According to the official site:

So, I'm in 2 fantasy baseball leagues. In both of them, I am in the playoffs and this is the last round of the playoffs. In one, I'm playing for 1st place. In the other (our league here at YanksBlog.com), I'm playing for 3rd. I'm looking for some extra quality starts. I give Darrell Rasner one start. Just one start. The only time I've ever had him on any of my teams and I am only keeping him for one day. Just one start, that's all. Sigh.

Rasner lasted just 2 and 1/3 innings, giving up 5 ER and taking the loss. The Yankee bullpen was good in relief, especially Sean Henn who threw 3 and 2/3 innings of 0 ER ball and Jose Veras who pitched 2 of his own. Octavio Dotel pitched the 9th, allowing 2 ER.

The big story of the night, though, was Daniel Cabrera's near no hitter. Due to a pair of fielding errors and passed balls, the Yankees were able to score a run without getting a hit. The no hitter was taken into the 9th. First up was Johnny Damon. He grounded out to first. 2 outs away.

Robinson Cano didn't let it get any farther, though, as he put a single into left. Bobby Abreu followed this up by hitting into an inning ending double play. Game over. Pretty bad game, but hey, it could have been a no hitter.

With the loss, our shot at 100 wins is gone. Today at 7:05 PM, Gustavo Chacín goes up against Moose. I had both Moose and Chacín on one of my teams. Moose is starting and I've dropped Chacín. Fingers crossed.

For those that are into MySpace, we've created a YanksBlog.com MySpace. If that's you, please feel free to add us to your friends.

Thank you for your support and for visiting YanksBlog.com.

There are several assumptions in this scenario, so bear with me:

If the Yankees (knock on wood) achieve their goals this postseason:

1) Torre retires with ring #5, one for each finger on his right hand.
2) Mr. S. buys him out with a mutually agreed upon arrangement...no doubt a very attractive package.
3) Joe Girardi becomes Yankees manager. The Marlins' performance this year has removed any doubt about Joe G's capabilities.

Any thoughts on this?

Last evening, the Yankees put 16 runs on the board for the second time in 3 games, eventually winning 16-5. Finally, the team had their opening day lineup fully deployed. (Plus some career .300/.400/.500 guy from Venezuela who always looks to be at ease. I feel like I could tell Bobby that an asteroid was going to hit the earth and he'd shrug his shoulders and blow a bubble). This was the lineup that was to make scoring 1,000 runs a trivial effort...had they been intact, they might have made it look easier than that!

There was no mercy for the team from the Babe's hometown, as Anna Benson's ex-husband and his bullpen mates threw batting practice to the Yankees on a clear almost Fall evening in the Bronx. (Summer is reluctant to leave the stage this week in the northeast.)

The Yankees largely achieved their respective personal goals at the plate. Sheffield and Matsui both continued a successful restart of their seasons. Giambi allayed fears about his wrist with a home run. Robinson Cano stayed on the radar screen in the batting race but much more importantly solidified his position as an infield regular for years to come. Posada, Abreu, Damon...it rolled on.

So what do we have? Are we witnessing a team that, with this lineup, will steamroll its playoff competition?

Or are we deceived by offensive outbursts against teams that are 25+ games out of the playoff hunt?

I recommend overall caution...but by all means allow yourself to daydream. It is soothing and fun to contemplate the team laying waste through the playoffs en route to #27.

Jeter is a finalist in the Players Choice Awards for the A.L. "Outstanding Player" award. He's up against David Ortiz and Jermaine Dye.

The Yankees obliterated Tampa Bay in the last road game of the regular season. A lively first inning began with Damon hit by pitch, a Jeter walk and an Abreu 3 run shot over the centerfield wall. I was amused that Baldelli jumped up on the wall as if to make a play, because the ball was at least 40 ft. over his glove.

Alex walked and probably should have been called out on strikes after taking a close fastball from TB pitcher Jae Seo. (more on this later) Sheff just missed a fastball, flying out to deep CF. Cano had an infield hit and the stage was set for Matsui.

TB pitching coach Mike Butcher was a lit fuse after the Rodriguez non-call. On a close inside pitch to Hideki that was called a ball...Butcher freaked. I mean, became completely unhinged. Grabbing & bumping umpires, screaming obscenities, you had to love it. It was George Brett pine tar-esque....He reminded me of Jack Nicholson at the end of the courtroom scene in "A Few Good Men" when his character explodes and tries to rush Tom Cruise while being restrained by MPs.

After 14 pitches and about 10 minutes, Matsui centered a low fastball and hit it about 12 rows back in right field, 6-0 Yankees. The rout was on.

Jeter and Cano both recorded 2 hits each, thus keeping pace with Mauer. Jaret Wright was acceptable. Bobby Abreu was 4 for 4, and the September callup Cannizaro hit his first major league jack. 16 runs on 20 hits meant that everyone got healthy.

Everyone except our favorite 6' 10" lefty. Randy has been shut down until the playoffs with apparent back spasms. The media reports that the playoffs are "iffy" at this point.

What would the week before the playoffs be without a little drama?

Just picked up this tidbit from Yahoo!: Derek is the only shortstop - ever - to have 5 200 hit seasons. He's also the only shortstop to have 4 200 hit seasons. There are only 4 players who have had 3. They are Johnny Pesky, Alex Rodriguez, Miguel Tejada and Michael Young.

According to Yahoo!, Chien-Ming Wang will be our game 1 starter. Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson will be next. I read an article the other day that said that Torre was considering using Jaret Wright for game 4, as well.

From the official site:


You can vote now.