Yankees.6.7

First of all, on an unrelated topic (though Jersey is Yankee territory), the Sopranos Finale: WTF. Seriously, WTF. I'm trying to think of something else to write, but ... eh! WTF. The spoiler alert is on for anyone who ventures into the comments section.

And now on to Yankees.6.7:




Good times, my friends! The SOtY is much better than it was last Y.X.X post. I'm not saying we're out of trouble yet, but I'm liking the direction we're headed in. The Bombers have won 9 out of the last 11. 6 in a row. A week and 1/2 ago we were 14.5 out of first place. Now it's 9.5. And only about 5 out of the wild card race. There are 20 game until the All Star break and I think we can get that down to 7 and 3. And I like our chances with that and a half a season to go.

So, what to say ... oh yeah, the Rocket. Saturday brought the return of Roger Clemens to the New York Yankees and a glorious return it was. It wasn't quite a lucky 9 and 2/3 inning no hitter, but it was a great start. The owner of World Series rings from 1999 and 2000 chucked 108 pitches in his first start at the age of 44. He did give up 3 runs, but it was only on 5 hits and 1 walk. And the former fireballer who supposedly now doesn't rely on strikeouts notched 7 K's, putting him back ahead of the biggest 6'10" douchebag in the game (though the white trash beanpole may have passed him striking out Red Sox today (conspiracy theory)). But Roger's not the whole team (though I like the fact that he has captivated the team). Here's my breakdown on the team:

rotation:

1. Wang - inconsistent at first, but better recently. The Ace. And I'm good with that.
2. Pettitte - He's been great. 3.11 era. I'll take that all year long.
3. Clemens - tbd.
4. Mussina - shaky. very. His fastball is dipping down to 85 (tops), which is making the rest of his stuff ineffective. You can solve all the NYTimes crosswords you want, but that's not going to get your arm where it needs to be.
5. Clippard - like him, don't like him, like him, don't like him, etc. is this the next Sam Militello? OK, maybe that's not a fair comparison, but c'mon.

wild card - Hughes - tbd.

relief staff:

Mo - Better. Way better. I'll take Mo any day. And you would too.
Farnsworth - Not impressed and I wish Joe wasn't so obsessed with him.
Proctor - I like his stuff and wish Joe would leave his starters in longer.
Bruney - The best middle reliever in the pen.
Vizcaino - crap.
Villone - Let's go U Mass, clap clap clap clap clap!
Meyers - Get your one out, Mike.
Henn - Britton should be here instead of you.
Britton - Should be here instead of Henn.

1 (dh) Damon - He's been hitting better recently and the old man and his chicken arm could use some time out of the center. Thank God Giambi's laming out. I like Giambi, but the occasional HR is not surpassing his other shortcomings.
2 Posada - What can you say about the Other Captain? The man is one of the best game callers in baseball and he's batting .358, which, for my non-sports-fan readers, is really goddamn good. He's the MVP of the team so far. A great leader.
3 I'm going with Miguel Cairo here, because the Yankee vet and quintessential utility infielder has been brilliant in the last 4 games, since D-Mink got injured. I'm calling for the unconditional release of Minky and Phelps and the establishment of Cairo as their permanent first baseman.
4 Robinson Cano, who was named after Jackie R and wears 24 because it's the inverse of the famed 42 (and btw, MLB mandated that every team retire 42 with the stipulation that if a player was already wearing that #, they could wear it until they retired, and there is only one player left in the league wearing 42. who? Mo.). Mattingly is in love with his swing, thinking he's the next Rod Carew. He had a rough start but I think he's coming around.
5 Alex Rodriguez - he's pretty good. 24 HR and 63 RBI through 61 games.
6 Derek Sanderson Jeter - The Captain. .338. Always. The hitter.
7 Hideki Matsui - He's back.
8 Melky Cabrera - He's back. and is great in center.
9 Bobby Abreu - He's back. Actually, he's wicked back. wicked wicked.


let's go Yankees, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.