*Yes, it is a tough break for those who didn't take steroids but are lumped in the same broad category that McGwire helped create.   If such a comment came off the cuff in the live interview, I would find it more forgivable.  But in a carefully written, pre-scripted statement with a handler looking over your shoulder?  Astounding... just... jaw-dropping how stupid Team McGwire thinks the American public is.  Sure, it's a "Dancing With the Stars" kind of culture these days, but people are still smart enough to not let that "steroids era" comment slip by without offering a "hey, wait a second..."

So,

CHEERS to Mark McGwire for admitting steroid use of his own volition, however obvious it was to everyone not named Tony LaRussa.  He didn't pretend to try it once or twice, he came clean to his family (and to the Maris family), and he seemed to grasp the gravity of it until...

JEERS to the erstwhile Big Mac for:

taking all of 11 seconds to stubbornly--almost angrily--deny that steroids provided an advantage, a base for which he would maintain that he (and, we are to deduce, others) made a mockery of the record books with good old eye-hand coordination and the gifts TMU ("The Man Upstairs") gave him.  He seemed put off at any suggestion otherwise, like Bob Costas just dreamed up such a silly notion on the spot.  Listening to McGwire defend himself by invoking his first little league home run stirred the kind of disappointment usually reserved for Little League parents who watch their son give the umpire the middle finger.  Which I guess is appropriate seeing as that McGwire was lobbing the same finger at baseball fans across the country.  No need to rehash the asinine argument that steroids provide no advantage - I don't want to deter any ping pong players out there who clearly have the eye-hand coordination to join the big leagues and hit 70 home runs in a season.  So even if McGwire never took steroids, I guess all of his body-building workouts were just to look good for when he takes his shirt off to help move his neighbor's refrigerator.

I've always given Mac partial credit for being the one guy who chose not to lie to congress in 2005.  I even find his reasoning possibly acceptable, that it might have opened up a can of worms which his family would get dragged into.  But to hear how much it pained him to essentially take the fifth in front of the Hooton family overlooks the fact that he retreated into exile (pardon me, "retirement") immediately after emotionally swearing he would devote his post-playing career to preaching against steroid use.  Sorry Hootons - you were lied to by the big red man.

Why is this so complicated?  I can understand being cagey about certain whens and wheres so as to protect the fellow guilty, i.e., teammates, or other connections that would lead back to other players.  But everyone knows why these guys made The Decision.  Sure, lots of guys were doing it, but every one of them knew it was wrong - culture notwithstanding.  Maybe more names will come out this year, and more guys will say they didn't realize what their trainer was sprinkling on their Maypo.  Or if anyone boldly admits to taking anything knowingly, they'll say they took "illegal substances" to aid their regularity.

Maybe Bud Selig should create the Ken Caminiti award, given annually to the ballplayer that is truly up front about his steroid use.  Prerequisite is the player A) admitting he used, and B) acknowledging it was cheating, done for the purposes of being a better ballplayer.  So far, the only winner would be Jose Canseco, as the continuing parade of outed users double-talk their way into steroid purgatory.

...

Decompressing...

-The offense came alive in the nick of time, though that most certainly is not a Swisher pun.  Although a loss, game 5 played out nicely in that the early blowout kept the top shelf Yankee relievers from being pressed into service, yet the Yanks built a rally late in the game that they seemed to carry into the clincher.  Jumping on Pedro early, this game had the earliest evident outcome in the whole Yankee post-season.

-From game 6, all those fans hanging over the RF fence on Matsui's double nearly cost the Yanks a run.  Again... the wall should be thicker to create that slight buffer to discourage interference.

-Arod's newfound patience paid off as Matsui drove him in twice.  This was even the case in the regular season when, at times Arod's stats did not look particularly gaudy; he maintained productivity all year long, getting on base a lot even when his average was low.  His regular season OBP was .402 to Jeter's .406.  Plus, the avg, HRs and RBIs would eventually come.

-Marte's performance in this series is reminiscent of the Yankee pen in '96.  Need that surprise hero to show up, and Marte played that role nicely.  His accomplishment should get him work doing off-season signings where he can scribble "surprise WS unsung hero '09" after his name.

