3 & 3 after the first week

So the bats are still sleeping and besides Phil Franchise and Wang the starters have been bad. Hawkins and Farnsworthless are up to there old tricks giving up lots of runs but I'm not worried. Not in the least. The Yankees are bound to start hitting. Tonight the Yankees send Old man Moose back out to the mound to start the week off. He wasn't terrible last time he pitched but he was far from good. I don't know how long or how many bad starts this guy is going to get before he is exiled. I've supported Moose for almost his entire career with the Yankees but there comes a time when a pitcher just doesn't have it anymore (see David Cone) I'm not saying the Old Moose is done just yet but he could be. I'll hold off burying him until the end of May. The early season feel for this team is 1996. If you haven't watched any of the 3 wins this season it's simple JOBA + MO = WIN. Yesterday Wang went 6 strong innings before getting a little tired and getting into trouble in the 7th. Not to worry JOBA to the rescue. An inning earlier then his previous 2 outings but the result the same - LIGHTS OUT! This guy is nasty! I hope the Yankees leave him in the bullpen. With him and Mo out there the other teams have to get a lead early and hang on. Cause if they don't they will lose. I hope to see Kennedy bounce back his next start because he was awful Friday night. Andy will be fine, at least I hope so and Wang looks like the 19 game winner he was the last 2 seasons. All in all a very average 6 games with lots of upside and a few spots of concern. Let's see what old man Moose has tonight

Phil Franchise shows promise of bright future

So last night I attended the Yankee game and got a nice up close look of the future. His name - Phil Hughes. The young 21 year old went 6 strong innings giving up 2 runs. He ran through the first 3 innings setting down the jays in order. He consistently jumped a head in the count pumping strikes in. He was composed and didn't seem to get rattled when the Jays put together a threat. I really liked what I saw. The bats still need to wake up. I'm sure the cold weather isn't helping at all. Let's hope the offense can exploded real soon. I met Brandon Jacobs of the New York Giants at the game. Very big man and extremely nice. Plenty of people got his autograph and if it wasn't for Yankee stadium security I think he would have kept on signing away. SUPER BOWL CHAMPS BABY! Sorry but that still has not gotten old! Now back to the game, the lefty Traber came in for 1 batter and did his job. Striking out the 1 man he faced. Next up was Bruney who got the next 2. The 8th inning clearly belongs to one man - JOBA. The Yankees are basically playing a 7 inning game. With JOBA in the 8th and Marinao in the 9th I've got a hunch that the Yankee record when leading after 7 innings is going to be something along the lines of 85 & 1. So after the home opener was pushed back the yankees got 3 games in and walked away winning 2 out of 3 and only scoring a total of 8 runs. Good sign in my opinion.

Opening Night? No April's fools joke here

After a rain filled day on Monday that forced the Yankee home opener to be delayed a day, baseball was played last night at the big ballpark in the Bronx. I was lucky enough to be in attendance for my 12th straight home opener and it was well worth it yet again. The Yankees won there home opener for the 11th straight time and it was done in a quick manner. A nice 3-2 win to send all the fans home happy. Wang pitched a strong game, he gave up only a few hard hit balls while going 7 innings of 2 run ball. Any team will take that from there starter. Next up was the phenom JOBA and although he walked a batter he didn't give up a hit and he struck out 2 of the 3 hitters. Then it was time for Mariano. GAME OVER! Drive home safely. The offense started early with a 2 out RBI double from A-Rod for the Yankees first run. A solo shot from Melky (who also had some nice catches) in the bottom of the 6th got the Yankees back to 2-2. They were able to get another run across the plate an inning later for the 3rd and decisive run. Tonight it is Old man Moose vs AJ Burnett. Let's hope the offense has more then 3 runs in them tonight.

Again the season ends all to early

Well Yankee fans this won't be the year of the 27th title. Unfortunately the Yanks just didn't get the job done. To me it starts with Wang. The guy won 19 games the last 2 season but you sure wouldn't think he was any good if you saw him pitch games 1 & 4. He just didn't have it. That simple. Pitching wins championships and I thought we would have enough of it to get the job done this season. After Wang you have to put the blame on 2 of the greatest Yankees we have ever seen. Jeter & Posada. They just didn't get it done. It was the worst Posada and Jeter had looked all season. Now I will turn my attention to Joe Torre. I want him back. The man did a great job this season and has done a great job for a long long time. To me it's very rare that a manager is the reason why a team loses. Every now and then the manager might make a bad choice that can cost a team a game but that wasn't the case at all in this series. I'm a Torre backer. I didn't want him fired after the 2006 first round exit and I don't want him gone now. He handles the media and players very well. Besides who is going to manage the team? Mattingly? I don't think he is ready yet. He has no experience of managing and only has 1 year as a bench coach. If the Yankees want to "groom" Mattingly for the position then who would be better for that then Joe Torre. Give Torre 2 more years, maybe 3. Let Mattingly be the bench coach for a couple of more years. Then Torre can retire and we can all embrace Donnie Baseball. I hear Tony LaRussa's name being mentioned. I don't want any part of him leading my ballclub. I know he has won 2 rings but the guy has issues. The New York media will eat him up. Thanks but no thanks Tony....Stay in St. Louis....The other name being tossed around is Joe Giradi. I like him a lot and he has shown he can manage. The only issue I see with Giradi is if the Yankees want Mattingly to be the manager in the near future. Why would Giradi want to come in and groom Donnie? Giradi is younger then Donnie and I would think he would want to be a part of the Yankees for a long time. Only time will tell what the answers will be. I for one think Torre is coming back and I will believe that until I'm proven wrong.

I can't tell a lie

I'm fucking nervous for game 1 tonight. Its been years since the Yankees have faced C.C and the guy is a much better pitcher now then he was then. He is a lefty. That alone scares me. Throw all those numbers we have against C.C out the window. All the wonderful numbers that were produced during the regular season mean zero now. The players know this. Basically we start a new season tonight. It becomes what have you done for me lately. I've sailed with this ship through the rough seas and I won't bail now or even (god forbid) we do happen to catch an L tonight. I watched the Yankees win game 1 last year and 3 games later the season was over. It's like I said yesterday every pitch every inning, every game matters. 1 good game will not get you into the ALCS. It takes 3. Win 3 before you lose 3 and move on. Wang needs to bring his A game. If he does I won't be nervous at all and I feel we can't be beat tonight. If we can score 4 runs this evening I think that might be enough. 5 runs and I'm sure that will be enough. Normally you can tell with Wang early if he has it. Hopefully tonight he will be on. He has big game experience, he has been here before. Get the ball to JOBA for the 8th and Mo for the 9th. Win the first 7 innings maybe even 6 if you want to go to JOBA for 2 and I'll sign right up for that. The mission, the dream, the journey starts TONIGHT!

WE RIDE AGAIN!

I'm fired up my friends! As today the Yankees had there pre-sale of playoff tickets. I again failed miserably in obtaining tickets. I just don't have any luck with this shit. One might ask why is this kid fired up if he didn't get any playoff tickets? Well the answer is easy if you know me. I have a partner in crime, a tag team partner, a great friend who I've spent countless hours, innings, and games with at and around the holy grounds of Yankee Stadium. He was able to obtain tickets to the ALCS and the World Series. Granted this will all mean nothing with another disastrous first round exit but this year is different. I've got a feeling those tickets are getting used this year. The Yankees still have yet to "officially" clinch a post season berth but that is just a matter of time. Then the real fun starts. The REAL SEASON! The season that all Yankee fans have been a part of now since 1995. Some years we have been lucky enough to play the last baseball game of the season and come out as the World Series Champs. Other times we have seen our season end all to early. Deep down I believe that this season the Yanks are playing in the last game of the year. They have come up from the grave and been the best team in baseball over the last 100 games or so. I don't care who the Yankees have to play. Teams should worry about having to play us. We are rolling. We are ready. Put the women and little kids to bed and prepare yourself for long October nights. As the Yankees are set to ride again.

A-Rod AL MVP but........

That is the regular season MVP. I'm not going to sit here and act like what he has done thus far isn't amazing. It is unreal. A season unmatched by any Yankee but the immortal ones. Without A-Rod's performance this "regular season" who knows where the Yankees would be in the standings. I doubt they would be sitting with a Magic # of 15. He has played well from the start of the season. His numbers are insane and with 19 games left they will get even more disturbing....but what does that matter come October? To put into words I come up with one, NOTHING.....When the calendar turns to October it all doesn't matter anymore. It becomes a new season. A season the Yankees have had plenty of experience in but as of the last few years leave with no cause for celebration. A-rod has helped contribute to the failures the last few seasons but he wasn't alone. He has been labeled a man who can't handle the pressure. A man who crumbles under the spotlight. Well folks, I got a feeling that is all about to change. This isn't the A-rod from 2004, nor is it the A-rod from 2005 and it isn't the A-rod of 2006. This is a new man who has been embraced by the Yankee fans. A man who has once again shown his joy for playing the game of baseball. You can actually see the amount of fun being had in the dugout between A-Rod and ALL his teammates. Even the guys in the bullpen have been involved in joking with him. This is the first time he has been this way since he arrived. Finally comfortable in the Bronx! Will this translate over to him coming up big with the game on the line? Only time will tell but this Yankee fan believes A-Rod is going to do some special things this October. He can't win the world series all by himself. This is still a team game but with the help of the other 24 guys they sure as hell can win it all. Get ready for the ride. It won't be like the last 2 years when our season was cut short....No no no, not this year. It's a different A-Rod and a different Yankee ball club. Prepare yourself for many long October nights as the Yankees are playing late into October....This year my beloved Yankees will be WORLD CHAMPS yet again!