nice easy swing... a "not trying for a HR" swing. Just see the ball... hit the ball.

Finally! Let's see what else the media can criticize Rodriguez for now...

I don't know, Cano looked safe there.

our long national nightmare is over

I'm gonna go sit in a cold shower and sob quietly for an hour

21) see what happens when he just plays within himslef, doesn't try to do too much, takes it one game at a time, and just tries to make solid contact, not looking for a HR?

; )

[14] see [7]

y'all don't get it. a-rod breaks the homer rut means that the 2 run lead jinx is also dead. it is known.

Lunch with CAMERON DIAZ? No Ménage à trois?

Finally over, no more talk of 600. Congrats to Alex! Now let's win the next 5 in a row.

hi team just loaded gameday and am greeted by this glorious news.

28) i will miss all the talk of specially marked balls. But i'll always have memories.

Too bad Alex couldn't have waited one more game. The Yankees/Red Sox series could really use another storyline.

newsflash Cameron Diaz: he's not just your boyfriend.. he's AMERICA'S BOYFRIEND (TM).

leave it to A-Rod to hit it while people are stuck at a desk. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[31] and i am going to be at friday's game - that selfish ahole!

[30] Did you hear Suzyn talk about Alex's special balls?

35) no...i'm watching the Blue Jays telecast on Rogers Sportsnet, so I get Buck Martinez and Ranxe Mulliniks. That's normally not bad, though they just went on an extended excursus about the Yankees' off season based exclusively on the wisdom of Mike Lupica.

DAMMIT, I missed the 600. Well, I heard John Sterling call it. I never have to be driving on a weekday afternoon, except today.

Ouch. Terrible slide.

Jesus, Curtis. That was almost an end to your season.

gardner is slumping.

[36] I was going to mention this earlier but forgot: Red Sox Nation is mainly talking about next year.
It gives me nostalgic feelings (much as you and Ranxe/Rance).

congrats alexander emmanuel rodriguez!!!

that's A LOT of homeruns.

[42] We know you're really more interested in the steal.

[38] Yeah, it was. I'd blame the contact before the slide.

[41] i'm still worried about the shit sox. man, i'd love to sweep them under the stadium this weekend...

i can't believe you never heard of rance mullinicks!!! didn't you collect baseball cards?! they were my favorite food in the 80's...

[41] haha, that is some yummy nostalgia. one of the few things i miss about living in rsn is not being able to fully savor last year's ws and the subsequent off-season "moves" the rs made.

[43] yes, most definitely! i almost didn't use any exclamation points. i'm happy for the lead. 600 homers, ho-hum. 300-300 = HALLELUJAH!!!

a-rod's about to join an exclusive club that houses both steve finley and (my man) reggie sanders. that's some serioius company!!!

40) yeah. The good thing is is still managing to keep his OBP up even though he has been scuffling pretty good since the beginning of July.

[48] yeah, and even when he strikes out he tend to do it after 6 or 7 pitches a lot of the time. So he makes them work.

45) I think the RSox are cooked. And yes, I am tempting baseball fate with this.

God, I know Phil is still in control, but ugh. The third inning, after we got two in the first... Nerve-wracking.

what was the crowd reaction/ovation like? long? was the stadium filled yet?

he best steal a damn base soon...

Red Sox: Youkalis is a huge loss. If he comes back shortly, they could still make a good run, with other players they're getting back now. (I discount Ellsbury on the grounds that they're OF is in decent shape and Ells is badly overrated.)

good job, phil.

now get one more like that, quick like...

Huuuuuuuuuuughes.

Hughes is missing where Posada is setting up, often. But he has good movement today (it seems) and he's yet to leave one ovwr the middle of the plate.

So does the security guard get lunch with Rodriguez and Diaz?

[52] they booed because he upstaged Jeter's leadoff single.

kidding. nice ovation. great moment.

[56] Posada is simply unable to set up his glove where Hughes is going to throw the ball. He's really starting to hold the team back. Girardi should discipline him. Hard.

i watched the 10-minute Swish spot on E:60 last nite. he's a really good - and fun - dude!