-The overlooked storyline in the post-season this year was the Yankee defense.  Going hand in hand with mostly superb pitching, they made only one error and played better D than each of the teams they faced.  They also made fewer oddly spastic baserunning errors.  Real head-scratchers, but the opposition made even weirder mistakes.  Strange post-season, indeed.

-I've not generally been firmly on board with Pettitte-as-savior.  I've always appreciated him, but did not see him as a #1 guy, nor as a hugely clutch performer that is often alleged.  Well, at 37, he put in some great grind-it-out performances that this team absolutely needed to win.  And I didn't even realize using him on three days rest was an option.  Suddenly I'm having the epiphany that was obvious to everyone else years ago:  the Yanks win in 2004 if Pettitte hadn't pettily skipped town.  Turns out bringing him back was an exceptional move, as these last couple weeks have demonstrated.

-Mo must have no soul because he has clearly made a deal with the devil.  His mph is down, he was heavily leaned upon for the entire post-season, the bar is so high that at times he appeared to struggle slightly, yet the whole thing ended with him giving up one earned run the entire post-season.  He truly makes no sense.  As a fan, no small reason to root for the Yanks this year is because one day he'll wake up and the cutter won't cut.  I keep thinking that's right around the corner, but there's no real indication of that yet.  This won't last forever, but enjoy it while it does.

-Another big reason to relish this one is how well the rest of "the core" performed along with Rivera.   Seeing so many newer Yanks struggle in this entire post-season, you can't help but hope some of the new guys can learn the ways of the Jedi from Rivera, Jeter, Pettitte and Posada.  Lost in an 11-4 post-season record was a collection of tight hitters who are new to this whole thing.  If they didn't pull this off, there would be blood on Teixeira's and Burnett's hands.

-Girardi outmanaged Manuel in this series (the latter's glaring misdeeds: not setting up Cliff Lee for 1,4,7; going too long with Pedro Martinez in both his outings; and not being prepared for a what proved to be a devastating two base steal with 3^rd base abandoned for the Teixeira overshift).  But why was Girardi so maligned for going with Hairston over Swisher against Pedro in game two?  Sure the Hairston-can-hit- Pedro stats were old, but the Swisher-can't-hit-anyone stats were quite fresh.  And Hairston had a huge hit in the rally that knocked out Martinez.  All that said, Girardi went back to Swisher in game 6 against Pedro.  This isn't a no-brainer, but still: Why, Joe?  OK, OK, no more nitpicking.  I can relax now.

-It somehow seems like months since the Yanks clinched the pennant vs Angels.  Is that a sign of withdrawal?

-If the Phils make it back to the WS next year, you think Charlie Manuel will run Cliff Lee out there three times?

Notes from the parade:

-For the parade through the Canyon of Heroes, did Reggie and Arod coordinate their outfits?  If Arod wants to imitate Reggie, no one is going to stop him.

-Tough to do a very revealing interview during a parade or clubhouse celebration, but is there something they can ask besides "how cool is this?" (apparently it's all "unbelievable") and the condescending "do you have anything like this back in [insert hayseed town where you are from]?"  

Kim Jones to Brett Gardner "Have you ever been on a float before?"

-I'm in the mode where I am thinking I will not ask the baseball gods for anything ever again.  That'll change probably about a month from now. 

-My appetite has returned. 

-Arod might just be sending a Christmas card to Selena Roberts this holiday season.  The Aaaaa-bomb that she dropped on Aaaaa-rod seems to have set the wheels turning on an effort at a psychological makeover by the formerly beleaguered slugger.  Seems that Rodriguez's decision to not do what almost every other steroid cheat did - i.e., lie about what prompted the positive test - has paid dividends in some weird fashion.  Perhaps we'll enjoy an off-season of David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Gary Sheffield and countless others changing their minds on the cock-n-bull excuses they used for being tied to steroids?  Or maybe they'll just start dating blonde starlets and see if that works.

-Lest I give the Yanks all the credit for winning the World Series, yours truly did have a small hand in it by not shaving during the post-season and changing my desktop wallpaper every time the Yankees lost.  Note how they never lost two games in a row...  You're welcome.  I can also claim responsibility for the 1996 game four victory when the Yanks were rallying from being down 6-0.  As they started to put big innings together, then tied it, I refused to go to the bathroom until they won the game.  I didn't know it would go extra innings, but I think I made the right decision.

-For whatever negatives there are to the new Stadium (nice joint, but crazy ticket prices and thus more tranquil clientele), it sure had a good year.  All the entertaining comeback and walk-off wins was iced perfectly with the WS victory and gives the joint a nice dallop of mojo.

-Farewell for now from LA, where you go to a ballgame, and the view is this: 

  .

Oh, it's so nice to have Matsui batting behind Arod.  Gotta make walking Arod hurt.

Shows what I know.  For all Swisher's post-season struggles, I thought Brett Gardner was a worthy roll of the dice, but he's making this game more interesting than it has to be.

I'll take a victory any way I can get it - umpire error, leaning into a bases loaded HBP, slapping the ball out of the catcher's hand, fan interference - but if I could really script it, just plain hitting Pedro well enough to have Manuel pull him in the middle of an inning would be entertaining.  Pedro might be too good tonight and Manuel may not make the oft-repeated mistake of putting him out there longer than he should be.  But it would make for some entertaining video and a probably way more entertaining post-game press conference.  The press is going to miss this guy when he retires.

Rollins got the runner home from third with less than two out, just like you're supposed to.  If the Yanks fail in that same situation tonight, my foot is going through the TV.  And I have the old tube TV sets, so it'll make that wicket "pop!" when that happens.

Another good AB by Damon.  Time for Teixeira to show up.  I wonder if he is subconsciously doing poorly just so he doesn't have to listen to John Sterling replays of "You're on the Mark...Teixeira!" and "It's a Tex message!".  That could explain a lot.

HBP!  I'll take that!  Loaded for Arod.  I was about to say "this could be the game right here".   Which it could.  But it's still too early for that kinda talk.  The best that happens is he hits a grand slam, in which case I'll still be edgy for another six innings in hopes they don't let the Phils back in it.   I know this is only baseball and these guys don't even know who I am, but I must admit, I've been as testy as someone trying to quit smoking.  The past few
weeks, if you cut me off on the road, you'll get a taste of Evil Matt.

Bases loaded K and we just got a taste of Evil Arod.  Foot, meet
television.  How does Pedro back himself into a corner like this and come out throwing strikes like this?  Too much drama.  I want a light, fluffy comedy tonight.

Thank you Matsui!  Arod is off the hook (like he didn't buy enough
indulgence this post-season).  What a backbreaker for the Phils, but I doubt the mental letdown will result in them just going down in order the rest of the game.  Like any post-season team, win or lose they need be able to use the cliche "there's no quit in this team".

Wow.  How great has Damon been and how painful is it that he's just been replaced by Hairston.

After 61 pitches - 31 strikes 30 balls.   Boy is Pettitte sneaking by without his best stuff.  How long can this last?  He and Pedro don't look wildly different through 4 innings, but thanks to Matsui it's the Yanks with a 3 run lead.  I want more!  If they hold on, I can go back to my breathing not being labored.  I'm starting to think if I was on the mound for these tense games that I wouldn't fare very well.

This is the AB I've been looking for from Swisher all post-season.  After down 0-2 the count went full.  Of course he ended it with a strikeout, but laborious ABs against Pedro are a small victory.

OK. three more innings before Rivera.  That's a long three innings.

The Yanks bottom of 4 was limp as they went down in order.  But if they get two guys on next inning... Matsui!

Meanwhile, Pettitte faces the 8 and 9 hitters in top of 5, which I'd like to think are easy outs, but that's just not the way it's been going.

...and the #9 hitter walked with the top of the order coming up.  How long can Pettitte hang in there?  Four walks through 4.1.   Yanks have GOT to tack on.  We all know the magic pitch count threshold for Pedro is 100, but Pettitte's must be lower than that tonight.

For all my concerns about the overuse of Rivera, the 7^th inning was awful close to the real save situation.  I think Rivera should have been available to pitch to Ryan Howard if Utley had reached and brought up the tying run, but he wasn't even warming up.

Agita:

Like the just concluded game 5, I don't like the match-up in game 6 (assuming this is a fully rested Pedro vs. a short-rested Pettitte).  On the up side, if the Yanks do win, it can be by beating Pedro, which always makes for good television.

