With this loss, the Yankees are now 0-10 this season against teams with the word “Sox” in their name.

Not even Eric “Possessed By The Spirit of a Rookie Kevin Maas” Hinske could save New York in this one.

Man, was that seventh inning brutal, or what? And, it could have been worse if not for Johnny Damon making a “Pete Reiser catch” doing a header into the fence. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 3-4-2 infield RBI single before – like the one Scott Podsednik hit. Is it just me, or, did Alfredo Aceves lose a glass slipper on his way into the dugout when General Joe gave him the hook today? Yikes, between “Ace” and Sergio Mitre it was not a good night for Yankees pitchers of Mexican descent.

Damn, the White Sox just ran circles around the Yankees in that seventh inning. Jorge Posada is going to have some bad dreams after this one.

Back to Mitre, he was given a three-run lead before he took toe to the rubber in this one – and he blew it. But, that wasn’t the worst thing about this game…

…how about A-Rod in the ninth inning? Down by five, with one out, and you get thrown out at second, after not busting it out of the box, trying to stretch a single into a double…when you were dead by six feet? Michael Kay, on YES, suggested that Girardi should fine Rodriguez for that bonehead play. Me? I take it a step further – bench him for a day. Hey, why not, we have Jerry Hairston Jr. to play third now! (He types, tough in cheek.)

The Yankees have now lost four of their last seven – and have looked really, really, bad in those four losses. Don’t look now guys, but, Boston is just one game back in the loss column after today…could it be possible that the Red Sox actually pass the Yankees in the standings before Boston comes to the Bronx next weekend?

Wow. Talk about ugly….

On so many levels – the score, the inning, it being against the White Sox and Ozzie Guillen, the number of outs, the fact that he had struck out his three previous times up – that was a huge, clutch, homerun by Nick Swisher, to tie the score, in the top of the ninth with two outs (and with Matt Thornton pumping gas).

And, then, to lose this one, in the bottom of the ninth…with two outs…on a hit by DeWayne Wise…DeWayne Wise? Wow. This one stings…

Hey, don’t look now, but, the Yankees are now 3-3 in their last six games…

…that’s not terrible. But, it ain’t great either.

Joba Chamberlain’s Game Score for this one was 79.

The only other time he had a Game Score that high was on July 25, 2008 (which was also 79). The only other times, besides this game and that one against Boston last year, where he had a Game Score of 70+ were on July 24, 2009 (72) and on April 29, 2009 (70).

So, you can say two things here:

1. In this game, Chamberlain pitched one of the two best games that he’s ever thrown as a big league starter. And,
2. With this game, Chamberlain has now thrown his best back-to-back starts as a major league starter.

Oh, and, by the way, he could not have picked a better time, or opponent to do this against, as this was a big game for the Yankees. Now, if Joba keeps this up, will the Yankees still look to limit his innings pitched this season? Ah, that’s a tough one, huh?

What a bizarro game. CC Sabathia only goes 5 2/3 innings pitched and Scott Kazmir goes 7 innings pitched. What are the odds of that happening in the same game? (Although, Sabathia was done in by some bad fielding from Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher and Derek Jeter.)

Michael Kay, covering the game for YES, described the Yankees play in this one as “flat and sloppy.” As much as many often like to disagree with Kay’s calls, I doubt many who watched this game could beef about this one. Dead, solid, perfect, Michael. Flat and sloppy, indeed.

O.K., be honest, were you a little nervous about this one when it was 5-1, Yanks, in the sixth, when the Rays had runners on first and third, with no outs, and Evan Longoria at the plate?

O.K., how about during the eighth inning, when it was 7-3, Yanks, when the Rays had runners on first and second, albeit with two outs, and Carlos Pena at the plate? Were you nervous then?

Com’on…be honest.

Well, I was nervous in the eighth, for sure. But, New York got out of that one and then blew the game open in the ninth. Good thing, too – since the Rays came out swinging in the ninth as well.

The Yanks had 22 baserunners in 9 innings during this one. But, even with all those great At Bats, I’m going with A.J. Burnett as the star of this game – as he was all you could hope for in a big game like this one. A very impressive win for Brian Cashman’s eighty-two-point-five million dollar man. And, a great game for the Yankees to win – given the opponent, location, standings and calendar.

