On the Yankees beat

Fine, I'm going to say it: Yankees are making a mistake pitching Mussina over Clemens tomorrow.

Starting Mussina over "anybody" is a mistake.

although moose does not have the particular creditals as rocket, it would be unfair and disrespectful for that to happen. (dont give me "its a business" and "life isnt fair"...where was rocket the last 3 years after he retired from yanks?)

moose will have a good game saturday. rocket has been pitching to minor leaguers for past 3 weeks, and hasnt made it through 6 innings. what happens if rocket gets shelled in boston. where does yankee psyche go from there? wait for hughes? wait for giambi? wait for pavano?!

i like these 3 going this weekend, with rocket going on monday. hopefully, we put up a respectable weekend, get the series, and head into chicago with the rocket man going for us.

LETS GO YANKS!

Moose has been atrocious this season. And unfortunately I think the words "has been" are very apt words when talking about him. I said it at the start of the season and I still stand behind it. If Mussina can not get his fastball up to 88 - 89 on a regular basis then he might as well be throwing softballs up there. And heaven forbid something go wrong in his weekly ritual that throws him off.

The pitching matchups favor the Yanks, but it's run production that has hurt us the last 3-4 weeks. If we score 5 runs a game in the series, we will win at least 2 of 3.

"The pitching matchups favor the Yanks"

Please explain your thought process Roy?

Are you using ERA/WHIP as a basis?...wait cant be that...Sox pitchers have better era's and whips....I'm confused...tell me how the Yanks pitchers are favored over the Sox pitchers in Fenway this weekend.

Cas,

Roy's going under the assumption that the Yanks have hit Wakefield and Schilling pretty good as of late. They can also score on Beckett.

At least, that's my guess.

As far as stats go, Your trio is better than ours.

Bomber

I sent you an email with my proposal.

John G.,

I agree the Sox pitchers who are pitching this weekedn have not held the Yanks scoreless...and probably their era's against the Yanks are some of their worst on a team by team basis....but clearly the same can be said for the Yanks pitchers against the Sox...after all the Sox DO lead the head to heads 6-3, and the games ARE being played at Fenway.

I see no advantage to the Yank pitchers whatsoever. I will say the Yanks best shot is tonight, but dont be surprised if Wakes throws 7 strong innings..he is due.

In the end, I suspect the games will be won or lost by each teams bp...who would you say has the advantage there?

Just because I know such things.Sawx starters have averaged about 5 2/3 innings per start 7 hits 4 runs.

vs NY

this series:

i see that the pitching match ups have already been covered, as has the offense, but i feel that series will be decided, in the red sox' favor sadly, by the bullpen.

our starters have been solid for quite a while now, going well into the 6th and 7th, keeping the runs down.
however, even when we win, the bullpen gets scored on. let's say that we go into the 7th with a 2 run lead. who do you trust out of the bullpen? that's right, no one.

my prediction is 3 close games and hopefully we can hold on to win at least 2, but i doubt it. the sox can easily put a 5-6 run inning on our relievers.

ruse,

surely you have the stats for the Yankee pitchers against the Sox.

Would you share them?

CO

I honestly don't ! This stuff takes time to collate.

Okay I'm ready for the weekend with my Yankees garb consisting of three hats, three t-shirts and a bracelet. Drum roll please. I've got:

My hot pink Yankees hat with white NY logo.
My hot pink Yankees hat with the white sparkley rhinestone NY logo.
My white Yankees hat with pink NY logo.

And my three t-shirts:
My newest shirt that my husband bought me for Mother's Day says
"Do the Math" on the front and on the back accompanying 26 World Series trophies and two little red sox the words "At this rate it will take Boston three centuries to catch up." (not my taste in shirts, but since my husband bought it, I'm wearing it today).

I have my Year 2000 Subway World Series Championship shirt (the most recent of my World Series shirts).
And I have my Number 13 A-Rod shirt (I really should have a Mariano shirt, but the A-Rod shirt is perfect right now).

Last but not least I've got my fancy Yankees charm bracelet from the Danbury Mint.

Win or lose, I'm all set to go. LET'S GO YANKEES!!!

Cas,

I didn't say that the Yanks had an advantage in SP, BP, hitting, whatever.

I only ventured to guess where Roy was coming from with his post.

I don't think that the Yanks have an advantage in anything concerning this weekend, Monday, Tuesday, any day.

Let's just say that "I'm hoping for the best, but expecting the worst".

That pretty much sums up my crappy mood today.

LUCY

Danbury Mint as in Danbury,Ct ? Explain .

Before I leave, I want to remind everyone to vote for the Yankees All Stars on MLB.com. You can vote up to 25 times a day and don't need to repeatedly type your pedigree info. Now is the time that they need our support the most.

Enjoy the game, Fellow Fans, and let's keep our fingers crossed. LET'S GO YANKEES, rah, rah, rah, etc., etc....

And Casual, I wish I could say good luck, but you know better than that. I'll save those words for another day when the Yankees don't figure into the equation (bit my tongue). But have a nice night nonetheless, My Good Friend.

Well,

According to ESPN it's like this.

Wang vs Sox: 4.38 era in 14 ip a 1-1 record giving up 13 hits 6 er 2 hr with a .277 baa

Pettite vs Sox: 3.79 era 1-1 record 19 ip 23 hits 8 runs 2 hr .315 baa

Moose vs Sox: 9.45 era 0-1 6.2 ip 10 h 7 er 2 hr 357 baa

JOHN G.

The pitching matchups are not that bad.Wakefield is 1-7 in his last 8 decisions vs. NY.Pettitte has always pitched well against Boston.Beckett is due for a beheading.Where's the spirit? We can commiserate on Monday if it all goes south.OK ?

However,

The Sox stats look no better...and perhaps a bit worse....I didnt look at the Fenway splits..just over-all, head to head matchups....so Roy, from pure stats in head to head...the Yanks MAY have a slight advantage....that said..I think the wider bet is the Sox at home should take 2 of 3.

It's baseball.....anything can happen...and usually does.

Lucy,

Same to you...enjoy the games this weekend no matter the score...

Ruse, the Danbury Mint is in Norwalk, Connecticut. When you go to their sports home page, they have an Andy Pettitte figurine, a Mariano figurine, a Yankees Stadium replica, my Yankees charm bracelet, a NY Mets lamp. I don't see any Red Sox items on that home page. I think they're safe to buy from (lol).

Oops, sorry, there is a Red Sox piggy bank. There's also a Roger Clemens figurine in a Yankees uniform.

Ruse,

Thanks Man! :-)

My spirits are good. I'm just in a lousy mood today.

I've been reading all of the crap in the papers today about the Yanks. Did you or any of the other guys see the article in the Daily News on a scout's assessment on the team? It just gave me a lousy feeling.

Probably because it's true.

There's another article in Yahoo by Jeff Passan on the most over-priced and under-priced players in the game today. Two meatheads in the over-priced group are ours: Abreu and Pavano.

It just bothered me today.

But I will NEVER GIVE UP!

Lucy,

I understand and appreciate your position....no problem lady. I promise I will not gloat if the Sox prevail, and further, I promise to tip my cap if the Yanks prevail.

As I've stated...winning is great, but it is just not the same if it aint the Sox and Yanks slugging it out.

Casual, I promise to be more generous with the good lucks when the Yankees start looking like the Yankees again. It's hard enough mustering up a smile for the Yankees, never mind finding the energy to wish good luck on opponents. But you are unique and have become a different breed of Yankees fan. I have come to enjoy your posts and find your point of view refreshing and interesting.

Here's another thing:

They bring up Kevin Thompson to take Giambi's spot instead of Phillips who deserves a call up.

I don't get it. What am I missing?

I haven't read all the comments but a few. This is a golden oppt. for the Yankees to get momentum by winning at least 2 of the three. As far as the pitching matchups, the decision to keep Roger out is a good one. He's not ready and needs to battle against a lessor lineup. I believe it will be a different Yankee team. The Giambi DLing actually assist the team stay away from the HR mentallity plus adds some more motion to the lineup.

I hope!

Lucy is a fashion guru!

You mean LUCY is a fashion maven or fashion diva .Guru ?

Lucy,

I would never admit this to my Sox friends...but IF..and only IF..the Yankees get their act togehter and jettison the deadwood and rebuild the franchise with talent that blossoms into stars with the Yanks...I would likely be somewhat of a closet fan...I like to see such things happen.

John G.

I also read Passan's article. Very good. You are a real fan and keen shopper of baseball columns.

Nudge,

Did you get to Wellwood Ave. museum re Babe Ruth?

Kat,

Ditto that would be a great story for you. Not long ago I interviewed a man there who saw the Babe play at Shore Road during prohibition, hit a HR and stopped at 3B not to show up the locals. (That must have been odd.) Then they all drank at Barnacle Bills restaurant. (That must have been wild and out of control, like A-Hole with la chica rubia in Toronto.)

There is a man at the museum, he is about 84 at was at the game. He will tell you the story. He works there I believe. Actually a volunteer. He's awsome!

And no, in my feeble mind, not to be argumentative, the Yankees hitters are not mentally exhausted. They just can't freakin' hit. Tired from Bada Bing North maybe? Steroid creep? Maybe?

You want tired? Try teaching 13 courses at a major university, running the school paper, writing your own articles and columns, then the lawn, laundry, mop, iron, cook like a chef, redoing an entire house in Ladue, St. Louis ...