Optimism:

SOME of the Yankee bats are warming up and with a second look at Pedro, maybe they'll show a bit more of a heartbeat.  Also, if Pettitte can hang tough even through five, the bullpen should be in decent shape if Girardi tries to stitch Joba, Hughes, and Rivera together to get this done.  Not that the sequence I mention is a sure-fire recipe for success, but it's conceivable they can hold it together.

Agita:

If it goes 7, is CC (who will be seen for the third time in a little over a week by these Phils) near the end of his rope or already at it?  As big as he has been (ahem), it is still not outside the realm of possibility he would come out and just plain not have it.  And there would go the season.  Plus, maybe the Phils can squeeze two innings out of Cliff Lee for this game.

Optimism:

Cole Hamels (if that's who is slated) hasn't had it all post-season.

Perceived momentum from game 4 aside, folks, this is anybody's series.  At this point in the war of attrition, the bats are going to have to decide this WS champion.

Considering the pounding Burnett keeps taking before anyone has gotten to their seats, maybe the Yanks should just bring in Rivera for the first inning, then go to their starter for the 2nd.

Must make Cliff Lee work and try to get to the bullpen.  Hopefully Burnett can hold it together.  The fact that Lee looked mortal in the first inning makes it all the more unsettling Burnett got pounded.

Swisher is protecting Arod in the lineup?  Oh boy...  Good sign that he took a walk though.  It is a massive black hole in the Yanks lineup and it's disheartening to know when you get past the meat of their order, it will be two innings before they have another chance to score.

The upside to getting Burnett out of there nice and early - the black hole of the lineup that features Molina can be filled in slightly with  Posada. Burnett is perfectly capable of getting clobbered on full rest, but oh boy has this decision by Girardi not worked out so far.  Even going into this game it looks like it'll come down to seeing what Sabathia has left for a
game 7 if they plan to win this series.

The fanny-kicking Burnett has prompted is probably better for the Yankee bullpen so the important guys can be rested for game 6.  Get Robertson some work.  We'll see Phil Coke in there.  Maybe Gaudin, unless he is the protection in case Pettitte starts game 6 and is bounced early.  If the Yanks come back to make this close, it could backfire on them.  I repeat my comments from the conclusion of game four:  the pitching match-ups seem to
be setting things up for a game 7.  The "momentum" from game four was nice, but that disappears in a heartbeat against a pitcher like Cliff Lee.  And it disappears so fast it practically goes back in time when your high priced righthanded horse is sent to the showers before he even had a chance to sweat.  Since you never know what you're going to get from this guy it'd be a heck of a gamble, but he can probably pitch a couple innings of game 7
if such a situation calls for it.   But for tonight, his final line:   2 IP,  4H, 4BB , 6ER.

This is too much agita.  To paraphrase Cole Hamels, let's just get this thing over with.

Best thing the Yanks can do tonight (short of winning) is have their offense show signs of life.   If they face Pedro on Wednesday, it'd be nice to think they don't have to wait until he's at the 100 pitch mark before making a dent against him.

They just turned a PH for Robertson into a run with a walk by Hinske.  Again, Lee looks slightly human tonight, so AJ's performance feels particularly brutal.

Yanks are making some slight noise in the top of the 5th.  If they miraculously score 6 runs and take a lead, I think Girardi will go to Rivera for the final five innings.

Teixeira's batting .063 in the Series.  Maybe he's waiting for a dramatic moment in game 7 before breaking out.

I'm repeating myself, but the thought keeps circulating around my head: Can CC muster just one more winning performance this year?  I don't even want to see him on the bench before then.  I'd like to think he's spending every hour of every day leading up to game 7 in a hot tub or getting a rub down so he's loose, limber and ready to go on Thursday.

Utley's HRs have become so expected, I might start a pool at work to pick which inning he launches one next game.

I don't mean this in quite the ominous manner in which it may sound, but this series reminds me of the 2004 ALCS.  With the Yanks up 3-0, I still felt the Sox should have won each of the four remaining games when looking at it as each game individually.  But I figured the Yanks would still win the series simply because weird things happen.  In this series, games 5 and 6 clearly have the Phillies favored -- I'm just hoping for something goofy to happen to win it for the Yanks.  The curious managerial move, the ball that hits a bird and drops in between three fielders, the star player accidentally scratching his cornea with a salad fork...

