Those Weaker Sisters In The Senior Circuit

With the Yankees clinching the Wild Card last night, the AL playoff picture is set, save for who'll have the best record, home-field advantage and the choice of days off. Not so in the NL. What the heck is going on over there?

I'll tell you what's going on. Someone always gets their feathers ruffled when it's pointed out that the American League is beter than the National League. Well, they might as well smooth out their ruffles because it's true. That's all there is to it. There's a very simple reason for it, too. Well, two actually: 1) The New York Yankees and 2) The Boston Red Sox. The other twelve teams know they have to compete with these two powerhouses and they try their best to do so, whether it's with their bank accounts or with strong farm systems.

Who in the NL is like the Yankees or Red Sox? The Mets? No, they're just pretenders. They pretend to be spenders, then fall into situations like the one they're in now, in danger of missing the postseason. If they had spent money on their bullpen (wisely, instead of paying Guillermo Mota) they might just have clinched the division by now. This is also the reason Willie Randolph will not be fired if the Mets do collapse. The Mets would have to eat the remainder of Willie's contract and, they're too cheap to do anything like that.

Needless to say, it'll be an exciting last couple of days of the season in the National League.

The Lady

Somewhere Over The Standings

Who are those weird looking people on the back page of the New York Daily News today? Apparently they're (from left to right) Joba Chamberlain (The Cowardly Lion), Ian Kennedy (Dorothy), Shelley Duncan (Scarecrow), and Phil Hughes (Tin Man).

After their loss to the Blue Jays yesterday, the Yankees had their rookies dress up as characters from The Wizard Of Oz for the annual end-of-year rookie hazing. Peter Abraham thinks these guys got off easy, considering that Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang were required to dress up as cheerleaders two years ago. I disagree. The Yankees are where they are today because of the Yankee Youth Movement. These guys are trade deadline acquisitions. Eric Gagne didn't have to put on any embarrassing costumes yesterday. Why should they?

The Lady

Down The Stretch They Come...

Barring anything catastrophic, the New York Yankees will make the 2007 Playoffs. Though I never really gave up hope that this would happen, I was never really sure if the Yankees could come back after the horrendous start they got off to this year. Now, with a 4.5 game lead over Detroit in the AL Wild Card Race with 11 games to play, Joe Torre and his staff are thinking about who should be on the post-season roster and who shouldn't be.

Mike Mussina is definitely making a case for himself to be placed on the post-season roster. After a good start in Toronto last week, Moose pitched beautifully last night, giving up no runs on 3 hits in 7 strong innings, walking only one and striking out 6. It was vintage Mike Mussina. At this point, it looks like he'll be the fourth starter in the playoffs and Phil Hughes, who's been mediocre (but has improved lately), will be in the bullpen or, perhaps, not even on the roster. Lots of decisions for Torre and his staff to make.

These are nice problems for the Yankees to have. How many people thought this team would be having these problems right now? Very few, indeed. I know Red Sox Nation never thought this would happen. Boston only leads the AL East by 2.5 games now, the smallest lead they've had since way back at the beginning of the season. They probably won't, but if the Sox blow the lead entirely, they'll still make the playoffs as the Wild Card, unlike the Mets, who, if they're caught by the Phillies, probably will miss the playoffs entirely. What a turn of events!

The Lady

[Photo: Kathy Willens/AP]

The 19-Day War Draws To A Close

Tonight is the final regular-season meeting between the Yankees and Red Sox. The 19-Day War, as I called it back in April, is finally drawing to a close. (I realize it's really 18 days but, heck, who's really counting?) The Yankees lead the season series 9-8 and will either win it 10-9 or it'll be a 9-9 tie. That's the way it always is with these two teams. They fight to the death except neither of them really dies. The whole thing ends in a draw, or a near draw, year after year after pressure-cooking year.

