Sully Baseball Salutes... Jed Lowrie

The Red Sox traded Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland to the Astros for reliever Mark Melancon.

It's a smart trade. The Red Sox need to rebuild their bullpen and Jed Lowrie is not a long term answer for the infield. Melancon is talented, piled up saves for an awful Astros team and has a good ERA+. And he's only 26 years old.

But before we bid good bye to Jed Lowrie, let's salute him.
He was part of that 2005 First Round crop that supposedly was going to replenish the Red Sox.

Jacoby Ellsbury has held up his end of the bargain.
When healthy Clay Buchholz has been a stud.
Craig Hansen was supposed to be a the next bullpen ace. It didn't work out that way.
And Jed Lowrie was going to provide depth SOMEWHERE in the infield.

The Sox got the Lowrie pick as a result of losing Orlando Cabrera to the Angels.

And it was against the Angels that he had his greatest moment.

In 2008 Division Series, the Red Sox were the defending World Champions but the Angels were the best team in the American League. If any team looked like they were in a position to unseat the World Champs, it was this Angels team. But the Sox took the first two games in Anaheim and then lost an extra inning thriller in Game 3.

Game 4 was a back and forth affair with the Angels tying the game in the 8th. In the 9th, Jason Bay dropped a bloop double in front of Reggie Willits. With 1 out, Mark Kotsay hit a linedrive that looked like it was going to clinch the series but Mark Teixeira made a diving catch at first base.

Up stepped Jed Lowrie who swung at Scot Shields' first pitch and smacked it into right field. Bay came around to score and the Red Sox were off to the ALCS.

It was the 16th post season series won by the Red Sox.
(7 World Series, 4 ALCS and 5 Division Series).

And as of this writing, it was the last playoff series won by Boston.

In those 16 post season series victories, only 3 ended with a walk off hit.
The 1912 World Series ended when Larry Gardner hit a 10th inning sacrifice fly.
The 2004 Division Series ended with a David Ortiz home run.
And the 2008 Division Series ended with Jed Lowrie's single.

We all jumped up and celebrated that night.

So before you head off to Houston, let's salute Jed Lowrie and say thank you.

And hopefully the number of Red Sox who ended a post season series with a walk off hit will increase before long.

A payroll observation about Milwaukee vs Arizona

The Brewers and Diamondbacks played a thrilling 5 game Division Series.

The Milwaukee Payroll was $86 million.
The Arizona Payroll was $53.8 million.

The Brewers payroll was lower than what the Yankees paid for A-Rod, Sabathia, Teixeira and A. J. Burnett in 2011.

The Diamondbacks payroll was lower than what the Red Sox paid for Lackey, Crawford, Drew and Dice K for 2011.

Keep that in mind when discussing payroll in baseball.

Please have Berkman be a NICE Tony LaRussa comeback story

In the last few years, Lance Berkman's stats have been falling off. He was a part time player for the Yankees in the playoffs last year, pressed into starting duty after Mark Teixeira's injury.

Well now he is in St. Louis and is putting up All Star numbers again.

Among the leaders in batting, he knocked his 15th homer tonight and drove in his 45th run.

It's a terrific comeback.
Tony LaRussa has had a lot of players comeback for him.

Dave Stewart in Oakland became an Ace, as did Chris Carpenter in St. Louis. Jim Edmonds refound his stroke and countless pitching reclamation projects.

But there have been other kind of comebacks.

The Mark McGwire comebacks... the lots of players who played for him being connected to stuff kind of comebacks.

Remember how quickly the Rick Ankiel story turned from the feel good baseball story of the decade to "Oh dear..."?

I so hope this is a NICE comeback on a LaRussa squad. But my guard is up.

Focus on winning... have the Yankees focus on retaliating

The talk in Yankee-land seems to be about Mark Teixeira's being beaned and knocked out by Jon Lester (a notorious hot head) and Big Papi flipping a bat away after a homer (because I'd be SHOCKED if the Yankees ever had a home run celebration.)

Even the writers are talking about retaliation.

Let them.
Go ahead.

Put some runners on base for A. J. Burtnett whose ERA against the Red Sox last year was over 7! Put something on their mind other than winning the freaking game.