Coke is Hit.  Well, at least he got some work in that did not have to go to Rivera.  I would like to see Hughes get some work in tonight to see if he can be observed not through fingers being screened over ones eyes.  Ah, thank you Skip, Hughes is a-comin' in.

Wait a sec... Why is Charlie Manuel running Cliff Lee out there with a 6 run lead over 100 pitches if Lee is someone who can be hugely valuable to them in game 7?

...is what was bellowed from Cappiello's Yankee Corner (known by the Mrs. as "the clubhouse" since that's where I spend all my time.  Kids, don't be like me).  Two outs, no one on, Damon gave the kind of AB that I thought may pay off only if they made it to the 10^th inning against Lidge.  But he earned the single and clearly swiped the second base in a highly premeditated move whereby Damon knew he would nab third if no one was covering.  I don't know if he consciously thought "If I'm standing on third, Lidge won't throw the slider", but perhaps this is so and it most certainly played out that way.  At first glance I erroneously thought he fell for a simple age-old decoy by Feliz, but maybe I've just grown accustomed to bad baserunning this post-season that my yelling at the TV is more muscle memory than anything.  Either way, what was obvious is the Yanks (or at least Damon himself) prepared for this situation whereas the Phillies did not.  They did their homework by positioning Teixeira with the overshift, but they were thoroughly caught with their pants down when it lead to an extra base on a steal.  It was a heads-up play by Damon, but this is not unprecedented.  Either Lidge or Ruiz fell asleep on the play and forgot what was discussed in a team meeting, or such a situation was never discussed in the first place - the latter being what could prove to be an egregious oversight.   That at bat and subsequent heads-up baserunning is what we have not seen enough of in the post-season in general. 

The game tying HR by Feliz in the 8^th screamed of being a series turning point.  Instead of Rivera coming in to close out a close lead, it appeared Phil Coke was coming in to lose it.  Damon looks like he has laid claim to a different turning point altogether.  But that can change six more times before the series is over.

Mo Holding Steady

Mo is still efficient.  So far, he still is Superman™, rather than the pitcher who looks like he's been overused weeks before his 40^th birthday.  Knock on wood, he's the only stopper left who is essentially untainted this post-season.  He's looked shaky once or twice and in the process of this post-season all's he's done is improved his already preposterous lifetime post-season ERA.  In closing out the game tonight, even he showed emotion.  Good, gameface emotion, not histrionics emotion.  This one could be a back-breaker for Phils, and Charlie Manuel's post-game testiness is a good sign.

Legacy Clinched?

          Arod has been a funny cat in this series.  His strike zone still looks too big, he still looks a bit too anxious, yet his hits have been huge.  The two out double to drive in Damon defined clutch and was sweet poetic justice for a guy who looked like he was plunked for the fun of it.  I know it's the WS, but his HBP early in the game was suspicious.  Blanton was clearly going to pitch around him and in all likelihood put him on 1B (should Arod have chosen to not expand his strikezone), so plunking him high and hard on a fastball that was not targeted for that general area is very curious.  The HBPs yesterday did not seem dodgy.  Tonight's definitely raised an eyebrow.

          Still, somebody explain to me the significance of an umpire warning both benches.  They are allowed to use their judgment to kick someone out without warning, yet they can also use their judgment to not eject someone after there's been a warning.  So the point is...?  

Jorge, Come Back!

So Posada comes up with a clutch 9^th inning hit himself.  And... then where is he going?  In getting thrown out by 97 feet trying to get to 2B, I considered that maybe he was sacrificing himself by drawing the throw to ensure Arod scores from second, but... on a ball hit to the gap, Arod scoring is a no-brainer.  When and why did Posada magically morph into Manny?

Incoming 

It's moot, but Ryan Howard obviously never touched home on the run that scored early in the game.  Ump missed it, but so did the Yanks.  They may have deserved to have that run score after giving up a stolen base to Howard. Maybe shame is why they didn't protest. 

Also...

Is Matt Stairs really Charlie Manuel's best PH when he does not represent the tying run?  He's come up the last two games in instances where he can go ahead and launch a Broxton type 500 ft HR and the Yanks would still have a lead, so there's not been much drama to his ABs.  His OBP has been decent considering how low his average is, but when he's not representing so much as the tying run, no pitcher should be walking him.

