Not Bad, All Things Considered

                "Are you seeing what Joba's doing?" I asked Tony Sherry on the phone in the eighth inning.  "It's unprecedented," he replied.  "I'm also watching uh...  Did you ever see that show Rules of Engagement?  It's with - who's that little short guy?"  "David Spade," I said.  "Right.  It's not that bad," he says.  Now, if you know Tony Sherry, you know how to decipher these conversations.  He wasn't watching Joba, he had no idea the Yankees were on, and Mrs. Tony Sherry was probably at the controls of the remote, sticking him with whatever show she wanted to watch instead of what was important.  Rules of Engagement....  One of those complete girl shows that purports to be a guy show because the guy characters say ridiculous things before they are set straight by their wise significant others...  Come on dude....  "Dude, stop your clownery.  If you're going to play hooky from the Yankees, at least have the decency to watch Waiting for Guffman on IFC..." I said.  Besides, the Yankees are about to hit in the ninth.  Your boy the Ferocious Lion made the nice-nice happen with Johnny Damon on first with two outs before."  "Which one's Waiting for Guffman?" he says.....  Come on dude.....

            Triple J, I did get my split.  But I actually blew it, as I didn't realize that the series in Cleveland was actually four games.  I thought I was looking for a split in the final game in Chicago plus the three in Cleveland.  So we actually went 2-3 in that stretch.  But you know what?  I have to tell you - I'm pretty psyched.  This is that time of the year, and it happens every single year, when some crazy teams start out hot because their schedule is pretty stress-free for the first month or so.  Another one of those things that often goes unspoken is the role that the schedule plays in organizing which teams are in what place at what point.  All year long you hear the talking heads waxing on and off about which team is "playing great baseball" and which team is "struggling..."  Then they generally go into a bunch of on-the-field reasons why the team has or hasn't been winning.  The truth is that often you can tell in a second by the look of the schedule.  The Yankees just finished up a stretch in which they have played 18 of 20 games on the road.  A brutal stretch made worse because they had to move last week's games to Baltimore because of the Pope's visit.  And that's not even the whole story.  Except for one day off in Chicago last week, the Yankees have played a game every single day this season.  And except for that same day off in Chicago, every single one of their getaway days has been a night game.  Every single one.  And in one of those games they flew from New York to Kansas City after a night game to play a day game for the Royals home opener.  So what does this mean?  It means they were consistently arriving in places at 5 or later in the morning needing to get up, be at the ballpark, and play a ballgame.  And in this 18 of 20-on-the-road-stretch, they have played 12 games against the Boston, the White Sox, and Cleveland. 

            I point all of these things out for a reason.  I'm not sure what the immediate future holds for the Yankees, but I can say this.  They are in a pretty good position right now.  After this crazy stretch, they are exactly one game out of first place in the AL East.  And they have played more road games than anyone in baseball, by at least three.  Tampa Bay, by contrast, is one of those teams that the talking heads are falling in love with.  Baseball Tonight had James Shields on the phone last night asking him "what's different" about these Rays, while the whole ESPN crew all gushed about all of the reasons that the Rays are for real.  Now look, I don't know anything.  They've got a few nice young players.  And maybe they are for real.  But did anyone think to mention that as of right now the Rays have played 17 games at home and exactly 8 on the road?  Might have been a relevant point in that conversation, no?  And we've talked about the Red Sox.  As the BPS has pointed out, so many people were willing (hoping?) to anoint them early, but they're not as good as they think they are.  They have been stuck with some injuries, but they are also, as the BPS pointed out, on the back end of 19-of-26 at home.  And they should be a lot better off than they are.  In fact, the Yankees, for all of that tough stretch and all of the time that Jeter, Allie, Jorge, etc haven't been on the field, are the only one of those teams in the AL East that doesn't have a losing record on the road.  They lost two walk-off games in this stretch, which will happen.  It's inevitable.  But generally the walk-offs will even themselves out at home.  One game out after all of that.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.  Now they need to make hay at home.  Although, in fairness, it's not like they're going to get handed a bunch of wins.  As they finished up this stretch tonight, they are, yet again, headed out of town to play another game tomorrow.  This one, at least, is at the Stadium.  Against Detroit though, a team that has come roaring back after a puzzling start.  And then they've got their annual "glaring disadvantage" games against the Mets.  Six brutal games a year against a usually-good opponent that will pull out all of the stops to beat them.  But as annoying as that is, it's worse for the Mets.  Look at their collapse last year.  Do the Mets lose the division if Philly has to play six games against the Yankees and the Mets get to play six against Baltimore?  Let me help you out.  No.  Do the Yankees lose the division if the Red Sox have to play the Mets for six instead of the cupcake Braves, who didn't even make the playoffs last year?  Not as clear cut, but you see what I mean.  The fans love the excitement, MLB loves the hype, but you really couldn't ask for a worse situation for the Yankees and the Mets.  In any case, this is it.  The Yanks need to stretch things out.  Plain and simple.  But as of right now the Yanks have held up extremely well for where they are.

            I loved the Molina trade last year.  Loved it.  Obviously, it is proving crucial right now.  Molina is an excellent defensive catcher.  He just can't really hit.  I'm hoping for .250.  Hopefully everybody else can pick it up. But given that Posada's out for a while, you couldn't have asked for a better back-up.  I only hope Chad Moeller clears waivers.

            I couldn't disagree with Girardi more on this business of sitting the Ferocious Lion against lefties.  Two games in a row.  It's madness.  The guy is a hitter.  An rbi machine over the last few years.  Get him in there.

            Speaking of sitting, Girardi doesn't seem enamored with Wilson Betemit or Shelley Duncan.  Those guys seem to be in the doghouse.  I guess we'll have to see how that plays out.

            Home again home again.  Let' hope we make it count.