Bachelor Party, Beer, and Baseball

Quite the weekend depending on how you look at it. Here is the run down broken into parts for ease of skipping through what you might not be interested in:

Baseball

From the point of view of a Yankees fan it was yet another miserable, very bad, no good weekend. The one game we did take from the sox cost us yet another starting pitcher, Jeff Karstens, who suffered a broken right fibula thanks to a line drive from Julio Lugo.

The Yankees will finish April 9-14, which of course has brought calls for Torre's resignation, and statements from Steinbrenner calling out the team. Torre leaving (or getting canned) would be a mistake. Putting aside the fact that his brother is about to undergo a kidney transplant which may be (although doesn't seem to be) a distraction, no one knows these players or this team better. Further, for my money Joe Torre is the only guy who I feel has the clout with management to cool Stienbrenners rants and raves. This years start is bad, really bad, but it has happened before and it will most likely happen again. I don't enjoy suffering through 8 losses in 9 games, but that's the meaning of loyalty and I am loyal to Joe Torre and the Yankees.

Thankfully our run support has still kept up at a decent pace (with a few hiccups here and there which are to be expected). I have to believe that the pitching will catch back up, especially with Mussina returning Thursday, and Hughes making his second start tomorrow. Now more than ever the season is in the hands of the pitching staff....I just really hope they can get the engine running the way it should be.

Bachelor Party

This weekend was also my buddy Jason's bachelor party. It was not a disappointment (despite a last minute cancellation from some of the entertainment). The day started out with a poker tournament, progressed to handing out of flyer's to randoms in Georgetown about said tournament, and digressed into full out pandemonium. There was of course the slight alcohol induced altercation regarding something that may or may not have happened on the balcony of our room at the Watergate, but tensions were calmed and we managed to rally until about 1:00 am. I'm pretty sure that a good time was had by all, but since I planned it I don't want to toot my own horn....oh what the hell...beep freaking beep.

Two Fingers Pinched On the Bridge of My Nose

Ouch...my head hurts. No it's not from drinking, it is from a serious lack of good news (or wins) to report about from the Bronx. Not great considering we head into a weekend series against the red sox, and especially since I stand to lose even more money. So here is the recap from last night, hopefully I'll have better news to report after the weekend:

Last night Yankees pitching prospect Phil Hughes made his major league debut. So how did he do? Hughes went 4 1/3 innings allowed four runs and seven hits. He struck out five and walked one in the Yankees 6-0 loss to the Blue jays. Not terrible (for Hughs) I guess, but certainly not what we had all hoped for. I will say that the guy is only 20, and Torre said that it didn't look like he was out of his league, but also wouldn't commit to announcing another start for right now. Mussina was supposed to make a start tonight in the Minors, but due to weather he is most likely going to throw a simulated game at Yankee Stadium.

Offensively we just couldn't get it done last night, A-Rod appears to be cooling off a bit, and Abreu didn't bring his A game. But to give credit where it is due, most of it had to do with a dominating performance by Burnett.

Lastly, we have yet another injury to report, DEREK JETER is out with a sore hamstring.

Pass me the aspirin please.

Was Schilling's Bloody Sock a Hoax?

"In the bottom of the fifth, according to multiple media reports, Orioles
play-by-play man Gary Thorne said on the air that he had been told by Red Sox
catcher Doug Mirabelli that the substance was paint, not blood."

REALLY?

"What? Are you kidding me? He's [expletive] lying. A straight lie,"
Mirabelli said, according to The Boston Globe. "I never said that. I know it was
blood. Everybody knows it was blood."

I tend to think that it really was blood on Schillings sock, but just to be
sure I am calling for a full Congressional investigation, with a transcriber,
and under oath. Only then can we get to the bottom of Sockgate. Although since Schilling is a republican you can be sure that the administration will try to block his testimony.

*Don't forget to submit your answers to yesterday's poll*

A Poll

Matt and I are in a furious debate about the existence of clutch hitting in baseball. I think that it is real, but Matt argues that we give the title clutch to a player for simply preforming up to his average ability. He also argues that postseason play is no more or less stressful than the regular season......so

A) Is clutch real, or to we just imagine players to be clutch because we remember random moments of glory?

B) Postseason, more, less, or no different level of stress than the regular season?

C) Jeter, Mr. Clutch or just Mr. Consistent?

*In case you are interested, here is the blog that sparked the debate
http://www.firejoemorgan.com/2007/04/i-know-im-going-to-make-fun-of-someone.html

Rumors....etc

Carl Pavano may be out for the season according to unconfirmed reports by an unidentified ESPN reporter. I realize that I shouldn't put too much faith in hearsay, but in Pavano's case would anyone really be surprised?

Step down Pavano, Step up Phil Hughes

Phil Hughes is scheduled to start in his first major league outing on Thursday. If the rumors about Pavano are true, Hughes performance could give us an indication as to how the rest of the season will be for the Yankees rotation. Talk about pressure, the poor kid has been groomed like a thoroughbred race horse and now the weight of New York's expectations, and season will be wresting on his ability to hit the ground running.

I have to believe its getting better

As I reported yesterday there are still things to be encouraged about. Despite Pavano, the injuries are starting to play themselves out. Posada and Matzui are back, Wang will pitch tonight, and Chase Wright is back where he belongs (in the minors).

Red Ahead

This weekend we battle it out with the red sox again, hopefully this will be a better indication of each teams actual strength. The Yankees need to pull it together before Friday, because if they can't figure out how to win again it is going to be a long weekend.

Last But Not Least

Congratulation A-Rod on tying the MLB home run record for April.

Enough Already, Just End This Damn War

Democrats are pushing forward with plans to include a withdrawal time line in the supplemental war funding bill despite a guaranteed veto threat from the president. Will the timetable stand, no, of course not. But the fact that the republicans have decided to not change the language of the bill speaks volumes to the confidence that bush's own party has in his leadership and his prosecution of the war. It also is a clear indication that they are ready to sacrifice the President to the inevitable public outcry.

Realistically though, the point of this whole exercise is purely political. Pelosi and Ried know that despite all the rhetoric they can't cut funds to the troops without major public backlash, so they at the very least must make it LOOK like they are doing something to end the war and hold the administration accountable. This bothers me. Anyone who knows me (or who as read this blog) is well aware of my political leanings and also knows that anything that makes bush look bad is like music to my ears. But ending the war is about ending needless death, reckless spending, and restoring credibility to our country's reputation. A political chess match is not what we need, we need real solutions to end this nightmare and not symbolic politics.

Rough, But Not Terrible Weekend for the Yankees

Well, we dropped three to the dreaded Red Sox (and I am now down $15.00 as a result) but there are still things to be encouraged about despite falling 4 games behind in the AL east.

Here is my list of things for Yankee fans (or haters) to consider:

Injuries: The Yankees are not at full strength right now, but they still managed to keep each of the games close. Keep in mind that Cashman has hired an entirely new staff of personal trainers who have totally changed the players workouts. This could explain many of the injury problems, but that is also something that can be worked through and rectified over time. Regardless I would much rather have these injury hiccups happen now as opposed to later in the season.

Dice-K: I am standing by my belief that he will not live up to the hype. He has been pitching well so far, but with the exception of Matzui, the Yankees have never seen a pitch from this guy before (nor has most of MLB). Once the heavy hitters on the Yankees and in the rest of the league start to figure him out I am positive his effectiveness will decrease.

Rivera: It seems like every time Rivera has a bad outing sports writers are anxious to claim he isn't the closer he used to be. While it is true that he is getting older, every pitcher goes through a cold streak, even the Sandman. Cut him some slack, he'll be on top of his game this season just like he is every year. But if he does need to take a break for a while you can be sure that Joe Torre will give him all the rest and rehab he needs.

Run Support: So far this season the Yankees have already scored 108 runs, and there is no sign that the bats will go quiet anytime soon. Once injuries play themselves out it is going to be tough for any team to put up the kind of runs that the Yankees are capable of.

A-Rod: In short....WOW! He clearly has got his mojo back and I'm hoping that this isn't an April fluke. He already has more RBI's than a few MLB clubs, and 12 home runs! The question is can he keep his confidence and not let a cold streak get to his head. I get the feeling though that the possibility of free agency next year has let him relax a little bit and as a result he has finally figured out how to play in New York.

It's way too early in the season for anyone to be able to predict with any accuracy what lies ahead, but the Yankees seem hungry this year, hungrier and also more team oriented than they have been in years. Keeping all these points in mind I am confident that come October my boys in pin stripes won't be packing it up early.

My Vacation (finally)

While I have a few minutes to post, here are some of the highlights from my recent trip to SoCal.

San Diego:

Ocean Kayaking - AWESOME!!! Dana and I even dared to paddle through some caves as the waves crashed in on us.

USS Midway - 1945 Aircraft carrier docked in San Diego Harbor. I had always wanted to go on this and we finally did. I felt like a little kid in awe of how big it was (although I kind of expected it to be a little bigger)

Petco Park, home of the Padres - AWESOME....it's no Yankee Stadium, but I loved it. It didn't feel like a brand new park, and the crowd really got into the game. I think the wave went around 6 or 7 times and even jumped the score board....impressive.

LA:

Golf - Not unexpectedly I found out that I am TERRIBLE at golf. The course was right next to LAX so I am going to blame it on jet blast.

Dodgers Stadium - Definitely a place that every baseball fan needs to see even though it is really outdated. It looks like the Brady Bunch designed the place, although I believe in ball park preservation so maybe it should be kept that way as an example of the era.

Vermonters - Believe it or not I actually hung out with some people that I knew from my high school days. It was great to see them and we all reminisced about life in the VT.

All in all my previous assessments of the two cities remains the same. LA has nice weather, but the people there are still not my cup of tea. San Diego is just beautiful, it's hard to find flaws other than the massive sprawl and the driving time to get from point A to point B.

One last note......HOW ABOUT A-ROD!!!!!

I Really Will Write About Something Soon

This week has just been unbelievably busy for me so I can't post. I will say that I had tickets six rows behind the Nationals dugout last night. It was awesome....all thirteen innings of it.

Back in the DC

I'm back from my trip but a weeks worth of work has piled up on me so no time for a recap now.

Going to Califonia

Tomorrow I leave for the left coast for a week of relaxation with Dana's family and with my best friend Jonah. I'm excited to go back to San Diego since I absolutely loved it last year. This year I'll be going to my first Padres game, kayaking, and hopefully walking around the city a bit more. Honestly, San Diego is worth a visit. It was nothing like what I had previously experienced in southern California. In other words it isn't like LA where you could literally blow up half the city and probably no one would notice.

Seriously, LA is one of the most god awful places that I have ever been (Mexico City is like Utopia compared to LA). Everywhere you go you have to drive, and everywhere you drive there is traffic, and everywhere there is traffic there are idiotic LA drivers who don't use blinkers and cut you off like it is some sort of contest to see who can crash their car first. The people there are either jerks, mildly retarded, or not from LA. But I digress.

This years trip will be much more tame than last years due to Jonah's diagnosis with Chron's disease. I guess that means in lieu of road sodas and top shelf's, we will be spending more time actually acting like adults. Well I guess that remains to be seen.

Opening Day Recap and Thoughts on Bonds

Due to being busy I never got a chance to recap MLB's opening day. Here are some thoughts on one of the greatest days of the year:

• Carl Pavano hasn't thrown a pitch in the majors since June 27, 2005. So how did he do in the Yankees opener....eh, not so good but not terrible, especially considering his pitch count was already up in the 50's by the third inning. All in all Pavano allowed five runs (four earned) and six hits in 4 1/3 innings. After 73 pitches, he left to a mix of cheers and boos. I think he is on the verge of getting back into it, but he just needs a few more starts and less visits to his girlfriend. Final score Yankees 9 Tampa Bay 5.

• I'm happy to say that Alex Rodriguez homered with a man on base, maybe the monkey is finally off his back in clutch hitting situations. Jorge Posada also homered.

• Red Sox starter Curt Schilling stunk worse than I could have hoped for. Curt Schilling, who gave up a bases-load walk in the first, surrendered a two-run double to Grudzielanek in the fourth, pushing the score to 5-1 and sending Schilling to the bench for his shortest outing in 10 years. This guy literally has his ankle screwed to his bone, this is the beginning of the end for him in my opinion. Final Score, Royals 7 Red Sox 1.

In other news Barry Bonds went 1 for 3 yesterday with a single in his first at bat. If he breaks Hank Aaron's record it will be a scar on the face of baseball that could only be made worse if he is inducted into Cooperstown. I think that it is fair to say that anyone who has even heard of Major League Baseball is sure that Barry is on the juice. An induction into the hall of fame would serve the wrong message that it is ok to cheat, so long as you pretend that you didn't. A Bonds induction would also be a vote for hypocrisy since Pete Rose will never have his day at Doubleday Field. Hopefully the fact that Mark McGwire didn't make it this year gives us all hope that the cheaters will have their come uppance.

British Sailors To Be "Pardoned"

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he has pardoned the 15 British sailors and marines detained last month and will set them free. It was just a matter of time before this happened. The big question is was the capture just a few over zealous Iranian sailors, or was it a high level decision.

I tend to think that it was a little of both. I can't believe that the Iranian government would purposely provoke this type of diplomatic crisis. They know that they would have little to gain on the world stage. I think that the decision to hold the British sailors was more of a face saving / PR idea with the intent to come across as victims of western aggression. To that extent, at least in the eyes of many in the Arab world I think that it worked. There is no question that the "confessions" of the 15 detainees was coerced, but in the eyes of Joe Arab it probably seemed equal to what Joe America would think if we saw a Guantanamo detainee confessing. Unfortunately our President played along with this by opening his mouth when he shouldn't have.

Looking back this situation could have ended off a lot worse than it did, but even still it is yet another example of the dangerous cat and mouse game that the US and Britain are playing with Iran. In the war of Arabic public relations we always stand to lose.

Busy Today...So a Poll For Now

1. Who will Win the AL Wild Card?

2. Who will have the best record in MLB at the End of the Regular Season?

3. Will the O's finish over .500?

4. How many games UNDER .500 will the Nats finish with?

5. Who will win the 2007 World Series

Spring Time in DC

There really is no better time than spring to live in the Nation's Capital. For a brief few months DC residents receive their just reward for dealing with cold, wet, and dreary winters and sweltering hot, oppressively humid summers. Fall is nice too, but DC in the spring is a cornucopia of flowering cherry trees, wild flowers, and perfect temperatures. For a few more weeks we have the city to ourselves before the dreaded tourist season begins and out of towners congest our metro and the left side of our escalators. If only I could make it over to RFK for the Nationals season opener...but oh well.