Back Again

Sorry for my infrequent posts. My internet was broken for another week and a half. This time my Dad was the culprit. He pulled out a wire and did not tell anyone. I had a whole post on A-Rod’s breakout week, but that is old news already. So this is going to be my first sports post in a while. Last night's game (Yanks won 12-4) raised a lot of questions even while answering others.

Matsui made his long awaited return from the DL last night. Despite being out since May 11, he went 4 for 4 as a DH. The rust did not show at all last night, but the Tampa Bay does not have top quality pitching. It was great to hear the standing ovations for him every time he came to the plate. Supposedly the Japaneese are having a "holiday" in honor of his return. (Because Matsui has now taken over as DH, Bernie will unfortunately lose almost all his playing time.)

Sheff is still MIA, but he took batting practice yesterday and should be back soon. But where would he play? Rightfield is taken, centerfield is taken, leftfield is taken, and DH is taken for now. One option being discussed is maybe having Sheff play first instead of Giambi. While Giambi is not a good defensive first baseman and tends to pull things while playing, would Sheff be an upgrade?

Another question that I do not know the answer to is what will happen to the chemistry of the time with the return of Sui and Sheff who were gone most of the year. The Yankees became a great team without them and are cruising along right now. As of now I would almost like to see the team as is in the playoffs (they deserve it), but if Sui and Sheff produce that is not going to happen.

Moos pitched a great game last night. It was only his second start after coming off the DL. He did not look good in his first start, but this time he pitched like the old Moos. Through 6 and 1/3 innings Moos gave up only 5 hits (2 were bloops), no walks, and pitched economically. If he continues pitching like that then the starting rotation will do fine in the playoffs. Moos, Johnson, and Wang can be dominant. Even Wright's last two starts have been great. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Jeter is still one of the top contenders for MVP and he is only 4 percentage points behind Mauer for the batting title (with almost 100 at-bats more). But before last night game he also had a 21 game hit streak going. A hit streak that Jeter plays down and Torre forgot about. Last night Jeter had 3 walks and was also hit by a pitch. Since the Yankees had a 12-0 lead, Torre took him out in the 7th for a pintch hitter. Torre felt so bad that he forgot and went over and apologized. Many thought that the streak had ended at 21, but it turns out that since he did not have an official at-bat the streak is still alive. Jeter also has 92 RBI and will most definitely reach 100. As a number 2 hitter that is a great stat and should help his bid for MVP.

Abreu was outstanding last night when he knocked in 7 runs. In the first inning alone he had 6 RBIs (supposedly the record is 9 for most RBIs in one inning) as the team scored 9 runs. He has been more than anyone could have asked for. Oh, and Cairo made his return from the DL too when he came in for Cano in the 7th. Finally, Cano has quietly been having a great sophmore year. His batting average is .335, but he doesn't have enough at-bats yet to qualify for the batting title, although he should accumulate enough before the season ends.

Fun times!