1 Down, 161 root canals to go...

Being a Yankee fan I have no reason to complain about tough losses. I can only shudder to think of being a Royals fan, or an Orioles fan, or God forbid...a Mets fan. Besides, it was only the first game in a long marathon of a season. But when you have a 5-1 lead with C.C. Sabathia on the mound, who is seemingly in mid-season form, it just feels like you should win.

But, Alas! It was not to be.

If this was a loss to Detroit or Texas it wouldn't have been so bad but I hate to lose to the Pink Sox at any time of the year. To anyone who thought the Yank/Sox rivarly was drying up this game was a reminder of why it's still the best in baseball. That back and forth momentum swings, endless pitching changes, and constant tension is a hallmark of these battles of the titans. Of course, it helps that Fenway Park is a quirky bandbox where Arod can crush a ball that is long gone in every other ballpark in the majors but only a double in Fenway, while Dusty P. can hit a routine lazy fly ball that carries over the Green Monsta, or should I say "Green Billboard."

Ah, Yes! The Green Billboard. Can the Sawx squeeze any more ounces of revenue out of that park or what? Every year they find a new place to put ads. One of the great things, I admit, in baseball was to see a ball clear the green monster and go onto Yawkey Way. Now, even if you clear the monster, and you clear the extra seats they put in a couple years ago,...you still have to clear like 3 billboards. I wouldn't be surprised if the Red Sox put adds on the outfield grass next year. Seriously.

Now just to have a little fun, I will take what happenend in last nights game and overreact to it:

*Chan Ho Park will be this year's LaTroy Hawkins (i.e. veteran failed starter turned reliever who will stink it up for the Yanks, be released/waived/traded and pitch lights out for someone else.)

*Curtis Granderson will crush right handed pitching but late in games, the good teams will force him to hit against a lefty, forcing Marcus Thames to get more at bats than I would like.

*ARod just looks stronger this year. (Insert PED joke here) Even his throws around the infield had extra juice on them. No pun intended. He'll have a monster year. And a monster year for ARod is somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 HR's and 140 RBI. Don't say I didn't warn you.

*The best thing for this team may be for Nick Johnson to get hurt. Not because I think Nick's not a great hitter. He is. But if Nick goes on his customary DL stint, it will force Jorge to DH more and Cervelli to catch full time. I love Jorge's bat but he's to the point where he's a passed ball waiting to happen and everyone knows he sucks at calling games.

*Joba Chamberlain will spend time in the minors this year trying to reassemble the pieces to what was once a very promising career.

Ok, I really should do some work now. I'm out.

Three Things the Weekend Showed Us

1) CC is a horse.
I was reminded on Saturday why I have always liked CC Sabathia. From his early days in Cleveland, before he had become a consistent winner, I marvelled at this guy. He's 6'7", big, strong & left-handed. He throws hard, mid 90's+ with great control. And he wants the ball. He's the type of guy that when a scouts are talking about him they would say, "Great Make-up". When you combine "Great Stuff" with "Great Make-up" you get "Ace". It's the reason a guy like Eric Bedard isn't an "Ace". He has great stuff but he doesn't have that certain something that makes a Josh Beckett or a Johan Santana an "Ace". CC has that. I'm glad he's finally a Yankee.

2) Joba looks fine
Six innings, 1 ER, 5 SO's. Good day for Joba. Too bad he couldn't get the win, but if he keeps pitching like this, the wins will come.

3) There is a reason Cody Ransom was 33 and in the minor leagues
I had thought Cody could be a good stop gap until ARod returned. But an .050 batting average with 7 K's thru 6 games is just not getting it done. Besides that he's looked very shaky on defense. I never thought I'd long for the days of Wilson Betemit but I do.

I was going to say something about the bullpen blowing yesterday's game but I won't. The bullpen had been lights out in the previous 4 games so they were due for a little blip. Hopefully, that's all it was, a blip, and not a trend of things to come.

I'm praying Tex' wrist is just sore with no lingering damage. We sure need his bat right now.

...And was I the only one who turned off the Master's once Tiger & Phil finished their rounds?