Hatfields 5, McCoys 3

So baseball's longest-standing feud goes on, and this one was not exactly an awe-inspiring affair. Yeah, the Yankees won by three runs, but it felt more like the Red Sox lost this one. CC struck out 10 and seemed lucky to get away with only 2 runs scored against him. When the most controversial and central player on the field is Francisco Cervelli, something is truly odd about the game.

A few thoughts: If Derek Jeter is going to go back to hitting a ground ball every time up, he should wait for the knee to heal completely before playing again. The stint on the DL did wonders for him last time.

Sabathia (as has been noted here before) hasn't been the same since the rain-delay sort-of-an-almost-no-hitter about a month ago. Not sure if that's the cause, but it certainly is the demarcation line.

Nick Swisher is always having the most fun on the field. He's enjoyable to watch just for that.

Rafael Soriano must have hitter information in his hat. He stares into it every time someone new comes to the plate. Is that legal? If not, why not?

Anything less than a sweep, and this trip is not exactly huge. Oh wait, A.J. Burnett pitches on Thursday. Anything less than two wins, and this trip is not exactly... Josh Beckett tomorrow night? Winning one game is a moral victory, surely.

Curtis Granderson vs. Adrian Gonzalez: The battle of the MVP candidates came up with a clear favorite: Eric Chavez, who got two RBI singles. But at least Granderson got on base. Probably the MVP of the game is Boone Logan, of all people.

Girardi got thrown out for yelling about the swing-ish thing that Saltalamacchia did when he got hit, and he was once again snippy about being asked about it (and other things) after the game. What's the matter, Joe? You weren't expecting reporters in your office?

Whatever station is carrying a Yankee-Red Sox game should offer free seat cushions or Dunkin Donuts coffee or something. You're going to be sitting a LONG time for these things...

You Can Say It Ain't So, Joe

No, I'm not shocked that AJ Burnett had another lousy start on Saturday. I'm not even surprised that he seemed pissed when he was removed in the midst of having another lousy start on Saturday. I've gotten so used to the situation now that even the fact that Burnett is still apparently in the starting rotation for the first-place Yankees (who MUST do some damage in Boston next week!) doesn't get a rise out of me.

But I was sort of aghast at Joe Girardi's treatment of Jack Curry after the latest Burnett meltdown. Curry, asking the 800-pound gorilla question, was pretty much ambushed by the Yankee manager, who complained that "everyone's always asking about AJ, AJ, AJ," making him sound like Jan Brady while looking like a Claymation version of a primitive man (see below).

Part of what Girardi said (while trying to spin the idea that Burnett was mad at the UMPIRE for ONE PITCH out of what had already been a disastrous inning) was something on the order of, "What do you want, for the pitcher to be happy he's being taken out?"

Well, Joe, what do YOU want, for something that obvious to happen in front of 40,000 fans and almost as many TV cameras, and for the reporters covering the team NOT to ask about it afterward?

It was out of line for Girardi, who isn't within miles as smooth as his predecessor in dealing with the media (but then, almost nobody is), to jump on the reporter for doing his job. If Curry were to walk out of the press box and down into the dugout in the middle of the game and berate Girardi for pinch hitting Eric Chavez for Jorge Posada, he'd be out of line. The manager would be doing his job.

Girardi, in jumping down Curry's throat (and it was only Curry's throat because YES always gets the first question--you have to wonder if Girardi would have been just as nasty if Kim Jones were working that night) for asking the most obvious question of the game is just as out of line. It's unprofessional and it's out of character. Usually Girardi, while hardly being the most forthcoming guy in the world, understands the job of the press (he was a broadcaster for a while, or do we forget that?) and answers. His answers might be bland and uninformative, but that's okay. We don't expect him to put his job on the line or throw his players under the bus.

We should expect him to answer the questions without berating the reporter for asking them. That's not too much to ask, and neither was, "What happened when you were taking AJ out of the game?"

A Tale of Two DL Stays

Sometimes, a stay on the Disabled List can really help a player. And then there's Bartolo Colon.

Colon, who was clearly the Yankees' second best starter until June 12, went on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring, came back pretty much as soon as he was eligible, and hasn't been the same pitcher since. Despite the voodoo surgery done to his shoulder, which appeared to have completely resurrected the Colon who won the Cy Young Award for Cleveland back when dinosaurs were young, the loss of rhythm--or the fact that Colon is old and this was going to happen anyway--has turned him into a mediocre starter who can't go deep into games and is bound to have one bad inning per start.

Sometimes, like in Wednesday night's game, that bad inning will kill ya. (Of course, the bad call on Billy Butler's "home run" didn't help, but we could go back and change the Jeffrey Maier call if that sort of thing bothers you...) Sometimes, it just means you have to overwork your bullpen a little. Other times, the Yankees will run into a pitcher they can massacre, and you won't notice Colon's ineffective spells. Don't expect that last one to happen in playoff games.