The big hits for the Yankees in this one:

The two-out RBI by Godzilla and Cano in the first.
And, the first-pitch, one-out, RBI single by Jeter in the sixth.

Without those three hits, and bringing Rivera into the game in the 8th, then New York doesn’t win this game.

But, in any event, the days of just sneaking by the Tigers and feasting off the O’s and A’s are over now. Next, the Yankees hit the road for three in Tampa, four in Chicago, and two in Toronto…before coming back home to face Boston for four and Toronto for another three.

The Yankees next 16 games will be very interesting. And, here’s why:

With today’s results, New York has a 2.5 game lead in the A.L. East.

If they tread water over their next 16 games, and find themselves still just 2.5 games up at the close of business on August 12th, then it could get ugly for the Yankees after that – because they have a west coast trip starting on August 13th (with seven games against the M’s and A’s, combined) and, next, they head into Fenway Park for three tough games. And, you want a little more cushion (than 2.5 games) in the standings before that west coast trip and Fenway set.

Related, you don’t want to lose any games off that 2.5 game lead over these next 16 games, because then you’re on thin ice, or have fallen through the ice, before you head west and then hit the Fens.

Ideally, you’d like to see the Yankees go crazy – well, if you’re a fan of the team, like me – and see New York win 11 of their next 16 games before that west coast trip starting on August 13th. Can they do it? I really don’t know…

To be honest, while I’m wishing for the Yankees to go 11-5 over their next 16 games, it would not shock me to see them go 7-9 during this span as well…

So, maybe I should just split the difference and expect them to go something like 9-7 between now and August 13th? Then again, that would be just about treading water, no?

For a few minutes, in the bottom of the ninth, it looked like some Yankees magic was coming today…but…in the end…no deal.

Two bad moves cost the Yankees this game:

1. Joe Girardi allowing Andy Pettitte to face Rajai Davis in the seventh inning.

2. Alfredo Aceves giving up that hit to Landon Powell in the seventh inning, with 2 outs, on an 0-2 count.

Well, at least Paul O’Neill and Al Leiter had some really good banter going today in the YES booth during the broadcast…

With this win, the Yankees have become the first team in baseball history to win its first 8 games after the All-Star for two years in a row.

Then again, last season, after they won their 8th straight game following the break, New York went on a slide where they lost 13 of their next 19 games.

Yikes…let’s hope that doesn’t also happen for two years in a row.

The biggest story from this game? For me, it has to be Joba Chamberlain posting a Game Score of 72 – pitching on “normal” (4-days) rest. In the 14 career starts that he’s had before this one, while pitching on “normal” rest, the highest Game Score Joba has ever posted was a “70″ on April 29th of this season. And, that was the only time, in his career to date, before this game, where Chamberlain had a Game Score over 62 when pitching on 4-days rest.

So, was tonight a fluke, or a sign of things to come for Joba? Time will tell…

In any event, I still wish Chamberlain would not act like he just won a free ride on the orgasmatron with Angelina Jolie when he gets a strikeout in a big spot. Really Joba, next time you get someone on strikes, act like you’ve done it before…

Another win – and that makes seven in a row! Further, the Yankees have now won 20 of their last 25 games this season. In this one, props go to CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, Mark Teixeira and Jorge Posada.

Where would the Yankees be this season without CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira?

Brian Cashman’s plan for this season is looking really good, at this point, huh? Maybe the Yankees team T-Shirt slogan this year should be “Best $423.5 million spent…ever!” – because CC, A.J., and Tex are the big difference between last year’s Yankees and this year’s model….

Baseball is funny. One day, your favorite team can jump out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, and then have it become 5-0 after three innings, and you find yourself thinking “Looks like we have a runaway here boys!” But, then, in the end, the final score is much closer – like in this one where the end result was 6-4.

Then again, maybe this one would have been not so close…if not for Carmen Sandiego?

Hey, bottom line, the Yankees won. And, that’s the most important thing.

An item, unrelated to this game, but something I wanted to share: This evening, I found myself at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ, to see Sparky Lyle’s Somerset Patriots host Tim Raines’ Newark Bears. (I was there due to a corporate function.) And, while I was at the park, it was announced that today is Sparky Lyle’s 65th birthday.

As you may know, I have a soft spot in my heart for Lyle. So, of course, I have to offer him a “Happy Birthday!” here – as well as my best wishes for many, many, more great birthdays to come.

