Click here for more information about this entry.

From a Chris Smith feature published in NY Mag entitled “The Yankees’ Most Valuable Player” on August 9, 2004:

After weeks of dead-end trade proposals Brian Cashman finally has a live one. It’s July 31, the last day of Major League Baseball’s midsummer trading period. Cashman was awakened in Darien at six this morning by his 1-year-old son, and watching The Wiggles with Teddy seemed like the only fun Cashman would have all day. What the 37-year-old general manager of the Yankees has to look forward to, mostly, is being quizzed by his boss, George Steinbrenner, as other teams announce deals: Why’d the Marlins get him? Why don’t we want him?

Now, with one hour to go before the trading deadline, in his narrow office above home plate at Yankee Stadium, where the walls are lined with the color-coded names of every big-league player, Cashman finds himself on the verge of moving erratic pitcher Jose Contreras to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for right-hander Esteban Loaiza.

Just before hustling downstairs to the clubhouse to talk to Contreras—whose contract gives him the right to block the deal—Cashman makes another call on his BlackBerry. It’s to one of his best friends in baseball, San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers. “What’s up, dude?” Cashman asks, constantly panning for useful information. “I’m talking to the White Sox,” Towers says, “about getting Loaiza and spinning him off to Boston to get us Derek Lowe.”

Uh-oh. Losing out on Loaiza would be disappointing, but not fatal. Losing him to the Red Sox, on the other hand—in Steinbrenner’s world, that’s a hanging offense. Cashman hangs up, speed-dials Kenny Williams. The White Sox general manager says Contreras remains his first choice. Hmmm.

Contreras signs off on the trade, and with one minute to go before the deadline, Anthony Flynn, a Yankees aide, faxes in the official documents. “Conversation, man, that’s key,” Cashman says. “Just stay communicating; you might get lucky. It’s that old principle: One man’s shit is another man’s ice cream.”

Oh, if only the Red Sox had been able to trade Derek Lowe for Esteban Loaiza back in July of 2004…

From Bruce Jenkins blog (with a hat tip to BBTF) –

Part of the fun of Manny Ramirez’ return to the Dodgers, scheduled for Friday night, will be the exposure of Charley Steiner as a hypocrite. Michael Kay was the first to go down, and Charley’s next.

At the height of Barry Bonds’ pursuit of the home-run records, Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow made lively, enthusiastic calls on the Giants’ network. They always loved Bonds as a ballplayer. They knew that whatever the extent of his plunge into steroids, it didn’t tarnish his reputation as one of the greatest and most entertaining hitters of all time. Most of the Giants’ fans knew this, as well, and they cheered their hearts out whenever he went deep. Kuiper’s home-run calls, in particular, go down with the most inspiring of modern-day broadcasting.

It seems this didn’t go over too well in other cities. Kay, who anchors the Yankees’ telecasts, ripped Krukow and Kuiper in a public forum for getting so excited over a steroid guy. Steiner, part of the Dodgers’ radio team, made some equally rude comments (off the air), establishing himself as a real high-and-mighty beacon of integrity.

Except it doesn’t work that way. Alex Rodriguez opened the season in disgrace after the steroid-related embarrassment of spring training, but that didn’t stop Kay from going nuts when A-Rod slugged his first home run. Presto — instant hypocrite! Now we get to hear Steiner when Manny rocks Dodger Stadium for the first time. What, he’s going to treat it like a funeral while the place is going crazy?

I’ve known Kay since his days as a Yankee beat writer in New York, and he’s a good guy. So is Steiner, who livened up many an ESPN “SportsCenter” before he joined the Dodgers. Ripping the Giants’ broadcasting team, to say the least, was not their finest hour.

I cannot blame a broadcaster for getting excited about a player on “his team” hitting a homer, etc., even if the player was caught for using PEDs. That’s pretty much their job. That said, Jenkins has a point here – in that said broadcasters should not have thrown stones, if they really did, at another time.

Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see if Kay responds to this claim. Nothing like a little coast-to-coast media tinkling contest to throw another log on the Yankeeland entertainment/circus fire, right?

Via the Daily News today -

Joe Dunand Jr.’s nickname is Lil’ Joe, but you might as well call him Lil’ A-Rod.

Dunand Jr., a 13-year-old slugger, is A-Rod’s nephew. He’s also a 5-9, 140-pound spitting image of the Bombers’ third baseman.

His father, Joe Dunand Sr., is Rodriguez’s half-brother.

“He looks more like his son than mine,” Dunand Sr. said half-jokingly earlier this week as his son took batting practice at Jose Martinez’s Baseball Made Simple Academy in the Bronx. A-Rod’s nephew has a smooth, powerful swing for a 13-year-old, finishing with the same high follow-through as his uncle.

“He’s got great aptitude and he’s got nice pop in his bat,” said Martinez, who tutors some of the area’s top young players at his academy. “He picks things up quick and he works hard. Unless you tell him ’stop,’ he’s going to keep going.”

Dunand Jr. lives in Miami and usually spends his summers there, but he has been staying at his father’s place in the Bronx for the past few weeks to work with Martinez on refining his swing while playing shortstop for coach Steve Bort’s Bergen Beach 13s – the same youth team A-Rod played for as a teen.

It will be interesting to see if A-Rod and Dunand follow the Dwight Gooden/Gary Sheffield route in terms of being an uncle/nephew combo to star in baseball. Then again, this could end up like Rico Carty/Julio Santana, Dan Driessen/Gerald Perry, or Phil Niekro/Lance Niekro.

Hey, we in Yankeeland – at least most of us – remember the Larry Bowa/Nick Johnson and Gene Mauch/Roy Smalley Jr. uncle/nephew combos. But, did you know that Yankee nemesis Kevin Millar is the nephew of former big leaguer Wayne Nordhagen? I just learned that today.

And, Wayne Nordhagen was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 7th round of the 1968 amateur draft. He was later traded in 1973 by the Yankees (with Frank Tepedino, Dave Cheadle, and Al Closter) to the Atlanta Braves for Pat Dobson. So, I guess Millar has a Yankees connection, of sorts. Yuck.

Saw this on WalletPop.com this AM -

There’s one reason not to cheer for Independence Day: It’s one of the deadliest holiday for alcohol-related car crashes. Statistics gathered over the past 25 years show that, on average, nearly 51 percent of all deadly traffic crashes on July 4 are related to alcohol — although that percentage varies from year to year.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been tracking car crash statistics for a quarter of a century. Holidays that sometimes rival the Fourth of July for fatalities include New Year’s Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Eric Bolton, spokesperson for NHTSA, says that when people think of a deadly holiday “the intuitive thought would be New Year’s Day.” However, that association may be precisely why people stay off the roads on New Year’s than they do on July 4, he says. (While the New Year’s statistics are totaled over three days, the Fourth of July stats are for one day.)

Two years ago, 200 people reportedly died in car accidents on July 4. Out of that total, 44 percent died as a result of alcohol-impaired driving. By comparison, 391 people died that same year during a three-day period surrounding New Year’s Day (NHTSA judges the length of a holiday based on which day of the week it falls). In that case, 40 percent were alcohol-related.

No matter what day it is, most crash fatalities occur on two-lane roads. Weekends are more dangerous than weekdays and more people die while driving in rain compared to snow or sleet.

Since I know that many will be starting their three-day “Independence Day” weekend early this afternoon, I wanted to remind all to be alert on the roads. And, of course, if you’re drinking alcohol at some point, please don’t drive at the same time or directly thereafter.

Who says Andy Pettitte can’t pitch well in the new Yankee Stadium?

This game was an absolute work of art for #46. And, is A-Rod swinging a hot bat, or what?

Here’s the deal: The Yankees record at this moment is 45-32 which means they are 13 games over .500 on the season.