And then, there's Derek Jeter.

Remember when the Captain was a candidate for the scrap heap? When people were saying that--get this--Eduardo Nunez should be the everyday shortstop? When actual professional baseball writers were polishing Jeter's professional obituary and proclaiming him the baseball version of The Phantom (the ghost who walks)? When he got one extra-base hit a month, whether the Yankees needed it or not?

Meet Derek Jeter, post Disabled List: Here's a guy now hitting .290 for the year, who has 14 multi-hit games in the 36 he's played since coming back. Who gets doubles on a regular basis, the occasional triple and more RBIs in those 36 games than he had in his first 62.

Having worked on his swing with someone other than Curtis Granderson's favorite batting coach, Jeter used the DL time to figure out what was bothering him, make an adjustment, and raise his batting average around 30 points. He's making the plays in the field, doing his usual Captain Clutch thing, and all in all does not look like a 37-year-old hanger-on who will be stealing the team's money for another two years at least.

Welcome back, Derek. Take Bartolo over to the side one day and explain to him what needs to be done.

A-Rod's Coming Back... Sorry, Did I Doze Off?

Sometime in the next few days, the exciting thrill ride that is Alex Rodriguez will return to play third base (sometimes) and hit for the Yankees. And after Michael Kay is finished salivating over how he's "the greatest player alive today" and how this is going to be a major shot in the arm for the Yankees's offense, I'll find the mute button on my remote and sit back for the last six weeks of the regular season.

The fact is, the Yankees have done really well since Mr. Rod has been gone (23-11), much as they more than held their own when Derek Jeter was out (14-4) and how the bullpen actually improved when Joba Chamberlain and Rafael Soriano went missing. The offense is going to be better? Really? How much better?

Unless A-Rod, while recuperating from knee surgery, has become a legitimate #2 starting pitcher, his presence will be nice, but not world-changing. The Yankees will still make the postseason, much as they would have if he'd been out for the rest of the year. The question is what will happen in the games after September 28, and given Mr. Rod's history in the postseason, the answer is clearly: Who knows?

Sometimes, he'll be the driving force that puts the game out of reach. Others, he'll be a lox. He's been both, sometimes in the same year. So there's no predicting.

Rodriguez has always been something of an odd Yankee; fans don't really warm up to him the way they do to home-grown products like Jeter or Posada, or even imports like Tino Martinez, Paul O'Neill and Nick Swisher. He is admired, but not loved. His talent is indisputable, and so is his maddening personality and the sideshow that follows him wherever he goes.

He is closest in Yankee history to Reggie Jackson, another superstar who came when the Yankees were already good and made them better. Rodriguez loves the spotlight, like Reggie (even at Old Timer's Day, Reggie makes sure it's his picture in the paper the next day). He has a terrific sense of drama, like Reggie.

So far, he has delivered one championship, which is one more than most. But one fewer than Reggie, and four fewer than Jeter, Posada and Mo.

A-Rod will be back soon. You'll forgive me if I don't postpone my weekend plans just to see him.

Hip, Hip, Jorge

Much has been said over the past week regarding the future of Jorge Posada, designated hitter, spot first baseman, and erstwhile catcher. Posada, one of the Three Musketeers or whatever they're calling the dwindling number of 90s Yankees still hanging on now, will turn 40 tomorrow, and his performance in his first year as a full-time DH has been, let's say, not overwhelmingly wonderful.

To be fair, all we heard last winter and spring was that Posada might have a difficult time transitioning to a full-time Designated Hitter (shouldn't they have come up with a better name for that by now?), and patience would be required. Posada, ironically, didn't help matters much by have a terrific first couple of weeks, hitting home runs and appearing to take to his new role splendidly. Then came a few months of not-at-all-splendid hitting, his sudden inability to hit right handed, the infamous "I'm not gonna play if I have to bat ninth) incident and last week, Posada's benching in favor of, well, anybody.

This has led to considerably talk suggesting Posada should retire, if not immediately, then certainly at the end of the season. Many pundits have predicted he will not be included on the postseason roster, assuming a catastrophe doesn't occur and the Yankees are in fact a postseason team.

Posada, for his part, has said he might want to play another year, and it doesn't have to be for the Yankees, the team on which he's been a fixture for 15 years.

After his 6-RBI performance on Sunday and his two runs scored last night, it appears there might be some life left in the old catcher after all. (By the way, Mariano Rivera allowed no hits, no walks, no runs, and had a strikeout, so shut up about how he's all washed up, okay?) Should he push it and play another year, perhaps for a team like Kansas City, where he could mentor the younger players?