I missed the last two-thirds of this one. Decided to finally check out “Watchmen” this evening and that took me away from the game. (Man, “Kelly Leak” did a good job in this flick. On the whole, it was pretty interesting. Not the best movie that I’ve ever seen – but, it kept my attention for 160 minutes – and few films that long do…)

In any event, getting back to the Yankees, just two comments for today:

1. Who would have thought that, at the close of business on July 21st, Sergio Mitre would have as many wins as Chien-Ming Wang for the Yankees? And,

2. The Yankees magic number to clinch the A.L. East crown is now 69…for those keeping count.

Wow.

I’m still working on some research for this one…

…but, when you consider Pettitte’s effort this evening, the two defensive plays in the 8th, and the Matsui walk-off in the 9th…well…had this been a World Series game in a series where the team that won this game won the series…hey…they’d probably talk about this game for the next 50 years. For a fan of the home team, can you really ask for more from a ballgame?

Since man first set foot on the moon forty years ago today, maybe we should send a tape of this one into outer space and use it as an example of “baseball” for the rest of the universe to watch and learn. Sound good John Henry?

Update 7/20/09 10:38 pm ET: This is the first time, ever, going back to 1954 that the Yankees have won three games in a row by the score of “2-1.” Also, it’s just the 11th time since 1954 that the Yankees have won 3+ games in a row in the same season where they have allowed exactly one run in each contest. The other times:

1984-07-13 to 1984-07-15
1978-09-26 to 1978-09-29
2006-04-22 to 2006-04-25
1998-06-03 to 1998-06-05
1986-04-22 to 1986-04-24
1978-05-21 to 1978-05-23
1975-06-23 to 1975-06-25
1970-06-04 to 1970-06-06
1962-08-31 to 1962-09-02
1961-06-11 to 1961-06-12

Update 7/20/09 10:56 pm ET: This is the first time since July 11, 1991 to July 13, 1991 that the Yankees have scored exactly 2 runs in a game, for three games in a row, and won all three games. In fact, this current streak and the one from July 1991 are the only two times, since 1954, where the Yankees have scored exactly 2 runs for three games in a row and won all three games.

Update 7/20/09 11:07 pm ET: Oh, and, by the way, the Yankees are now tied for first place in the A.L. East – thank you, Texas Rangers.

Joba Chamberlain had a little something extra today – then again, he wasn’t being asked to pitch on normal (4 days) rest for this one.

Also, Mark Teixiera and Alex Rodriguez, and their $52 million worth of bats – which is what they’re being paid, between the two of them, this season (according to the Yankees payroll) – blasted Han Solos.

And, that all was good enough for another “2-1″ Yankees win. Put this one in the books as a sweep over the boys from Motown for New York. The Yankees scored 9 runs in their last 3 games and came away with 3 wins. Can you say “pitching“?

It’s somewhat impressive to see the Yanks eek out three wins against the first place Tigers. Then again, while the Bengals are good, they’re more like Blue Jays, Rangers, Twins “good” than they are Angels or Red Sox “good.” And, Detroit is not an overly grand road team this season.

In any event, the Yankees are now just one game out of first place as of C.O.B. today – thank you Doc Halladay – and the bottom line is all that matters, right? Or, does it…I dunno…you tell me.

Today, for the 29th time in his major league career, CC Sabathia threw 7 (or more) innings while not allowing a run. (Well, today, it was seven innings on the nose. But, it’s still all good.)

And, also for the Yankees today, Alex Rodriguez hit a Lonn Trost aided solo-homerun.

Lastly, thanks to Robinson Cano having a Wee Willie Keeler moment, and hitting one where they weren’t, followed by a sliced Texas Leaguer hit off the bat of Nick Swisher that went for a double, followed by a bang-bang, Swisher base-running screen assisted, infield hit for Melky Cabrera, the Yankees were able to plate another run (to add to that one run from the A-Rod homer).

And, that all was good enough for a 2-1 win in this contest.

Close one, eh? But, much better to come out on the winning end of one like this – much, much, better – than to come out on the short end with a loss.

With this one, the Yankees are now 13-11 in one-run games, to date, this season. Sure, it would be nice to see them have a record like the Angels in one-run games (where they are 16-9). But, hey, it could be worse, right?