Then driving all you own 1,500 miles across the country while dealing with a very hot, very angry Faith Hill clone on the warpath ... (she gets kind of angry at Ant for all sorts of things.)

And after all that I don't think I could hit worse than some of these Yankees ... "Oh I make 16 million per year I am mentally drained from the pitchers injuries, that's why I am afraid of the wall and can't hit."

Aaaahhhh!!!!!!!!!

Please send some of these guys to a refugee camp on the Thai/Burma border or to Sierra Leone so they can see how even children can handle daily stress the Yankees can't even begin to imagine in their slothful bubble world.

BTW, at the Field of Dreams we all hit some rockets. That was more fun than any Yankee game!

Go Jenny Finch!

(Don't tell Faith Hill II about Jenny Finch. I will be in B I G trouble! Also don't mention Nathalie Gulbis or Gina Lee Nolan.)

* Not mailed by me either.

Some of these points go back to the previous thread.

Lucy:

Great wardrobe - inspirational !

Dan Shaughnessy has an entertaining column in today's Globe regarding Hey-Rod's primal scream.

Bronx Bomber and Michael Z:

You rattled off some good names from 15-20 years age. A few more come to mind:

Wayne Tolleson
Ron Kittle
Bobby Meacham
Steve Trout
Mel Hall
Luis Polonia
Dave LaPoint
Andy Stankiewicz

and the worst manager in the history of the planet - STUMP MERRILL !

Chip:

You're right about pitchers "policing" certain unsavory behaviors 20-30 years ago. Sal Maglie was nicknamed Sal The Barber because batters were likely to get a close shave. When a rookie was digging in in the batter's box, Bob Gibson told him: "Dig that hole deep, rook, cause I'm gonna bury you in it."

Kevin Thompson:

"It's great to be back up. There are no good strip clubs in Scranton."

Let's Go Yankees!!!

I'm going to Aruba on Sunday. Wish me luck!

Zander,

Good take on Thompson. LOL

Ant,

Thanks, but that article kinda hit me in the face.

I saw it when I went to check my email. :-)

Opps, time for the Joe Torre report with FranDog.

I can't wait to hear THIS!

Lucy,

Your husband must love you a lot to buy you such nice things!

You are a good person and a good Blogger!

Faith Hill II bought me a T-shirt, it says on the front, "Hey laundry fairy, where's my roast chicken, stuffing and potatoes?"

Then on the back is a picture of the North Korean dictator Kim "Ha-row Arec Bald-win" Jong Il which reads "Raise high the banner of Proletarian internationalism."

I'm going to Ladue to calm down Faith Hill II

Wish me luck ...

Let's see how this weekend go, it will be a psoitive if we can gain even one game on the Sawx.
Lucy,
Ask your hubby where we can get those shirts - our past Championships are the only thing to gloat over lately (besides might look good on my son)

Today's NY Times has an article on dirty tricks in baseball. Best one: In 1987 catcher Dave Bresnahan of the Williamsport Bills carved a potato into the shape of a baseball and threw it over 3B on a "pickoff" attempt. The runner trotted home and Bresnahan tagged him out with the real ball. After some confusion, he was ruled safe.

Russets or golden yukons?

I'm guessing a new white.

Best t-shirt spotted in the Fenway concourse this afternoon:

Good thing Clemens is coming back to the Yankees. They are going to need him to hold off the Devil Rays.

LMAO...that IS very funny.

Cas

Are we gonna get this game in? (weather)

Phuck,

I think so buddy...showers...they'll pass over...maybe a bit late starting though.

The Boss's New T-shirt: "I spent $195 million and all I got was the 2007 Yankees."

sorry gang...but it IS funny.

C'mon...might as well laugh as cry eh?

I hope so. The last thing our bullpen needs is a double header.

I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!

Casual,
Like the T's just enjoy it while you can. Atleast you're not like that one guy "It's Red Sox Century - 2999"

It's all good John....

I mean, in the end..it's just a baseball game...nothing more.

Casual,
I dunno about that, Yanks/Sawx is ALWAYS more than a game to the fans - you know that. It also means we will be constantly ribbing eachother and the teams. Funny how even 13.5 games back they still call it the Match-up of the Weekend

Cas did you see that Manny Home Run that literally kissed the camera above the monster?

wasnt it a foul Phuck?

NESN reporting that the game should start within 10-15 minutes of scheduled time of first pitch.

Quote from a Sox guy about Clemens:

"It's unprecedented for a rat to jump ONTO a sinking ship."

LMAO....

Gotta love the creativity.

If it was foul ESPN messed up I heard it was fair they replayed it twice regardless it was pretty cool.

7:30 pm start time.