The pressure has gotten to be too much for me. These games are torture. I don't even watch Yankees-Red Sox anymore. I just check online for the score the next day, because if I watch, I'll get sick to my stomach. Sometimes this comes back to haunt me, as was the case during the last series at Yankee Stadium. I missed the entire sweep of the Sox by the Yankees because I couldn't bear to watch. I also missed Friday night's come-from-behind win. Yesterday I had better "luck," if you will, missing Beckett win his 19th game of the season.

I have to go to work this afternoon and I won't get home until almost 10 PM Eastern Time. The Yankees-Red Sox game, which would have started at around 8:10 Eastern, will probably only be in the 2nd inning or so, another element of torture I don't need. I'll just fix myself something to eat, check to see what's on QVC and have a nice relaxing Sunday evening.

The Lady

The Secret of A-Rod's Success?

So, why is Alex Rodriguez having such a monster season? According to Peter Abraham of the Journal News, it's because of his off-season, early-morning workouts with, of all people, Doug Mientkiewicz.

According to Pete's article, A-Rod, motivated by his failure in last year's ALDS, often called Mientkiewicz at 5:15 in the morning last Winter to convince him to work out with him.

I find this article interesting for two reasons: 1) This might explain away the theory that A-Rod is only having such a great season because he's already decided to opt out of his contract. 2) He really is friends with Doug Mientkiewicz! I don't think, as some in the media think, that Mientkiewicz was signed by the Yankees just for A-Rod's benefit, but there's got to be some kind of friendship there if the utility 1B is willing to get up at 5:15 AM for him!

The Lady

Harlan Chamberlain's Big Night

Joba and Harlan Chamberlain are two very blessed people:

Joba is blessed to have his father around to see him pitch in the Big Leagues.

Harlan is blessed to be around to see his son pitch in the Big Leagues.

A single parent, Harlan has suffered from polio since childhood. Last year his appendix burst. He is paralyzed on one side and gets around in a scooter. Life certainly has not been easy for him. Yet, he got the mother of all payoffs last night as he watched in tears while Joba took the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning in Kansas City, his first opportunity to see his son pitch live in a Major League game.

As I watched all of this unfold I blinked back some tears of my own, partly out of happiness for the Chamberlain Family, and partly from memories of my own parents, whose own health problems prevented them from being around to see me as an adult. Granted, they wouldn't be tearing up the way Harlan did upon seeing his son take the mound in a Major League stadium, but I'd like to think there would be smiles on the faces of William and Doris if they saw their daughter today.

The Lady

[Photo: Sleezer/AP]

Sorry, Maggs, A-Rod's The One

If there was any doubt about who should be the AL MVP, it was settled last night in the seventh inning during the Yankees' 10-2 rout of the Seattle Mariners. After returning from getting an MRI on his rolled over ankle, Alex Rodriguez talked his way into the line-up and proceeded to hit two home-runs in that seventh inning, erasing, in my mind anyway, any thoughts of anyone other than him being the League MVP.

These are the kinds of things A-Rod has done all season. When his team needs it most, he picks them up, straps them on his back and takes off. Last night was one of those times. Trailing 2-1 and in danger of having their Wild Card lead dwindle to to just one game, he picked up his team once again and went to work.

If it were not for Alex Rodriguez the Yankee season would have been over by the beginning of May.

No one really knows if he's having such a magical year because he's decided to opt out or because of some other reason. Whatever the reason, the debate needs to end now. Alex Rodriguez is the 2007 American League Most Valuable Player.

The Lady

What Happened To The Family Plan?

Roger Clemens will have an MRI on his right elbow today and will probably miss his next start. Gee, thanks, Rocket. Now Mike Mussina goes back into the rotation. Lovely. Just lovely. Clemens was rocked in yesterday's 7-1 loss to the Mariners, and things didn't get any better when Moose came in in relief. The only bright spot in the game (if Yankee fans can call it that) was Ichicro reaching 200 hits for the seventh straight season.

