Tell me about it. A couple of weeks ago, the Phillies won 20-3 in St. Louis and then they lose 5 straight series and couldn't score runs.

It's just going to be a long summer here in NY. On the other hand, my friends who are Mets fans will finally shut up. Last summer, the gloating was unending. That is, until the postseason.

This week is gonna make or break it, and I'm not very optimistic about it

The thing is, we're not playing horribly. We're comfortably above .500. It's just that there are some teams in the AL who are playing really, really incredibly well. Tampa Bay, Boston, Oakland, LA, even Baltimore is only 1 game behind us. I would actually liked to see Toronto do better this season. I think that they have some good pitching, but it just isn't coming together for them.

That makes the two of us SB, although there's still hope. The Jays only have to play at like a .666 clip the rest of the season to make the playoffs. Difficult, not impossible.

Disgusting start to this important series.

...and WTF Manny??? You fucking assaulted a 50-something year old man because he couldn't get your fucking retarded friends tickets to a sold out game???? Go fuck yourself!!!

What's that all about??

That makes sense that you would have to sell your soul to the devil in order to make the playoffs in the East. Either that or drop the "Devil" out of your name like the Rays did.

YES reported during tonight's broadcast that when the BoSox were in Houston, Manny went to the guy (forget his title) [Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick] who handles tickets cuz he wanted 16 of them for a sold-out game. Players are normally just given 4. The game was sold out, and he was told he couldn't get that many tickets, so (supposedly) Manny put his hand on the guy's shoulder and pushed him to the ground!! OF COURSE this is being kept quiet. He should be suspended for months!!!! maybe enough time for him to grow the fuck up!!!!

[link]

That's just Manny being Manny! Okay, sorry. I just hate when people say that.

And don't get me wrong... it's not me just picking on a Sox player after they kicked our ass tonight. That has nothing to do with it. There's a difference between CLASS (eg, Jeter) and CLASSLESS (eg, Ramirez). Doesn't matter what team he's on. Manny is just a classes piece of shit. Always was.

Same thing happened to Shawn Chacon and look what happened to him (he's in the unemployment line)

Manny always was a piece of trash, unlike Big Papi, who seems like a totally cool guy. I mean, didn't he go after Youklis in the dugout not too long ago??

Yes, your right SB. But again, they have an answer to that, "Manny being Manny!"

WTF Rivera??? This is NOT the game to blow your first fucking save!!! Bases loaded, NO outs... 2 hit batsmen... WTF...

*whew!!*

Easy JG, easy. Hank needs to give them a speech every day or do something outlandish like the old man.

Yeah, that's Hanky being Hanky.

JG will have an Aneurism at this rate

Man arrested for beating New Yorker who wasn't a Yanks fan

FALMOUTH, Mass. (AP) -- A man was ordered held without bail Monday for allegedly beating a New York man with a baseball bat because he thought the man was a Yankees fan.

As it turned out, the New Yorker allegedly beaten in the land of the Red Sox isn't even a big baseball fan.

Police say Robert Correia, 20, and others spotted a car with New York license plates leaving a fireworks display Saturday. The group approached the car driven by William Nestor, of Northport, N.Y., and began yelling about the Yankees, according to the police report.

"When they saw the plates, they came at me," said Nestor, 29, whose family was traveling in two cars and stuck in heavy traffic after the fireworks on Cape Cod.

The police report said after Nestor confronted the group of men, Correia went to his nearby apartment in Falmouth and got an aluminum baseball bat, then struck Nestor three times.

Correia pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and malicious damage to a motor vehicle. He was ordered held without bail until a hearing Wednesday.

During Correia's arraignment Monday, his lawyer, Robert Nolan, said Correia was in his apartment when an altercation erupted between a New York man and one of Correia's friends. Correia picked up a bat and ran outside to break up the fight.

When the man charged Correia, he struck him with the bat, Nolan said.

Nestor said he's not a particularly big baseball fan and didn't know the Red Sox were playing the rival Yankees over the weekend. He was treated and released from Falmouth Hospital.

Source: SI

Who's doing worse....Yanks or A-Rod off the field?

The Yanks win streak is at 4. They took the last two from Boston and just took two from the first-place Rays. Only 4 1/2 behind Boston and 6 1/2 behind Tampa

I'm sure Hank will take the credit, like his old man did.

No doubt, MC. Tonight they play against Pittsburgh (think it's a makeup for a rain out) and then off to Toronto. One of my coworkers planned a vacation in Toronto/Niagara Falls around their schedule, so he'll be at Saturday's game.

I heard on the radio the other day that Abreu's game-winning RBI in the 10th inning was his first game-winning RBI as a Yankee. Hard to believe. He's had a lot of big hits.

I saw him with the Phillies beat the Giants in the bottom of the tenth with a game-ending inside the park homerun in August, 2001. He had tied the game late with a homerun too (I think).

I'm surprised no chatter over Cashman wanting to sign the just-released First Baseman Richie Sexson, with the stats of:

BA: .218
HR: 11
RBI: 30
OBP: .315
SLG: .381

I'm sorry, but do the Yanks REALLY need another over-the-hill, strikeout machine?

It's stupid, especially since we seem to have an abundance of first basemen!

One of my friends is at the game today, so I'm glad to see that they're winning so far.

With those stats from RR re: Sexton, the Yanks should have just kept Andy Phillips.

A young Curt Schilling in the making?

Papelbon says he should close, then defers to Rivera

Confidence is a key element in a relief pitcher's mental make-up. And Boston's Jonathan Papelbon and the Yankees' Mariano Rivera, two of the game's best closers, don't lack for it.

Consider Papelbon, who on Monday suggested -- before toning down his comments -- that he should pitch the ninth in Tuesday night's All-Star Game rather than Rivera, even though the game is at Yankee Stadium.

"We've both earned that right; us, by winning the World Series and having the opportunity of having our manager there and our team being represented, and Mariano by what he's done for this role, we're in Yankee Stadium and blah, blah, blah," Papelbon said. "It's not that easy. Everybody thinks it's a cut and dry answer, but it's not."

"If I was managing the team, I would close," Papelbon said. "I'm not managing the team, so it don't matter."

But Rivera feels the same way about taking the mound for the ninth. "It's definitely tough, but we're here in Yankee Stadium. I think I should get the shot," Rivera said. "I definitely would love to. Knowing [Red Sox manager] Terry Francona, I have a feeling he'll put me there if we have the opportunity to close the game."

Francona, who is managing the AL thanks to Boston's 2007 World Series triumph, was mum when asked who would pitch the ninth. "Out of the spirit of the game and competition, and having a little bit of fun, we're not going to announce the rest of our rotation yet," Francona said.

In additional comments on Monday, Papelbon lessened the suspense, saying Rivera should get the nod.

"I'm making a statement right now, saying I don't want it, I want [Rivera] to have it. I said all that earlier, but that's the way I feel about it," Papelbon said.

"This is what I think, of course I want to close the game out. I wouldn't be Jonathan Papelbon if I didn't want to close the game out," he said. "But at the same time, there's also things within this game I have to understand and people have to understand. It doesn't always work out that way.

"I feel I owe a lot to this game and that's one of the things I owe to this game, to let an elder statesman go ahead of me."

Source: ESPN