Just a few notes about this game, so far, while we’re in a rain delay in the bottom of the 8th…

A.J. Burnett had no command in this game – yet he gave the Yankees another quality start. Nice job. And, speaking of Yankees pitchers, it’s great to see Phil Hughes used properly – and excel at it.

Switching to Tiger pitchers…”Fu-Te Ni” has now made my list of all-time favorite baseball names. It’s crazy fun to see “Ni” on the back of a uniform jersey. Just two letters. Wow. And, hey, Joel Zumaya, dude, you had it coming to you in this one.

Unrelated to anything, at one point in the game, I was clicking around during commericals and I landed on one of our HBO channels which was airing a feature on Ted Williams. And, I ended up staying with it for ten minutes or so. Man, it’s very good. Gotta check that one out, from start to finish, real soon.

Back to the Yankees, when did all that “G” Gatorade stuff pop up around the Stadium – like the Adidas stuff at the old Stadium? Did I miss that, or, did they get that in during the All-Star break?

Lastly, will someone tell the YES guys that Mark Teixeira’s last homer was on July 9th and not on June 12th? (I can’t blame Singleton for that one – he just reads the stat sheet that they hand him…)

T-Shirts that are long overdue to be distributed in the Yankees clubhouse:
“When we play the Angels, we lose today, dat’s it!”

Sure, many may want to claim this one was bad luck – because Nick Swisher crushed a pitch in the 8th inning, with runners on first and second, only one out, and with the Yanks down by one run…and it was turned into an inning-ending double play when the Angels pitcher, Darren Oliver, stuck his glove out and made a miracle play.

But, you know what? In the inning before that one, the Yankees were down by two runs, with no outs and the bases loaded – and they had Mark Teixiera and Alex Rodriguez coming to the plate. That’s $52 million worth of bats, between the two of them, this season (according to the Yankees payroll). But, against a tired John Lackey, Tex went down on strikes and A-Rod hit into a 5-5-3 double-play to kill the rally. No bad luck for the Yankees there – just some really poor performance by two guys who are getting paid beaucoup denaro to produce in those exact kind of situations.

So, New York ends up losing four of their last seven games – as they now head into the All-Star break. Worse, on the morning of July 10th the Yankees found themselves tied with the Boston Red Sox for first place in the A.L. East, and, now, on the evening of July 12th, the Yankees find themselves three games behind the Bosox.

In the words of Chef Emeril: Bam!

That was quick, huh?

Missed this one. After hitting the pool today with the kids, and an early dinner, our family went up to Yogi Berra Stadium to see the New Jersey Jackals host “the American Defenders of New Hampshire” – and we had to leave the house around 5:20 pm (ET) to make it.

“The American Defenders of New Hampshire” wear some funky desert camouflage uniforms – with “USA” across the chest. Even their batting helmets are done in desert camouflage.

The manager of “the American Defenders of New Hampshire” is former Red Sox player Brian Daubach. Remember him?

In any event, the Jackals played this evening like they were the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim facing the New York Yankees – and won big. There was also an awesome fireworks display after the game – which got in just before the rains came…great timing.

Like I said, I missed the Yankees game today…and, after hearing the final score, it looks like I picked a good one to skip.

Regarding Friday’s Yanks-Angels game, I wrote that it was “like watching the 2002 ALDS all over again.” You could probably ditto that for this one too.

You know, at the end of the day, you can play .600 ball and make the post-season. But, more times than not, at least lately, you’re going to have to go through the Red Sox and/or Angels once you get to October – if you want to represent the A.L. in the World Series. And…hey…let’s face it: The Yankees have yet to show us that they can handle the Bosox or Halos…have they?

Oh, my, it’s like watching the 2002 ALDS all over again – the way the Yankees “pitched” and “fielded” in this one.

And, if that’s not bad enough, you have to watch Scott Boras in the middle of your picture, every time they use the center field camera, standing there behind home plate. Com’on Scott…A-Rod knows you’re there. Please, sit down.

Chamberlain, Melancon and Bruney each allowed 2+ earned runs in this one. The last time this season the Yankees had a game where three pitchers allowed 2+ ER each was back on April 18th when Cleveland beat New York, 22-4. Ugly, man, ugly.

Yanks had 14 hits in this game too. The last time this season the Yankees had 14+ hits in a game and lost was way back on April 25th when Boston beat New York, 16-11. Ugly, man, ugly.

Just a brutual game for the Yanks.

And, let the Joba discussion begin…

This was the first time ever that the Yankees won a game, in Minnesota, where they used six pitchers (or more) in a nine inning game. How’s that for history?

Thank goodness for the Twins. The Yankees record against them offsets how the Yankees have played the Red Sox, so far, this season.

Really, the Yankees are 51-34 now on the season – which is a .600 winning percentage. But, the Yanks are also 0-8 against the Red Sox and now 7-0 against the Twins.

Take out those games against the Twins and Red Sox and the Yankees record is 44-26 – which is a .629 winning percentage.

Man, if the Yankees had only split those eight games with the Red Sox…then they would have the best record in baseball…one game better than the Dodgers…managed by some guy named Torre…

This Yankees victory was brought to you by Lursa and B’Etor Duras…as New York managed to cling on to this win. (“Klingon,” get it?)

Funny, in the first couple of innings, it looked like A.J. Burnett was going to cut through this one like a hot knife through butter. And, it looked like the Yankees bats – sweet two-out, two-RBI, single by Brett Gardner in the second – were going to cruise as well. However, innings three through seven were somewhat hazardous for our Yankees nerves. (At least they were for mine.) Good thing that Burnett was able to get those big two-out strikeouts to end the fifth and sixth innings. And, it was good that Mo Rivera had the at’em ball working for him tonight – or else this one-run win could have been a blown game (all things considered).

In any event, a win is a win, right? And, that’s now 12 wins in their last 14 games for the Yankees. You really can’t ask for anything more than that.

Well, this one was a…

That sixth inning was interesting. I wonder how many times, since 2006, have the Yankees batted around in an inning, scoring five runs, where both Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter went down on called strikes? Probably not many…

Sabathia was awesome in this one. Wonder if he had any flashbacks to six years ago while zipping through this one?

Oh, sooooooo close…but, no.

Tracking this one electronically, it appears as if this contest, from the Yankees perspective, was a hodgepodge of costly two-out pitches, stupid base-running, somewhat questionable fielding, terrible relief pitching, and a heart of the order no-show (until the 9th inning) – with some bad umpiring sprinkled on top.

As much as a 5-2 homestand is always nice, it’s a shame to have a get-away game like this – one that looks like an orangutan’s butt after he just guzzled a gallon of caster oil.

New York hits the road now for three in Minny and three in L.A. before the All-Star break. On the season, to date, the Yankees have been so-so on the road.

Do they allow this game to set the tone and then mail in the next six games before the All-Star break? Or, will the Yankees shake this one off and take four (or more) of the next six and show us something really impressive – finishing out the first half, away from home, with a strong kick? Time will tell.

Coming into this start, the last 101 batters to face Joba Chamberlain have produced an OPS of .807 against him. And, today, he faced 21 batters allowing 11 of them to reach base – albeit that one of the 11 reached on an error. If this keeps up, at some point soon, the debate in Yankeeland is going to shift from “Should Joba start or pitch in the pen?” to “Should Joba be in the majors or Triple-A?”

Speaking of pitchers, congrats to good guy Dirk Hayhurst for getting a chance to pitch in the new Yankee Stadium today. Not too bad for an eighth-round pick out of Kent State in 2003. Then again, I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for baseball players from Kent State.

Huge, awesome, big flies in this game for Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter. Those clutch blasts, along with the masterful pitching of Alfredo Aceves, were the keys for New York in this exciting – and looooong – win. Three hours and forty-four minutes for nine innings? Yikes.

Lastly, when was the last time a Yankees pitcher, like Aceves today, got a four inning save? It was June 28, 2002 when El Duque pulled it off. And, the time before that was September 10, 2000 when Doc Gooden did it. So, file this one under: You don’t see that everyday!

Heading into this game, you had Yankees-killer Roy Halladay against Chien-Ming Wang and his 10.06 ERA. So, at the onset of this contest, it would have not been obscene to pencil in an “L,” today, for New York.

But, then, some crazy things happened. Halladay actually allowed three runs in his first four innings of work and Wang was doing O.K. – and, this probably got you to start thinking “Hey, maybe…?” (At least, that’s what I was thinking.)