The Yankees are in the playoff race, but they've done it almost in spite of Roger Clemens. The Carpetbagger From Katy has been, for the most part, just what I thought he was going to be: a help but not a savior. I will say one good thing, however, about Roger Clemens. After all the talk about the Family Plan, he hasn't once taken advantage of it. I know many people would say it's because he knows the media is waiting for him to do it so they can jump all over it. But I'm not so sure. He's pretty much his own man. If he really wanted to take off at any point this season he'd have done it. It just makes me shake my head when I see that the media is ignoring the fact that Clemens has been around the team everyday since he first reported.

In other news: Andy Philips will have season-ending wrist surgery, so it looks like Wilson Betamit will get more playing time. Trading Scott Proctor looks pretty good right about now; Pedro Martinez returned to the Mets rotation and promptly recorded his 3,000th Big League strikeout. The Mets won that game against the Reds, but let's wait and see if Pedro will really be a force for the Metropolitans down the stretch; Carlos Zambrano hasn't won a game since signing his big new contract a few weeks ago. Now he's criticizing the fans for booing him. Big Z, one of the trade offs for making outrageous sums of money for throwing a baseball is to be booed by the fans. So, please, just shut up and pitch.

The Lady

[Photo: Bill Kostroun/AP]

Who's Running This League, Anyway?

First a league official visits the Red Sox Dugout in the middle of a game to make sure Terry Francona's wearing his uniform top. Then there's umpiring crew chief Derryl Cousins: "There is more than a little bit of history between these clubs," he said. "Those were two pretty nasty pitches [Joba Chamberlain] threw. Up here, you need to be a little better throwing strikes, and we just had to put a lid on it before there was a problem."

Peter Gammons brought both of these issues up this morning on Mike & Mike In The Morning. Gammons wondered whether the League offices are being run by people who know nothing about baseball. I think I agree with him. Why send someone to check on what Francona's wearing in the middle of an inning??? Also, why eject a 21-year old pitcher with less than 20 innings in the Big Leagues without warning him first? Cousins' statement makes no sense anyway. If Joba needs to be "a little better throwing strikes" doesn't that mean he thought Joba had no control and, hence, wasn't throwing at Kevin Youkilis?

Joe Torre thinks the umps need to apply more common sense. Hmmmm. Wake me when that happens.

The Lady

The Kennedy Clan Comes To The Bronx

So, it won't be Kei Igawa replacing Mike Mussina in the rotation after all. Mussina's out and Ian Kennedy will make his Major League debut this weekend against the Devil Rays. I really don't know anything about Kennedy, aside from the fact that he's highly touted by the Yankees. But the fact that they're going with Kennedy over Igawa speaks volumes to me.

Obviously, the Yankees don't think Igawa can make it in the Big Leagues. If they did, he'd be the one starting this weekend against Tampa Bay. They have such little confidence in him that they'd rather go with a kid who's never thrown a pitch in the Major Leagues. It appears the Yankees are stuck with a highly-paid minor leaguer. They couldn't even pull off that trade they were trying to make with the Padres that would have sent him to San Diego. This guy is worse than Hideki Irabu! At least Irabu was able to put together some consistency at times.

My friend Nancy thinks that whoever scouted Igawa had it in for Brian Cashman. A few seasons ago George Steinbrenner finally relented and gave Cashman complete control of the team. A scout loyal to George Steinbrenner may have sabatoged things by turning in a phony scouting report on Kei Igawa. I guess anything is possible. In any case, the Yankees will have to get very creative if they want to get the albatross called Kei Igawa off of their necks.

The Lady

Who ARE They Going To Replace Him With?

Mike Mussina's flippant response to a question by a New York Times reporter the other day ("Who are they going to replace me with?") reminded me why I hate watching his postgame interviews so much. Either he talks in a monotone and says virtually nothing, or he makes one of his "I graduated from Stanford, I'm too smart for you" remarks, as he did to the Times reporter.

Well, after last night's 16-0 blowout, in which Moose gave up 6 runs in three innings, it's time to start thinking about an answer to Mussina's rhetorical question. I had said last week that it'd be better to keep Mussina in the rotation than to replace him with Kei Igawa. Now I think not. What can Mussina do that Igawa can't? At this point, nothing!

So, I've changed my mind. It's The Lady's prerogative! Put Moose in the bullpen (or on the DL) and put Kei Igawa back into the rotation.

The Lady

Moose Calls From The Bullpen?

After hearing today that Mike Mussina might be taken out of the rotation if he continues to pitch poorly, I was ready to applaud Joe Torre and GM Brian Cashman. Great, I thought. They think they have a chance to get to the playoffs and they're willing to do anything for it. But when I heard that one of the choices to replace Moose was Kei Igawa, I stopped in my tracks.

Kei Igawa is not better than Mike Mussina. If they're going to put Igawa back in the rotation they're definitely not serious about winning this year. I'd much rather see a proven veteran get smacked around than a rookie, who hasn't proven anything to anyone yet, get blown to smithereens.

Of course, there's also Ian Kennedy, who's supposed to be the goods. The Yankees were right about Joba Chamberlain. Perhaps they were right about Kennedy. I sure hope so.

The Lady

The Anaheim 10

I've been working some very odd hours lately so, luckily I have missed the last two Yankee losses, but unluckily, I don't get to update this blog until late in the afternoon now.

Anyway, I woke up this morning at 4 AM to find out that Garret Anderson had 10 RBIs in the second loss, an 18-9 drubbing. What is it with Anaheim and 10 RBIs? The last player to drive in 10 runs was Alex Rodriguez, on April 26, 2005, against, you guessed it, Anaheim. A-Rod might have been trying to answer Anderson last night, because he, himself, hit his 41st and 42nd home runs.

So one player from each team has had 10 RBIs, the last one being an Angel. Does this mean the next one will be a Yankee? If so, I'm putting my money on either Bobby Abreu or Hideki Matsui. With the slow starts that each of them got off to this season, they now have 86 and 87 RBIs respectively. Who'da thunk it?

The Lady

[Photo: Chris Carlson/AP]

Joba, Joba, Joba!

Joba Chamberlain is eligible to pitch tonight. Yay! I'll bet that, if he'd pitched last night, the Yankees would have won. Instead, the Yankees are sticking to the Joba Rules, giving him a day's rest if he pitches one inning, and two day's rest if he pitches two innings.

Joba is just the greatest thing to come out of the Yankee bullpen since Mariano Rivera. Hands down. The ball even looks the way it used to look when Mo threw it back in 1997 and 1998, that stream of milk coming out of the glove to the plate. Simply awesome!

The Yankees eventually want to make Joba a starter. That might not be such a good idea, if you ask me. I know, nobody's asking me. But if anyone did ask me, I'd say Joba Chamberlain is the next closer for The New York Yankees.

The Lady

[Photo: Frank Gunn/AP]

Sheff Stands His Ground & Avoids The 'Roids Talk

Last night Gary Sheffield returned to Yankee Stadium for the first time since last season and, in the Tigers 8-5 win over the Yankees, he was a quiet 0-3 with two walks. Before the game, however, there was nothing quiet about him.

Speaking with the media, Sheffield said, "I don't have to clear up nothing. I meant what I said, said what I meant -- and I stand by it," referring to his assertion that Joe Torre treats black players differently than white players.

Of course he'll stand by what he said. He'll say anything to avoid questions about steroids and his role in the whole Balco mess. A few months ago he was saying disparaging things about Barry Bonds' size, pointing out how he, himself, hasn't gotten any bigger. Neither has Rafael Palmiero, Sheff.

Now he's using Joe Torre as his shield. For his part, when asked if he'd speak to Sheffield during the series with Detroit, Torre said, "Probably not."

Will the media take a lesson from Torre? Will they stop asking him about racism and ask him more questions about steroids? Probably not.

The Lady

Yankees vs Orioles: For The Birds!

The Yankees are now in a virtual tie with Seattle for the lead in the AL Wild Card. More surprisingly, they are now only 4 games behind the AL East leading Boston Red Sox! I knew they'd make up ground in the Wild Card, but I never thought they'd get this close to Boston again.

Now comes a test: The Baltimore Orioles. Yes, the Orioles. The Yankees are 3-6 versus 4th place Baltimore this year, a team that is under .500 and 15.5 games out of first place. The only losing series the Yankees have had during this current run has been to the Orioles.

Tonight the pitching match up is Jeremy Guthrie vs Chien-Ming Wang. In two starts vs New York, Guthrie is 1-0 with a 2.92 ERA. Wang, on the other hand, has been pounded by the O's in two starts against them. They have a .383 batting average off him. Kevin Millar will be salivating as game time approaches. He's 4-5 with a triple and an RBI against Wang this season, who is coming off his worst start of the season, allowing 8 runs in 2.3 innings vs Toronto last week.

Since Roger Clemens is still serving his five-game suspension, Jeff Karstens will get the start in game two of the series, against Daniel Cabrerra. This one looks like a toss-up. However, in game 3 it'll be strikeout leader Erik Bedard against Mike Mussina. Mussina's been pitching a lot better of late, but Bedard is still the better pitcher right now.

Yeah, the Yankees have big series coming up with the Tigers, the Angels and the Red Sox. But first, let's see if they can get to .500 against the Baltimore Orioles.

The lady

It's Over!

The drought is finally over! Jason Tyner has finally hit his first Major League home run! After 1,220 at-bats, the veteran outfielder finally went deep last night in a game against the Cleveland Indians.

There was no first home run silent treatment for Tyner when he rturned to the dugout. His teammates could hardly contain themselves. Now we'll have to see if his manager, Univ of Texas alum Ron Gardenhire, will keep his word and wear the Aggies tee-shirt he promised to don if Tyner homered.

After losing the lead, the Twins came back and won the game 3-2, a bit of good news for the Yankees: With their 7-5 loss to Baltimore they stayed 5 games behind Cleveland in the AL Wild Card Race.

The Lady

[Photo: Tony Dejak/AP]

Lady's Choice: 2007 AL East Plus (the Wild Card)

Well, I've worked my way through all the divisions in MLB. All except for one: The American League East.

About a decade ago, the AL East was considered to be the toughest division in baseball. Referred to at times as The American League Beast, these teams were all stacked with great lineups and good pitching. I would love to see the return of those days. Really, I would! Unfortunately that's not going to happen anytime soon. At least, not this year. The only way the Toronto Blue Jays will finish second again this year is if the Red Sox suffer another collapse. Other than crown jewels P Roy Halladay and OF Vernon Wells, this team has little else to offer. Although, AJ Burnett may show some flashes of brilliance here and there. The Orioles have improved their bullpen, but their starters still can't compete with the Yankees' or with Boston's. As for Tampa Bay, they have a lot of good offensive talent that is cancelled out by the fact that they really have only one legitimate starting pitcher in Scott Kazmir.

So, who's going to win this division? The Yankees or the Red Sox? Looking at the pitching on both teams, the only real question marks as I write this post are Kei Igawa and Dice-K. True, Dice-K has had a great Spring Training and Igawa has struggled. But until the season actually starts no one really knows how these two will do, since neither has Major League experience. Other than that I think the starting pitching on both teams is comparable. I believe the difference comes when you look at the bullpens and at the lineups. I like the Yankee bullpen better than the Red Sox bullpen. I just hope Joe Torre can keep from over-using them this year, a tall order if he sticks to his plan to use Mariano Rivera for only one inning a game. As for the lineups, Boston has Manny and Big Papi. The rest of the lineup is nice, but they're all blown out of the water by the Yankee lineup. Here's the lady's choice for the 2007 AL East:

1 New York Yankees
2 Boston Red Sox
3 Toronto Blue Jays
4 Baltimore Orioles
5 Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Looking at the Wild Card, I see the White Sox and Red Sox doing battle for this spot, with the Twins and Indians making some noise as well. But in the end, the Red Sox will prove to be the better team. Barring injuries and/or collapses, the 2007 AL Wild Card will be the Boston Red Sox.

The Lady