Two teams tied for first place shouldn't be thinking about hurt feelings.

A team that has lost 6 of the first 7 head to head games with their biggest rival shouldn't be talking about anything other than their win and loss record.

If A. J. Burnett hits a batter, so what? It's another runner on base.
It's not like the Yankees will be afraid of Tim Wakefield throwing a 40 MPH knuckleball at them.

So come on Tim! Another win will put you 10 behind the All Time Red Sox wins leader. Now THAT is something to keep track of.

The Yankee Illusion

The Red Sox are 3-1 against the Yankees this year and for some reason those wins seem to mask the fact that in mid May the Red Sox are STILL sub .500!

But man it feels good to win by one run against the Yankees.
Bartolo Colon has 2 losses this year and both were hard luck losses against the Sox.

Meanwhile Joba Chamberlain is the gift that keeps giving... if by giving you mean insurance runs.

Daniel Bard made me scream at the TV as it was clear that Jorge Posada can't catch up to a fastball yet he was throwing him curve balls. And of course Jonathan Papelbon had to make it interesting.

But Mark Teixeira popped up and I get to update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES - 9

April 8 - 9-6 win against the Yankees. (The Sox end their 6 game losing streak with a slugfest. John Lackey stinks but Phil Hughes stinks even more.)
April 10 - 4-0 win against the Yankees. (Beckett and Sabathia duel in a game that was 1-0 until the late innings.)
April 20 - 5-3 win in Oakland. (Red Sox survive a lead off homer and two bases loaded situations and facing the tying run at the plate to win their first road game.)
April 21 - 4-2 win in Anaheim. (The Red Sox stranded 15 men on base and Josh Beckett's went 8 strong with no decision. But the Sox rallied in the 11th to win.)
April 22 - 4-3 win in Anaheim. (Peter Bourjos makes a 2 run errors and the Red Sox survive a bizarre passed ball by Jarrod Saltalamacchia that let a run scored from second.)
May 1 - 3-2 win against the Mariners. (Ichiro loses a ball in the sun that turns into a 9th inning triple for Lowrie. Crawford singles him home for the win.)
May 8 - 9-5 win against the Twins. (Dice-K lets up 3 runs in the first but settles down as the Red Sox clobber Carl Pavano.)

May 9 - 2-1 win against the Twins. (A bullpen breakdown cost Beckett the decision but Cark Crawford ended the game with an 11th inning walk off hit.)
May 13 - 5-4 win in the Bronx. (Youkilis homers off of Joba and Bard and Papelbon make it more interesting than it needed to be.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 12

April 1 - 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 5 - 3-1 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox drop their 4th straight as the bats are dead in Cleveland.)
April 7 - 1-0 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow a great Lester performance on a squeeze bunt and Darnell McDonald overrunning the bag to end the game.)
April 12 - 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay. (A solid Lester performance is wasted as Kyle Farnsworth of all people shuts down the Sox.)
April 15 - 7-6 loss to Toronto. (Bobby Jenks implodes with a 4 run seventh inning as the Red Sox waste Pedroia and Youkilis homers and a clutch RBI double by Scuatro.
April 19 - 5-0 loss in Oakland. (Pedroia gets picke doff, the Sox bats go dead and waste a solid Lackey start.)
April 26 - 4-1 loss in Baltimore. (Buchholz pitches tentatively and the Sox let Kevin Gregg of all people to close out the 9th.)
April 27 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (The Sox tie the game with a 3 run 8th only to have Bard lose it in the bottom of the 8th.)
April 29 - 5-4 loss to Mariners. (Bobby Jenks blows a 7th inning lead, wasting 2 Mike Cameron homers.)
April 30 - 2-0 loss to Mariners. (The Sox strand 11 runnerss and let Milton Bradley double home the go ahead run.)
May 4 - 5-3 loss to Angels. (7 hours with rain delays and stranded runners. Marco Scutaro was thrown out at the plate in the 12th)
May 10 - 7-6 loss in Toronto. (8th and 9th inning heroics, including a homer by Adrian Gonzalez, are undone by a walk off sacrifice fly by David Cooper.)

-3.

Win tomorrow and the Red Sox will have won their first two series with the Yankees.

That would make a hell of a birthday present.

Look, I am happy the Yankees lost but...

The Royals beat the Yankees today and frankly, with KC on pace to lose 92 games, they need all the help they can get.

But when Mark Teixeira hit a difficult grounder with 2 outs and 2 on and the Yankees down by three, he beat out the throw to first base.

I thought it was the case with my naked eyes and less than one minute later no fewer than two replays showed he was clearly safe.

He was called out.

The Yankees would have had the bases loaded, 2 outs, Yankees down by 3 and A-Rod up, knowing an out would win the game for the Royals but a grand slam would win it for the Yankees.

It would have been pure baseball drama... and all instant replay screens showed it should have been.

But alas we can't have it because we can't waste that minute.

Ahhh the insanity of no instant replay.

Some strange World Series facts are still true

The World Series has been over for a few days now...

And yes, Johnny Damon and Eric Hinske have indeed joined Ramiro Mendoza as the only living players with World Series rings with the Red Sox and Yankees.

But there are some other odd World Series facts that came true as well.

Assuming the NL Cy Young winner will be either Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter or Tim Linecum and also assuming the AL Cy Young winner will not be a Yankees... then once again we have another World Series without a Cy Young winner.

The last World Series to feature a Cy Young winner was 2001... which actually featured both Cy Young Winners (Randy Johnson of Arizona and Roger Clemens of the Yankees.) That was one of only 4 World Series in history to feature both Cy Young winners.

Also Albert Pujols is a lock for the NL MVP, so the World Series still hasn't featured the MVP of the AL and the MVP of the NL since 1988 when Kirk Gibson's Dodgers beat Jose Canseco's A's.

Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter have outside chances at the AL MVP. But if it goes to Joe Mauer, then the AL MVP will once again not be featured in the World Series. Rickey Henderson was the last AL MVP to play for a pennant winners (although Albert Belle got robbed in 1995 by Mo Vaughn.)

And when the Rockies were eliminated, any hope for the first "All Expansion Team World Series" was squashed.

Oh I am sure I can come up with some more facts... but I've got to get some sleep.

Don't play game 3

Seriously... don't play game 3 of the Division Series. Any hope of this being a competitive series ended tonight.

What else could any Twins fan (or Yankee hater) want than a 2 run lead and a rested and ready Joe Nathan on the mound on the 9th?

Or maybe bases loaded nobody out and the Twins facing a Yankee bullpen that had already used Rivera, Chamberlain, Hughes and Coke.

It could have been a series changing win.

Hell, it could have had a ripple effect across the entire post season!

1-1 going to the Metrodome? 

Suddenly the Yankee season in jeopardy with a loss in Minnesota!

But noooooooo.

We got Joe Nathan somehow afraid to throw a strike until he wound up throwing a meatball to A-Rod... and threw a ball into center field.

We got Joe Mauer unable to score from second on a single.

And now we have the specter of the final ever game at the Metrodome be a Yankee celebration.

Don't play it. 

The last games at the Metrodome was the wild sweep to finish the season and the jaw dropping extra inning do or die playoff against the Tigers.

Wouldn't it be better to have the lasting image of the Metrodome be Carlos Gomez leaping through the air, rather than the Yankees high fiving in front of a silent crowd?

Just don't play the game.

OK, how about this for a compromise?

You play Game 3... but you play it in the OLD Yankee Stadium... for old time's sake.

I mean the old stadium is just sitting there.

Penny finally shows his worth

Brad Penny wasn't worth his last name as a pitcher for the Red Sox... and he did the honorable thing. He took one for the team and asked for his release.

Basically committed baseball hari kari (not Harry Carey.)

Maybe Theo should have listened to Larry Bowa!

Once Teixeria skedaddled to the Yankees, the Red Sox did the smart thing and not simply throw money at someone else to respond to the Yankees.

They kept their money and their draft picks and went bargain hunting.

And in came Takashi Saito, John Smoltz, Rocco Baldelli and Brad Penny who combined are paid $9 million less than Teixeria is this season.

Saito is a mop up man, Baldelli is a seldom used injury riddled 4th outfielder and Smoltz and Penny got released.

Sometimes you can find something great in the bargain bin, but most of the times there is nothing but cheap crap.

At least Penny knew he was cheap crap. 

Watch him go to the Cardinals and throw a no hitter. 

Who the hell is the American League MVP this year?

Tomorrow it will be late August, and the NL MVP is all but sewn up.

Albert Pujols leads the league in homers, is second in RBI, 4th in batting average, has the leagues highest on base percentage and in slugging percentage. And you don't need to be a sabermatrician to know that means he leads the league in OPS. And he has done all of this without protection the first half of the season and has the Cardinals with the biggest lead in the NL.

No matter what your criteria is, Albert is the man.

Now the AL is a little trickier.

There is no cut and dry candidate running away with it like Albert... so with a little more than a month to go, let's figure out who the candidates are based on the different criteria.

OLD FASHIONED NUMBERS CRITERIA
The "I like Average, Homers, RBI" candidate is

MIGUEL CABRERA

He's batting .334 with 24 homers and 72 RBI for the first place Tigers. And Cabrera is doing it all with Magglio Ordonez struggling.

I originally had Justin Morneau here, but he might be missing some time with that ear infection thingee and no doubt Cabrera will pass his power numbers.

STAT HEAD CRITERIA
The "OPS and VORP make it a scientific process" candidate is

JOE MAUER

He could set the highest batting average ever for a big league catcher. But forget batting average. He has the highest OPS in the league as well. And according to Baseball Prospectus, he is the only American Leaguer in the top 6 of VORP.

Now I still have no clue how VORP is or how it is calculated... but it sounds impressive.

Granted Mauer missed the first month of the season and the Twins are fading fast... but that evidently isn't calculated into VORP. Or maybe it is. I am confused.

CAREER ACHIEVEMENT CRITERIA
The "Hey, he's never won it before and this is as good a chance as any" candidate is

DEREK JETER

For all the talk of New York bias in the press, it is amazing to think that Jeter has never won it. He was robbed in 2006 by Twins first baseman Justin Morneau (who after Joe Mauer and Johan Santana was only the 3rd most valuable player on his own team.)

Jeter's average is up, he is a lock to hit 20 homers for the first time since 2004 and the Yankees are the best team in baseball.

That has to reflect well on the Captain!

TRUE MEANING OF VALUE CRITERIA
The "When he heated up the team heated up" candidate is
MARK TEIXEIRA

On May 12, Teixeira was hitting .191 with an OPS of .747.
The Yankees had a losing record and were 6 1/2 game behind Toronto.

Since then his batting average is up to .283. His OPS is .934. He is among the leaders in homers and RBI.
And oh yeah... the Yankees are 60-28 since then.

Granted that was also around the time A-Rod came back, but there is no way A-Rod is winning it this year.

PLAYING ON A TEAM WITH LOW EXPECTATIONS CRITERIA
The "Who would have guessed this team would be contending" candidate is

MICHAEL YOUNG

He moved to third to make room for Elvis Andrus. And along the way is batting .320 with a .900 OPS. And the 5 time All Star has the Rangers as of this writing tied for a playoff spot in mid August. I bet you didn't see THAT coming!

THE "PITCHERS ARE PLAYERS TOO!" CRITERIA
The "I don't care if they aren't every day players" candidate is

MARIANO RIVERA

Yeah I'll say it... Rivera is having an MVP caliber season as a closer.

He should have won the Cy Young AND the MVP in 2005. But there are still nitwits out there who believe the following three things:

1. A Pitcher can not be more important than an every day player.

NONSENSE

2. The Closer position is easy and can be filled by anyone

NONSENSE

3. Mariano Rivera is overrated

ADMIT THIS PERSON TO BELLEVUE

The Yankees have put Rivera into 36 save opportunities and save for the Jason Bay homer, he has converted them all. His ERA is sub 2.00. His WHIP is sub 1.00 and his BAA is around .200.

And he has 57 strikeouts in 51 innings and have walked only 8 all year.

I think Papelbon walked 8 YESTERDAY!

So chances are the MVP will come from this crop of players.

And before anyone can accuse me of being such a Red Sox homer that I can never tip my cap to the Yankees, please note... I have 3, count em, THREE Yankees as MVP candidates and zero Red Sox.

I don't have a vote. But I should.

Don't Bogart That Lead

Sox - Yankees round 3 starts tomorrow.

There's only 1 game separating the two (thanks Rays for dropping the last 2!) and I have a feeling that's the way the whole season is going to go.

The Yankees and the Red Sox are going to pass first place back and forth like a joint... and the rest of the AL East will get a contact high.

Oh it would be nice to have a lead... but it's not going to be decided until September... which means winning the season series is even MORE important (see 2005 when the two teams finished tied but the Yankees were the Division Champs because of the 10-9 head to head record.)

Sox have the 5-0 advantage.

Beckett on the hill.

Let's get high.

Two Ways To Get Rich In This Economy

Way to get rich in this economy #1:

Collect a dollar every time a Yankee fan says "Well, Sabathia is a slow starter. You can't expect him to come out of the gate strong."

Way to get rich in this economy #2:

Collect a dollar every time a Yankee fan says "Teixeira ALWAYS starts off slowly. Just wait, he's about to bust out."

Why can't Sabathia come out of the gate strong? He's being paid to be an ace, and thus far he hasn't been one. Today's loss dropped him to 1-3 and his ERA is at 4.85.

Granted he wasn't putrid today, but when you are the highest paid pitcher in this history of baseball, being above "putrid" should be in the Given column! 

As for Teixeira, he looks like the latest entry in the "Player the Red Sox coveted, the Yankees swooped in to sign and boy the Red Sox are better off without him" category.

(See also Jose Contreras and Alex Rodriguez.)

I know it's early, but it isn't THAT early. A month has gone by and Teixeira still can't bat .190?

Well, he is a slow starter.

(Cha CHING!)

Wine... Cheese... Small talk... all while a classic Red Sox game is going on!

As I mentioned earlier, I was at a dinner party tonight for the wonderful pre school my kids attend.

The evening couldn't have been nicer. The wine was flowing. The house was lovely. There were lovely works of art being raffled off. Wonderful caring teachers there wanting to really get to know us parents.

The dinner was lovely and the mood was a sense of joy that our children can all take part in a warm environment.

All the while I was wandering around like Gollum searching for the ring.

My 2005 Samsung cell phone uploads internet info about 1 page every 15 minutes and I had poor reception as it was.

I found out that it was 4-2 in the 8th. Somewhere in my mind I conceded the game.

I then sat down and had a lovely conversation with the parents of my two boys' best friend.

Then I saw a guy walk in with a Red Sox uniform on. I reacted as if I were a castaway spotting a ship.

"Do you know what's happening in the game?" I asked him.

"Which game?" He replied.

I was now mistrusting him. "You a Sox fan?" I asked the man wearing a Red Sox uniform and cap.

"Oh no." He said. "I'm an Angels fan. I was coaching a little league team called the Red Sox."

DAMN YOU, REALISTIC BASEBALL UNIFORMS!

Unlike me, he had a cell phone that was made after Hurricane Katrina. He checked the score for me. It was 4-4 in the 9th.

Now I had no idea that Jason Bay cracked a two out, two run bottom of the 9th homer off of Mariano Rivera. All I knew is they somehow tied it...

And I also knew that a classic Red Sox - Yankees game was going on while I was scarfing down brie.

I sat back down with my amazingly patient wife and continued talking.

Suddenly there was official business. New officers for the school board needed to be voted upon and awards needed to be handed out.

I got the game on my miserable little phone. The Yankees had second and third with two outs in the 10th. Papelbon had a full count on Teixeira.

And it stayed full for the next 15 minutes.

The page wouldn't refresh. A new President and Treasurer for my kids school was being voted upon. For all I know an embezzler could have been elected in the role of overseeing the money.

And... the count... remained... FULL!

My wife saw I was basically turning into Crispin Glover when she asked the father we were sitting next to if HE had a device that was more up to date than my phone.

Perhaps a Simon.

He found the game. It was the 11th. There was 1 out. Youk was at the plate.

I stared at it... Youk versus Marte... one swing could end it. It was slow refreshing. I gave the phone back.

There was another vote. For all I know it was a vote to bring live tarantulas into the class room.

The Angels fan dressed as a Red Sox player came up behind me.

"Youkilis just homered. The Red Sox won." He said.

I stood up and gave a little fist pump.

Then I sat back down with a huge grin on my face. My wife smiled too. She doesn't care about baseball... but she likes to see her husband happy. She's funny that way.

There was a motion introduced that was approved. I have no idea what it was for. Perhaps to give each child a loaded hand gun and a vile of cocaine. It needed seconding.

I yelled out "I SECOND IT!"

The head of the school looked confused that a new voice was heard. "Who was the seconder?"

I said with pride "PAUL SULLIVAN!" and then finished my quiche like a man.

If I was going to miss a classic Red Sox / Yankees game, I at least wanted to be in the minutes!

Welcome to New York, Sabathia and Teixera

Let's review what the New York press had to say about the Yankees debut of Mark Teixeira and C. C. Sabathia.

Bill Madden of the Daily News: All that money and not even a strikeout? It was only the fifth time in 255 career starts that Sabathia had failed to record one and - what the hey - couldn't even Darrell Rasner have done that?... Did somebody say bad omen?

Joel Sherman of the New York Post: Thus, in the opener, the $341 million investment in Sabathia and Teixeira did not pay off. Sabathia did not make you believe the Yanks were a team built around their rotation, and Teixeira did not make the absence of Rodriguez's bat more tolerable. Instead the first day was 4 1-3 innings and 0-for-4. On Opening Day, the Yankees experienced money for nothing.

George King of the New York Post: Yet yesterday, the Yankees and their fickle fans were left singing the Peggy Lee hit "Is That All There Is?" after watching Sabathia and Teixeira fail in a 10-5 Opening Day loss to the woeful Orioles in front of 48,607 at Camden Yards.


Wallace Matthews of Newsday: For Teixeira, the Yankees' new $180-million first baseman, it was a memorable debut in pinstripes. As in, memorably bad. 

Tyler Kepner of the New York Times - The Yankees committed $341 million to C. C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira last winter, buying themselves a better chance at success but no guarantees. They learned that lesson painfully Monday in a 10-5 drubbing by the Baltimore Orioles on opening day.

Marc Carig of the Newark Star Ledger - Teixeira might have one-upped Sabathia in the unofficial "Worst First Day, Ever" contest. Orioles fans, still irate that the Severna Park, Md. native chose to sign with the Yankees instead of the Orioles, harassed Teixeira as if he had stood in the batter's box and set fire to a Johnny Unitas jersey.


Kat O'Brien of Newsday: The Yankees had looked forward to Opening Day starts from CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira for months. Now all they'd like is a giant do-over.

It's only one game... but it should also be a nice little notice for the Yankees new 9 figure toys.

This isn't Cleveland, Milwaukee, Arlington, Atlanta or Anaheim.

A bad first game in those cities, and the local beat writer might write something nasty... and a few people might call into the local sports show to complain... but those cities have one or two newspapers and most of the sports talk is syndicated National programs.

New York, with at least five newspapers and two 24 hour sports talk stations, and expectations.

People are calling up Francesa today wondering if Sabathia is a bust.

Bloggers are analyzing the water bottle Sabathia was holding as if they were looking at Mary Moorman's Polaroid of the Grassy Knoll.

Shrug it off you two...

There are 161 games left. Play better and nobody will remember this.

And if worst comes to worse (and for the likes of Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson they did) at least the checks will clear.

Teixeria in... Giambi out

I love that Mark Teixeira's wife called the final shot.
She just wanted him to be happy before finally saying "Be a Yankee."

Chances are he won't be both.

Am I the only one who noticed that as one first baseman comes in wearing #25 and bringing about the promise of Titles and Yankee pride...





the last big budget Yankee first baseman went back to the place where he was actually happy.

Battered around by high expectations, scandal and disappointment, Jason Giambi seems more himself now.
He's smiling, back with the team where he probably never really wanted to leave.

Either be a Yankee or be happy.

Oh My God! The Yankees signed Teixeira! It's awful! Baseball Needs A Salary Cap! The Yankees just bought a World Series! AAAAAHHHH! AHHHHH!!!!

OK, now that you found my site by Googling those words in the subject heading, let me tell you to calm down.

Read this posting about the Yankees buying championships.
Read this posting about Salary Caps.
Read this posting about Parity in Baseball.
Read this posting about how the best team in the regular season has a good chance of NOT making the World Series.

And while you are at it, watch this. It has nothing to do with baseball, but it is funny.

Now relax.
All the Yankees have bought are more stars who have never played for a big market before and have no idea how big the expectations are.

Watch A Christmas Story and exhale.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Yes yes yes... I know.

The sky is falling.

The Yankees signed three big free agents.

Oh dear... oh God.
Let's all act like we're in Tokyo and the "Godzilla siren" is blasting.

(The radioactive dinosaur, not Hideki Matsui.)





When I hear that the Yankees signed the biggest player and how unfair it is, I wonder are we just talking about the present off season...

Or am I talking about EVERY SINGLE SEASON since the 2000 World Series?

I'm not sure why the Sabathia, Burnett and Teixera signings are being treated as anything other than standard operating procedure for the Yankees.

And I also still don't understand why I am supposed to be panicking.

Since winning the 2000 World Series they have brought in a galaxy of stars...
Some of the biggest names in baseball history and yet 8 years later they are still searching for title #27.

How is the signing of Sabathia, Burnett or Teixeira (all very good players) any different that any of these players?


Mike Mussina








Jason Giambi












Jose Contreras









Hideki Matsui








Alex Rodriguez










Gary Sheffield









Kevin Brown










Randy Johnson









Carl Pavano
(Don't laugh... the Red Sox were bidding for him too.)











Johnny Damon







Bobby Abreu








Roger Clemens
(His second time around with his sky box introduction.)



And with each one of those signings, the collective screaming around baseball was "It's not fair! The Yankees just bought another World Series!"

Every year the Yankee fans crow about how the 27th title has been assured and the season is merely a formality.

And not one of the signings I listed above resulted in a World Series title.

Each year they fall short and each year Mike Lupica write the same column about how the Yankees have the big stars but are not the best team.

And now Sabathia, Burnett and Teixera are Yankees.
And before even Teixera signed, Yankee fans wrote on my blog about how they should just fit the Yankees for their rings now.

My Yankee friends are writing to me saying how 2009 will be a Yankee massacre.

And I scratch my head.
Don't they hear themselves?
Don't they realize this is the 9th annual "Drive for title #27?"
How are Sabathia and company going to secure what A-Rod, Mussina, Giambi et al could not?

And Sabathia and Teixeira should ask A-Rod and Big Unit how much fun it is to have the "Win a World Series or you are a bum" standard.

A-Rod has delivered 2 MVP trophies to the Yankees and is considered to be a bum.

And if it doesn't work out (and it didn't for ALL of the All Stars listed above) the Yankees will have their monster contracts in an economy where other teams can't afford them.

The Yankees keep promising to get younger and more athletic... to develop their answers to Pedroia, Papelbon and the other young stars.

And then they get older and more bloated.

Which is fine by me.
The "Sign all the big stars" strategy they've employed since 2000 has yielded fewer World Series titles than the Florida Marlins.

And since the great collapse of 2004 they have fewer post season series wins than the Oakland A's.

Don't get me wrong, Sabathia & Burnett & Teixeira are all good players.
But so were all the players I just listed... and they all ended their seasons in the Bronx with thousand yard stares and overhearing Jeter say "This isn't the same team that won."

So forgive me... I'm still not panicking.

Teixeira isn't coming to Boston? Why am I not panicking?

Seriously... this is supposed to be devastating, right?

But for some reason I'm not devastated.
Maybe I'm thinking if the Red Sox spend a lot of money, I'd rather it be on pitching.
Maybe I'm thinking a hitter is easier to pick up than an arm.
Maybe I'm thinking I would rather see the Sox spend that money of 2 pitchers rather than one first baseman, no matter how good a hitter he is.
Maybe I like the Red Sox keeping their draft picks
Maybe I'm mellowed from the two World Series titles this decade.
Maybe I'm amazed by the way you love me all the time.

But all I know is I'm not devastated.