Tex

Teixeira is still not hitting well in this post-season, but with the occasional big hit and stellar defense, his post-season is reminiscent of his early struggles in the regular season with the team this year.  He at least brings something to the table when not fully on his game.  Still, if Teixeira v.May-September shows up, the Yanks may be able to win without the smoke, mirrors and whatever voodoo they've been doing.

By the Way

Considering the way Joba is throwing vs the way Hughes is throwing, I liked Joba pitching the 8^th.  Temporarily heartbreaking HR to Feliz aside, he may yet loom large in this series.

Lee Waits

CC is clearly laboring, but tonight he displayed the type of performance I figured Cliff Lee could have provided, if not better.  When running your #1 out there three times in a series, it's a bit much to assume he'll be lights out each time, but if he's steady enough to keep it tight, that could be a huge boost.  We are left to wonder if Lee has been coddled too much. 

Short Rest

The next few days will tell if waiting until game 5 to start Cliff Lee was a wise move by Charlie Manuel, but I'm breathing a sigh of relief that he is not being pushed to start three games.  That said, there is immense weight on tonight's game to the point that tonight's winner might very well be the Series winner.  OK, I know there are only two teams left, so that doesn't sound like a strong statement, but I really think this one's a biggie.  Not to automatically concede a Cliff Lee game as a Phils win, but the Yanks could well find themselves down 3-2 going back to NY, and with all hands on deck, Lee would surely be available for part of game 7.  Being available for a short stint in 7 may not seem overwhelming, but considering the Yankee offense (when it's showed up at all) tends to start showing signs of life several innings into the game, Lee for a few middle-to-late innings could be a huge factor in that potential game 7.  And if tonight shows CC having little left in the tank, things can really get dicey.  Maybe I should take another hit of Theraflu so I can sleep through the game and spare myself the anxiety.

Always the Centaur of Controversy

It's from the Who Cares files, but still a mildly funny story that has been blurbed about an anonymous former girlfriend of Arod saying he had two paintings of himself as a centaur.  If the Yanks were playing Boston, it might have prompted some very craftfully done banners to the park.  But if Rodriguez takes a cue from his game three and continues hitting and getting on base, there might be a lot of commissions for other pinstriped centaurs in the works. 

It sure was a surprise to no one that, of course, the controversial video-replayed HR came off the bat of Arod.  It seems the proper call was made (chalk that up as a "yay" vote for video replay), but I was prepared for the umps to not overturn the initial call because I did not think the video evidence was 100% definite.  What is 100% definite is that it was asinine to have a camera actually hanging over the wall into the field of play.  It's like having an automatronic Jeffrey Maier erected right at the home run threshold just to confuse the umps.

So This Was Nice

Swisher's double and HR were huge in game three, so it was nice to finally get production from him.  Perhaps tonight will show whether that was an aberration.  Meanwhile, I see that Matsui has been practicing in RF.  This is a novel idea, but one that I'd like to think might have occurred many weeks ago.  Considering how he has had a few big hits of recent and that RF has been a vacuum for the Yanks, putting him in right (if he is in game shape to play it) could have paid off.  Not sure if the Yanks were having him cram at the last minute, but if so, that kind of reduces that as a viable option.  Would be nice to get his bat back in there.  We still don't see Swisher drawing any walks.

All Hands On Deck...Already

          I wholly appreciate Girardi seeing the gravity of game three, but with a four run lead and six outs to go and no major signs of trouble, I would have loved to see him work the bullpen to avoid using Rivera.  For certain, the World Series is not the time to coddle pitchers for a more important game that may never come, but could Chamberlain, who pitched an efficient, perfect 7^th, not come out for the 8^th?  OK, I guess Marte was able to faces two lefties.  But how about the 9^th - could Hughes not face just one more batter before Joe picked up the red phone?  A three run lead with two outs to go I would hope is just enough wiggle room to not potentially compromise the effectiveness of your stopper.  And the fact that Girardi gave Hughes NO room for error made it all but certain he was going to go to Rivera.  The good news was Rivera only threw five pitches for the last two outs, but the process of warming up in the bullpen is essentially as demanding as coming into the game -- and this after Rivera was taxed for two laborious innings just two days before.  With two more consecutive games in Philly, the next two days might show just how human or superhuman Rivera is. 

