Frayed Knot

Jerry Manual stacking the righties against their lefty Reyes - SS Easley - 2B Wright - 3B Beltran - CF Delgado - 1B Tatis - RF Phillips - LF Castro - C Santana - P Girardi, not so much stacking against our lefty Damon - LF Jeter - SS Abreu - RF Rodriguez - 3B Giambi - 1B Posada - C Cano - 2B Cabrera - CF Pettitte - P

Reyes - 0.5 Wright - 0.5 Nixon - 0.5 Beltran - 0.5 Smith - 0.25 Wagner - 0.25

AG/DC wrote: You ever lose a game by that much and think about the break here and there that could have turned it around? Yup! Two early ABs in particular: Reyes's pop-up (bad AB) and Castro's GiDP (good AB - bad result). Also, to continue my on-line rant from the first game (and my years-long rant in private), while we were not getting it done in those ABs the Skanks were hitting balls TOO SHITTY to make outs or turn DPs. Obviously that changed later on as they started to get some real hits but the number of bad-swing/good result ABs that team gets has got to lead the planet. I know that's probably irrational but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Suggestions like 'Pedro to the pen' are inevitable whenever a pitcher has a couple outings where he keeps them scoreless for the first few innings then starts falling apart in the 4th or 5th. Fans see that and think; "Hey look, he's a great 3-inning pitcher now. Let's put him in the pen!" Not only am I not willing to draw that kind of cause-and-effect conclusion but you've also got the problem where, unless you believe in Armas being an answer AND Ollie Perez suddenly bouncing back (or an El Duque resurrection), the rotation has more problems then the pen and Pedro isn't really replaceable from within. I think for now we're pretty much committed to staying the course with him. That said, I don't know what to think of Pedro at this point. He'll look good for a while and then suddenly get ripped. It seems to me that his own mistakes AND bad luck (bloops, squeakers, errors) have been showing up at the same time and conspiring to make him look worse than he really deserves but maybe that's a bit of wishful thinking. Obviously his control is off and that's a big part of it.

Delgado 6 Pelfrey 1 Beltran 1 Wright 1 Castillo 1

This isn't a game anymore ... it's hard-core PORN! I'm betting Carlos II doesn't sit the nightcap. Sorry Andy Phillips, your debut has been delayed.

="SteveJRogers"]="Frayed Knot"]Somewhere a Yanqui fans is muttering about another ARod HR in a blowout rather than when it's REALLY needed. HA! Or try an entire segment of the Internet Yankee Fan Community! The funniest anti-ARod comment I ever heard (at least from a fan of HIS team) was a MFY fan bitching about how Of Course! his 3 HRs against Bartolo Colon and the Angels (including a GS I think) came in a 10-2 blowout. Hey dummy, who do you think MADE IT a blowout?!?

We're not worthy ... we're not worthy ... we're not worthy

]They had a screaming match on air over the validity of the DH. Yankee-apologist Mikey didn't have leg to stand on, tried in vain to defend the DH. See I heard that discussion (or at least part of it) but was then surprised to hear them admit (Russo brought up that one specifically) that those kinds of arguments take on a personal animus above and beyond your normal sports-related disagreement - although it's possible that the personal stuff fuels the sports argument rather than the other way around. In the past there have been spats about the sort of ego-related stuff that occurs whenever you've got a couple of high-paid prima-donnas sharing the same turf - and with those you could tell there were genuine bad feelings. And even when you couldn't Bob Raissman at the NYDN, who definitely had a spy somewhere at FAN, was only too eager to relate them in his columns.

Somewhere a Yanqui fans is muttering about another ARod HR in a blowout rather than when it's REALLY needed.

Hey, Feliciano got out the leadoff hitter. Seems like the first time this year although i could be exaggerating.

Now we just have to take care of finishing this game prior to the starting time of the night one. 5-1/2 innings = 2:40 or 3:20 until first pitch

Grimm ain't nuthin but a hound dog.

SOMEBODY CUE UP MARLEY'S 'REDEMPTION SONG' CUZ I FEE LIKE DANCING!!!!

Buncha leftys coming up next inning too - starting with Abreu leading off.

Meet Kingsport SS Wilmer Flores courtesy of BA's "Hot List" Team: Rookie-level Kingsport (Appalachian) Age: 16 Why He's Here: .400/.417/.578, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 RBIs, 0 BB, 7 SO The Scoop: Flores is a 16 year old playing in a league where the average age is more than 20, and he has been arguably the best player in the league for the first week and a half. After belting a home run in his professional debut, Flores has continued his steady production. Enduring the loss of manager Nick Leyva, who also served as his Flores' translator, could have been a hitch in the road for Flores, who had grown close to Leyva, but the teenager's makeup impressed observers in Kingsport as he kept up his steady production under new leadership. The only knock on Flores is his defense, which at times can be shaky. He made three errors in a game on Tuesday night, but played the next two games error-free. Flores' hitting is his best present tool and he showed it on Thursday night, going 4-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs.

But ... but ... but ... Jeter ALWAYS comes through against the Mets! That's probably Pelfrey's last batter.

That would have been your quick inning except for the Castillo error. I remember all Yanqui infield errors in an earlier Subway Series getting blamed on the condition of the Shea infield. MFYs don't make errors otherwise I guess and shirley this error was all Castillo's fault not the field.

Hugeness from Carlos II Now let's step on their freakin necks!!

This Ramirez guy is a change-up specialist who seems to be either real good or horrible in his outings.

The only reason Francesa even brought it up today was that it's the first day he's been on the air since Best "broke" the story so it's not suprisingly that he didn't let any bombshells loose. Funny thing about both of them acknowledging that they were fueding and that it bled over into the show itself is that I didn't notice it and wouldn't have known unless they fessed up. Not that I'm an everyday listener but I have picked up on their tiffs in the past, just not this one. Their usual summer schedule with vacations and all has them doing very few shows together anyway so it'll give everyone a cooling off period. I'm just mostly afraid of what the mgmt who went out of their way to hire Sid Rosenberg and only got rid of him reluctantly after he committed a number of crimes and other slimy acts would replace them with.

Well he's already up over 80 pitches so we're talking about 5, maybe 6, innings at best. If he didn't get out of that inning he may be gone already. 4 innings = 1:40

I was just about to mention another MFY special - the grounder with less than two out and runners on that'll be hit too shitty for a GiDP ... and ARod does just that. So the inning continues

I know what this sounds like but I swear these dorks get more cheezy hits than any other team. All that's missing so far is a patented Gary Sheffield special where he tops one with that monster swing of his and gets a 30-ft swinging bunt.

How many FUCKIN bloops are thesee assholes gonna get?