55) I have really enjoyed watching Phabulous Phil his last two starts. I had not seen him pitch all season, and despite his mistake against Joyce last time out, he has looked pretty impressive to me.

[57] he gets to show the actress his specially marked ball.

Jeets!

[53] I've been outta the loop for a few days. I googled Ugly after I read your post. WOW! That's a shame. Hey, a double for the Captain.

[58] how's that pickle? ; )

[61] told you you'd be impressed

59) is it time to think about calling up Romine?

65) yep, I remember. You were right!

RI - my folks didn't go to the brewery, but they had the beer. my mom loved the stout, but surprisingly didn't like the blueberry. she said the lighthouse ale is excellent and i believe she's saving at least a bottle for me for when i go home turkey day. she bought a sixer of the stout for my brother, per your request!

[66] I think Cashman really dropped the ball by letting the Red Sox get Saltalamacchia.

Also, another Jeter ground ball. It's sad.

[69] I don't. Saltalamacchia literally can't throw the ball.

[68] Nice! Well, the brewery would have been fun, but I am not at all surprised that your mom didn't care for the blueberry. It's cute, but it's not good beer.

69) and as you wrote that, Jeter almost got picked off. Didn't he used to be a good baserunner?

I'm surprised Kay doesn't say, "it's trouble if it's not caught."

Now that's a double!

[69] please let this be the game where jeter and arod start to put together some solid at-bats. august to october, i'm not asking for that much.

oh good Ian O'Connor already has his anti-A-Rod column up and ready to go!

[76] it's like an obit for a drugged out hollywood star - that thing is always ready to go.

At least the first inning two run homerun jinx appears, in fact, to be broken. Hat tip to Seamus.

Jesse Barfield in 86 and ?

79) what is the question?

[79] That was in regards to the trivia... 2 Jays have led the league in HR's. Jesse Barfield was one in 1986 with 40. I'm drawing a blank on the other, though I would think Delgado.

[81] George Bell?

RIYank.
http://tinyurl.com/39sztzy
They can have him.

[81] Did George Bell lead the league in '87 when he won the MVP?

Or was it Shawn Green that year he hit like 45 HR? (2003?)

[81] et al - nope. It was the one that got away.

81) Bell and Moseby both hit a lot of HRs. maybe Bell? That OF was stacked for about three or four years.

wow. delgado, green and bell are all good bets.

i seem to remember it being george bell. he won with like 32, or something.

then again, that's little kid memory, so who knows... somebody post the answer when it arises!

Ahhh...revisionist narrative:

Mulliniks: Hughes has to learn to get his curve over for a strike. When he first came up he pitched out of the bullpen, he was an eighth inning type. He could get by on his fastball only. But as a starter...

I kid you not.

nice..
now, let's get outta here, Phil.
nice & easy

[85] Ah, the Crime Dog. What year?

Nobody's named the other Jay HR leader yet. (I looked it up, because I'm really bad at these questions.)

Oh, there ya go. Sorry, Shaun, I missed that one. 1989.

[85] crime dog?

Ouch! I really thought he was about to get out of it. Looks so easy sometimes.

It will be a miracle if Hughes finishes the 6th. Not good.

[88] oohh - big day, now the eighth inning is a "type" and not just a "guy."

80 pitches thru 4

alright, Phil
alright...

exhale

Don't worry, team, we have Kerry and Other Phil for long relief!

96) yeah, I hadn't even thought of that because I was so focused on the erasure of his first two (partial) years in the big leaguea..as a starter.

Oh, woops, I forgot to put "even though" in the middle of that sentence [99].

[100] well you are just letting facts get in the way of a good and important story.

102) i can't help myself...I'm a history prof (as mentioned last night). Maybe I need to read some more narrative theory.

btw i noticed after i left the game thread last night that someone called kerry wood "chan ho wood," and i quite enjoyed that he would be "chow"

104) awesome. That means we can start a new chant:

Ciao, CHoW!

to replace Chop CHoP!

