Worst series ever...

Well, maybe not the worst series ever but still pretty bad: The Yankees got swept by Detroit in their own home by losing the last three games... something that hasn't happened since 1966. Joe Girardi... do you think perhaps it is time to do something? Maybe have Cano sit on the bench for a game or two? Perhaps encourage Mr. Cashman to start thinking about pitching (and please don't simply think that you can solve this predicament by making Joba a starter... we need better, more thought out solutions here)? And how about a team meeting? Don't get me wrong... I liked Torre as a manager but I thought we were going to be getting more life when Girardi was brought in. I think we need some anger; I think we need a little Billy Martin or Lou Pinella to come out. Over-turn a table in the clubhouse; ask Jeter to pick the starting lineup from names in a hat. I don't know... do something, because what we are doing now is definitely not working.

Enough about that... tonight the Yankees start a three game set against Seattle. The Mariners, a team that has also been struggling quite a bit lately is 13-and-16 and will be looking for a little adrenaline boost. Being married to a Seattle-native, I generally attend most of the match-ups with Seattle and I will be at the game tonight and tomorrow. We generally go with a few friends and I am often the only one in our group actually cheering for New York. It could be worse... my wife could have been from Boston. But actually, that couldn't have happened because, like tattoos or being a smoker, being from Massachusetts would have been a dating deal-breaker. I love my wife and support her in everything she does but, tonight I will have my $9 beer in hand, cheering for the Yanks, hoping not to be disappointed by lazy at-bats and sloppy ball playing. Wang is undefeated so far this season with a 5-and-0 record and I would love nothing more that to see a nice, quality start. Please, New York, do not embarrass me in front of my own wife.

More reflections...

I was having an interesting discussion with my chiropractor yesterday about the Yankees pitching. I suppose it started over Hank Steinbrenner's comment that "you have to be an idiot" to keep Joba Chamberlain as a setup man. In the last two days since this story appeared in the NY Times, many people have weighed in on this comment including Brian Cashman who stated on the Michael Kay show yesterday afternoon that the Hank quote was taken out of context. It is the New York Times... of course it was taken out of context! No where in that article does it imply that Hank wanted the change to happen immediately. There is a plan in place to make Joba a starter and that will happen... eventually. For now, Joba is still on an inning restriction and a really stupid thing to do would be to rush Joba to injury by increasing his workload overnight. Cashman knows that, all the Steinbrenner's know that, Girardi knows that. Apparently, the NY Times can't figure this one out on there own. In today's paper they imply that Hank's "forceful opinion" caused much controversy in the Yankees organization but the end result appears in the headline: "Chamberlain Will Start, Later Than Sooner". No kidding... you don't say?

Anyway... as I was waiting for my chiropractor to begin the traction to correct my Forward Head Posture we compared the last few major pitching trades made by the Yankees and the Red Sox. A few years back, NY and Boston looked to the Arizona Diamondbacks for some help with their starting rotation. Boston acquired Curt Schilling in 2004; the Yankees waited until 2005 and got Randy Johnson. But also in 2005, the Yankees decided to turn to the Florida Marlins to acquire Carl Pavano. The Red Sox waited a year before going to Florida and wound up with Josh Beckett in 2006. Last year, Japan seemed like the place to be. Boston scored Daisuke Matsuzaka, while here in New York we got Kei Igawa. Rather interesting when you think about it, isn't it? Do you think the Yankees have been getting screwed? I sure do.

What the hell happened?

My wife and I had a date night last night so I didn't see but the very end of last night's game. We were eating dinner at the first pitch and then went to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the first movie I have seen in a theatre in quite some time. It was a pretty funny flick and I would recommend it. A few sexually racy scenes in it though so careful about taking the kids.

OK, so I get into the car and turn on the game, first to the local station. Just hearing John Sterling's voice gives me some comfort. Then the kicker: "At the bottom of the seventh, Yankees trail by a score of 8-to-2."

"What the hell happened?" is the first thing I asked my wife. Did Phil Hughes blow yet another game? When I got home and watched the remainder of the game and the wrap-up, I got the answer to my question. Yes, but he also had some help from LaTroy "Why the hell are you even in pinstripes?" Hawkins. Now I don't want to start a panic here Yankee fans but we need to address our pitching issues at this point and not after the all-star break. The main criticism here is this: The reason that the Yankees didn't make a deal for Santana was because they refused to give up Hughes. Ok, but now we find out the Hughes sucks (at least so far this season)... now what? Even if the young starter's game improves, we still have the Moose issues, we still need to keep and eye on Kennedy, we still need to be mindful of taxing our bullpen. Even if we bring Joba to the starting rotation, we need to make some adjustments with the entire pitching staff. I don't know what the answers are... but Girardi and Cashman and the rest of the coaching staff better well have a plan here. I like to watch meaningful games. I don't even mind a loss every so often... it comes with the territory. But come on Yankees, we are so much better than this.

Everybody Wang Chung Tonight...

It don't get much better than that! Chien-Ming Wang was firing on all cylinders in last night's 4-1 win over Boston in the first of three series (and first of eighteen regular season) games that Yankees will play against their rival team. Yes, one could argue that certain things could have made the outing a little sweeter for the Yankee's ace. Had Abreu caught that ball at the wall there would have been no home run and if Wang could have also made that out in the ninth on the bunt, then he would have pitched a perfect game. Now although that would have been awesome, it didn't happen; so let's not diminish Wang's stellar performance last night by adding all those footnotes. Wang threw a total of 93 pitches in nine complete innings (61 of those pitches were strikes). In that time, he faced 29 batters (only 2 more than the minimum) to average 3.2 pitches per batter! He finished his night with a 1.23 ERA.

The Yankee offense continues to improve as we saw Giambi hit his first Home Run of the year. It was nice to see him smiling in the post game interview on the field. In fact, many Yankees had much to be proud of last night. Molina seems to be showing a liking for doubles, making two of them last night for a total of six so far this season... not too shabby for a back-up catcher. In fact, signing him this winter for two years of service was an incredibly smart move by Cashman. Alberto Gonzalez is really looking sharp batting .375 in the short three days he has been here.

This was an important win for the Yankees mostly, I believe, because they needed something to put some more spring in their step. If you ask a Yankee on air about how they react when playing against Boston they will more than likely tell you that 'it is just another game- one out of 162'. But the truth is, it matters. It definitely matters. Not even so much because of the past rivalry (I really don't think stories of shirts buried in concrete matter too much to them) but because they are facing a team that plays ball at their level (though slightly below their level, I might correct). Every game matters, but the games played against the Red Sox always matter more. So, off we go this afternoon with the Moose going against Beckett... a good match up. I am feeling positive.