a700hitter

His statistical improvement could be a result of improved positioning before the pitch. I am not saying that he is not a good fielder. I am happy with his fielding. I am just saying that he is not a GG contender because A. he has a terrible arm and B. he doesn't get a good jump on the ball.

Jeter came out of the game. What is wrong with him? The announcers are talking about his hip.

Abreu waves at strike three. Inning over.

That was strike 3 to Jeter. What was the ump looking at? He k'd on the next pitch though.

Bruney looking like a pitcher that had been relased by AZ.

Full Count

Bonds has chased two pitches out of the zone.

Durham walks. Bases loaded for Bonds.

It would be great to see Bonds get a shot this inning if suck ass Durham can keep the inning alive.

He has one of the worst OF arms in baseball if not the worst. He makes Damon look good. As far as his fly catching ability, I know that he makes some spectacular catches, but what you don't see on TV is that he doesn't get the jump on balls like the top CFs. His bad jumps are neutralized by his great speed. If he got good jumps, I would agree that he is a top fly catcher.

Cain for Ramirez? Not!

What's the record in 1 run games? It must be very good. Good teams win the close games.

Torre going to Mo for 5 outs with a 6-3 lead.

Jima is money again.

Why did WMP come out of the game?

Last year we would have killed to get a 6 inning performance like tonight's, but I can't believe that Dice K is happy with his performance.

We are gonna have to go deep into the bullpen tonight. Dice K's command was not good tonight. He threw way too many pitches tonight.

Yaz would be the first to tell you that he was not a good choice for captain. He never wanted it. The organization wanted it for him. He never held himself out as a leader in the clubhouse. On the field, he led by example. He worked harder than anyone, and he played hurt. The rumors of his influence with management regarding player moves is pretty baseless. Hell, he begged the Gerbil Zimmer to start Bill Lee against the Yankees in 78 instead of Bill Sprowl, and you know how that turned out. Dick Williams was fairly well despised by a lot of guys on that team, but challenging the team's biggest star was a fatal move. Yaz's status in the early 70's wasn't as secure as you think. He was almost traded to the Royals for Amos Otis. Yeah Yawkey loved him like a son, like he did with Ted Williams. Yawkey was very friendly with many of the players. He was always in the clubhouse chatting up the players. Yes, the Red Sox were late in embracing black players, but so were the Yankees. A lot probably had to do with the racial climate in Boston. They gave the fans the white team that they wanted and the fans got the crappy team they deserved. When the FO final turned that corner, they made bigger strides than the Yankees did in the 60's. The Red Sox became a contending team after bringing talent like Boomer Scott, Joy Foy, Reggie Smith to the majors in a 2 year period in 66-67. They also brought in veterans like Tartabull and Wyatt. In the late 60's and early 70's there was Ben Olgilvie and Cecil Cooper. In those years, they brought a treasure trove of talent to the big team and much of it was African American. These moves were not universally embraced by the fan population which remained very biased. I can remember going to games in the 70's where people in the Fenway crowd yelled "Pollack" at Yaz. You can blame Yawkey all you want and attribute it to his southern roots, but Boston was as intolerant as any southern city in lots of ways. It's unfair to lay it at the feet of one man who can't defend himself and who died in '76 when Boston was still having race riots over School Busing.

...and Jackie Robinson used to get pissed because Campanella didn't stand up and protest. Does that mean that Campy was a disgrace. Some guys don't make waves. It's just not their personality to protest. From the people who I have spoken to that knew Yaz fairly well, he was very much introverted. That explains why he dropped from the public scene almost entirely when he retired. Also, I have never heard anything but positive things about Yaz from his African American and Latino team mates, and I am not talking about comments made for consumption by the press. The biggest criticism that you'll hear about Yaz is that he was a cheapskate and very moody when he wasn't hitting. Judging the guy's actions as disgraceful is unfair.

Thuuuhhh Yankees Loooose!!!! Thuuuhhh Yankees Loooose!!!! ...and the Red Sox extend their lead to 10 games over the Yankees That did feel great

Pettitte was clearly done in the 6th inning. Everyone was hitting ropes in the 6th and it continued into the 7th. Torre sacrificed any chance of winning the game by staying with him too long.

The guy has been much more than I could have hoped for in the 5th slot up to this point.