Wait? Wasn't that a long time ago?

Due to outrageous public demand, I will re-post this here, even though it is well past due. This is my little tale of the Indians-Yankees game from last Friday. It was the ALDS game 2.

Before the game I saw John Adams - he that bangs the drum during the games - standing outside of Gate C. I walked by, commented to Lindsay about how I should get a picture, then went back and got a picture. I'm glad I did. I'm aware that it's ridiculous, but I'm still glad I got a picture. Also, as you can tell (or not, because the number is hidden), I'm sporting my #99 Rick Vaughn jersey, as promised. While we were walking in I saw someone else wearing a #43 Roger Dorn jersey. He wouldn't have been my first choice from the movie, but hey... whatever floats your boat.

The Division Series playoff game between the Indians and Yankees on 10/5/07 is one of the greatest games I've ever attended. It was filled with drama, clutch situations, abnormal circumstances, and overtime.

There were a lot of chances for the Indians to put some runs on the board, but at every turn, Andy Pettitte shut them down, much to my chagrin. He and Fausto Carmona each pitched extremely well. In fact, all the pitchers that night pitched well. Even Joba Chamberlian, he of the plague infested variety, pitched well. He was clearly bothered by the bugs, and I truly believe it got into his head. He wasn't the same pitcher after being doused with gallons of bug spray. The bugs, while clearly in the face of the Indians players as well, didn't seem to affect the Tribe the same way. The Yankees players appeared in general to be much more distracted by them. As a fan in the stands, I wasn't bothered by them at all... mainly because they were nowhere near the stands. Lindsay said one flew into her eye, but I never noticed any.

It is, as you can see, Tribe Time Now! Apparently. I'm not sure who came up with that slogan, but meh. Whatever. They handed out towels with the It's Tribe Time Now! saying on it also. It will join my sports towel collection, perhaps in a to be determined place of honor.

Pandemonium set in after Hafner's game winning hit. Cowboys were hugging Indians. Dogs were hugging cats. It was just like at the end of the movie Major League. We stayed in the stands for a good 10 minutes after the game just releasing all of the pent up emotion of the game. It was a really great game, and a perfect example of why baseball is such a great sport.

Yanks-Tribe Postmortem

First of all, congratulations to the Cleveland Indians and their fans. Unlike a lot of Yankee fans (and certain co-authors here) I don't enjoy gloating or rubbing my friend's facing in things when their teams don't do well or minimizing them when they do do (hee hee "doodoo!") well. I mean, unless they're playing Boston.

The Indians deserved to win this series from the start and no matter what you may hear when watching SportsCenter, the Yankees didn't lose this series -- the Indians won it.

The Yankees, always overanalyzed, put up twelve hits in the final game, so they weren't asleep. They were just beat. Cleveland came out prepared in each game and jumped right on the Yanks, the only exception being Andy Pettitte's incredible performance in Game 2 that truly should have been more than enough for a win if the Yankees could have done more than a Melky Cabrera home run off of Fausto "Don't Call Me A Closer" Carmona.

I said it all year -- the Yankees were a great offensive team but great offensive teams rarely win it all. You need to have shutdown pitching to win in the playoffs and the Yankees haven't had that for a long, long time. Why is this such a shock? They score a ton of runs because they play the Devil Rays and Orioles 38 times a year. It's got nothing to do with choking in the playoffs or the pressure of New York or any of that crap. It's got to do with how they're put together. It's also got nothing to do with "heart" or any other made-up sheet like that. The Tribe has heart and hustled and played outstanding. But did you see the Yankees dogging it? Did it look like they didn't care? I don't think so. They cared and they played hard and they got beat. End of drama.

The Torre Situation

This is so sad to me. The fact that Joe Torre care so much about his guys and puts together twelve straight playoff runs, averaging somewhere around 95 wins a year over that time, yet has to sit there and answer questions about being "fired." Well, first of all, his contract is up and he's 67 years old. Who's to say he definitely wanted to come back to the Yanks? I think it's possible that this was Steinbrenner wanting to act like he had the final say and was "firing" Torre, because if Torre walked away after this year, Steinbrenner and the Yankees would possibly appear to not have complete control of everything. You and I know they indeed don't have control of everything but we live in reality world -- Steinbrenner and his jackass sons live in YankeeLand.

To put that quote out there about Torre having to win this series or else he wasn't being brought back was just bush league. Bush. League. All you haters who were all over Alex Rodriguez for shouting at the Blue Jays rookie months ago -- pay attention to this behavior by the frickin' owner of the franchise. This is bush league.

Your team is already down 0-2 in a series and they know the expectations in New York and with their much-maligned payroll. So they come home and now hear they have to win or else the manager they all love is going to be gone. Well, yeah, that's a really good way to loosen them up, jackass. Well-played. And I'll tell you this: there's no way Joe wanted them playing for him -- he wants his guys playing for the team. And they almost always do.

Torre is an average field manager but he's a brilliant manager of men and that's what's probably most important in baseball. In football, being a great game-planner is critical. In baseball, it's more about keeping things rolling along smoothly, keeping the highs under control and the lows from being too low. Torre was masterful and, as someone who watches probably 110-130 of their games each season, to see Torre have his postgame press gaggle every single night and practically never seem moody or impatient is just awe-inspiring. I hope I can be a fraction of that patient one day.

I understand that leadership changes have to happen sometimes. And I understand it might be good for the Yanks to have Joe leave and remain the hero that he is to Yankees fans. But I wish he was allowed to do it with all of his dignity and not be painted as having been yet another casualty of the George Steinbrenner iron fist. I've said many times that Yankee fans have no clue how good they've had it and that people who write headlines like this one on ESPN.com just don't get it. Their "Era of Greatness" didn't just come to a halt last night. If championships are what define greatness, I guess it ended in six years ago. If 90+ wins a year and making the playoffs every year count, then it's far from over.

A final thought on Joe Torre -- I've never understood how people can hate the Yankees when a guy like Torre is running the show. And when you confront Yankee-haters about it, many of them agree he's a great guy. And many have even said (to me, at least) that they like him enough that they would have had no problem with him managing their team. He's universally liked and respected and he should be. And this treatment he has endured from Steinbrenner has always irritated me. Yes, yes, Joe is highly paid. Fine. But think of your own job and make your salary your dream salary and then think about being de-pantsed publicly by your irrational boss a few times a year. While you might put up with it, you wouldn't think it was warranted.

As for replacements, I sincerely hope they do not go with Don Mattingly. I think we'd be in for a dark time for the Yankees if they go that route. I think the best possible hire would be Joe Girardi. The only questions will be whether he'll want to put up with the crap that comes from being the Yankee manager and whether he'll be okay with following Torre.

The A-Rod Saga Continues

Well, nobody was booing A-Rod last night and that's a good thing. But he didn't give the haters or the supporters anything solid to stand on. He hit .267 for the series, with a homer and one RBI. Certainly not what should be expected from a guy with a .314/54/156 season, but also not .071 like last year. Let's put it this way: ARod wasn't the problem.

And let's also keep in mind Derek Jeter, "Captain Clutch," grounded into three double plays in the series and seemed to come up small many times. He went 3-for-17 (.176) with one RBI. Where's the outcry? I know, I know, he's come through before so he's immune. And maybe he should be. But let's not just pile on ARod. They all lost, and they all could have come up bigger.

Will ARod stay or go? I've felt most of this season that he will indeed opt out of his contract in a few weeks, regardless of how the Yankees did. I still think that's likely and the only reason I think he might stay in New York is because his Scott Boras-inflated price tag of $30M per season is just ludicrous and there aren't many teams that can even consider paying that.

That said, I think the smart money is on only two suitors for ARod -- the Angels or the Cubbies. I think Chicago is a city that could eat him up, too, but he might hit 70 homers playing in Wrigley and he loves Lou Pinella. The Angels -- well, they showed they need some more offense and Arte Moreno, their owner, isn't afraid to spend money. Plus it's LA, and doesn't ARod just look like a perfect fit for Los Angeles?

I definitely hope he stays because he's the best player any of us will see, regardless of what he did in two postseason series in 2005 and 2006. He's a career .279 hitter in the postseason, even with those two terrible series, with 9 doubles, 7 homers and 17 RBIs in 39 games. Nothing spectacular but also not a complete flop. And without his monster season this year, do people not realize the Yankees would probably have been close to a .500 team? No, the answer is they do not realize it.

So if he leaves, prepare to laugh hard at New York, Yankee-haters. You'll be well within your rights.

Back to Cleveland

As I said earlier, congrats to Cleveland. They deserved this victory and they are a far better team than many of us (including me) realized. They do a lot of things well and they seem to manage around their weaknesses. For example, their closer is a bit of a joke, so they give him multi-run leads to protect. Well-played. I don't know if this will work all the way to the Series, though, so let's keep an eye on that.

The Indians are going to be good for a while now. They've got excellent young talent and have shown some smarts in signing good veterans to help bring it all together, such as Willie Mays Hayes -- err, I mean, Kenny Lofton.

Seriously, though, have fun with Boston, Tribe fans. More analysis on that series coming later this week.

Joe and Willie - A Short Play

SETTING: A Subway sandwich shop.


Hey, Joe.





Hey, Willie. Why the long face?






Don't be a jerk, Joe. You know what's going on.




What do you mean? No, really.. what's up? I've just been here enjoying my sandwich all weekend. I let Jorge manage. I like to do that when we've got the playoffs wrapped up.




*Eyes Joe suspiciously*





*innocently chews sandwich, wipes dressing from face*





*glances at menu*





So what did you do when you had things wrapped up?




I knew it! I knew you couldn't resist!





Sorry, Willie, but come on... the Phillies? Have you heard Charlie Manuel talk? He's borderline retarded.




Look, Joe, I've had a rough weekend, okay?




Okay, okay. *pause*

So who are you starting in Game 1?




Dammit, Joe!





Sorry! I just can't resist! The Phillies? Weren't you guys in first all season? Weren't we in last in like May? I can't remember because I really don't care. I'm just collecting a paycheck.



Whatever, Joe.





You should really order the mesquite chicken and bacon sandwich.





Really? Is it good?





Pretty good. I enjoyed it all summer long.





Oh, that's cool.




*stifling giggles*
Yeah, then in September I had a Philly Cheese Steak and it was so good, I relegated the mesquite chicken and bacon sandwich to second place.




You're such a jerk, Joe.





I have an idea, Willie, this will make you feel like a winner all over again.





Joe, get away from me. Wha-- what are you trying to put on my head? Come on, Joe...





Just hold still... there we go. How's that?







Gosh, you know, I actually do feel like a winner in this.

Can't Keep the Evil Empire Down For Long

Hey, remember back in May when the Yankees were scuffling and I said the Sux couldn't play .700 ball all season and that it was only two months in? And how boilerdowd reveled in the Yankees sucking and called me out, I guess, for not conceding the season? Well, only losers concede things that early.

Last night, the Yanks completed their turnaround and clinched a spot in the playoffs. The numbers really are amazing, whether you like the Yankees or not. They were 21-29 after 50 games and since then have gone 70-38. That's ridonkulous.

Have they perhaps blown their wad just to get into the playoffs? Possibly, but I am the first to admit (unlike most Yankee fans) that this team isn't built to win the World Series, it's built to win the division (or, in this case, the Wild Card).

See, you can slug your way through the regular season, pounding on teams like the Orioles, Jays and Devil Rays, but you don't get to play teams like that in October. When the Yankees were winning all those titles, they really were the best, most complete team in the majors. Pitching, hitting, baserunning, defense. They were just solid in all areas. Now they're average (at best) defensively, a little above average in starting pitching, perhaps climbing to above average in the bullpen and excellent in the hitting department. Well, what wins championships, kids? That's right, pitching. I have confidence in Wang and Pettitte, but then....? Old Man Clemens? Kid Phil Hughes? Erratic Mike Mussina? It'll be an adventure, as always.

But that's to worry about next week when the playoffs begin. For now, let's have some fun with photos in this post. Enjoy.


Mo Rivera and Roger Clemens douse Hideki Matsui ("of Japan," the ESPN caption actually says) with champagne, while Matsui mumbles, "Yeah, but we still got your asses at Pearl Harbor."


Derek Jeter scopes the groupies for the three he will bang that night.


Joe Torre reminds Doug Mientkiewicz of their deal from back in May, when Mientkiewicz said, "If we turn this thing around, I'll put on a pair of goggles and make out with Joe Torre."


Upon realizing that making the playoffs means he'll make more money as part of his playoff bonus, Roger Clemens is overcome with emotion.


Joba Chamberlain explains: "Hey, I'm just a rookie... Alex told me to hold this bottle right here while he grabs it... I don't know, I just do what I'm told."

Scoreboard Wrong -- Hilarity Ensues

I happened to be at Yankee Stadium last night, taking in my second consecutive game against the Mariners. After a lousy game on Monday, the Yankees rebounded yesterday to beat the Mariners 12-3, including a monstrous home run from Alex Rodriguez WAY into the upper deck in left field.

But what entertained us for a while was the possibly drunk nature of the scoreboard operator. I'm so pissed I didn't have my camera.

At Yankee Stadium, the center field scoreboard shows the lineups for each team horizontally, using their uniform number and the position abbreviation. Here's what the Yankee lineup looked like for the first three innings:

28 2 53 13 20 55 17 24 14

CF SS RF 3B C LF DH 2B CF

Upon inspection, do you see anything wrong with that? Like perhaps that nobody is playing first base? And that both Melky Cabrera and Wilson Betemit are playing center field? Are they aware that they're supposed to be sharing? As I said, this stayed this way until the third inning.

During at bats, the scoreboard shows the current batters triple crown stats -- that is, their batting average, home runs and RBIs. Later on, with Betemit up, the scoreboard showed no batting average, zero home runs and zero RBIs. It kind of seemed like they were picking on Betemit.

But then in the fifth inning, the scoreboard showed who was "due up" for the Mariners and they displayed it thusly:

5

51 Suzuki

3 Vidro

Poor Yuniesky Betancourt was worthy of a number being shown but not his name. Perhaps it's just too hard to spell.

Or maybe George, in his senility, was operating the scoreboard last night.

Another Assinine Decision by MLB

You might remember back in May how Alex Rodriguez shouted at a Blue Jays infielder (a rookie infielder) as he was settling under a pop-up and the kid dropped it. The Jays were hopping mad and started a ruckus about how it was "bush league," when anyone who's ever played organized baseball understands that you have to catch the ball and not be distracted by yelling. These guys are (supposedly) major leaguers, for pete's sake. Little Leaguers know how to concentrate on pop-ups.

So the Jays were really mad. And since they royally suck and have nothing else to play for, they've been waiting for the Yankees to come back to town. So on Monday, in ARod's first at bat, Jesse Litsch throws a pitch at ARod. ARod doesn't complain and simply plays the game. Okay, fine, you've made your point, Toronto.

But no. On Tuesday night, Josh Towers throws a fastball at ARod's knee and hits him. ARod gets a little irritated because now this is two-for-one and that's just stupid. Towers reacts like a jackass, telling the best hitter in baseball to just take his base and get out of there. Towers, it should be noted, sucks.

The benches clear and Matt Stairs, a fat, useless slug of a DH tries to get at ARod several times. Order is restored and ARod goes to first. He's standing there when Towers starts mouthing off at him again, to which you can see ARod say, "What? Are you talking to me?" The benches clear again and again Matt Stairs goes after ARod. The best part of this was Shelly Duncan of the Yankees (all 6'5" of him) sprinting out to intercept the stumpy Stairs.

So the Yankees go about the game and then, leading 7-0 in the 7th inning, Roger Clemens evens up the score by drilling Alex Rios in the middle of the back with a fastball. Well, what the hell were the Blue Jays expecting? Clemens, a guy who's not afraid to throw at people's heads, to just not retaliate at all? It's an eye-for-an-eye game and Clemens was standing up for his teammate. The Yankees let it go on Monday but they got pushed and pushed and pushed on Tuesday and finally had had enough. And so Clemens (and Torre) get tossed. Fine, those are the stupid MLB rules (once the benches are warned); so be it.

Well, today Roger Clemens has been suspended for five games. For an incident he did not create. Josh Towers, who incited the bench-clearing, male-posturing bullshit? No suspension. Matt Stairs, who continued to escalate things after they'd already been calmed down? Nothing but a minor fine.

Well-played, baseball, well-played.

If you really want to eliminate fighting, you look at the whole situation and apply some logic, rather than just black and white rules. When ARod was hit on Monday, you let it go, just like the Yankees did. Nobody retaliated, because they realized the Jays were still pissed off about something. And then the Blue Jays pushed it beyond reasonable, which you can always (and easily) determine when the whole other team is visibly pissed. Okay, you hit our best player once and we let it go... now you drilled a fastball at his kneecap. That's enough.

But no, suspend Clemens. That makes sense.

What Will Happen With A-Rod?

It's hard for me, as a Yankee fan, to truly enjoy the season that Alex Rodriguez is having this year because I think there's a really good chance he's going to be elsewhere next season. And the reason will be the endless beating he takes from the media and fans of the New York metropolitan area about how he's no good, and non-clutch, etc.

Everyone piles onto Alex and I actually do feel bad for him, despite the fact that he's a bit aloof at times. But since he's been in New York, I've come to like him a lot more and Derek Jeter a lot less. I still marvel at how good Jeter is at the game, but Jeter seems to be getting more and more arrogant all the time. That's unfortunate.

A-Rod, on the other hand, is putting up insane numbers, year after year, and is still bashed. He's hittong over .500 this year in the 9th inning with something like seven home runs. How do you define clutch? How many games does he have to win by himself? There have been studies of this year's numbers that suggest Alex has been responsible for 7 or 8 wins, by himself. And if you don't think that's a lot, you don't know baseball. For one guy to swing a team that much is amazing. So instead of being on the fringe of contention they'd be under .500 and fading fast. Big difference.

It also almost feels like the Yankees are setting Alex up to be the villian in all this. He's a free agent at the end of the season, if he wants to be. He would need to opt out of the remaining three years of his ginormous, famous $252 million deal. But if you could make $25 million per year for three years or perhaps more than that per year for, like, six or eight years... wouldn't you at least find out about the possibilities?

The Yankees, though, asked him about extending his contract, mainly because they like the fact that Texas is on the hook to pay $9.5 mill per season of his $25 mill for the next three years (the remaining years on the original deal). Basically, the Yankees are getting ARod for a modern-day steal, since he's costing them about $15.5 million a season. Or less than Giambi... or Jeter.

So when ARod said, hey, I'd like to maybe consider testing the free agent market, the Yankees made this public knowledge and painted ARod as tying their hands since, you know, they're on such a strict budget and all.

Of course, nobody can win here. If ARod signs another mega-deal, he'll further cement his legacy as a money-hungry athlete (again, not that I think anyone can blame him) and he'll be further buried in the press. And if the Yankees sign him to a $30 million a year deal, they'll be further demonized by the press and other fans as a team "buying" their titles (even though they haven't won since their payroll began to really skyrocket).

Which brings me to another point: who the hell could afford to pay one player more than $30 million per season? I can only imagine the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels and maybe the Cubs as being in that category.

The Mets won't do it, not with Wright and Reyes on the left side of their infield. Although, if it were me, and I was running the Mets and was opening a new ballpark the same year as the Yankees, I would throw as much money as possible at him and either make him a first baseman or move David Wright to first. What difference would it make? If ARod retires in ten years, you move Wright back to third. Who cares? And wouldn't that just piss off the Yankees if the Mets won even a single World Series with ARod as the hero? Of course, he'd still have to deal with the New York media and he's shown how that can get to him. Still, and this is a Yankee fan speaking, I think the possibilities would be delicious.

The Dodgers think Garciaparra is a good third baseman so that shows their baseball sense.

The Sox won't do it because Theo Epstein thinks he's a genius based on one eight-game luck-steak in 2004. Plus all of Boston hates ARod, including the mouth-breathing, overrated captain of the Sox.

The Cubs could consider it, especially if they're primed for a real run in the next few years. Pinella has a good connection with ARod and if Mark Cuban ever really did buy the Cubs, I think the chances of them going after ARod increase dramatically.

However, I think it's most likely that ARod ends up in Anaheim. The Angels have money to burn and an owner willing to burn it. It's Los Angeles, which means ARod is still in a big market but nobody there really cares that much about sports so the pressure would truly be off. He'd be at every awards show and his hookers would be from Rodeo Drive instead of Toronto. Major upgrade.

He could, of course, still end up back in New York because when push comes to shove I think the Yankees leadership is run by good baseball men, such as Brian Cashman, who hopefully knows just how amazingly, jaw-droppingly good ARod really is. Plus, in eight to ten years or so when he's beloved as he approaches Barry Bonds' all-time home run record, it would be nice for the Yankees to have him in their still-fairly-new Yankee Stadium.

Still, my guess for next year? LA Angels.

Uh-Oh

Oh dear, here they come. You knew it was going to happen eventually. At least, if you had any sense you did.

You knew Alex Rodriguez was going to get hot again. You knew Bobby Abreu (whom we began referring to as "Robert Ahbrew" at my bachelor party Yankee game) wasn't going to hit .230 all year. You knew their pitching would start to get healthy. You knew Johnny Damon would begin to recover from his ailments. You knew they'd eventually get a run of games against bad teams. And it's all happened.

Less than two weeks ago, the Yankees trailed the Red Sox in the division by 13 1/2 games. Ten games later, they trail by 9 1/2 games. And the Wild Card? The Yankees are only 5 1/2 behind the Tigers for that. I know, I know, it's way too early to celebrate, and I don't want to be lumped into that (well-deserved) idiot-labeled front-runner fan base of Yankee fans who come back out of the woodwork after a few wins. Those who know me know that's not the case here.

No, I'm just pleased with myself for not having been like certain other fans who throw in the towel on their team as early as possible. Yankee "fans" everywhere, along with sports radio, were talking about how this team sucks and how they need to fire Torre (with many saying to replace him with Mattingly, which would be a HUGE mistake -- more on this in another post one day), etc.

People always knocked the Yankees for not being a team and standing up for one another, and then Scott Proctor throws a few beanballs and actually gets suspended backing up his teammates... and then you hear rumblings about how that's a stupid thing to do.

Alex Rodriguez, criticized for not being the "winner" that Derek Jeter is, is off to a monster year, yet he cannot ever seem to do the right things. He spooks a rookie third baseman in Toronto into dropping a pop-up and everyone sides with... the rookie? Give me a break. A-Rod slides hard into Dustin Pedroia trying to break up a double play and he's called a cheap artist for that. A week later, Mike Lowell lowers his shoulder into Robinson Cano as Cano is applying a tag on Lowell in the baseline and it absolutely levels Cano to the ground. Cano still made the tag-out and got the man at first base and did it all without glaring at Lowell or saying something about Lowell being "bush league" to the press. You know, the way Curt Schilling or Jason Varitek would if the situation was reversed or (especially) if it had been A-Rod on the basepaths.

But it hasn't mattered. The Yankees stayed afloat while playing poor baseball and now have put together a good run where they've won six straight and have a chance to really put some more wins together.

When the Mets were winning early this season, I had many Mets fans all over me b/c I still wear my Yanks cap to softball games and whatnot. And when they were celebrating the Yankees demise in early May, I really was surprised. But I shouldn't be. People are always ready to celebrate the Yankees demise. And so be it. There always needs to be an evil empire to root against.... I get that.

Speaking of celebrating in May, it still amazes me how many Red Sox fans do it, too. But perhaps they're also trying to convince themselves that the Yankees are buried when, really, that's far from the case. And how much will it hurt to blow as big a lead as the Sox had? I don't know, but we might find out. What with more than three and a half months of baseball left.

One more Red Sox-related nugget: A certain friend of the Boiled Sports staff (we'll call him a "friend of the show") whose name may or may not rhyme with "Shark Burley" was sending me text messages one night when the Yanks and Sox were playing. As the Yanks applied a whipping, I commented on the Sox possibly blowing their division lead, more to wrankle him than anything. I realize that's a long shot, but hey, it's fun to mess with Sox fans. And his response?

"Ha if the sox blow this lead i will kill a random hooker"

So if any hookers go missing and it coincides with the Yankees overtaking the Red Sox... well, you heard it here first.

Jeter Is Good

Since I posted about Jeter being considered infallable the other day, I thought I'd take a real look at his numbers today. I know his average was way up there, but I really didn't understand just how good he has been playing and how consistently good he's been of late.

Sure, he's hitting almost .370 and that's good no matter what, but it's only May, right? And he's got just three homers and 28 RBIs. So it's not like he's doing anything amazing...right?

Except if you begin to look at his game-by-game log for the season so far, you see that he's only had two -- two! -- true, zero-hit games thus far this season. On April 7, he went 0-for-4 with a walk and on May 4, he went 0-for-6. That May 4 game was the only game he's appeared in this season where he has not reached base.

Think about that. That's actually incredible. He's currently riding an 18-game hitting streak and, as I said, has gotten on base in every single game this year except for one (including one game where he was plunked in the first inning and had to leave the game -- a 0-for-0 with 1 HBP).

But let's take it back even further. If you go back to his game-by-game for 2006, you'll see that the last time Jeter had two straight games with no hits was August 16 and 17 of last year. Since last August 19, Derek has only had three games (the aforementioned two this year, plus Sept 17 of 2006) where he put up an 0-fer. That's it.

So over his last 82 games (just more than half a season's worth of games), Derek Jeter has had hits in 77 of them, with two games being 0-for-0 games (one the aforementioned HBP game and one last year, also against Tampa, where he went 0-for-0 with three walks and three runs scored).

Three 0-fers in 82 games. And only two games in the past 82 where he did not reach base. Two.

Last night, he cleared 2,215 hits to move ahead of Joe DiMaggio on the Yankees all-time hits list and won't be 33 until June 26. Jeter has averaged about 195 hits per season so far in his career. Even if that drops to 175 per year, Jeter will clear 3,000 hits in about four and a half seasons, or at the end of 2011, the season in which he'll turn 37. It's quite conceiveable that he will approach 3,500 hits. Do you know how many guys have even 3,400 hits, all-time? Eight.

I know a lot of people have taken a liking to mocking Jeter as being a media-created legend, but he's doing a pretty good job of it himself. Sure, he's not hitting 700+ home runs like Bonds or things like that, but I'm also not writing this talking about his "little things" or "intangibles," the stuff that knowledgeable people make fun of since it kind of is hyperbole. No, I'm talking about his actual numbers and they're beginning to look pretty incredible.

Thus ends my public love note about Derek's skillz.

Stop Hating On Interleague Play

Every year, we're subjected to another round of people bashing on interleague play, one of Bud Selig's few solid ideas since he hijacked the commissioner post from Fay Vincent all those years ago.

It's no different this year, the tenth anniversary of interleague play, as people are now more frequently questioning whether or not it's "fair."
Yeah, there was actually an article in SI this week about the "fairness" of interleague play since a team like the Mets has to play a tough series of interleague games while the Brewers play a group from the AL with slightly lesser records. Well, now, wait a minute. With the imbalanced schedule in place in recent years, haven't the Yankees and Red Sox had a nice advantage in getting to pound on the Devil Rays and Orioles 19 times each per season? Is that not fair? I mean, since, lately, the AL Central has been so good and they only have one team to pound on (the Royals)?

The fact is, interleague play is a good thing for baseball. It gets the fans even more into the game, right as the summer is approaching. And it gets the fans talking about baseball for reasons other than A) steroids, B) what a jerk Barry Bonds is, or C) huge home runs.

This complaint about fairness is a switch from the old Lupica-esque complaint, which was that it matched up teams like the Royals and the Pirates and, whoo, isn't that fun. He would never fail to make this asinine point on The Sports Reporters each year and then laugh uproariously at himself. Yes, yes, we get it Mike, nobody is longing to see the Devil Rays and Nationals face off. But couldn't you also argue that nobody is longing to see the Devil Rays and the Royals face off, either? And they're in the same league, you traditionalist!

Interleague play provides some excitement, whether those who hate it want to admit it or not. Sure, there are a bunch of games with no more excitement than any other regular season game. But then there are matchups like the Mets-Yanks, Cubs-Sox and Dodgers-Angels series where people actually do care, since their next-door neighbor or co-worker could very well be a fan of the other team. And not just a passing fan since they're both considered local teams.

This weekend, co-author Tim and I will be among a group attending the Cleveland-Cinci (Battle of Ohio!) game on Saturday night at Jacobs Field. Stop by Section 103 to say hi if you want. Or, if you're one of our haters... don't.

Hired Gun

I just got the picture to the left in my inbox from a Red Sox-fan friend of mine who has also pelted me with emails over the past two days about what a joke Clemens is and, well, you know the drill.

Well, that's definitely true -- he plays just for the money. As opposed to gamers like Curt Schilling who plays the game for free. Or Manny Ramirez, who donates all $20 million of his salary to barbershops across Boston.

I once heard Jason Varitek promised to wear whatever letter of the alphabet he was able to get to without looking above the blackboard for help. What a guy!

Those Red Sox sure are likable. I especially like how when Manny hits a home run he stands there and postures and walks to first base. And then, if anyone dares to pitch him on the inner half of the plate, he absolutely flips out. Those guys sure are awesome!

And let's not forget their two-week dynasty in 2004 -- their fans sure haven't forgotten it!

But yes, the truth is, Roger Clemens IS a hired gun and is just having a hard time turning down the boatloads of money he is getting offered each year. And if he had chosen the Red Sox, the fans would be lining up to kiss his fat ass.