they're calling up some Pettitte kid from the minors to pitch on Sunday. Sounds like this year's Sidney Ponson to me.

Just another chucker...

And that Mo guy's complication's not supposed to affect him next year.

[1] Always good to see a kid get a shot. Wonder if the game'll sell out.

I hope they send Hughes to the pen. They need to get him to be the 7th or 8th inning guy. He or Soriano. It sucks that he has been thrown into different roles, and if he could have pulled it together as a starter that would have been terrific, but he showed he can work out of the pen, and his history as a starter lately does not look good.

(3) Mo's condition is complicated. In that he is not really injured and just wanted to find out how much he would be missed when he retires.

I would definitely go if it wasn't on Mama Dukes Day.

THANKS A LOT MOM!

Rhymes with the old Mark Bellhorn "hair."

[4] The Yankees ability to create right handed middle relievers out of starters really is amazing.

[6] Bellhorn..didn't he retire with a .220 career avg but lifetime .675 with 20 homers against the Yankees?

I'm tired of Teix at the bat.

K.
Need more of those, Ivan.

Way to go, Nova.

Sit down, Einstein!
Gosh..imagine the conversations between the "genius" Joe Maddon and Luke Scott?

Or that.

Okay, here we go.

[7] You have to give the organization credit for recognizing how the 8th, 7th, and 6th innings are the most important in the game, in that order.

But seriously, they're headed for a six man rotation, right?

[12] Oy, I'd rather not, thanks.

[14] Bobby Valentine says the 17th is the most important. He has good evidence, although admittedly the sample size is very small.

Hahahahahahahah!

That statement is hilarious from Hamels!

Remember when--Estes, was it?--threw at Clemens (and missed!) and when asked after the game, wtf?, replied, "I was just trying to make a pitch."

And what is this obsession with playing Nuñez in the OF?

[18] Platoon splits? Uh, artificial turf?

Candygram?

(Some people might complain that in your question, the phrase "in the OF" is superfluous.)

Take that.

[18] Well, you gotta get that bat in the lineup.

It really chaps my ass that Ortiz is doing well this year. : (

[21] "Dynamic" bat, don't forget.

[22] Doesn't bother me, as long as it's in a losing effort.

Man, if only we got four outs this inning, Nuñez would have no problem scoring. Three productive outs would do it.

[24] Ha-ha. That is true. But my bitterness runs deep. Very deep. As for the relevant team, I'd like to see at least one Yankee sit on Shields' gd changeup before his night is done.

[25] We could luck out and get a WP.

No, Al, you don't get into it a little bit too much at times!
Your geeky enthusiasm is what I love about you!

Unproductive strikeout.

Nova is a very good pitcher.

Ivan is looking pretty decent so far.

I think Andy can teach him a lot about pitching, too, I find them very similar

Bobby Richardson must be one, right?

No, not close! For some reason I thought Richardson had some power.

[31] Fear of Pettitte taking his spot in the rotation?

33] Gotta be Lazzeri and Gordon, no?

Robbie!

Wow, I thought those guys would also not be close. Lazzeri in particular is underrated.

Come on, fucking Teix...

Ripped!

IN THE AIR

Oh, man. Ugh.

Productive.

[35] I'm a an unabashed Ivan supporter. The dude is good. Some days you miss more bats than others.

That's what we pay Teix for...PRODUCTIVE outs.

Swish will walk.

[43] He's very, very good.

So that's five low pitches...

OK, please stop talking about the various shifts. Please.

Fuck Maddon. Fuck the Rays. Fuck their bullshit infielders walking all over the place during the pitch. FUCK!

Jesus H.

God, these hitters suck.

Why not shoot that pitch through the fucking unoccupied left side of the infield?

Or that. Do that.

SHIFT!

[51] WHY NOT TAKE THE WALK???

[51] PullPullPullPullPullPull...PULL!

Good job, man.

Shift Buster

I got my wish. Adios changeup! Atta boy, Cool!

Ahhhhhhh.

God, damn.

[58] Oh yeah, nice job. Raul got your text.

Shift THAT Joe M!!

[55][56] Wow, you guys are way ahead of my feed. And there it is!

All right...Nova might get in a little trouble this inning, but they're not scoring.

[60] He told me he was going to hit in the upper deck but I'll take it.

[62] You on mlb.com? My feed is pretty much live.

He catches everything, that Curtis.

Just Fair's bff doubled, but the Sox stranded him on second like a hippo on a traffic island.

Need these outs, Ivan! Before the deluge!

Einstein goes down again! Nova's dealing it tonight, get one more and the have the umps call it!

I can't remember exactly why I hate Luke Scott. Did he say something really stupid?

[67] Now your just taunting me.

[71] you're. D'oh! C'mon, Ivan. 1 more out!

Will Rhymes?? Is that his real name?

[70] Umm..yes. Can't talk about it on the Banter, just Google it.

[71] I was. But you liked the image, I know you did.

[70] Yes. Very, very stupid.

Oh, was that it? I thought it was something baseball.

That's a beaut!

Atta boy, Ivan!

SUUUUUUUUUPER NOVA!

Damn. It's Nova Day.

I love Leiter.

Kay: I wish I could draw.
Leiter: So draw!
Kay: But I can't, I'm not good at it!
Leiter: Yeah, but keeping doing it, you'll get better!

So encouraging and he's absolutely right.

Be nice to get Shields out of the game after 6 IP.

[73] Sure, I do from time to time...

Kay: I wish I could announce a good game.
Leiter: Announce a game!
Kay: But I can't, I'm not good at it!
Leiter: Yeah, but keeping doing it, you'll get better!

[75] Yes, the fat hippo on a traffic island image made me laugh..

[84] Kachow!

Hahah!

Good job, Curtis.

That will do.

WHOO-HOO, Curtis!. Big Game James is all wet.

That looked all upper body from Curtis.

Yankee Stadium Special!
What's that? 350'?

Curtis rocks.

[84] You and Busta.

That was a change, too, Just Fair. (The Granderdinger, I mean.)

"We can't keep tipping our hat."

Amen, brother.

Well.... 100 pitches. I guess we get 3 innings of Tampa BP.

That was a whole lot of pitches for Big Game, too. A lot. I know he has a big gas tank, but he's for sure running low.

Speaking of Wills: Young Will Middlebrook doubles and scores. Couple walks, 3-0 count to Pony, Duffy is in real trouble...

[94] What more can I say? I live for the funk, I die for the funk.

Beware of Molinas!

They're flying out pretty well for a cold, rainy night.

Duffy walks in a run. Hippo is up, two outs, bases loaded...

Flies out. Whew.

Bravo, team, nicely turned!

Teix always brings the smooth D..shame he can't hit anymore.

Yaaay!

Good work to limit the damage.

Teix is good at some things, still.

Probably my favorite thing about Nova, that after a mistake and a little trouble he doesn't rattle a bit, just bears down. You have to love that.

The anti-AJ.

(Catchers are fucking batshit crazy.)

Dan Bard just balked in a run.

[108] Yes.

Teix knows there's more than one way to beat the shift.

Anyone following the hoop-de-hoop playoffs? Can't believe Dallas went out like that..Lakers-Heat in the Finals, please?

Bard balks again! Mousaka (what's his real name again?) advances to third!

Moustakas. Now he scores on a single. Excellent.

Wild pitch by Bard.

That's a shitload of free bases this inning.

Damn it.

Dammit!

So this is the first game I've seen where there's no Mo.

Looking at the score and the inning, Mo entered my mind just now.

Fuck.

Good grief.

YSII giveth and YSII taketh away.

There's just no Mariano Rivera tonight.

[119] The Hammer.

Be cool, Ivan.

[123] But then there's no Hammer until then.

It's all fucked up.

Single scores another run in Kaufmann. Those free bases were costly.

[125] Uh.
Oh, I see what you mean. Yes, it's still a less happy situation than it might be, for sure.
But let's see Ivan get out of this inning, and I'll feel pretty good.

FUCK.

This is most unfortunate.

Pitching change time..lucky break them holding the runner. Wet field maybe slowing him down?

Fuck. A breaking ball that was totally flat and over the dish.

Fuck..

Come on, Ivan, you can do this shit..

Nice!

Yeah, it would be really nice to be able to go to D-Rob here, huh?

In fact, I would. I would do it right here.

Ok. 1 more, Ivan.

One fucking more...

Strike two!

Bad Ass!

Fuck YEAH!

Atta boy, Nova, atta-fucking-boy!

FUCK yes.

Ivan Houdini!

Damn, that was cathartic. I love baseball!

[141] Amen.

Yeaaaah! Time for the So-Ro Rope-A-Dope!

Burke Badenhop? Seriously?

Young Will Middlebrooks is out of the game, replaced by Nick Punto. Not sure why -- injury, leg, but no specifics.

COOL!

Off the pole!

poll

Lotta souvenirs tonight.

Nice bit of insurance, Raul.

Oh, man. Raul.

[148] "poll"? :)

Ra-OOOOOOOL!

[148] I'm definitely in favor.

Punto GIDP with two on and no out. Missing Young Will already. Sox squander the nice two-on-no-out opportunity. Still 3-2 Royals after 2 1/2.

Nice line from Bard.

hahahahahahahah

I honestly just couldn't remember which the fuck one it was.

Jesus.

[156] Just picture Paderewski out there. Or Ron Swaboda.

I really hated seeing Ibanez on tv if I ever caught a Phillies game. Must have been the ugly Red uniform.

hahahahahahah

Yes, indeed.

[158] Not the world's most attractive man but not unusual for a ballplayer?

I remember always being grossed out by John Kruk..am sure if I saw him today he'd be 400+pounds and eating a bucket of KFC..

Young Will Middlebrook update: tight hamstring.
Yeah, he looks like the tight hamstring type, he does.

[160] Hahahahahah.

I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say he grossed me out, but I had a similar response to Greg Luzinski (yet another poll--er, Pole!).

[160] Gross today but man could he hit.

Hm, I might have stuck with Nova. I dunno, mebbe not.

Nice belt high fastball over the plate.

Oh, fugging Soriano. Come on, dude.

Atta boy. Impressive.

Four homeruns.

Damn.

Hamilton. Are you freakin' kidding me. 4 homers! Holy shit!

Sox tie it up with a 2-out double, single.

Upton should have hit that one 400 feet.

NIce.

Two out.

Damn!

One more now.

I mean, the good kind. [171] which one, the fastball?

[171] (Yes.)

YOu gotta be fucking kidding me.

For FUCK'S sake.

Rats!

Fer the luv uh...

That's a fucking strike, blue!

For fuck's sake.

I wonder what the chessmaster is thinking.

Well that was exciting.

Strike three.

Jesus, talk about doing things the hard way.

Good enough.
I mean, not really. But, I'll take it.

[185] Soriano really earning his $872million contract!

Man... If Soriano was our Closer, I don't know if I could watch the games.

Sox take the lead on KC errors.

Damn!

Nice hitting, Alex!

Fuck, nice hitting.

Wow. He smoked that. What an ab!

What a nice, short swing.

Nice, nice.
I wouldn't mind roughing up this bullpen a little, to start a three game series.

Get Alex in!

Hit one in the seats, Robbie!

I'll take a liner to LF...

That's got to be an uncomfortable at bat. 97 from a tall lefty. Yikes.

[196] But that's never bothered Rob. Just slashed it. He looked a little dizzy.

Bishop to E4... your move, Girardi.

Thank you, Teix.

Thank you.

Teix lives.