A Few Quickies

Again, many thanks to Jason from Heartland Pinstripes for filling in yesterday. we go back a ways to our MLBlogs days. Thank God they're over. Our blogs are much better now that they're in new homes. And again, if you're not checking out his blog, you should be. Quality stuff. He often opens up a "digital living room" where fans can go and comment on the game as it's happening good stuff. I need to stop in more often.

I was able to catch more of the game yesterday than I normally do due to the rain delay. I still missed a lot here and there because of other things I had to take care of. I caught the beginning of the game on the radio. I had the good fortune to hear Wilson Betemit butcher what sounded like an easy grounder. As I've discussed before, Wilson is a huge defensive liability, more so than Giambi. As you all probably know, I'm not a big Betemit guy. He had a decent night at the plate last night but my perception of WB is that those good nights are few and far between. I think the Yanks could field a better backup. I would not be sad to see Wilson go.

Rasner looked like he battled his way to that win yesterday. D-Raz hasn't exactly been the beacon of hope we thought he'd be after his 3-0 start. Don't get me wrong, he's filling in admirably. I just think his better outings are behind them. I'll take him as a 5th starter, but I'm not expecting big things from him.

The Yanks are winning and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that they've gotten back to their style of baseball. That style being, working counts, taking pitches, getting on base, etc, etc, etc. They chased the reigning NL Cy Young award winner last night after only 4 innings. In 4 IPs, Peavy threw 93 pitches. The Yanks weren't showing kind of plate discipline when they were struggling earlier in the year, swinging early and often, usually failing to deliver. They've gotten back to their game and we're now seeing them get on base, get timely hits, and most importantly score runs. I think it's safe to say that the offensive woes are over.

The National League again is demonstrating how inferior they are when matching up against the American League. They're just pathetic. The Yanks have benefited by being scheduled against the inferior of the inferior. So far, so good. 5 straight wins. 10 to go. This team isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

I think Yankee fans everywhere are wondering the same thing right now. Why Sidney Ponson? Good question. I think Cashman might be thinking Ponson is low risk and has potential for a high reward. If he blows, which he probably will, it doesn't cost much. If it works out, all the better. I think he's also stockpiling arms to take over that 5th spot in the rotation. I'm sure he has a list of candidates to fill in while Wang is out. If these guys fail to perform, I imagine there will be a quick hook and on to the next guy. Makes sense. But Ponson??

With today being an afternoon game, I'll likely miss a lot of the action. I have back-to-back meetings scheduled from 2-3 so I'm going to miss a bulk of the game. Joba gets the ball and his pitch limit is now over 100. He's basically good to go to throw a full outing. With the injury to Wang, his move to the rotation couldn't have come at a better time.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie