I would have loved to have been able to hear the thoughts of various Sox last night as it dawned upon them that Melky and Varitek were going to have a footrace from 3rd to home...

The dugout atmosphere seems pretty good, as well, judging from the peeps shown by ESPN.

You could really see the Phillips homerun coming. Beckett behind 2&1 to a AAA player, thinking he's going to blow a fastball by him on the inside part of the pl...oooh, that's going far. Phillips and Giambi are swinging well.

A-Rod doesn't look himself yet. May still be getting over the virus. Unlike Jason, he has to field.

BTW: It seems the Proctologist punched a clubhouse door in Baltimore.

http://tinyurl.com/jykg6

My guess is Torre wanted to see if he was alright via a small workload. I didn't see anything this morning to confirm. Anyone know differently?

Book recommendation: I've been on a run of duds from the library lately, so I plucked "The Last Best League" off my bookshelf for a 2nd time. Chronicles the 2002 season of the Chatham A's in the Cape Cod League. Well written stuff detailing how kids adjust to wood bats, elite (at the college age anyway) levels of competition, etc. Also, some of the names are now more recognizable than the first time I read it. Tim Stauffer (Padres), Chad Orvella (who was still playing SS, and not pitching, as recently as 2002!), among others.

It'll be pretty disgusting if Thompson gets sent down instead of cutting Long. I had to laugh out loud last night when Jim Kaat said Torre's greatest strength was "sticking by his players" -- and he gave the example of Andy Phillips. He said he stuck by Andy, who wasn't hitting, and finally gave him a chance. I guess the crusty old Kaat didn't realize that Andy wasn't playing because Torre WOULDN'T play him, and that at one point Cairo was playing first base. I guess he forgot that one. Nothing highlights what a disgrace Torre is than Phillips tearing the cover off the ball. All he had to do was give this guy some regular playing time to see if he could hit at this level. But he wouldn't give it to him until he was forced to. Torre's unfathomable.

It's 13-5 in the 7th, and the play by play guy (Thorne?) actually said something to the effect of, "Red Sox chipping away at this Yankee lead to stay in the game"...

Yes, I'm sure the Sox felt the same way, as they took out Lowell, Manny and Ortiz for Alex Cora, Doug Mirabelli and JT Snow.

On a side note, does it seem like the Yankees have been pitching to (and fielding) Ortiz much better the last handful of games? Seems like ever since Farnsworth froze him with a slider, he's been a little off in his at bats.

Now, of course, watch him crush 3 HR's tonight...

As for Melky and Phillips and their respective on-base tallents: Melky's sporting a .380 OBP right now and an .085 ISD (isolated discipline = OBP - AVG), I'm fine with that guy hitting second. Thing is prior to this year, Melky had a career .339 OBP and .054 ISD.

Of course, Melky is a 21-year-old kid who has put together some terrific at-bats in the majors this season, so there seems to be reason to believe his improvement is legitimate. He's seeing 3.65 pitches per plate appearance. That's solid.

Andy, meanwhile, is seeing 3.76 pitches per at-bat. He has a .322 OBP and a .024 ISD this season, but in his minor league career his numbers were .368 OBP and .072 ISD.

The fact of the matter is, I don't blame Phillips for not walking while he's hitting .480 over his last six games (yes, .480), I'll only be concerned if he doesn't start drawing walks after he cools off.

http://tinyurl.com/h6xhm

For whatever reason, they don't link directly to the Cabrera play on this page, but if you choose any of the video links below the photo, the video player that is loaded has a link to the play.

I suppose when Bubba and Jeter come back, the IF guy will be sent back down and Bubba will take his roster spot. It effectively moves up the decision of who Bubba replaces.

1) Thorn did not say, the Sox were chipping away to stay in the game. He said something like, "There is plenty of time for them to chip away and stay in the game, and the Sox lineup is certainly capable of scoring 7 in an inning too."

2) They didn't say the farm system was depleted, they said, "the farm system for awhile was much maligned but look at what it's producing right now."

3) They went out of their way to talk about how Yankee Stadium had the greatest history of any ball park.

4) They talked about Jeter being "the best player in baseball."

5) They priased The Boss for reaching out and mending fences with Yogi.

6) They talked about how great A-Rod is.

7) They wouldn't stop talking about what a great competitor Mussina is.

Is that enough? Remember, they are broadcasting a game to a NATIONAL audience and they have to satisfy more than Yankee fans. This "ESPN hates the Yankees" thing is the same type of perecution complex nonsense I'd expect to hear from Sox fans.

http://tinyurl.com/r9knf

I could be mistaken, but I remember being annoyed at the time, so maybe what he actually said is somewhere in between what you and I seem to think it is...

