8 more homeruns at the stadium last night.

Klyd, I love reading your posts. I can see your point, but I still think it was a bad moment for Mo. There was a shot of him in the dugout afterwards, and he looked as if he were on the verge of tears.

Baseball has a way of ripping your heart into pieces.

But then you're comforted by the millions of dollars you've been paid to play a game, not to mention the endorsements.

That'll take the sting out of it.

is the old (better) yankee stadium still up or is it totally gone now?

Pretty sure it's still up.

It's still up, but they've started some minor demolition in the outfield.

they should just keep that up, and play their...might help them win some games.

A GREAT performance by CC tonight. This is EXACTLY what they needed tonight:

9 innings, 4 hits, 0 runs, 1 BB, 8 SO

And oh yeah, A-Rod homered in his first at-bat (first pitch no less)

My closer theory strikes again. Brad Lidge was brought into the 9th inning with a 7 run lead in a game his Phillies were winning comfortably for much of the game. In the nonsave situation he gave up 3 runs.

Kly, it's that closer mentality you've talked about. The best closers are all a little crazy or strange in some way, including coming in with a huge lead. A big lead is too normal for them so it seems like they can't focus. It's like they NEED the pressure of a close game.

Yes. And it's not that they can't function, but it's the sense of the moment, the close game, that allows them or fuels them to achieve that heightened level of performance that insulates them from the excitement or pressure building about them and separates them from their teammates.

You made a good point about relievers and closers, in particular,being a bit strange and bizarre, which is like a built in mechanism that helps them cope with the daily pressures of their job, and is reflected in their appearance, often a hair or beard style that sets them apart from others. Of course, the rule isn't absolute, but the prototypical closer is very introspective and usually, despite his quirkiness, has limited interaction with his teammates. Closers also have relatively little to say to the press.

Because of this specialized and conditioned focus and tunnel vision, there aren't many closers in the coaching ranks after the careers are over. You'll always see former catchers rise fastest in the managerial ranks and in tv commentary. They are the natural extroverts, the link between the pitching staff and position players, the interpreter between management and players, the field leader.

The closer's trsits, I'd argue, are shared by kickers in football. They exist in their own world until called upon to perform, often in high pressure.

It was a great game. Great pitching, great fielding, great bats.

And in the bottom of the eighth inning of tonight's game, I can see the opposite of that. Baltimore?? Really?? What a freaking disaster. An even dozen runs. How absurd.

Its not looking good for the Yankees is it? What a shame.

ds

Thank God for Johnny Damon right now. I hope Joba knows enough to take him out to dinner or something.

I was quite appreciative of Mr. Damon's Mother's Day gift.

Ex-player: Red Sox taught steroids use

Former Red Sox infielder Lou Merloni has caused a bit of a storm lately with comments that the Red Sox taught players how to use steroids. This is a hot topic in Boston because former Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez failed a performance-enhancing drug test while with the Dodgers. Merloni, an analyst on Comcast's "The Baseball Show," had this to say Saturday: "I'm in spring training, and I got an 8:30-9:00 meeting in the morning," said Merloni, who was in the Red Sox minor-league system from 1996-97 and played in the big leagues with them from 1998-2002. "And I walk into that office, and this happened while I was with the Boston Red Sox before this last regime, I'm sitting in the meeting. There's a doctor up there and he's talking about steroids, and everyone was like 'Here we go, we're gonna sit here and get the whole thing -- they're bad for you.' No. He spins it and says 'You know what, if you take steroids and sit on the couch all winter long, you can actually get stronger than someone who works out clean, if you're going to take steroids, one cycle won't hurt you, abusing steroids it will.' He sat there for one hour and told us how to properly use steroids while I'm with the Boston Red Sox, sitting there with the rest of the organization, and after this I said 'What the heck was that?' And everybody on the team was like 'What was that?' And the response we got was 'Well, we know guys are taking it, so we want to make sure they're taking it the right way'... Where did that come from? That didn't come from the Players Association." Merloni said he couldn't remember the name of the doctor or what year the meeting took place. Boston's general manager at the time, Dan Duquette, adamantly denied the accusations to Boston.com.

Source: Fan Nation

Quite frankly, who gives a shit? He can't remember who or when, blah, blah, blah. There were quite a number of players doing it, whether they were with Boston, NY, LA, whatever. What does it matter?

This point of this is to talk about THE YANKEES, and how they play. Let's try to get back on topic.

the yankees suck...see i got back onto the conversation. lol

I guess I'm glad that I missed last night's game. Toronto is a good team.

There is no pitcher more dependable than Roy Hallady. He has no problem finishing what he starts. His value to the team is just not limited to excellent pitching, but he gives the bullpen a rest by pitching complete games or very deep into games.

You're right, and considering that they had both Halladay and Burnett last season, I was surprised that they didn't have a better year.

It looks like the Jays are for real, making the AL east just about the toughest division in baseball. .500 ball ain't gonna cut it.

Babe is right, Irish. Worry about your team, not whether or not other teams are cheating. That's almost like complaining about the umps, or arguing balls and strikes. It's futile, and it doesn't do anything to right the ship. Right now, the Yanks have to focus on getting back to .500, at the very least.

And it gets rather exhausting...

And the Yankees win!! But without Jeter!!! WTH? How do you get a sore oblique?

From all the comedy he's been playing with those young girls...

Notice how I'm ignoring DS's claim that Mr. Jeter has any interest in other women??

The Yankees pulled a nice one out of the hat last night. And good for Melky! Last season he was sent back to the minors in disgrace; this season he's won two games for them in the bottom of the 9th!

The team ran onto the field to hug Melky. All the players were in their little cluster, jumping up and down and hugging one another. And the camera moved for a moment, and ARod was all by himself, kind of dancing around all alone. I think that pretty much sums up his relationship as part of the team, no???

A-Rod comes through with a walkoff homerun and I'm really happy for him. After everything he's gone through for the past couple of months: the steroid scandal, his hip surgery, glad he could come back and contribute in a positive way. He hasn't had too many of these moments as a Yankee so you savor them when you get them.

Joba pitched well also: 6 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 4 BB, 6 SO and a 3.76 ERA