That's not for me to say, but what the hell: No, probably not. The best thing Posada could do right now is have a great last month and a half, work his way onto the postseason roster, get some hits to help as the push toward a World Series goes on, and leave to a Paul O'Neill-like ovation at Yankee Stadium in October (or November, or December, depending on rainouts). As a Yankee fan, I don't want to see him in the uniform of another team, struggling to hang on with a .220 batting average. This proud man should leave on his own terms, become a bullpen coach for a while, maybe.

He can help younger players, but not because he was ever the greatest defensive catcher on the planet; he wasn't. He can help because he is the toughest guy in the clubhouse, the one who will get in your face when you're dogging it, the one who cares the most about winning. He can take a team that's never won before and show it what it means to succeed. He can help young players (like, say, Jesus Montero) understand that the game isn't all about them; it's about 25 guys pulling together toward a common goal. That Jorge Posada can do very, very well.

Let's hope he does.

Okay, Maybe It's Time To Worry

So CC Sabathia gave up five home runs in a game. So he gave up five runs.

Wait. WHAT? 5 HOME RUNS IN ONE GAME?

If this were an isolated incident, it wouldn't be that worrisome. But a man who was absolutely untouchable for most of the season has now been extremely touchable for three straight starts, since being brought back after two separate rain delays in one game. Apparently Joe Girardi didn't learn his lesson after doing roughly the same thing to pitchers during his brief Florida Marlins stewardship and seeing them come down with injuries not long after.

This is not to say that CC is injured. The Yankees have not indicated any concern about his health, and Sabathia has not said anything is bothering him. He's probably NOT injured. But he might be tiring. And at this time of the year, that's not great.

I've said it before, but it might not be an awful idea to keep the 6-man rotation going for a while, give CC and Colon an extra day of rest along the way. Yes, he had that extra day before the 5-HR game, but it was one try through the rotation, and maybe another would help. There's still a very comfortable lead in the wild card race, a very small distance to the Red Sox in first for the division lead, and a good few weeks left in the season. A little experimentation to get the only legitimate ace on the staff back to his previous pace can't hurt.

Calm Down, People

No, Mariano Rivera is NOT all washed up. He's blown two games in a row. The number of times that has happened to every closer in the business is so astronomical I'd bet the Elias Sports Bureau couldn't calculate it.

Yes, he's 41 years old. Yeah, he doesn't throw at 95 MPH anymore. And I'll still take Mo over any other closer in the business, including Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson of the Los Angeles Police Department. So take a deep breath, look at the six-game lead in the wild card and the 7.5 weeks left in the season, and calm down.

At the end of it, you'll be glad this guy is in the Yankees pen.

Just for Illustration (See Below)

Bob Joe Girardi

Random Thoughts

*Every time the Yankees are scheduled to play on Channel 9 (it ain't MY 9!), it rains. Every. Single. Time. This has been going on for years. The only reasonable solution: Move to another station.

*Not sure I agree with Steven Goldman (although he is a very smart man) about Jorge Posada. Does it have more dignity to release a pillar of the team since the late 1990s? Seeing him play in the uniform of, say, the Detroit Tigers would be plain wrong (no offense, Detroit).

*Fans of every team can agree on one thing: The ESPN Baseball team has to go. (Never thought I'd long for Miller and Morgan!) I had the sound turned off Sunday night, and it was STILL infuriating. Am I really required to watch Curt Schilling aggrandize himself while a game goes on down on the field, and the cameras occasionally condescend to focus on it?

*And it should be against the law to run the same items on the same crawl on the bottom of the screen for FOUR HOURS. If I had to read that thing about Tiger Woods's caddie one more time, I was going to start taking hostages.

*By the way, funny how Andy Pettitte doesn't show up when ESPN does a game at Yankee Stadium and tell you how great he was. There is a definition of "class" to be found here. Guess which one of those two has it.

*I don't see the point to bringing up Jesus Montero before Sept. 1. Even without Posada as the everyday DH, between days off for Jeter, Swisher, Teixiera and Cano, the Yankees need Chavez and Nunez and maybe another infielder more than a backup backup catcher. Once A-Rod comes back, a decision will have to be made.

*It makes no sense--zero--to send Ivan Nova back to the minors for even a day. There are too many pitchers performing on a much lower level than Nova (yes, I mean you, A.J., and I don't care how much money you're making). Are you sending a winning team out on the field, or a payroll? Sit Burnett. See how he does out of the pen. But leave Nova alone. He's one of the few reliable starters in this rotation.

*Anybody remember the Nickelodeon show "Kablam"? And the segment called "Prometheus and Bob"? Doesn't Joe Girardi sort of resemble Bob? Maybe it's me.

*Has any batter ever seen that idiotic face Jonathan Papelbon makes when he's looking in for the sign, called time, and just stood there laughing? Because that's what I'd do. One of the millions of reasons I'm not a major league baseball player.