To be fair, Schteeve, there's an enormous faction of sports fans who HATE the Yankees and everything they stand for - why would it be unreasonable to believe that more than a few commentators/analsysts on ESPN share the same mentality? And why would it be so ludicrous for said commentators to let their biases bleed through once in a while...?

So - Bernie was safe?!?

Aside: This blog gets into your skin. What did I think of when Andy hit the three run dinger? "Cliff's gotta be loving that". The funny thing is - I don't even know Cliff. He could be sitting in the office next to me for all I know. But I thought of him the moment that ball sailed over the fence.

What did I think of when Cairo was bunting with a five run lead? "The guys have gotta be pulling their hair out".

This blog certainly adds to the games. Thanks guys.

BP

I think Schteeve 27 is fairly accurate, because even though almost all fans of other teams hate the Yankees, there is also a sizable, nationwide fan base of casual Yankee fans that would get turned off if the announcers weren't fair to the Yankees.

The comment about the Red Sox chipping away probably had more to do with desperately trying to keep viewers tuned in then any Red Sox/Yankee bias.

Lastly, any thoughts on who the Yankees will draft today?

SportsNation Rob Neyer: (12:31 PM ET ) Most managers would do exactly what Torre is doing. The devil you know, and all that...

- looks like our frnds at NoMass wanted soem answers

they have project the first round.. and it starts 1pm..

B Cashman is at the draft.. showing more control of the whole process..

Just to remind myself what a horse's ass Kay is (if I needed any reminding) I'll dial up the Dodger games to see if I can get the Skully broadcast. Skully gets some crap for being too cute but the guy still has some impressive chops. Man is he good. I listened to him do the Met game last night. It was a nice, measured and informative workman-like job,. I immagine sort of the way Red Barber used to do ours.

The wife also has great quips - keeps me more entertained than the YES crew. She said "Chien-Ming Wang needs a nickname". She was horrified by Wanger. She also asked of Kaat and Murcer "Do these guys always laugh at their own jokes?". It keeps a constant smile on my face even as the game stretches on and on.

Must've brought a tear to your eye watching the smooth and powerful swing he put on that 96 mph'er from Beckett.

I'm not sure if anybody commented on it here last night, but I loved how Ortiz pretended he wanted to rip Cano's head off after he got robbed of a hit with the shift on.
Ortiz makes the rivalry fun... when he's not murdering the Yanks, that is.

BP

My sentiments as well, although I would have loved to have heard a few comments on the Beckett trade considering his poor showing this season against the better teams. We certainly have to hear enough about Johnson when HE turns in a clunker on national TV...

35 Jon Miller is also superb on the radio, very much in the Scully school - good pipes, clear, descriptive, precise play-by-play, and speaks English comfortably and correctly. I don't know what happens to him when he gets on ESPN; my best theory is that Joe Morgan is a sort of intellectual black hole, sucking intelligence away from anyone who gets too close to him.

the MLB Draft tracker says he was good as far back as 03 but has been mediocre since.. it says he aint that good

Kennedy only projects as a No.3 or 4 starter, but might be the safest pick in the draft. He's a little undersized and his stuff lacks the 'wow' factor, but he has impeccable command of a full repertoire of pitches. "I doubt there's a pitcher closer to the big leagues--he's more polished than [2005 No. 6 overall pick] Ricky Romero." said a scouting director. "There's a whole lot of 50s [average] grades on his pitches, and nothing over 55, but he has exceptional command and could get there very quick. He just pitches like a big leaguer."

"There were rumors that Indiana high school shortstop Preston Mattingly could go in the late first or sandwich round, but most figured it would be as part of another skirmish between the Red Sox and Yankees, for whom his father Don once starred and currently serves as a batting coach. Instead, he went to the Dodgers at 31. Mattingly didn't get much play until May. He's a three-sport athlete with a gifted bat, plate discipline and more speed than his dad had. But though he has good tools, his future position is much in question. No word yet on whether Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has fired any scouting personnel for letting Mattingly get away, but Dodgers official Tommy Lasorda did tweak him after announcing the pick by saying, "Thank you, George."
-- Jim Callis"

Yanks have taken 2 college pitchers so far (Ian Kennedy of USC, Joba Chamerblain of U Nebraska Lincoln). Interesting.

If no one mentioned it, Proctor pulled a Kevin Brown on Sunday after blowing the lead for Randy Johnson and punched a metal door.

Torre had him pitch to make sure his hand was ok. Same reasoning that had Rivera go in.

I suppose I should stop killing Torre for decisions when I know damn well that he has more information about the personnel than I do.