Man, if Damon starts hitting, too, the Yankees could get white hot. Especially with Hughes coming back soon. Hot hot hot!
GreenMachine1901 (8:46:59 PM): Herm said he gave Torre a pep talk GreenMachine1901 (8:47:35 PM): Herm said the Chiefs are like the Royals GreenMachine1901 (8:48:19 PM): Nothing is expected of them... GreenMachine1901 (8:48:43 PM): Offense is OK, but we need to focus more on D GreenMachine1901 (8:50:23 PM): Herms baseball wisdom" When you get the lead and score runs, it is tough to beat" GreenMachine1901 (8:53:21 PM): Our camp starts at 9 Am...but we will not over work the guys
Clemens 7 innings 4 hits 2ER and 3 Ks on 94 pitches. Very nice. Now hand the ball to Bruney to setup Mariano:beer:
W/ Boston and Cle playing as long as we win we gain on one of them. Seattle and Cle are both fading, Boston appears to be righting the ship, obviously we'd rather have the div but as long as we can get in it doesn't really matter and the way the WC contenders are playing we should be w/in striking distance soon.
I can't help but notice that there seems to be a lot of chemistry on the team now. The first time in years everybody seems to be having fun. Even Arod and Jeter are getting along. I really hope they just leave things as they are and don't try to bring anybody new into the mix.
I'm not enamored with Karstens either but they seem to be. When I read that their plan is to use him in long relief I think it's a wasted roster spot. He may get into a game once every 2 weeks if he's lucky. I'de rather see the spot used by someone who can help more often then that.
That's my biggest fear. As I pointed out some time ago, for all the supposed leadership and fun Giambi brought to the clubhouse, they seemed to be a much happier team after he went on the DL. There's no question it's hard to replace what he can do at the plate, but that's not the whole deal for a title run. This team is playing "with" each other now, rather than just at the same time. Duncan is bringing a huge young spark to the team. Melky's been doing it for months now. Even Cano is fired up now. It's infectious, and it's working. I'm a big believer in chemistry, and I just think a guy like Giambi is wrong for this team. Perhaps it's got to do with his cheater status? You mentioned Jeter and ARod getting along, and I don't think that can be overlooked. We've had different moments over the past month and half where we've noticed a situation that Jeter and ARod were getting more buddy-buddy. Last night I saw another one. Late in the game, Jeter struck out. On his way to the dugout, he passed by Alex, and clearly said something to him. I couldn't fully read his lips, but he told him to "watch out for" one of the pitches. ARod wound up with the hit back up the middle that at-bat. --------------------- Also, today's one of those days I can make junc happy. Joe did well last night, and deserves some credit. He didn't risk anything with the pitching staff. He went straight to Vizcaino. No Proctor, no Farnsworth. In Viz's previous 12 appearances, he has a ZERO ERA. Rather than fool around, Joe went with the hot arm. (On the post-game they said Joe actually had Viz on his "do not use under any circumstances" list last night. He went with him anyway. Good work. Hopefully, he can get some rest tonight. More runs earlier would help that.) This is exactly what I want to see from Joe. Make the right moves and I have no reason to complain. He put together a nice lineup, and handled the pitching perfectly. That's all I can ask for from him.
Actually, I think Karstens is going to stick around "just in case." He won't pitch much out of the pen, but he'll be available if someone can't go (which will hopefully be never.) --------------- So here's a question. Who would you guys like to see on the roster? Who would you dump? I'd drop Myers and Farnsworth. I'd like Igawa to head down to the minors, I just don't believe they'll do it. Karstens probably doesn't belong here either, but who knows? I'd like Duncan to stick around for a little while. Of course, there's no guarantee that his performance thus far will continue, so it's still wait-and-see.