One thing that I have noticed about Hughes watching him, and I think the numbers bear it out: he is pretty much a fly ball pitcher. But wasn't his MiL reputation that he was a ground ball, Kevin Brown in the making type?

[105] yes, precisely - it is just so wonderful.

neyer also has basically a hit job on arod up at espn.

[104] i'm still saddened that my "Pepto" tag on chan homer didn't stick. i thought it was awesome. i live in my own world... : ~

[107] yeah, i read that. he's here in atlanta for sabr. want me to go, um, "take care of him" (cracks knuckles)?! ; )

muwuhahaha!!!

108) maybe if Park had lasted longer. but then if he did stick around longer, that means we probably wouldn't have needed the pepto so much.

107, 108) i know I will make enemies round these parts, but I just read Neyer's piece (quickly)...and I kind of agree with him.

[108] are you sure it didn't hold? or maybe it's just you i keep seeing use that over and over lol.

And Gardner with the hit (and i get hopeful that slump is over)

Ooooh, look, a bunt!

Last year, when Joba turned in a performance like Hughes' today, some people would get overly excited.

3 hit day for jeets

Jeter hits the ball on the ground 3-3 is so much nicer than Jeter hits the ball on the ground 0-3.

[110] yeah, that was just me pushing it! : )

hell, i thought "pepto abysmal" was good too. no one likes me, everyone hates me, i'm gonna go outside and eat worms.

no, actually, i'm gonna go inside and eat some cheerios. bye!

[114] Toooptimistic.

[115] Cheerio!

111) but not a squeeze bunt, so it doesn't count.

Double steal?

Actually wouldn't mind a double steal or a straight steal from Jeter

[106] yeah, he projected to be more of a power pitcher in the minors.

my only concern about Hughes going into this season, based on what I saw of him in Spring Training, was that he had developed scary fly ball tendencies. The cutter doesn't always do what it's supposed to. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's the culprit.

I'm surprised they didn't start Jeter 3-1. He has to go here.

That was a 3-2 change, Kay, not a FB

This is kind of a juicy situation.

Jeter stayed put. Odd but it worked out anyway, at least so far.

That wasn't a FB either... So much for "he's going to throw a FB because Swisher is 'protected' by Teix."

[122] i wonder if mk is having trouble seeing - because his pitch recognition is awful and his ability to judge fair/foul; hr/in the park has gotten much worse.

on the Mark, and what have you

clearly seamus is the mvp of this game thread.

[125] Yeah, that stuff is, if not complete bullshit, way overemphasized.

[128] For what?

Oh, I get it, for breaking the jinx. Never mind.

Ouchie ouch.

[129] Yeah, it is. The USS Mariner had a nice post on it
http://www.ussmariner.com/2010/06/29/the-problem-with-the-protection-theory/

[126] C'mon. Dont you like his calls of "if it's fair it's trouble." Then the ball lands 25 rows foul. Or drives hit "deeeeeeeeeep" that don't even make the warning track....lol.
Ouch.

Booooooo.

Let's see if Posada can protect Rob here.

c'mon Ribbie Cano.

Come on, Jorge! Do something! Protect him! Flex in the on-deck circle or something!

This game is now just about as long as yesterday's.

Miserable job by Posada.

Fuck a duck. Give Cano a full day off. Not a half day. Not a quarter day. Not a sixteenth of a day. etc....

ack.
we're not Kerry Over-The-River-and-Through-The Wood -proof yet.

The Jays have three hits off curve balls and one off a cutter.

Yipe.

Life Support Valley makes its presence felt.

scary fly ball

143) in fairness, you have to blame Posada for calling those pitches.

[145] Was A-Rod's home run in Death Valley? I think John Sterling said Monument Park.

[148] landed on the netting atop Monument Park.

Interesting tactic by the LOOGY...hit the lefty batter to face the righty.

Of course, when the righty is Jose Molina...

[150] loogan is a crafty loogy

[150] Boone understands his role. He comes in to walk a lefty. If he's having trouble, just go ahead and hit him.

BOOOOOOOOOOONE.

So we know who pitches the ninth (because he needs work), and obviously there's only one Eighth Inning Guy. D-Rob for the seventh?

the plan is still to have Phil start in the postseason, yes?

