What an exciting game!! And did anyone see the squirrel on the foul pole?? They should trap that damn squirrel and make it their mascot.

Yeah I saw it. The poor thing started to come down but got scared and stayed up there the rest of the game

1 game out of the Wild Card, which is most important at this point. The Yankees looked sharp, and having a solid, reliable starter (Pettitte) on the mound made a huge difference in the morale of this team.

It looks like Ian Kennedy is going to get his shot at the rotation beginning Saturday, taking Moose's spot against the D-Rays. Good news is that it is the D-Rays, and Kennedy has been lighting up the minor leagues ala Joba. So hopefully we have yet another solid addition to the rotation.

Also, Torre added last night that Moose will not work out of the bullpen, making him utterly useless, dead weight. Whose idea was that one?

Really though, keep your fingers crossed. I know the Yankees are going into territory where angels fear to tread, and only the Cubs do (ala Mark Prior and Kerry Wood), and we know how that can turn out...

Oh, and btw:

THEY FINALLY CALLED UP CHRIS BRITTON.

I guess they wanted to see how many incapable clods they could try and shove down the other teams' throats before bringing up a competent reliever?

I'm glad it's Kennedy getting the nod. I'm anxious to see the kid and want to see what he can do on a MLB mound. The experience should do him good, especially since the Yankees are in a playoff hunt

Man, Big Papi is unbelievable. That man can HIT. He's just awesome. Cano is on tonight, though, and it looks like Cabrera and Abreu finally have their act together. Clemens is pitching a beautiful game. The Yankees really are a pleasure to watch when they're playing well, aren't they??

DJ, I read your earlier post. Why would they not at least use Mussina in the bullpen?? I wonder if the injury rumors are true.

-A very good pitching performance, in a big game by Roger Clemens: 6 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 5 BB, 2 SO, 6-5 with a 4.15 ERA (BTW, this is the reason they got Roger this year. To win these type of games when people like Moose have been sucking it up recently).

-Wow, Farnsworth gives up 2 runs and almost the game. Anyone else surprised? [/sarcasm]

-Even Sir Paul McCartney was in the house! You see, even he can't resist the greatest rivalry in all of sports

-Seattle loses so now the Yanks are tied for the Wild Card and only 6 back of Boston. It's not over yet, still more baseball to play

To be honest, it may be an injury, or it may be the fact that Joe doesn't want to risk adjusting Mussina to the bullpen at this point if they need him to start somewhere down the line here in this last month of the regular season.

Personally, I think he's shot altogether, and should never pitch in the AL again (unless of course Boston signs him ). He has lost the mental edge, gets frustrated when he doesn't get calls his way, and lacks the consistent control to get those pitches where they need to be. Plus, his velocity is about that of a 15-year-old.

Even if they did bring him out of the bullpen, I don't think they'd want to risk using him except in blowout situations (which the Yankees can't afford anyways).

Then again...they did pitch Crazy Kyle last night, and again, he nearly blew the game. So I'm not sure how worried Joe actually is about putting bad pitchers in clutch situations...

I think this settles the fact that it is all mental for Farnsworth - he can mow them down no-problem when the team is getting either a.) blown out or b.) blowing out the other team, but he is abhorrent in any situation where he is required to keep the game close.

I know that there are "Joba Rules" but I sure wish we could use him for more than one inning three times a week. It's rather frustrating. He would have been put to good use last night, that's for sure. Can't wait for today's game.

Btw, met someone last weekend who told me a funny story. He was at a Yankee game and Wang was pitching. Sitting right near him was Mrs. Wang. Knowing Wang's poor command of the English language, he said to her, using lots of motions and sign language, "Your husband is pitching very well tonight."

She gave him a rather deadpan look and replied, "Thank you," in perfect English.

"Mrs Wang" just sounds funny

Mr Wang is doing great today (knock on wood)

As for Joba, tell me about it: he's on my team and only good every-other day? Who's to say that he'll even be needed on his "on" days anyway? I understand they don't wanna overwork him, but c'mon! Theoretically he could only be "needed" on every one of his "off" days!

Break out the brooms, they just scored off of Okajima

yankees just won 5-0 to sweep the sox.

great win. great to see they scored 3 big ones in the bottom of the 8th and u kno #2 was the first of those 3. but y the hell did the ump throw joba out in the 9th for throwin 2 high ones to youkouliss, i hope that doesnt stop him from throwing inside. ne ways theee yankees win to sweep the sox, 1/2 game up in the wildcard.

great pitching the whole series andy, roger, chein-ming all go 6-7 innings and hold those bats down, and of course having manny who kills us everytime out helps, great win just gotta keep it goin

Best thing of all - I have a Red Sox fan in my class, and he kept checking the score on his phone then entire time, and was bitching when the final came down.

Oh I miss those days DJ

In other news, Moose is still a retard.

They should try to trade him and Igawa in the offseason to NL teams. The rotation can be: Hughes, Wang, Chamberlain, Kennedy and Pettitte.

barring health issues that rotation would be sick. i think mariano has up to 2 more solid years left, i think edwar ramirez would be a decent set-up guy for mo until he starts to fade.

