Waiting to Strike

        All of us here at BPS, especially Umair, Lucky, Happymeds, Ras, Guava, Rocco, Nick, Petey, Sean, Sal, Chris Woy, Mikey Juice, Mike Sherry, the Big Boy, etc,  have been preaching the “win the series” mantra.  You don’t need to win every game, just win the series.  Win the series and good things will happen.  So there were the Yankees, faced with their biggest stretch of the year, 21 games in 20 days.  The stretch that would define their season.  And interestingly, that’s just what they didn’t do.  They won just one of their next six series’.  One.  But what a series it was.  A five game sweep of Boston before a six game west coast swing that included their nemesis, the Los Angeles Angels of Krypton. 

         So where do these guys stand?  The injury report still tells you a lot about this team.  Here are some highlights.

         There hasn’t been a whole lot of chatter about the broken bone in Johnny Damon’s foot for a while.  I have to assume that this isn’t an issue any more.

         I also haven’t heard a lot about the tendon in the back of Posada’s knee.  He was the slowest man alive before that happened, he’s the slowest man alive now.  So maybe it’s a wash.  The one thing to worry about with Posada is the mileage.  Kelly Stinnett didn’t hit a lick, and the Incredible Sal may have a stache like Donnie Baseball, but he’s got a swing like Paul Zuvella.  Joe Torre can’t tolerate even one whole game with The Incredible Sal’s wildly impotent bat.  He’s constantly pinch-hitting Jorge around the 7th or 8th.  Jorge is 35 years old.  Something to think about. 

         The Ferocious Lion is hitting soft-toss BP, but not yet live BP.  He’s a few weeks away, and he’s going to have this issue with no rehab games, as the minor league season ends at the end of the month.  So he’s going to have to get up to speed on his own.  If all goes well, he’ll get his swing by October 1, when we’ll need it.

         I haven’t heard anything on Sheffield.  Word was a few weeks ago he was swinging a bat underwater, whatever that means.  I haven’t heard anything since.  Searching “Sheffield” on Yankees.com doesn’t bring up anything more recent than August 1st.  Not sure what to make of this, but I think I’ve shared my opinion.  Whatever day it is that Sheffield wakes up healthy, he will start crushing the ball.  That’s just him.  If he’s around by October 1, the Yanks will have that one extra right-handed bat that they are looking for.

         Carl Pavano.  Goodness gracious.  Now the guy comes out and says he was in a car accident a few weeks ago.  What a major league mess.  I agree with Happymeds.  That dude has a black cloud hanging over his head.  The “Curse of Alyssa Milano?”  It still sounds like he may pitch soon, however.  Talk about the biggest buildup in the history of the world.  If he gets shelled after all this, I won’t know whether to laugh, cry, or throw a hardball at him.

         Giambi.  This one worries me.  He seems to be breaking down a bit.  Some might say the fresh cycles of HGH are finally starting to catch up to him.  It seems like he’s always leaving games with a hammy problem, groin problem, whatever.  Knock on wood, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he went down one day after Sheffield/The Ferocious Lion came back.  That’s what has defined this ’06 Yankee team.  But until then, let’s ride the wave.  He’s back to being a killer. Allie boy should take a look at some clips of Giambi last year.  He got crushed by the fans.  In and out of Yankee Stadium.  All’s well that ends well.

          With all of that said, the Yankees are 7 games in front in the loss column.  Home field and good health should drive them the rest of the way.

         Happymeds, welcome back.  The comment total was awful low without you.  I’m in the middle of an ugly 5-post streak of single digit comments, with the last one being the worst at 5.  Thank you Sal, Lucky, and Rocco for propping us up with those.  Rocco, I’ll be honest with you.  Given the choice last year, I would have taken home field over setting up the rotation.  Just a matter of personal preference.  Lucky, way to bring one back for the BPS.  Our record is outstanding this year, if I do say so myself.  Sallie, excellent work with the Benfry page.  I’m going to take your word for it, though, because I don’t have some sort of java something that would let me see it.  Ras, I didn’t see the Lupica piece in the News last Sunday, but nothing that whiny little man says surprises me.  I’m just surprised they allow him to take his anti-Yankee rants that far.  Why?

         Three with Detroit coming up.  I feel good about it.  Not because the Yankees are so much better than the Tigers, but because there is a rhythm to a baseball season.  The Yankees just got back from losing four of six.  They are due to go on a run, so they will.  The question will be around Boston’s ability to keep up.  This will be a good week for the Yanks.