But, the Yankees have now won 7 games in a row (from June 24th through July 1st). And, don’t forget that the Yankees won 9 games in a row from May 13th through May 21st. Add that seven and nine – and it gives you a 16-0 mark from these two winning streaks.

What does this mean? To me, it says that outside of two really hot weeks (5/13 through 5/21 and 6/24 through 7/1) the Yankees have gone 29-32 this season. Crazy, huh? Your team plays for three months and it’s 17 days out of that time that makes your record appear as good as it does (in the end). It’s as if those “bad” two-and-a-half months never happened.

Well, if the Yankees manage to pull this off, and make the post-season this year, let’s hope they get hot again in October…like they were for a week in May and a week in June.

Click here for more information about this entry.

Baseball’s international free agent signing period starts tomorrow. And, this got me thinking about a movie that I first mentioned here back in February of 2008: Sugar.

For those not aware, here’s a synopsis of “Sugar” -

Sugar is a coming-of-age tale that follows Miguel Santos, a.k.a. “Azucar” (Sugar), a pitcher from the Dominican Republic town of San Pedro de Macoris, who grew up poor but talented, always believing baseball was his ticket out of poverty. Playing professionally at the Kansas City Knights baseball academy, Miguel finally gets his break at age 19 when he advances to the United States’ minor league system. Miguel travels to a small town in Iowa corn country, where he and other Latin American teammates are the only Spanish-speaking people and have trouble learning the new language and culture. Despite the welcoming efforts of his host family, Miguel is faced with an isolation he never before experienced. When his performance on the mound falters, he begins examining more closely the world around him, his place within it, and ultimately questions his life’s singular ambition.

I’ve yet to see this one. But, I’ve heard wonderful things about it – and now found out that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will be releasing it on DVD and Blu-Ray on September 1st. Once I see it, I will share a review on it.

Today, Peter Abraham and Matthew Schweber ring in on the topic of batting Robinson Cano fifth in the Yankees line-up.

Well, here’s a nugget for you on this topic, via Baseball Musings Day By Day Database. It’s “RBI Percentage” since the start of the 2006 season through last night.

["RBI Percentage" is 100*(RBI-HR)/Runners On]

Robinson Cano RBI% = 14.84
Alex Rodriguez RBI% = 16.88

Is there really that much of a difference between 15% and 17%?

What is that…like nine RBI per season? (I’m not sure – that’s why I’m asking.)

O.K., I’ll just hang up now and listen to your reaction…

Some thoughts on Phil Hughes, working out of the bullpen, via Peter Abraham today -

Armed with the knowledge that he will be in the game for only an inning or two, [Phil] Hughes is throwing his fastball as hard as he did when he first came to the majors.

“I feel like I have more control, my stuff plays up a little bit,” Hughes said. “It feels like a good fit for me. Who’s to say what the future will be? Maybe this is what I do for the rest of my career.”

That is not what the Yankees hope, however. They see Hughes as a starter down the road – perhaps this season if the need arises. But for now, he has been a welcome addition to a bullpen badly in need of help.

“He is a full-fledged reliever now. I won’t hesitate to bring him in in any situation at this point,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We still consider him a starter, but right now he’s filling a void for us.”

General manager Brian Cashman feels the same way. With 37-year-old Andy Pettitte on a year-to-year basis, Hughes is next in line to join the rotation. But that is an issue for next season.

“I can’t look Mariano Rivera in the face and say, ‘I’ve weakened your bullpen for the future.’ It’s a balancing act and it’s a tough one,” Cashman said. “It’s hard. The short-term goal is you have to win as many games as you can to get into the postseason. If you do that, the next goal comes in line. In Phil’s case, that’s to get some innings. There’s a collision there you have to deal with.”

Girardi said he is open to the idea of using Hughes for multiple innings, a common approach by teams developing young pitchers.

“I’m not hesitant to do that with him. I think he’s very capable of being a two-inning reliever, a three-inning reliever for us,” the manager said. “I won’t do that necessarily to build up his innings, I’ll do it because I believe he can do it and do it well.”

Here’s some up-to-date stats for you…

Phil Hughes, in his big league career, as a starting pitcher:

28 Games, 621 Batters Faced, an Opp BA/OBA/SLG line of .265/.341/.436, and a SO/BB Ratio of 1.90

Phil Hughes, this season with the Yankees, as a relief pitcher:

8 Games, 47 Batters Faced, an Opp BA/OBA/SLG line of .114/.170/.227, and a SO/BB Ratio of 5.33

Granted, the latter is a small sample size. Nonetheless, it looks like, by working out of the pen, Hughes has taken his performance to a higher level.

Now, as the regular readers of this blog are aware, I was never a fan of Phil Hughes the starting pitcher. I thought that his fastball was less than advertised and short. I thought that his tertiary pitch was inconsistent and average at best. And, worse, I thought that his mound presence was a cross between “deer caught in the headlights” and Blane McDonnagh-like pampered prospect posing.

However, again, albeit via a small sample size, I am loving what I am seeing out of Phil Hughes the relief pitcher. He’s letting it all out and throwing high-octane gas. And, working out of the pen, there’s no need to feature a third pitch – his heater and curve are more than enough. Plus, he’s throwing his pitches with conviction – with a look on his mug that says: “OK, go ahead, try and hit this!”

This all said, I think it’s time for the Yankees to start using Phil Hughes exactly how Mariano Rivera was used in 1996. Have Hughes set up for the closer. Make the 8th inning his inning. In fact, just like Rivera was used in ‘96, have Hughes pitch the 7th and 8th innings of games, where needed, to get to your closer.

At the least, try it and see how Phil does with it.

The Rivera and Wetteland combo was one huge reason why the Yankees won in 1996. Why not see if the Hughes and Rivera tag-team can do the same for New York in 2009?

It’s the Papelbon Toast that really makes this sandwich.

Mmmm…gooey melted Boston bullpen….

Hey, if you can’t make fun of the Red Sox after a game like this one, when can you?

You know, you can look at this game and say that the Yankees batters did a poor job through the first five innings with runners on base, Joba Chamberlain hit his pitch limit too early, and Brian Bruney was Scott Proctor-like, once again.

But, at the end of the day, if you were at Yankee Stadium today, and sat through a 58 minute rain delay at the start of the game, and then saw all nine innings of this one, you’d be walking away from this event with a pretty big smile on your face – thanks to the win here. So, I’m going to leave it at that – it’s a good game for the Yankees…thanks to that “W” you can hang on this puppy.

All told, the Yanks went 15-11 in the month of June – after going 17-11 in May and 12-10 in April. Again, things could be a lot worse. It will be interesting to see how July, August and September unfolds for this Yankees team.

Raphy, over at B-R Blog & Stat of the Day, shares some stats on The Magic Gardner that would make Carole and Paula sing their fannies off…click here to see it.

Click here for more information about this entry.

To watch SNY.tv’s New York Baseball Today, which features a rotating panel of experts, click play below:

Homerun Derby has the story. (H/T to BBTF.) And, credit to Craig Calcaterra for breaking this one.

When the Bucky Dent card (to me) arrived this past Saturday, I wondered “What’s this? Is it an anthrax card from some Red Sox fan?” (Yes, I’m kidding.)

Seriously, I almost posted something on it, when it arrived on June 27th, but, then, I thought “What if this is some sort of bait or something? Maybe it’s better to not publically acknowledge receipt and just wait and see if someone comes foward to claim that they sent it?” And, that’s what I did – I zipped my lip and waited…

…nice to see that I didn’t have to wait that long. Three days later, the answer is in hand. My thanks to Josh Wilker’s publisher for a nice card.

It will be interesting to see who leaves the major league roster to make room for Hinske this evening. Considering that the Yankees gave up two suspect prospects for Hinske, there’s little downside if he doesn’t work out in New York.

We’ve heard so much in Yankeeland this season about how Hideki Matsui is clogging up the Yankees roster this year because he can only D.H., etc. Just this morning, I heard Kim Jones talking about it on WFAN. So, here’s today’s wild thought. As much as I am a fan of Godzilla – and have been since 2003 – if he’s really a burden to the Yankees roster, why not release Matsui (and then replace him on the roster with a more versatile player)?

Is it about the money? Heck, at this point, the Yankees owe Matsui another $6.5 million for this season. And, we know the Yankees have tinkled away more money on lesser players. It can’t be about not wanting to eat that cheddar.

Is it about the fear of paying Matsui to play for another team, if he’s released, where he can come back to haunt you? Well, where is Matsui going if the Yankees let him loose?

Godzilla cannot play the outfield – so, he’s not going to the National League. And, thanks to players such as Jason Kubel, Adam Lind, Luke Scott, Jim Thome, Hank Blalock, Ken Griffey Jr., Jack Cust, Mike Jacobs and David Ortiz, there’s a limited number of teams in the American League who can use him: The Tigers, Rays, Angels and Indians.

Since Cleveland is going nowhere, that leaves the Tigers, Rays and Angels. Perhaps that’s why the Yankees, if they truly feel that Matsui is roster blockage, won’t cut him? New York fears Detroit, Tampa Bay or Los Angeles picking him up, with the Yankees paying the tab, and Godzilla then wrecking New York’s season somewhere down the line?

Or, maybe, it’s the whole “keep good relations with the Japanese market” thing? But, for sure, Matsui is gone from the Yankees at the end of this season. So, is having him for three more months really that important there? In any event, that’s today’s wild thought. If it’s for the good of the team, in terms of having a better roster, should the Yankees release Hideki Matsui. What do you think?

Via Sam Borden -

With the Yankees, it’s different. They have struggled as well this season (and are actually further from first place than the Mets right now), yet their needs are minimal. About an hour after Manuel delivered his (not-so-veiled) plea, Yankees GM Brian Cashman sat in the visitors’ dugout at Citi Field [Sunday] and turned questions about potential trades into a discussion of the players already on his roster.

“We’ve got the pieces in place,” he said.

Does that mean he isn’t interested in a trade?

“I wouldn’t say.”

Is he actively monitoring the trade market?

“Of course. This is the busy season.”

These were typical Cashman riposts but there are no glaring gaps for him to fill as the July 31 trade deadline draws closer. The Yankees could afford to add a bullpen arm, if one were available, to firm up their eighth inning situation, and names like Colorado closer Huston Street have been floating around for weeks.

Call me crazy – and I know that some will! – but, in addition to a reliable and proven arm in the pen, I would love to see the Yankees acquire someone to play right field and provide some consistent offensive contribution along with some above-average defense. This would allow Joe Girardi to use Nick Swisher as a back-up to Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui (and, when needed, Mark Teixeira). And, then, General Joe could use Melky Cabrera to spell Brett Gardner against tough lefties and use him as a defensive caddy for whomever plays left field.

Don’t get me wrong. I know that Swisher works counts and gets walks. And, when he’s hot, Swisher can hit the ball out of the park. But, when he’s cold, he’s beyond ice cold. And, at times, Swisher takes some curious routes on fly balls. Basically, when he’s bad, the Swish Hawk is “T-Long Like.”

At the worst, maybe it would make sense for the Yankees to pick up a player like the Rockies Seth Smith – assuming they could get him for a couple of Grade B- or C+ pitching prospects – only to have another option in right field, instead of just Swisher or Cabrera – if needed?

Via Our Sports Central -

Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks 3B Yurendell DeCaster is trading in his RedHawks pinstripes for a set of Yankees pinstripes.

The All-Star third baseman has had his contract purchased by the New York Yankees today and will report on Tuesday to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, the Triple-A affiliate for New York in the International League.

DeCaster, 29, joined the RedHawks this spring and was arguably the top player in the Northern League this season. Entering tonight’s play, DeCaster was leading the Northern League in hits (54), doubles (14), home runs (13), RBI (43) and slugging percentage (.682). He was batting .344, good for fifth in the league, and was second in runs scored with 36.

DeCaster was selected to the Great Plains team for the 2009 Northern League All-Star Game earlier today and was the top vote-getter in the league but will not participate in the game.

“For my money, he is one of the best players to ever come through the Northern League, and that is the caliber of player we like to have in RedHawks uniforms” said RedHawks Manager Doug Simunic. “We knew this day was coming and we are glad he can continue his career at the Triple-A level. Hopefully we can see him in Yankee Stadium sometime soon.”

DeCaster, far from being a kid, can play third, first, a little outfield, and, in a pinch, some second base. Perhaps he’s going to take the place of Eric Duncan, Marcos Vechionacci and Timothy Battle on the Yankees prospect list? (And, yes, I know, the Yankees finally got smart and recently released Battle.)

Click here for more information about this entry.

Via the smart and funny Stephen Dubner with a hat to Craig Calcaterra and BBTF -

Having now taken the family to the new Yankee Stadium and the Mets’ new ballpark, I find it hard to believe that any neutral observer wouldn’t agree that Citi Field is a far, far more pleasant place to spend a few hours. It is well-designed and handsome, and fan-friendly in many ways that Yankee Stadium is not. Yankee Stadium is full of pride and tradition and all that, but it is essentially a vast concrete bowl with chairs. Fill in your own blanks: Citi is to Yankee as ______ is to ______. (What comes to my mind is Google is to Microsoft.)

Now, here’s what I really wanted to write about. Because interleague play puts fans from two teams in close proximity, you can expect a lot of fan interaction. In the section where we sat — right above the Modell’s sign in right field — the yapping between Yankees and Mets was loud but generally friendly.

A pattern quickly emerged. The many Yankees fans regularly broke into their thunderous cheer: “Let’s go Yankees!” (clap-clap-clap-clap … clap-clap). If you are a Yankees fan (we are; but we do not hate the Mets), this was a sign of what might be called prideful hubris, or maybe hubristic pride: we can come into your stadium and rock it very, very hard.

How’d the Mets fans respond? Succinctly. In the space where the Yankees fans did their rhythmic clapping, Mets fans shouted “Yankees suck!”

The first 13 times or so, this was pretty funny. The two cheers fitted together nicely, like a married couple who know their comebacks well. Yes, we told the kids, it’s too bad “suck” is so commonplace and yes, it’s too bad the Mets fans can’t come up with something more clever or (God forbid) more positive, but hey …

This pattern was repeated all night. What surprised me is that neither side found a way to improve their effort. I kept waiting for the Yankees fans to fill in their clapping with some chanting that couldn’t be hijacked by the Mets fans, and I kept waiting for the Mets fans to either be proactive in their chanting or to move beyond “Yankees suck!” But neither side budged. By the end of the game, the only people chanting were the kids in the stands, all of them up way past their bedtimes, their voices ragged and high-pitched.

I fear not that we are teaching our children to be coarse (as these things go, suck isn’t the worst word they’ll encounter in a given day) but that we are teaching them to be uncreative and unskilled in the use of game theory.

More and more, we hear about how Citi Field is better than the new Yankee Stadium. If Big Stein were still calling the shots today, Lonn Trost would be fired, more than likely. As far as the cheering and jeering chants, it is interesting to see such a lack of creativity. Between the Mets choking in 2007 and 2008, and the Yankees 2004 post-season and recent in-season losses to Boston, there’s material there, to pull from, for sure. And, if needed, there’s always A-Rod’s PED usage, Luis Castillo’s dropped pop-up, Nick Swisher’s haircut, and David Wright’s lack of homeruns this season, if someone wanted to go in that direction too.

To watch SNY.tv’s New York Baseball Today, which features a rotating panel of experts, click play below:

Via SNY’s Geico SportsNite yesterday, coverage of Mariano Rivera’s 500th career save. Here’s the clip:

What stands out the most in my mind, this past week, is that the Tampa Bay Rays now have the best record in the American League over the last 60 days. And, on June 28th, the Rays became the fastest team ever to reach 100 homers and 100 steals by the All-Star break. It took the Rays 77 games to reach that mark – and the previous fastest were Cincinnati (1977) and Cleveland (1994), who both did it in 84 games. Watch out Yanks, the Rays are coming, and fast.

You can watch baseball for the next 100 years, and, I’ll bet that you’ll never see a player get career RBI #1 and career save #500 in the same game, again. Wow.

I think the Yankees may have gotten away with one here – as their offensive attack in this one left a little to be desired. Basically, they were no-shows for the seven innings between the first and the ninth. But, a win is a win – and any win against the Mets is a good one.

Back to Mo, how can you not be happy for this guy right now? He, along with the rest of the Yankees, should have a fun off-day on Monday. They deserve it.

Lastly, was it just me, or, was A-Rod extra animated in this one? What’s up with that?

Click here for more information about this entry.

I missed this game. We took the kids to FirstEnergy Park this evening to see the Lakewood BlueClaws and Delmarva Shorebirds play some baseball. I did get to hear the end of the recap on WCBS 880 on the way home. Sounds like A.J. Burnett stuffed the Mets in this one.

Then again, it’s not like facing the Mets, right now, is the same as having to deal with the 1978 Brewers, 1993 Tigers, or the 2003 Cardinals. In fact, in the post-game coverage that I heard, Mets manager Jerry Manuel even called his team “depleted” and then said something like needing to catch a team on a bad day in order to get a win. (Manuel also said that Burnett had better stuff when the Mets last faced the Yanks. Is that an attempted slap on his team, Burnett, or both?)

When I got home, I checked the stats and saw that A.J. Burnett had a “Game Score” of 82 this evening. That’s pretty impressive. That’s the best Game Score posted by Burnett since he was a Blue Jay and faced the O’s on May 16, 2007. In fact, A.J. – with this game included – only has ten career starts with a Game Score of 82+ (on his resume). And, seven of those ten came when he was pitching for the Marlins.

In any event, this is a nice win for the Yankees – as now, in the series finale, they get to play with house money.

While at the BlueClaws game this evening, I had a chance to meet Jayson Stark and his wife Lisa. Jayson was at the ballpark to meet fans, sign autographs and promote his new book “Worth the Wait: Tales of the 2008 Phillies.” It was wonderful to meet Jayson and his wife in person – as they’re both very pleasant and down-to-earth people. Here’s a photo of my kids, me, and Jayson (along with a copy of his book):

Thumbing through Jayson Stark’s new book this evening, it looks like a great and entertaining chronicle of the 2008 Phillies championship run that ended a quarter-century “title” wait in Philadelphia. And, having also read and enjoyed Jayson’s first book, I’m looking forward to reading this one – and will share a review on it here once done.

Click here for more information about this entry.

Via George King -

The Post has learned Xavier Nady’s season is over and next year is in question, too.

According to several teammates, the Yankees outfielder told them late Thursday night that his right elbow requires Tommy John surgery, a procedure that often takes 12-14 months recovery.

Reached today, all Nady said was, “I am going to have a lot of time on my hands.”

Nady, a free agent at the end of the season, felt something in the elbow in the third inning of a Triple-A rehab game Thursday night and removed himself two innings later. He plans on being at Citi Field today and is scheduled to see Dr. Lewis Yocum in California. Yocum performed the same surgery on Nady in 2001.

According to the Nady, “There was no reason to do tests” today.

Wow, a year later, that trade for Marte and Nady is not looking so good. Well, maybe, there’s a silver lining here? If the Yankees make the post-season this year, maybe they can use having Marte or Nady on the D.L. and pull one of those “K-Rod clause” moves and request permission from the commissioner’s office to replace someone on the post-season roster with a player from the minor league system, if it makes sense?