WTF???

The bottom line on YES said that Joba was suspended for two games!!!! You gotta be KIDDING ME!!!!!!

Apparently the Devil Rays are playing the Bad News Bears tonight.

Yeah, what is up with Hughes? I know he's young but he's giving up at least 3-5 runs per start. I guess he may need more work in Triple-A

Factor in being the youngest pitcher in the major leagues, an injury when most young starters are building up their strength, and some slight changes in his motion compensating for his injury, and you have a recipe for a problem.

Hughes will be fine, but I still think the hamstring problems are lingering in his mind, because in the minors he could hit 97, and was in the mid-90's when he injured himself against the Blue Jays. I don't think he's quite "right" yet.

This should be remedied by next year. Until then, he's still a better option than anyone else we've got to use in his spot.

This bat-checking bullshit today...

I can't believe they suspended Joba. It's absurd. How many freaking times have the Yankees been hit? I would bet that ARod and Jeter alone have been hit more than other entire teams! I don't remember any pitchers being suspended for that! And we've had both Clemens and Joba suspended. Ridiculous. And Joba wasn't even warned!

The good news is that they're currently winning 7-2 in the bottom of the 4th!

Edit: Speaking of which, they just hit Jeter and the announcer said that he's been hit 12 times this season.

FYI As of Friday 8/31/07

Rank Player HBP
1 Aaron Rowand 18
Chase Utley 18
3 Alex Rodriguez 17
David DeJesus 17
Ryan Garko 17
6 Jose Guillen 15
Josh Willingham15
8 Grady Sizemore 14
9 Aaron Boone 13
Kevin Youkilis 13
Prince Fielder 13
12 Alex Gordon 12
Rickie Weeks 12
14 Derek Jeter 11
Brandon Phillips 11
Carlos Quentin 11
17 Casey Blake 10
Austin Kearns 10
Edwin Encarnacion 10
Corey Hart 10
Dan Uggla 10
22 Geoff Jenkins 9
Alex Cora 9
Xavier Nady 9
Brandon Inge 9
David Eckstein 9
Victor Martinez 9
Mark Ellis 9
John Buck 9
Luis Terrero 9
Kenji Johjima 9

Rank Team HBP
1 Kansas City 78
2 Philadelphia 74
3 Cleveland 71
4 Florida 68
5 Milwaukee 62
6 NY Yankees 60
7 Pittsburgh 58
8 Boston 55
9 Cincinnati 55
10 Seattle 52
11 Arizona 48
12 Chicago Sox 47
13 Houston 46
14 Washington 44
15 St. Louis 44
16 Oakland 43
17 Tampa Bay 43
18 Atlanta 42
19 Detroit 41
20 San Diego 41
21 Colorado 41
22 Minnesota 40
23 Texas 40
24 Baltimore 39
25 NY Mets 39
26 Toronto 36
27 LA Dodgers 36
28 San Francisco 34
29 LA Angels 29
30 Chicago Cubs 26
LEAGUE AVERAGES HBP
American League 48
National League 47
Major League Baseball 48


I don't have time but to get a true picture of whetehr or not a -team is geting beaned anymore than "normal", we need to compare the HBP by the total plate appearances

I think a better comparison would be to look at the HBP numbers exclusively in a Red Sox-Yankee vacuum.

Because I can guarantee that 75% or more of Jeter's 12 HBP's have come against Boston this year.

BTW - I know Irish will love this - Mussina may take place if Rocket is a no-go

Great, just what we need. Why don't we just throw Igawa in there. We're in a playoff race and we can't be throwing games away (especially to Seattle whome we only have a 2 game lead over in the Wild Card). Bring someone else up from Triple-A

Here is your vacuum!

Head to Head Pitching Comparisons (2007)
New York VS Boston

Games -- Yankees (14) Red Sox (14)
W -- Yankees (7) Red Sox (7)
L -- Yankees (7) Red Sox (7)
S -- Yankees (4) Red Sox (4)
IP -- Yankees (122) Red Sox (121)
ERA -- Yankees (5.61) Red Sox (5.43)
H -- Yankees (145) Red Sox (135)
R -- Yankees (79) Red Sox (75)
ER -- Yankees (76) Red Sox (75)
HR -- Yankees (21) Red Sox (18)
BB -- Yankees (68) Red Sox (59)
IBB -- Yankees (5) Red Sox (0)
SO -- Yankees (75) Red Sox (86)
HBP -- Yankees (7) Red Sox (7)

Where are you finding this? Elias?

I really think Wang is overlooked as a pitcher and it's a shame. Sure he's not a dominating pitcher like Santana but he gets the job done. Compare his numbers with Beckett who is the favorite at this point to win the Cy Young:

Beckett

26 games, 174 2/3 innings pitched, 165 hits, 67 runs, 64 ER, 12 home runs, 36 BB, 165 SO, 17-6 with a 3.30 ERA

Want

26 games, 173 2/3 innings pitched, 172 hits, 72 runs, 71 ER, 8 home runs, 48 BB, 87 SO, 17-6 with a 3.68 ERA