Am I getting carried away?  Reading the story that the Phils sent Greg Dobbs back to Philadelphia with the flu, the first image that came to my mind was Dobbs making himself at home in the Citizen's Bank Park visitor's clubhouse for a couple days, initiating germ warfare against the soon-to-arrive Yanks.  That would be one way to make the most out of the 25 man roster.  The Yanks should send someone in ahead of the team to disinfect the place.

Is this the kind of thinking that made Billy Martin tick?

It's nice when the gameplan actually plays out.  Burnett was able to keep it close while the Yanks waited for Pedro to tire, which he did juuust enough so they could push a few runs across.  I'm not sure how Burnett threw as many first pitch strikes as he did and still leave with a poor ball-strike ratio, but if he can get yips out of the way early without burying the team, then cruise for the next 6 innings, I guess we'll take that.  Given how many pitches he threw through 6, I was surprised he came out to pitch the 7^th.  It kind of reminded me of the Angel game when he came out to pitch the 7^th after cruising for several innings following an early shellacking.  The only difference was he did not languish for long on the bench this time around, and when he did after the bottom of the 7^th, his night was over.  Oh, there was the familiar baserunning gaffe by the opposition that helped.  Thanks Jayson Werth for keeping the streak alive!

Meanwhile, Pedro was still the same old Pedro.  He pitched a great game, but labored exactly when he should have -- at around 100 pitches.   Which is to say, he labored after he should have been lifted from the game by Charlie Manuel.  Pedro's a great pitcher, but he's not a horse.  Thanks to some goofy umpiring, the Yanks would only cash in a run after Pedro tired and left to the usual chorus.

The Evil Umpire

It's all fab that the Yanks held on to win the game, but the Yanks having the bases loaded with one out in the 8^th with Teixeira and Arod coming up while aiding a two run lead seemed like a good recipe for not requiring two innings out of Rivera.  But that didn't happen thanks to a very evidently wrong call by the first base ump.  I don't assume it was an easy call, though it was easy for Posada and even easier for Ryan Howard who played it like a grounder by throwing to 2B instead of just stepping on 1B.  Most damning: on the radio Joe Morgan said he thought it was a caught in the air and not a short-hop.  Apparently he brings the same what-game-are-you-watching perspective to radio as he does to television.  So the result of this botch is Rivera was required to labor through two innings, which can absolutely rear its head later in the series because he's more taxed and may not be as sharp on Saturday, and also it's greater exposure to the Phillies lineup.  That call may well haunt them.  But then again, Chase Utley was safe at 1B in a huge DP in the top of the 8^th, so if you screw up enough times things can even out.

DVRs Sure Are Permanent About Deleting Things

I'm having trouble pinpointing nuanced moments during the game because apparently "cancel a recording" is code for "delete a recording forever", so I ended up not seeing as much as I'd like.  This was an interesting development because A) for the first time ever I discovered and used the "keep" function, and B) any time I intentionally delete something it makes me jump through hoops and warning messages along the lines of "are you sure?" and "don't do something you'll regret".  Yet this time, without the word "delete" ever being used, it very cavalierly went VFWOOOP.  All I was trying to do was stop the recording process since it was going to record a couple more hours of Fox television and I don't want to accidentally have TMZ on my television.  Did Challenger the Eagle make an appearance and carry Arod's bat away into the night?  Did Morgana the kissing bandit make a return appearance and run out to right field to kiss Jerry Hairston just because he's not Nick Swisher?  If such moments existed, I'll never see them because my DVR went all "sorry pal, you'll have to fake your way through the water cooler conversations tomorrow". 

Picket Fence

The home runs are nice, and apparently necessary, but they are not being preceded by the single, the bloop, the walk, the catcher's interference - nothing.  It's just been the occasional solo blast and cling to the lead by the skin of your teeth.  Might have to diversify the offense a bit - and no that does not mean let Jeter bunt with two strikes on him.

Maybe the Steinbrenner Family Will Recruit Jay-Z to Play Before Every Game...

...in the same vein of the honorary batboy who followed the team around for the '98 World Series.  Keep your schedule clear Mr. Z!

Take Arod to the Video Room