[155] Plan?

155) presumably.

Hahaha. nice play by Hill, but Posada never fails to find new ways to show off his speed and base running.

155, 156) i believe the correct term is "road map".

[158] Romine would have had a triple.

I believe the plan is to throw the Phil's innings map out the window ifandwhen the playoffs begin. Super Compound!

It's the Lyle Overbay inning! Where's Mattpat?

We secretly replaced Curtis Granderson with this life-sized statue. Let's see if anyone will notice.

[158] another base running blunder or just slowness?

it is funny that as two of the few remaining posada stalwarts his base running seems to drive us crazier than it does others.

[154] joba is the 7th inning guy now.

[131] you doubt me so easily!

[128] thanks! I am honored and would like to thank... :)

164) just slowness. Yet another hard hit ball off Jorge's bat that trickles off the fielders glove...fielder recovers and makes a tough throw...and as always just nips Jorge at first.

165) when did the seventh inning become the most important inning in the game?

Cano's flip throw reminds me a lot of Tony Fernandez

You [165] [168] are both confused. Today they're playing the 8th inning before the 7th.

Oh dear god, Martinez/Mulliniks are now revisiting the Jobastarterreliver debate. i mean, whatever one thinks about it, must we forever and always here about this when he comes in the game. It's 2010, boys, and he's not even the eighth inning guy now. STFU.

That'll do Joba. That'll do.

[168] i believe last week, when dave robertson said "sometimes the 7th inning inning is just as important" and he doesn't see the difference (in lohud - can't link at work)

170) you see, that's just Coffee Joe overmanaging.

[171] just curious, did your broadcast note Joba's (i think) 2nd to last pitch at 98mph or whatever kph?

[173] Interesting. (Also interesting that you can't link at work. What prevents you?)

So, do we believe Dave? Of course not. We know that the ninth inning is the most important, and the eighth inning is second-most important. The seventh inning is very like the third-most important inning. We can see, now, that Girardi has very little faith in Phil Hughes, relegating him to innings 1-5.

175) didn't notice, and the announcers didn't comment on it. To be honest, i haven't been following the game as closely since Phil left the game.

Atta boy, Grandpa.

now THAT was not a ground ball.

David Robertson has officially become The Eighth Inning Guy (all rights reserved)

4 hits, 2 doubles for DJ!

hey guess what I did today?? benched Jeter for Zobrist!! of COURSE I did!!

[175] Kay squealed as Joba hit 98

[177] Kay was all over it on the Yankee broadcast. Just wondering if the YES gun was being generous.

by the way, 98 mph is 157.72 kilometres per hour.

[179] It was a high ground ball.

[182] Excellent! Do it again tomorrow, please.

A-Rod had better fucking protect Teixeira here.

[183] heh, "squealed" is exactly what he did. Good one, Raf!

[187] Failure.

[186] listen, Bros Icing Brogna is in a pennant race and can't afford to be throwing away games in August

[190] Even if your benching Jeter causes him to get four hits with two doubles?
Selfish.

See, this must be the seventh. They're just playing it a little later in the game.

184) for what it's worth, Gameday had the pitch at 98.

Wow, just caught the A-Rod replay. Him and Jeter really seem to like each other now, huh? Jete is the first to give him a big hug then Jete had a shit-eating grin in the dugout as they talked. Pretty cool with the two HOFers. It seemed really, really genuine.

By the way, as the first infielder to top 600 and a Gold Glove shortstop no less, when do we start discussing A-Rod as THE greatest player of all-time?

[192] interesting. Does Gameday have its own gun at the game?
also, have we seen 98mph from Joba this year? I don't think so.

194) doesn't Gameday use Pitch-F/X data, which is supposedly more accurate than the gun?

[194] Gameday uses Pitch f/X.

[195] Yes.
In fact, I was thinking about it the other day, and for the life of me I cannot figure out how a radar gun works. Anybody?

[197] if you have to ask...

[195-196] yup, thanks, just looked it up.

Superb job by Posada, protecting Cano.