However, as soon as you started to think that, the dark clouds came out again. Wang allows the two-run homer to Adam Lind in the sixth and has to leave the game, David Robertson allows another run, and, then, it’s 5-3, Jays, heading to the seventh. Bummer.

Yet, then, Johnny Damon hits a “Lonn Trost” homer off Halladay and the game is tied! And, once again, there’s hope in Yankeeland!

Wait…here come those clouds again…as the Yankees leave the winning run on second base in the eighth and ninth and go down one-two-three in the tenth and eleventh. Worse, Brett “Game Over” Tomko is now pitching for the Yankees in the twelveth inning.

At this point, I start thinking “Well, it was supposed to be a ‘loss’ today at the start, with Halladay pitching and all, so, maybe it was meant to be? But, then again, it would be a shame to waste scoring five runs against him, and having chances to win it after that go down the bog…”

Thankfully, Mark Teixeira and Jorge Posada saved the day in the bottom of the twelveth – and, now, the Yankees are just one game out of first place in the A.L. East.

Lastly, to the big news on Wang. The word is that he has a shoulder strain with bursitis and should be on the disabled list for about a month. But, don’t forget that, back in February 2008, it was reported that the Yankees had concerns about Wang’s shoulder since he has a torn rotator cuff that never was repaired. Could it be that Chien-Ming Wang’s shoulder has finally blown out?

Sergio Mitre, com’on down, you’re our next contestant on…

A.J. Burnett gets the game ball for this one. On a beautiful day at Yankee Stadium, Burnett’s effort was just as pleasing to the eye – if you’re a Yankees fan, of course.

You know, the Yankees have now won 8 of their last 9 games. But, on the whole, I still feel like their offense is not clicking on all cylinders. Over the last 6 games, it feels like they’ve been somewhat pedestrian with the lumber and often scoring on breaks/errors/bad plays and not scoring enough when big innings seem to be developing. Again, this is just a “feel” thing – so, it could just be me?

For what it’s worth, in terms of facts, New York has now scored 75 runs in their last 16 games – and that’s an average of 4.7 runs per game. And, coming into this game, the American League average for runs scored per game was 4.79 (R/G).

O.K., I just checked – and the Yankees are scoring 4.8 runs per game in their last six games – again, right about league average.

In the end, I guess we should say “Thank goodness for the Yankees good pitching lately,” right?

CC Sabathia didn’t have it tonight and only Robinson Cano and Hideki Matsui were swinging well for the Yankees in this one. And, when that happens, you’re not going to win too many times.

Oh, and, Russell Branyan hit a “restaurant quality” (as Ken Singleton called it) homer (banging it off the Mohegan Sun sports bar in center) against Alfredo Aceves in the 9th inning. Betcha that woke up a lot of people who were watching the game on T.V., and who fell asleep as the fans in Yankee Stadium were being equally bored doing the wave…

That was the first time a batter has reached the Mohegan Sun with a homer at the new Yankee Stadium.

Now comes an interesting run on the Yankees schedule: Four day games in a row against the Blue Jays – when was the last time the Yankees played four day games in a row? – followed by three games on the rug and under the lid in Minny and then three games way out west in Los Angeles (before the All-Star break).

I have to wonder if any Yankees players will get into trouble having four nights off, in a row, while the team is in New York? Is the Copacabana still open?

O.K., true story that has nothing to do with the Yankees or baseball, but, one I have to share: A church around the corner from me is holding one of those 6-day Annual Fairs that features games, rides, raffles, food, etc. So, me, my wife, our 7-year old daughter and 5-year old son decided to check it out.

One of the rides there was “The Flying Bobs.” (If you’ve never seen it, check out the video below.) Basically, this thing whips you around, fast, at times tilting you to the side, as you sit in it, two in a tub – and then it does it again, but this time in reverse, just as fast, etc.

My daughter decided that she wanted to ride “The Flying Bobs” – and, since she’s just seven, I joined her on this one.

As we’re on line, waiting our turn to ride it, I was watching the people riding it (before us). And, as this thing is whipping around, I noticed a young girl (probably around 14-years old), sitting with another girl, riding “The Flying Bobs” and “texting” someone on her mobile device at the same time. Simply, unbelievable – but true.

What can possibly be next?

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.