*I realize Robinson Cano is a great hitter. I do. I get that. I believe it with ever fiber of my being, okay? The announcers can stop telling me he's a great hitter. Now if he'd just stop swinging at everything that passes near home plate, in the strike zone or not.

*Freddy Garcia always has an expression on his face when he's pitching that indicates he'd rather be in a hammock watching the game with a beer in his hand. He sort of rolls his eyes, as if to say, "Do I really have to throw this thing again?"

*One day, I'm pretty sure, when Michael Kay, John Flaherty and Paul O'Neill are broadcasting together, a fistfight is going to break out. I'm not sure who will be involved, but Flaherty will win.

Okay...

So that was a bad loss, and not a great weekend. But here's the bottom line:

The Yankees are a total of 1 game out of first place on August 8. That means there are 47 games left to make up a one-game deficit. If they can't do that, well, there are larger problems at work.

But then, there's the 7-game lead they have in the wild card race. If they give THAT up in 47 games, that's a catastrophe. It doesn't seem likely we'll see that happening.

Yeah, it was infuriating to watch all those Boston people celebrating like they'd beaten Mo all by themselves. Yes, it's a worry that CC has trouble with this team all of a sudden. Would have been nice if the Yankees had scored that extra run in the 9th off Papelbon and given Mo the little cushion he needed Sunday night that he doesn't need most nights. Fenway Park is a tough place. Always has been.

But is this team headed to the playoffs? Sure it is. Will it meet the Red Sox there? We can only hope.

Here's An Idea...

How about keeping the 6-man rotation going for a while? If the justification for cutting back to 5 is that we need CC to pitch every fifth day, consider: In 2009, Girardi rested CC for an extra day down the stretch, and he was a major factor in the World Series win.

And you can't help but notice that since the double-rain-delay game, CC hasn't been as sharp. An extra day off now and again might not be the worst thing for him.

Of course, I'm up here in the cheap seats, so I might be wrong...

In A Perfect World...

... we'd be seeing Ivan Nova replace A.J. Burnett in the Yankees rotation for the foreseeable future. But in case you haven't noticed, this is far from a perfect world.

Nova, who is 10-4 on the year and has been getting better for some time now, pitched 7 2/3 innings of one-run baseball (a run that could probably have been avoided, frankly) over what is admittedly a light-hitting Chicago White Sox lineup. Since returning from a minor league assignment, he has had two starts and won them both, pitching well both times.

Burnett, not so much.

The overpriced pitcher, initially seen as a legitimate No. 2 starter behind CC Sabathia, has spent the last season and a half pitching himself into Ed Whitson territory, and his inability to hang in with a 12-run lead Wednesday night was not, shall we say, encouraging. It's financial reality, not baseball reality, that keeps him in the starting rotation.

Right now, the Yankee rotation in order of fan confidence would probably go: Sabathia (by a very wide margin), Colon, Garcia, Nova, Hughes, Burnett. You have to wonder if Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman feel the same way. And yet, news is expected later today that Nova will be heading back to the minors because Burnett is owed large buckets of money.

It's not a perfect world.

So Let Me Get This Straight...

If a team figures out the signals being given to a pitcher by a catcher (or any other signs) and exploits that knowledge, it's not smiled upon, but it's considered "gamesmanship." But if the batter happens to turn his head to see where the catcher is setting up, that is absolutely unconscionable.

Baseball is a funny game.

Deal or No Deal

No deal.

And that's good. As I articulated here ad nauseam, Brian Cashman made the right choice in not sending all the Yankees' best prospects away for anything less than a Cliff Lee-type dominant starter. Good on you, Brian.

Does that mean we should have total confidence in the starting five (or six) as it stands? Not necessarily. The Yankees will make the playoffs this year, barring a catastrophe of Debt Ceiling-like proportions. And once they're in those short series against the league's best pitchers, their starters (except CC) might be exposed. Or not. Short series are unpredictable; the Giants were not supposed to BE in the World Series last year, let alone win it.

With the reappearance of Ivan Nova, and his clear superiority in one start over the same sample of Phil Hughes, the Yankees will have an interesting choice to make soon. But not before they are finished with the Boston series next weekend. And that series has become a much bigger deal than it should be, for good reason.

The embarrassing complete domination of the Red Sox over the Yankees in the teams' first nine meetings this year (Boston 8, NY 1) must be stopped in this series. The Yankees can't wait until the end of this month, heading into the September stretch run, to do it. They must win at least two of the three games at Fenway Park this weekend to prove they can do it, if for no other reason.

And that won't be an easy task. Don't be fooled by the recent offensive outbursts: The Mariners, A's and Orioles are not even approaching the level of good teams. You're SUPPOSED to beat them in 7 out of 10 games. The real test will come not over the next four days in Chicago, but the following three in Boston. Rest assured CC will pitch one of those games, probably against Beckett. And then, we'll see.