A Whole Lot Of Catching Up To Do

Greeting everyone. It feels like it's been quite a long time since I blogged something about the Yankees. My free time has been extremely limited over the last week or so. 2 Fridays ago I was driving to NYC. Saturday I took in the 2nd to last game at Yankee Stadium. Monday, I was my son's sole care provider while the wife was at work. Tuesday through Thursday I was in Toronto for the Yankees series with the Jays. Yesterday, I was again the sole care provider for our son. And in a few short hours I'm heading back to Toronto for a concert. I've had a blast, but I'm exhausted.

Toronto was a pretty good time. I walked away with 33 autographs, the 2 biggest being Mariano on a 1998 World Series team ball, and A-Rod on a ball. Everyone else I asked to sign inside the book, Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective. It was fun. A lot of standing around doing a whole lot of nothing, but fun nonetheless. I spent most of the time talking about the Yankees with some of the other Yankee fans, commiserating about the failed season and talking about the future and what they need to do to turn things around. It made the hours and hours of standing around zoom right by.

The games themselves were pretty enjoyable. There was absolutely nobody there. I'm not sure that the announced attendance was even close to the actual. I've never been to a Yankee series in Toronto where the gates weren't absolutely mobbed with people hours before the gates even opened. I kind of thought that would be the case this series because both teams were out of the playoff hunt and school just started so not many fans from the states were going to make the trip. I thought the Yankee played some good ball. Too bad they waited so long to play so well. Here are some assorted thoughts:

• Mooooooooooooooooooose! 19 wins baby. 1 more start to go so the possibility of winning 20 still exists. Moose is a gamer. He took that shot off the elbow in the 3rd but stuck it out threw 5 to keep himself in line for the W. You knew there was no way he was leaving that game. He looked just as sharp in that game as he has all season, striking out 6, 5 which were of the window shopping variety. As my travelling companion would say after every backwards K, "Hey can I help you? Nope, I'm just looking." I'm hoping Moose can carry that magic into one final start and pick up that elusive 20th win. I'm really excited for tomorrow's finale. It's really the only reason to watch. And I'm pretty sure I was the only person in the stadium wearing a Moose jersey. I got to have my man's back.
• Phil Hughes looked sharp in his start. I wore a 65 Hughes shirt to the game. Like with my Moose jersey the day before, I'm pretty sure I was the only one there rocking a Hughes shirt. He had his best outing of the season. If he had only pitched that way earlier in the year. I really wanted to see him pick up the W and end his season on a positive. Scott Rolen messed that plan up. But it still was a great finish. In Phil's final 2 starts, he went 12 innings, allowing only 9 hits, 2 walks, 3 earned runs (2.25 ERA) and he whiffed 10. If only he got some run support. I'm still a firm believer that Phil is going to be one of the Yankee greats.
• Brett Gardner has impressed me a lot lately. I was pretty excited when I saw his average top the 200 mark. That's sad to get excited about that. But he had a great series, going 6 for 12. He's still not what I'm envisioning the Yankee CF to be, but he'll do as a 4th OF. I'll take him over Melky any day. Brett had a nice game last night too in Boston picking up 4 RBI in the rout. It'll be interesting to see where Brett starts next season. I'm thinking he'll be the Yanks 4th OF which means Melky is going to be on the outs. Got Melk? No. No I don't.
• I really wanted to see the Yankees spoil Roy Halladay's 20th win but I knew there was no chance when his counterpart was Carl Pavano. I think it's safe to say that the Carl Pavano chapter is finally closed. Yippee! God he's brutal. I originally had no plans whatsoever of asking him for his autograph while I was there. He signed on Tuesday and I didn't bother. I caved on Wednesday and I'm still debating on whether or not I should have had him sign the book. I figured why not but part of me wishes I hadn't. I'm glad he's gone. Can't wait until they make it official.
• I read about Joe Girardi and how he "disclosed" Mo's shoulder issue. Bad form Joe. Bad form. I understand wanting to let Mo break the news but you it just destroys what credibility you have when you continue to deny, deny, deny. Joe really needs to figure things out. I'm starting to see why he only lasted 1 year in Florida. I know his departure had more to do with his relationship with the owner, but from what I've seen from Girardi in year 1 as Yankees skipper, I'm not impressed at all. I really thought he'd do great things but he's been a total bust so far.
• It looks like Mo's season is over. Thankfully it doesn't sound like too serious of a problem. Apparently his shoulder has been bothersome all season, which makes Mo's dominance this year even that more impressive. Mo had in my opinion the best year of his career. Considering his age and now his shoulder problem, that's pretty darn impressive.
• Despite being out of it, it was nice to see the Yanks lump the Sox last night. If anything, it was nice to be the team to prevent them from winning the division. I'm just crossing my fingers that they bust out the whooping sticks on Sunday and win that game for Moose.

Two more games to go and the season is officially over and done with. Wow. No October baseball in the Bronx. That's going to be weird.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie