Clemens faces video camera over steroids allegations

Click here for Roger Clemens' first direct response to allegations that he used steroids and Human Growth Hormone.
Sure does look like the signs of an innocent man when Clemens posts a video of himself talking about it to his Web site rather than call a press conference or something and face actual questions from actual reporters.
Wait, Clemens did announce that he will sit for one interview. He's hoping to outwit 135-year-old Mike Wallace, who will leave the nursing home for a time in January to grill Clemens on 60 Minutes.

Rocket steroids poll

In a Yahoo! Sports poll that drew 56,157 votes, 82 percent answered "yes" to the question, "Do you believe Roger Clemens took steroids?"

Sox-for-Santana deal any minute now?

The Pioneer Press is reporting that the Red Sox remain in the lead in trading for Johan Santana, and that a deal could be announced any minute.
The article states that the group of prospects the Sox have available to trade are closer to being ready for the Major Leagues than the Yankees' prospects.
The Yankees have a depleted, not-ready-for-primetime group of prospects? How could that be after all these years of shipping them off for aging, steroid-riddled has-beens?

Schilling could have been Clemens with steroids

From one aging, overweight superstar pitcher to another, F.U.!
Curt Schilling has a message for Roger Clemens: Give back those Cy Young awards, because they're tainted by steroids.
Who can blame Schilling for going off on this?
If he had turned to steroids as he started to lose the edge on his fastball and see his body break down the way any middle-aged man's body does, Schilling could have won a few Cy Young awards and commanded far more than the incentive-laden deal he signed with the Sox. He could have dictated Roger Clemens-type money.

Sign of the apocalypse?

The Trentonian made Sports Illustrated this week. The newspaper's cover on the day after the George Mitchell steroids report was released, featuring a photo of Roger Clemens and the headline, "He Took It In The Butt," was reproduced as part of the weekly feature, "Sign of the Apocalypse."

Roger Clemens is in denial

Taking the opposite approach of teammate Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens adamantly denied using steroids today.
In fact, he even got preachy about it, saying, "Those substances represent a dangerous and destructive shortcut that no athlete should ever take."
That doesn't ring true with pretty much anyone, given how damning George Mitchell's steroids report was in relation to Clemens, and in contrast to Pettitte (an evangelical Boy Scout vs. Clemens' a-hole hillbilly routine) admitting that he had done it.
Uncomfortable with the George Mitchell report's depiction of Clemens as lustily pursuing any bit of steroids he could get his buttocks on, a Texas high school athletic association is dis-inviting Clemens as a speaker, it was announced yesterday.
But all who worry about Clemens' ability to make a living in this post-steroids outing era, have no fear.
He can still do the pharmaceutical salesmen convention speech circuit.
And we heard Pacman Jones needs a tag team partner at some second-tier pro wrestling events next year.

Rivera conspicuously not surprised about Clemens

The Yankees have finalized a three-year, $45 million deal with Mariano Rivera, meaning that the team will be paying the already-slipping closer $15 million when he is 41 years old.
After signing the deal, Rivera told reporters that he was surprised Andy Pettitte took Human Growth Hormone and was included in George Mitchell's report on performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball.
Rivera conspicuously made no mention of being surprised that Roger Clemens used steroids and was featured prominently in said report.

Wherefore art though, Johan?

Maybe the Sox aren't getting Johan Santana after all. This thing has dragged out long enough, you would think that if a deal was going to work it would have been agreed to by now.

And while a daily news report comes out quoting prominent Yankees saying the team needs someone like Santana, and doesn't need someone like Santana, word is that the Yankees might be back in the game.

Despite another point-of-no-return, drop-dead deadline set by Hank Steinbrenner.
Despite word that the Yankees aren't adding any more prominent players to the package, i.e., no Joba Chamberlain or bet the farm package of Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes.

And despite the fact Santana is reportedly seeking a seven-year, $140 million deal in exchange for agreeing to waive his no-trade clause.

OK, so that last one is obviously not a hindrance to the Yankees. Who cares if you have $415 million tied up in only two players. If that doesn't work, the Steinbrenners could buy the entire roster of the Florida Marlins for the next 40 years and make it their new Minor League system.

There are obvious risks in offering any 28-year-old pitcher a seven-year deal for that much money.

But look at it in the light of today's Major League Baseball. You can buy a lot of Human Growth Hormone with $140 million.

A-Rod 'never felt overmatched' enough to use 'roids

So Alex Rodriguez did 60 Minutes tonight, and of course, denied ever using steroids, Human Growth Hormone or excessive amounts of Wheaties prior to game time.
"I've never felt overmatched* on the baseball field," he said. "... I felt that if I did my, my work as I've done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn't have a problem competing at any level."

* Regular season only

Pettitte tries honesty

I was quick to blast Andy Pettitte's hypocrisy in being an outspoken evangelical Christian and also a user of illegal performance-enhancing substances, according to the George Mitchell report.
So I'll be quick to say that Pettitte's reaction to the report today has by far been the best and most stand-up response to Mitchell's accusations.
While everyone else in the report seems to be ducking, denying, hiding behind lawyers, or literally hiding, Pettitte spoke to reporters today, and admitted exactly what he did.
"In 2002 I was injured. I had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow," Pettitte said in the statement released to The Associated Press by agent Randy Hendricks. "I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible. For this reason, and only this reason, for two days I tried human growth hormone. Though it was not against baseball rules, I was not comfortable with what I was doing, so I stopped."
Honesty. That's refreshing.
And that's pretty Christian of him, and it stands out amid the behavior of the many other players mentioned in the report, especially teammate Roger "Take it in the Butt" Clemens.
Pettitte could have admitted he broke the rules as soon as he started feeling "uncomfortable" with his actions and stopped. He could have been the first and only Major League Baseball player to voluntarily cooperate with George Mitchell's investigation. He could have admitted to using HGH as the issue came into the spotlight bigtime over the past year.
He didn't do any of these things until he was publicly called out for his actions this week.
Certainly not perfect, but just being honest about it, even long after the fact, is more than you can say for Roger Clemens and dozens of other current and former Major League Baseball players.

Canseco says A-Rod took steroids

The New York Daily News is reporting that Jose Canseco was "surprised" not to see Alex Rodriguez's name on George Mitchell's list of Major League Baseball players who took steroids.

Wait. What?

Suzy Waldman and various media worshippers have been telling us that A-Rod's talent comes straight from the gods. That he is the pure, naturally all-powerful Adonis who is destined to break Barry Bonds' steroids-tainted all-time home run record in a few years and restore baseball to its rightful place along with Mom's apple pie and white picket fences.

"All I can say is the Mitchell Report is incomplete," Canseco said. "I could not believe that (Rodriguez's) name was not in the report."

Hate Canseco for being the douchebag that he is, but you've got to admit that his book and his outspokenness about the use of steroids in baseball, including admitting his own steroid use, was a major catalyst in getting the issue the attention and scrutiny it's receiving today.

And as annoying and self-serving as Canseco has been with his accusations, has he been proven wrong yet? He's certainly been proven right a few times.

And the obvious consensus is that Mitchell's report named only a fraction of the players who did take steroids.

As one sports radio talk show host said the day the report was released, "there are a lot of players and former players out there today breathing a big sigh of relief, having feared they might be named."

And was it just a coincidence that the Steinbrenners waited until just after the report came out to give a final sign-off on A-Rod's $275 million deal? Think, perhaps, that they wanted to make sure he wasn't on that list before committing that much money to someone the fans hate to begin with?

Roger Clemens vs. Barry Bonds

Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wetzel makes the same point today that The Trentonian's L.A. Parker brought up when Roger Clemens came through town this past summer on a rehab start with the Trenton Thunder.

That Roger Clemens is as villainous as Barry Bonds, and just as much of a cheater. The only difference is the color of their skin.

Why did this steroid news about Clemens come today like it was out of the blue, when you hear now that Major League Baseball people have been whispering about a Clemens steroid connection for years?

Weren't the same signs there ... an aging player suddenly getting better and more dominant when everything we know about the way a body breaks down as it gets older would tell us that the opposite should happen?

Granted, there's the BALCO connection and the steroids book linking Bonds, but neither player has tested positive for steroids under Major League Baseball's testing program.

Yet Bonds has been villified while Clemens has been readied for Hall of Fame sainthood.

What? What? In the butt

From the AP's report about the Mitchell steroids findings:
Clemens was singled out in nearly nine pages, with much of the information on the seven-time Cy Young Award winner coming from former New York Yankees major league strength and conditioning coach Brian McNamee.
More than a dozen Yankees, past and present, were among the 75-plus players identified.
"According to McNamee, from the time that McNamee injected Clemens with Winstrol through the end of the 1998 season, Clemens' performance showed remarkable improvement," the report said. "During this period of improved performance, Clemens told McNamee that the steroids 'had a pretty good effect' on him."
McNamee also told investigators that "during the middle of the 2000 season, Clemens made it clear that he was ready to use steroids again. During the latter part of the regular season, McNamee injected Clemens in the buttocks four to six times with testosterone from a bottle labeled either Sustanon 250 or Deca-Durabolin."

'Mr. Purity' is a steroids user

OK, so no one's surprised that Roger Clemens is on George Mitchell's list of Major League Baseball players who took steroids. Is it really that much of a stretch to think that the Rocket, someone who would throw a 90-mile-an-hour fastball at his own grandmother, would cheat to win?
But Andy Pettitte?
Andy Pettitte, the church-going family man?
Andy Pettitte, the guy who says he would be a youth minister if he weren't a Major League Baseball player?
Pettitte even wrote a book about his Christianity and how young people can live a life of "sexual purity." (Described this way on a Web site that's currently offering a $3 discount to $11.99: While life as a big league baseball player has brought Andy Pettitte fame and accolades, it has also brought with it temptation. However, Andy learned to deal with temptation long before he donned his first major league uniform. While still a teenager, Andy committed himself to Christ and a life of purity. With his target identified early on, he has been able to hit the strikezone throughout his life. Andy and author Bob Reccord encourage you to commit now to a life of purity and integrity, not only in sex but in action, thought, and motive.)
How does all that "purity" talk sound now that we know Pettitte cheated by having performance-enhancing steroids injected into his body?
Here are a few direct quotes from interviews with Andy Pettitte:
"I want to try to honor the Lord in every area of my life. Every decision I make, I go to him and ask him for wisdom about decisions I make for myself and my family. "
and...
"I constantly ask myself 'What does God want me to do?' and 'Where does He want me to go?' ... As I said in the last chapter, living a pure life means trying to please God in everything I do."
Maybe God told Andy Pettitte to take steroids?
Otherwise, can you say hypocrisy?

Pettitte, too

In addition to Clemens, WNBC TV in New York is reporting that the Mitchell steroids report names Yankees players Andy Pettitte, Johnny Damon, Kyle Farnsworth and Jason Giambi.

Rocket fuel!

BREAKING NEWS: ESPN reporting Roger Clemens will be named in Mitchell Report
BRISTOL -- ESPN has reported on SportsCenter that Roger Clemens will be among those players named today in the Mitchell Report.
Citing unnamed sources, the sports network said that Clemens’ personal trainer Brian McNamee may have supplied Clemens with steroids.
McNamee formerly worked as the trainer for the New York Yankees. This season he worked with Clemens and Yankees' pitcher Andy Pettitte.

Matsui outta here for a 1-5 pitcher?

The New York Post is reporting that the Yankees may have asked Hideki Matsui to waive his no-trade clause so that he can be shipped to the San Francisco Giants for pitching help.

What kind of pitching help, you ask?

Johan Santana-like help?

Ah, no.

Well, the Giants have Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. Might help a little, right?

Ah, no.

Nope, the kind of pitching help we're talking about in exchange for the once-feared bat of Hideki Matsui is none other than Jonathan Sanchez. In 33 appearances last season, including four starts, he put up a record of 1-5 with a 5.88 ERA.

Look, if Carl Pavano is gone for good, the Yanks need to replace that spot on the roster somehow.

Leaning toward Ellsbury

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune is reporting that the Twins are leaning towards a Red Sox package that includes Jacoby Ellsbury and Minor League players for Johan Santana, rather than the package that would have included Coco Crisp and John Lester.
That means my aforementioned scenario involving a six-man rotation with Beckett, Santana, Matsuzaka, Schilling, Lester and Buchholz, with Wakefield coming out of the bullpen, could give the Sox the best pitching staff from top to bottom in the entire Major Leagues next season.

Why one writer didn't vote for A-Rod for MVP

Catching up with a column by the Tigers beat writer for one of The Trentonian's sister newspapers in Michigan. Jim Hawkins was one of only two voters this year not to choose Alex Rodriguez for American League MVP.

An unapologetic vote for Ordonez as the AL MVP
By JIM HAWKINS
The Oakland Press
I voted for Magglio Ordonez for American League MVP. However, as I expected, the combination of Alex Rodriguez's high New York profile, the fact that the Yankees reached the postseason while Ordonez's Tigers did not and the fact that A-Rod had the more spectacular season (54 home runs, 156 RBI) while Magglio was more consistent, were simply too much to overcome.
When the results were announced Monday, Ordonez, who put together, arguably, the best offensive season by any player in Tigers' history, received just two first-place MVP votes - from the two Detroit writers on the election panel - while A-Rod, who enjoyed a season reminiscent of Babe Ruth, won in a landslide with the other 26 firstplace votes.
Ordonez also received 22 second-place votes and four thirdplace votes.
Ordonez's second-place finish was the best by any Tiger in the MVP voting since Cecil Fielder was runnerup to Cal Ripken Jr. in 1991. It marked the 11th time since 1934 that a Tiger has been the runnerup in the voting. Tigers players have won the award eight times, most recently by Willie Hernandez in 1984.
I certainly don't apologize for my vote. I saw all but a handful of Ordonez's 157 games this season. And, night after night after night, I witnessed a player having an MVP season.
I didn't have to depend on what I read in the paper or saw on the TV highlight shows. I saw Ordonez put on an MVP performance with my own two eyes.
Don't get me wrong: Rodriguez had a great year, too. I have no quarrel with those writers who placed A-Rod at the top of their 10-man ballots. He deserved it every bit as much as Ordonez.
What I do find disturbing, however, is the fact that four of my baseball writing colleagues didn't even see fit to place Ordonez second, voting for either Vladimir Guerrero (3) or David Ortiz (1) ahead of Magglio. What league were they watching?
I began covering the Tigers on a daily basis in 1970, and this was unquestionably the best season I have ever seen any Tiger have.
And remember, the award is called "Most Valuable Player" - not "Player of the Year."
Where would the Tigers have finished without Magglio's league-leading .363 average or his 28 home runs or his 139 RBI or his remarkable 54 doubles?
Not as high as the New York Yankees would have finished without A-Rod, I can assure you. Because Rodriguez was surrounded by a much stronger supporting cast.
Adding together Ordonez's 139 RBI and the 117 runs that he scored, and subtracting his 28 home runs (otherwise, under this formula, HRs would be counted twice), we find Magglio produced 25.7 percent of the 887 runs the Tigers scored in 2007.
Making the same calculations for Rodriguez, A-Rod accounted for 25.3 percent of the Yankees' 968 runs this year.
But for me, the clincher - and this is huge - was the fact that Ordonez batted .429 with runners in scoring position, while Rodriguez hit .333 in such potentially game-winning situations.
Ordonez's .363 average was the best by any Tiger since Charlie Gehringer in 1937.
In fact, that .363 figure was the second highest by a righthanded hitter in the American League since Joe DiMaggio batted a jolting .381 in 1939. Since then, only Nomar Garciaparra (.372 in 2000) has outhit Magglio right-handed.
Ordonez's 54 doubles were the most Detroit has seen since George Kell delivered 56 twobaggers in 1950.
Ordonez outhit Rodriguez (.363 to .314) and finished second behind A-Rod in RBI (156 to 139). Ordonez's 139 RBI were the most by a Tiger since Rocky Colavito drove in 140 runs in 1961.
In addition, Ordonez was second in the AL in hits (216), on-base percentage (.434), and total bases (354). Contact Jim Hawkins by email at jim.hawkins@oakpress.com

Another mediocre multi-millionaire

As the Red Sox possibly get ready to welcome Johan Santana into the rotation, the Yankees bid farewell to a nearly-as-expensive guy who never quite got there.

Carl Pavano will get nearly $13 million to walk away.

According to the New York Post, the highly-touted signing from a few years back turned into just another $40 million mistake for the Steinbrenners.

What's $40 million here, $40 million there?

Hell, at least J.D. Drew knocked in a few runs in the playoffs this year for the Sox. And the Eric Gagne experiment was quick if not painless. Plus Gagne's signing with the Milwaukee Brewers the other day will provide the Red Sox with a compensatory pick in the supplemental round of next year's draft.

For $40 million, Pavano had to play in only 19 games, 17 of which were in 2005, and only 5 of which he won.

What will the Yankees do to fill Pavano's outrageously-overpaid, achy-breaky mediocre pitcher spot on the roster?

Can we convince Roger Clemens to come back for one more season?

The deal that will give Boston a dynasty

It's been all quiet on the Johan Santana front for nearly a week now, which has been kind of enjoyable, since it has given Yankees fans time to wallow in the possibility of the Sox acquiring another ace. Imagine this starting lineup:
Josh Beckett

Johan Santana

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Curt Schilling

Clay Buchholz

Tim Wakefield

That's if the Sox deal Jon Lester, Coco Crisp and a package of Minor League prospects, as has most frequently been mentioned.
If Boston includes future Hall of Fame center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury in the deal instead of Lester, you could put Lester into that rotation and bring Wakefield in out of the bullpen, a role he's filled very successfully from time to time in the past.
Can you imagine Wakefield coming in to clean up for Beckett, confusing hitters with knuckleballs after they've struggled to catch up with Beckett's fastball?
And you'll notice that I listed a rotation of six pitchers.
If the Red Sox pull off this trade for Santana, why not a six-man rotation? Matsuzaka thrived in Japan under that scenario, and did far better in Boston when he had an extra day of rest.
With that extra time off between starts, and the adjustments he's going to make during the offseason to life and pro baseball in the U.S., Matsuzaka's stuff could be as dominant as Beckett's and Santana's.
Good luck beating Boston in a five-game playoff series the next few years.

The Red Sox' knockout punch?

The Boston Herald is speculating that fans might quickly get over their hatred of Alex Rodriguez if Boston were to pursue the most aggressive strategy possible this offseason and move to re-sign World Series MVP third baseman Mike Lowell AND sign A-Rod.

Rodriguez has made it known that he's willing to switch back to his natural position of shortstop.
Julio Lugo, acquired last offseason by the Red Sox to bolster their offense from that position, has been a disappointment at the plate.

Boston would shop Lugo around in a heartbeat, perhaps to further bolster its pitching staff or pick up a catcher to eventually succeed the aging Jason Varitek.

Imagine, Yankees fans and Yankee haters, Josh Beckett on the mound and a Red Sox lineup of Ellsbury, Pedroia, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, A-Rod and Mike Lowell. And it wouldn't be too shabby to have Kevin Youkilis and Varitek as your #8 and #9 hitters.

With Ellsbury's emergence as an offensive power who has unbelievable speed in center field and on the base paths, the Sox also have the luxury of trading Coco Crisp this offseason for further pitching help or prospects.

The balance of power may have shifted for a long, long time in the AL East.

Major League Baseball blasts A-Rod, agent

NEW YORK (AP) -- Major League Baseball had this message for Alex Rodriguez and agent Scott Boras: Shame on you.
Boras announced during Game 4 of the World Series on Sunday night that A-Rod was opting out of the final three seasons of his contract with the Yankees. The timing left baseball officials livid, and Boras apologized Monday evening, just after Rodriguez filed with the players' association and became a free agent for the first time since 2000.
"We were very disappointed that Scott Boras would try to upstage our premier baseball event of the season with his announcement," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said Monday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
"There was no reason to make an announcement last night other than to try to put his selfish interests and that of one individual player above the overall good of the game," DuPuy said. "Last night and today belong to the Red Sox, who should be celebrated for their achievement, and to the Rockies, who made such an unbelievable run to the World Series."
Boras said causing a distraction was an unintended consequence.
"I apologize to the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies and their players, Major League Baseball and its players, and baseball fans everywhere for that interference," he said in a statement. "The teams and players involved deserved to be the focus of the evening and honored with the utmost respect. The unfortunate result was not my intent, but is solely my fault. I could have handled this situation better, and for that I am truly sorry."
Red Sox fans sure took notice fast. After their team won the title for the second time in four seasons, they stood behind the visitors' dugout at Coors Field and chanted: "Don't sign A-Rod!"
"Kind of strange timing," Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said after Boston completed its sweep of Colorado.
New York, which failed to make the World Series in all of Rodriguez's seasons, maintained Monday that it will not attempt to re-sign A-Rod now that he has opted out.
"No chance," Hank Steinbrenner, a son of owner George Steinbrenner, said Monday at Legends Field. "Not if it's made official."

Why A-Rod won't land in Boston

Alex Rodriguez' announcement yesterday was a big slap in the face to the Yankees, but that by no stretch of the imagination means, as some in the media have portrayed, that he will be running into the waiting arms of Theo Epstein.
The timing of A-Rod's public announcement that he won't be rejoining the Yankees was as big a slap at the Red Sox as it was the Yankees.
How dare the most selfish player in Major League Baseball try to steal headlines from the Red Sox as they were only 10 outs away from winning the 2007 World Series?
Even Peter Gammons, about as courteous and conservative of a broadcaster you can get, and an elder statesman of baseball knowledge, took time out of his reporting on the field in Colorado last night to blast Rodriguez, paint him as selfish and suggest, in exactly these words, that "maybe that's why he's never won a World Series."
That, combined with the incredible stats and World Series MVP trophy 3rd baseman free agent Mike Lowell pulled down this year, mean there's slim to no chance that A-Rod will become a member of the Red Sox.
The Nation don't want him.

A-Rod gives Yankees the finger

The timing of Alex Rodriguez' announcement yesterday that he would not pick up his option to play for the Yankees for the remaining three years of his contract was a calculated slap at the team.
He had 10 days until the end of the World Series to make a decision ... and made his announcement as soon as he possibly could, saying, in effect, that he couldn't wait to be out of pinstripes.
It's no surprise, considering the way fans in New York treated A-Rod, and the way his own manager embarrassed the greatest player in the sport last year by dropping him to eighth in the lineup.
So it's clear now, if it wasn't already, that A-Rod was playing this year not to help his team, necessarily, but to put up as strong a set of personal numbers as possible so that he could then thumb his nose at New York and its fans as well as get as much money as possible somewhere else.

It's over

Boston Red Sox president Larry Lucchino, left, general manager Theo Epstein, center, and manager Terry Francona hold the World Series trophy after Boston beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-3, in Game 4 Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007, at Coors Field in Denver, to sweep the series 4-0. (AP photo)

Torre says offer was an 'insult'

BREAKING NEWS: Joe's outta here

Joe Torre has rejected a one-year contract extension offer from the Yankees and will not be returning next season.
We expect that it wasn't the $2.5 million pay cut he would have had to take from his $7.5 million salary this year. He still would have been the highest paid manager in Major League Baseball.
Rather, it's likely that the length of the new contract was what offended Torre.
Who wants to be a lame duck again for another year? Who wants more of the crap that Yankees brass has continually put Torre, one of its most successful managers ever, through every year?
So now the Yankees get to choose, barring some dark horse candidates, from among Joe Girardi, Don Mattingly and Tony LaRussa.
That's LaRussa of still waiting for the DUI court appearance infamy.
Girardi of can't get along with team ownership and blows out young arms infamy.
And Mattingly of "I'm not ready for this job," "Wait, no, I am ready," "Umm, I don't know" infamy.
Things sure are looking up for this team.

Joe Torre death watch?

News is expected sometime today or early tomorrow on the fate of Joe Torre, and speculation is that the longer the silence, the more likely it is that Joe will come back at a much-reduced salary in 2008.
Meanwhile, Don Mattingly's agent has denied a report that had the legendary 1st baseman telling Yankees brass that he's "not ready" to take over as manager.

Torre in a familiar place ... twisting in the wind

A decision on the fate of Joe Torre has been delayed, according to the AP, and the New York Post reported today that Torre might come back if the Steinbrenners (that's right, apparently George's sons are getting some input these days) can't agree on a successor and if Torre is willing to take a cut in pay from the $7 million he made this season.
Torre's bloated salary (next-highest paid managers in the Major Leagues, according to the Post, are Cubs manager Lou Piniella at $3.5 million, the Braves' Bobby Cox at $3 million, the Cardinals' Tony LaRussa at $2.8 million and the Angels' Mike Scioscia and Tigers' Jim Leyland, at $2 million each) matches the Yankees' bloated payroll, but could be even more reason to cut him loose. They're paying bigtime for the players that should get a team to the World Series, and they're paying their manager twice what any other manager makes, again, to get them to the World Series.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox take the field at Fenway for the start of the American League Championship Series tonight, and the Yankees won't be there. Reflect on that, George.

The new manager(?)'s mugshot ... literally

Suzyn Waldman cries on the air after Yankees eliminated

Candidates emerge for Torre's replacement

Joe Torre is likely out after 12 years "managing" the largest payroll in baseball.
Don't believe any of that talk about Joe Girardi or Don Mattingly taking over this team.
Here are some of the top contenders for his job:
- DR. PHIL: Who better to help A-Rod with his self-esteem issues, and manage A-Rod's relationship with Derek Jeter?
- BUCKY DENT: Hey, he's been a manager in the farm league system, and Yankees fans have been living off his memory for years, so why not give the guy a chance?
- ISIAH THOMAS: OK, wrong sport, but he's already very familiar with the New York media, his personal shenanigans might take some of the attention away from the Yankees losing, and all that time he spends in a courtroom instead of managing would eliminate the middle man and allow Brian Cashman to run the team.
- JORGE POSADA: This one's half-serious. Why not a player-manager, a la Pete Rose? Posada doesn't get enough credit for calling victories while working with a rotation of 900 different pitchers this season, some of whom were about 14 years old. And meanwhile, he batted .338.
- A WET NURSE: Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes. Next year's Yankees are barely out of kindergarten. Someone's got to take care of them.
- AN ATM MACHINE: Oh, wait, an endless supply of cash has been managing this team for years.

2007 Yankees, RIP

Wang relieves Mussina before he starts ... huh?

Mike Mussina was originally scheduled to start Game 4 tonight.

He basically did, just an inning late.

That's because the Yankees had such low confidence in the Moose that they rushed Game 1 starter Chien-Ming Wang back out onto the mound on short rest.

Wang got knocked around like a pinata in Game 1.

Same thing started to happen tonight, with two runs surrendered in the first, and two more given up by the "ace" without making an out in the second.

So that plan was scratched on the fly, and now Mussina is in the game.

Wang's 2007 playoffs work is likely done, and he finishes the job with a stellar 19.67 postseason ERA.

Oh, the Yankees and the playoffs ... priceless.

Red Sox rooting for the Yankees

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - The Red Sox are rooting for the Yankees, if only for one game.
Boston has four days off before the start of the AL championship series, having swept the Angels in the first round of the playoffs. Though none of the Red Sox would express a preference in the lone remaining division matchup, they wouldn't mind if New York and Cleveland wear each other out before it's over.
"I guess my preference would be that they play for about another eight days and go 20 innings every game," Boston manager Terry Francona said after beating the Angels 9-1 on Sunday to earn the extra time off. "We'll get guys throwing. We'll get guys hitting, and we'll stay ready."
The Yankees and Indians were scheduled to play Game 4 on Monday night, with Cleveland holding a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. If New York wins they will play a deciding fifth game on Wednesday.
"My preference is they play five games, try to use their guys up, so we can be more rested than them," third baseman Mike Lowell said. "But either team is going to be a challenge for us and it's going to be a tough series, and hopefully we can be ready for it."
Josh Beckett, who pitched a four-hit shutout over the Angels in Game 1, his second consecutive playoff shutout, will have eight days of rest before the opener of the AL championship series. Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched the second game in the first round, but Curt Schilling could get the Game 2 start in Round 2 and he would have five days of rest.
"It's certainly better than playing a 17-inning Game 5 and heading straight to Cleveland," Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said.

Rocket broken

Roger Clemens' senior citizen bones are crumbling with every pitch, and now he's been removed from the Yankees' roster and will have sit out a championship series against the Red Sox, if his team can somehow come all the way back from 0-2 and get there.
Joe Torre has put Ron Villone on the squad in Clemens' place, reversing an earlier misstep he made in having no one to come out of the bullpen to pitch to Cleveland's lefthanded power hitters.

On the brink of elimination, Yanks break out the steroids

NEW YORK (AP) - Jason Giambi got his first start of the playoffs Sunday night, inserted into the Yankees lineup for Game 3 against Cleveland.
The Indians also made a lineup change, putting Trot Nixon in right field. Nixon's combined numbers in the regular season and playoffs against New York starter Roger Clemens were striking: 15-for-39 (.385) with four homers, five doubles, eight walks and 12 RBIs.
With the Yankees looking for more offense as they tried to stave off elimination in the best-of-five playoff series, Giambi batted sixth and replaced defensive whiz Doug Mientkiewicz at first base.
Slumping slugger Hideki Matsui was New York's designated hitter, batting seventh, with leadoff man Johnny Damon playing left field.
Giambi had just one plate appearance as the Yankees combined for only four runs in the first two games of the series at Cleveland. He singled as a pinch-hitter in the opener, late in a 12-3 loss.
The 2000 AL MVP with Oakland, Giambi hit .236 with 14 homers and 39 RBIs this year during a season interrupted by injury. He had only 254 at-bats, but walked 40 times to give him a respectable .356 on-base percentage.
Giambi entered 6-for-14 (.429) with two homers and five walks against the Indians' starting pitcher in Game 3, Jake Westbrook.
"That, plus the fact we really haven't done anything offensively. Our ballclub scoring four runs and three of them on home runs is not our identity," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "We need to put men on base, get them in the stretch, make them think about what we're going to do."

The master motivator

George Steinbrenner broke out of his unusual silent streak of 2007 to say that Joe Torre will be fired if the Yankees don't win the game tonight.
Oh, it warms the heart, doesn't it? Isn't it good to have the old George back?

Because he looked so good in Game 1

NEW YORK (AP) - Chien-Ming Wang appears to be the Yankees' likely starting pitcher Monday night if New York forces its series against the Indians to a fourth game.
Yankees manager Joe Torre said Saturday that Mike Mussina would be available in relief on Sunday night should Roger Clemens falter. Mussina also would have followed Luis Vizcaino had Friday's 2-1, 11-inning loss gone much longer.
Wang has started on less than four days' rest just once, allowing one hit in seven innings to beat the Orioles on June 6 last year. That outing came three days after he got the final two outs and a save in a 10-inning win at Baltimore.
Wang's sinker was up against Cleveland in the series opener, when he matched his career high by allowing eight runs in a 12-3 loss.
Pitching Wang in Game 4 lines up Andy Pettitte to pitch a potential fifth game. Roger Clemens joked about the way his buddy pitched out of trouble to throw 6 1-3 scoreless innings in Game 2.
"I told Andy he looked great from the stretch since he was in it all night," Clemens said.
Pettitte has a $16 million player option for next year and will need to speak with his family before deciding whether to exercise it. The status of Torre, in the final year of his contract, also will play a part in his decision.
"That definitely would be something that I would factor in," Pettitte said.

God hates the Yankees

It was Maine Sen. George Mitchell who said to Oliver North that "God doesn't take sides in politics."

Now George Mitchell is investigating steroid use.

And God is taking sides in Major League Baseball.

OK, this has nothing at all to do with steroids or George Mitchell.

But who can deny that Divine Intervention came into play Friday night as the Yankees lost to go down 0-2 vs. Cleveland and be on the brink of having their season ended.

The game was even - a pitchers' duel - and the Yankees had gotten as good an outing as they could have asked for from Andy Pettitte.

Their phenom fireballer, Joba Chamberlain, was on the mound, and he's been unhittable.

Yankee fans everywhere were starting to think about pitching matchups against the Boston Red Sox, jumping ahead to a prospective ALCS.

And God looked down on Jacobs Field, and sent a swarm of insects left over from one of the plagues on Egypt, to smote the Evil Empire.

Blinded by swarming bugs, Joba started throwing wild pitches, and the rest is playoff history.

Another reason to hate the Yankees

Click here for an anti-Yankee and anti-Lebron editorial from one of our sister papers in Ohio:
Here's an excerpt:
LeBron James has his loyalty questioned each time he has the audacity to wear a Yankees cap. You might call it disrespectful when one of Ohio's finest openly proclaims his love for the enemy. You might even let it affect how you feel about James the athlete - one of the best basketball players in the world, and one whose wizardry you get to watch 82 nights a year.
But when you really think about it, James and the Yankees are an ideal combination.
Obscenely rich. Recognized above all others. The King and the Big Apple. Pinstripes and Nike swooshes.

Mr. 0 for October

Have you heard all the talk on ESPN, sports radio and the newspapers about how Alex Rodriguez, after the year he's had, was bound to redeem himself in this year's playoffs?

No longer would he be known for choking in October?

He'd be clutch, like he's been for the first time consistently in the regular season this year, except he'd be clutch when it really mattered?

Well, A-Rod choked again last night, and now the Yankees are 0-2 against Cleveland, one loss away from going home for a long, team-dismantling winter.

So far, A-Rod is 0-6 in the playoffs, with three strikeouts and four men left on base.

Meanwhile, in Boston, the enemy continues to get clutch performances out of its stars in the playoffs.

NEWS FLASH: Joba is human

Cleveland Indians' Grady Sizemore, left, slides home to score on a wild pitch by New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain, right, in the eighth inning of Game 2 of an American League Division Series baseball game Friday in Cleveland. (AP Photo)

Another Joe Torre mistake

Joe Torre's decision to put Hideki Matsui into the game last night as designated hitter instead of Shelley Duncan, an idea he'd been toying with, according to the New York Post, backfired bigtime.
Matsui going into last night's game was 0 for 9 against Sabathia in his career.
Now he's 0 for 13.
Meanwhile, Duncan was put in as a pinch hitter and he actually got a hit against the Indians and scored one of the Yankees three runs.

Ohlendorf on golf

With the Yankees' decision to leave Ron Villone off the post-season roster for this series, the team is left without a single lefthanded pitcher in the bullpen.
You can't blame anyone for not having faith in Ron Villone.
But rookie Ross Ohlendorf, who got the nod instead, isn't going to get it done for you either, at least based on last night's dismal performance.
Not having a lefty in the bullpen, George King of the New York Post pointed out Thursday, leaves the Yankees without a strong situational matchup in key spots against the three big lefthanded hitters in the Indians' lineup (Kenny Lofton, Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner).
The revenge-seeking former Yankee Lofton had 3 RBI against the bullpen in last night's game, and Hafner hit a solo home run.

It's almost over

Yankees "ace" and one-time Cy Young contender Chien-Ming Wang looked awful last night as he was pounded by Indians hitters, but a bigger key to the series is the Yankees' quiet bats.
Three runs of offense isn't going to be enough in Game 3 with Clemens on the mound, and certainly not when the Yankees hand Mike Mussina the ball in Game 4.
It's a five-game series, remember, so that's enough to send the Yankees home for the year, and Joe Torre off into retirement (or a job coaching the Kansas City Royals).

It's easy to hate a Yankees fan ... especially if he's a star for one of your city's other pro teams

Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James, right, wears a New York Yankees hat as he watches Game 1 of an American League Division Series baseball game between the Yankees and Cleveland Indians, Thursday, in Cleveland. (AP Photo)

Yankees narrowly miss upgrading offense at first base

CLEVELAND (AP) - The Yankees' 13th straight trip to the postseason started with a stumble.
First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz got tangled up with a cameraman and injured his left ankle in an accident, but was in the starting lineup Thursday night for the Yankees' playoff opener against theIndians.
Mientkiewicz was walking up a ramp at Jacobs Field when a YES cameraman was recording while backpedaling.
"My left foot was up, and he fell kind of right on the back of my heel. My ankle rolled," Mientkiewicz said. "It's going to deter (me) from stealing like 15 bases.
"I rolled it pretty good, but it's all right."
Yankees manager Joe Torre had Mientkiewicz work out on the ankle a few hours before game time.
"We tested him every which way, up and down," Torre said. "He ran in the outfield and he looked fine during batting practice. It's not going to hurt his speed, we know that."
Mientkiewicz had to have a screw inserted into the ankle after he broke it years ago. Initially, he was worried after the accident.
"I thought I was dead (as far as playing)," he said. "I've had a lot of damage to that left foot."
The cameraman, a freelance hired from the Cleveland area, was fired by YES. The network did not reveal his name.
YES spokesman Eric Handler said the cameraman had completed his shoot and had been told to shut down.
"Unbeknownst to us he continue to shoot," Handler said. "Because he did not follow instructions, and because it was his not following instructions that caused the accident, he was relieved of his duties."
In the lineup primarily for his defense, Mientkiewicz has the second-highest fielding percentage (.996) among first basemen with 500 or more career games and won a Gold Glove in 2001.
He said he felt bad for the cameraman.
"I don't want him to get fired. Accidents happen, especially for me. Everything happens to me," Mientkiewicz said.
Mientkiewicz injured his wrist June 2 in a collision with Boston's Mike Lowell. He had surgery and returned to the Yankees Sept. 1 and hit .429 (18-for-42) with a home run and eight RBIs in 22 games during the season's final month.

A two-game series?

The Yankees' 2007 playoffs experience could be over by tomorrow.
They are facing two of the best pitchers in the American League, guys who have been absolutely lights-out against everyone they've faced this year.
And if the Yankees start things off 0-2, they will be putting their fate in the aging, pudgy hands of Roger Clemens, he of notorious playoff failure fame.
And if he gets run support in the 10-12 range and somehow prevails, it's on to Game 4, and Mike Mussina, and 10-12 runs might not be enough to keep the Yankees from another case of "wait until next year."
That being said, if any team can beat the Indians' top two pitchers, maybe it's the Yankees.
Fausto Carmona has an 0-1 career record against the Yankees, with a 3.86 ERA over five games, maybe not a big enough body of work to know how they'll fare against him.
And although the Yankees haven't faced C.C. Sabathia this year, his career record against the Yankees is 1-7, with a 7.13 ERA in eight games.

Red Sox advantage helps the Yankees

Cleveland's loss to Kansas City tonight means that the Red Sox get home field advantage throughout the American League playoffs.
And that's good news for the Yankees.
That's right, good news.
Not because the Yankees like playing in Fenway, but because under Major League Baseball rules, Boston gets to choose when it starts its series against Los Angeles. It has opted for an extra day of rest.
If Cleveland had won that right, it would have allowed the Indians to pitch C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona twice each in a five-game series with the Yankees.
The Yankees would be toast under that scenario.

Way to hold them to 9 runs, Andy!

With the playoff picture decided already, Andy Pettitte got a meaningless win over the Orioles tonight in an effort that looked like he was really, really trying to improve Baltimore's self-esteem heading into the offseason.

Pettitte gave up 9 runs, 8 of them earned, in five innings pitched, but still got a victory out of it to improve to 15-9 on the season.

That was due to the 10 runs Baltimore pitchers gave up in the 4th inning.

So the Yankees won 10-9, and it means nothing whatsoever.

It truly was a battle of who could care less about this game. And Baltimore came through again on that one.

What a way to lose a division!

The Yankees blow the lead, "Juice" Giambi chokes with the bases loaded in the top of the 10th inning against the lowly Orioles, Dice-K looks like he's worth the money for the Red Sox, and the Yankees officially lose the AL East division title for the first time in a decade.
No "mo" heading into the playoffs as the Wild Card, that's for sure.

Clemens flies to Texas for special home remedy

BALTIMORE (AP) - Roger Clemens flew home to Texas on Friday, choosing to rehabilitate his bothersome left hamstring there rather than at the Yankees' training facility in Tampa, Fla.
Clemens missed his scheduled start at Tampa Bay on Tuesday and remained behind to condition the leg when the team flew north. Although Clemens said he was healthy enough to pitch, the Yankees decided not to have him pitch this week.
Now he's at home preparing for the postseason.
"Wherever Roger goes, he's got workout facilities for what he needs to do," New York manager Joe Torre said Friday before the Yankees faced the Orioles.
Clemens made the decision to leave Friday without working out.
"He was going to stay away from, as he puts it, digging in there all the time," Torre said. "It was something about getting out of Dodge. ... He's just going to do some conditioning and then Monday he's going to do a simulated game and then he'll hop on a plane and join us."
Clemens is 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA in 18 games.

It's true about them young pitchers

It's true. Young pitchers today are a bunch of pussies!
And we're not even trashing the Yankees with this post.
No sooner did we write about the Joba Rules and how ridiculous it was to treat rookie phenom pitchers like they have the body of a 4-year-old girl than news broke that Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz will miss the rest of the season due to "shoulder fatigue."
They let him pitch (horrors!) a full nine innings so he could get that no-hitter, and there you go, he's ruined for life.
Too young to settle into a good steroid regimen?

The son-in-law officially gone

NEW YORK (AP) - The Yankees have completed their buyout of Stephen Swindal, once George Steinbrenner's designated successor as the team's boss.
Jennifer Steinbrenner, one of the owner's daughters, filed for divorce from Swindal in March, a month after her husband was arrested early on Feb. 15 and charged with driving under the influence.
Swindal was a Yankees general partner and chairman of Yankee Global Enterprises LLC, the holding company for the team and its stake in the YES Network.
Hal Steinbrenner, one of the owner's sons, succeeded Swindal on Friday as chairman on Yankee Global Enterprises, a sign of his increased influence in the team's operations. Hal Steinbrenner also is a director of YES and chief executive officer of Steinbrenner Hotel Properties.
Hank Steinbrenner, the owner's other son, also has worked for the Yankees.
Felix Lopez, a Yankees senior vice president, joined the board of Yankee Global Enterprises. He is married to Jessica Steinbrenner, the owner's other daughter.

Obligatory comment on Joba Rules

The "Joba Rules," restricting young pitching prospects to strict pitch count limits and required resting periods before appearance, have got to go, say columnists and bloggers. Why? Because Yankees fans have been so damn insecure, and rightly so, about their team's chance of success in the playoffs this year, or even making the playoffs.
The Joba Rules are a wise stewardship not of the Yankees' chances this year, but of the entire future of the franchise and playoff races for years to come, according to other columnists and other bloggers.
Coming from a perspective of not giving a crap if the Yankees win now or later, here's the real truth about the Joba Rules:
Today's young pitchers are apparently a bunch of pussies.
Are they that fragile?
Come on.
Is Major League Baseball's history littered with the untold stories of countless young pitching prospects whose arms were blown out and futures ruined along with their teams because in the old days managers and owners didn't buy into any of this pansy nonsense?
Are we prepping these guys for their coming out in the debutante ball or are they athletes competing in a man's sport?
Maybe that Dorothy dress the Yankees had Ian Kennedy wear the other day is more appropriate than any of us knew.

Roger out, Manny in as playoffs upon us

On a national sports talk radio program yesterday, former Twins and Mets ace Frank Viola predicted that Roger Clemens will not only be out for the rest of the regular season, as has been announced, and for the first round of the playoffs, as has been conjectured in the New York tabloids, but for all of the playoffs and the rest of the year.

Can you imagine the Yankees sending Kei Igawa to the mound in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Red Sox?

Meanwhile, Manny Ramirez is back in the Red Sox lineup, just in time to see them clinch the division and get warmed up for the playoffs.

Chamberlain, Kennedy, Duncan, Hughes

Ahead of playoffs, Yankees rookies get used to abuse

Maybe 20 pitchers can do what three can't

Another blown lead, another nail-biter, another six pitchers used so far in tonight's 6-6 tie ballgame in the top of the ninth inning against lowly Tampa Bay.
This comes on the heels of Friday's 14-inning loss to Toronto in which 8 pitchers were used, and the following night's 10-inning victory in which 10 pitchers were used.
If it makes Joe Torre feel better to finish half a game out of the division lead instead of 2 1/2, and then have no fresh pitching available for the playoffs, so be it.
The strategy doesn't seem to make sense when you've got Clemens about to check into a nursing home and you're desperate enough that you're starting Kei Igawa in his place.

Update on Yankees' push for AL East crown

Eight pitchers combine for the "L."

Use up those pitchers now

Regardless of the outcome of tonight's game against Toronto (still tied at 4-4 in the top of the 13th inning), the Yankees come out losers.
While Red Sox Manager Terry Francona openly admitted prior to tonight's 8-1 blowout victory over Tampa Bay that he's resting his key pitchers and offensive stars such as Manny Ramirez for the playoffs even if that means losing the AL East lead and settling for the Wild Card.
If the Yankees, also virtually assured of the playoffs one way or the other, are taking a different approach, it will come back to bite them in the postseason as it has in past years.
They've already used seven pitchers in tonight's game, including stars Torre would typically reserve only for protecting a lead and sealing the victory, i.e., Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera.
And meanwhile, despite Boston's approach, they won easily tonight, even though they were up against just as dominating a pitcher in Kazmir as the Yankees faced in Toronto's Halladay.

Bring back Boomer

David Wells says he'll pitch again next year, unless the Dodgers win the World Series.

Let us be the first to urge the Yankees to bring him back.

If the Yankees can get Clemens to come back at age 46, and Mussina to come back as well, he'd be a perfect fit on this team.

Maybe the Yankees could re-aquire Randy Johnson also?

Every Yankee Wang suck tonight

Chien-Ming Wang put all talk of contention for the Cy Young Award to rest with his miserable performance against the Red Sox yesterday.
With Wang's stats - if not the sense that he can dominate batters - similar to Josh Beckett and a few others in the American League going into the weekend, there was a strong sense that the Cy Young was up for grabs and that pitching over the last few weeks of the regular season would be the difference-maker.
Yesterday's game was perhaps the marquee showcase as Beckett and Wang went head to head.
Beckett allowed only 3 hits and 1 run over 7 innings, striking out 7 and walking 2.
Wang lasted only 5 2/3rds, giving up 9 hits, 5 runs and 3 walks while striking out 3.
His ERA is up to 3.87, while Beckett has a 3.20 ERA and has a good shot of winning his 20th game before the regular season ends, by far a career best.

Torre, who regularly instructs his pitchers to throw at people, upset with video game depicting A-Rod getting hit

NEW YORK (PA SportsTicker) - Joe Torre apparently is getting tired of the Toronto Blue Jays' ongoing feud with Alex Rodriguez.
Torre told the New York Daily News on Thursday that he was unhappy with the Blue Jays' depiction of Rodriguez on the Rogers Centre scoreboard during Wednesday night's game.
According to the Daily News, Torre was referring to an incident which occurred during a video promotion in the middle of the sixth inning.
The massive scoreboard screen showed a pair of fans playing a baseball video game. While pitching to Rodriguez in the video game, one of the fans intentionally threw at the superstar twice - hitting him once to the delight of the crowd.
"It's ridiculous," Torre told the Daily News. "Some of the videos they have period, it's all about violence. There are certain cities, one of our players gets knocked down and (the fans) start laughing and cheering. I don't understand it. To me, this game is about playing it and not about hurting somebody.
"To me, if you show it at a ballpark, you're telling the youngsters it's OK to do it and that's not a good message to send. I don't know if it's hockey - it's a little more of a violent game than ours - and I'm not sure if that's a carryover in what they do or how they promote. It certainly lacks good sense, I think."
The incident marked the latest chapter in a season-long feud between Rodriguez and the Blue Jays.
The saga began in Toronto on May 30, when Rodriguez sparked controversy while running between second and third base. The two-time MVP appeared to yell at Blue Jays third baseman Howie Clark, distracting the rookie from catching a routine pop fly.
The Blue Jays were enraged by Rodriguez's antics. Manager John Gibbons called it a "bush league play" while several veterans, including designated hitter Matt Stairs, referred to the play as "garbage."
The Blue Jays retaliated the next time the Yankees visited Toronto, throwing behind Rodriguez's head on August 6 and plunking him in the calf the following day to incite a pair of benches-clearing incidents.

Saturday at Fenway: A whole lotta suck

Alex Rodriguez was 0 for 3, struck out twice and left two men on base.
Johnny Damon was 0 for 4, including a strikeout.
Hideki Matsui was 0 for 3, including a strikeout, and left two men on base.
Posada, Giambi and Cabrera were a combined 0 for 7.
The Yankees gave up today at Fenway, pulling many of its failed stars for scrubs on the way to a 10-1 defeat.
Detroit is already beating up on Johan Santana, 4-0, and if that trend continues tonight the Tigers will be only 2 1/2 games back in the Wild Card.
Meanwhile, New York sends a cortizone-injected 45-year-old Roger Clemens to the mound.
Detroit has a realistic shot of catching the Yankees for the Wild Card.
Even if that doesn't happen, Dice-K's success against the Yankees early in yesterday's game and Beckett's and the Boston bullpen's dominance over New York today make it increasingly clear that there's little chance of the team getting by Boston in a seven-game playoff series.

The whiff of A-Rod

A-Rod struck out with a man on base in the top of the 9th inning, and the Yankees lose.
That leaves Detroit within striking distance and New York all but out of contention for an AL East title comeback bid.

Andy Pettitte? He's outta here!

Yahoo Sports just reported that Andy Pettitte is considering retiring at the end of the season.

He wants to be a full-time dad to his four kids, according to Yahoo, and considered retiring at the end of last season as well.

So goodbye Clemens, goodbye Mussina, goodbye Igawa, goodbye Farnsworth, goodbye Rivera, goodbye Posada, goodbye A-Rod, goodbye Abreu.

Hey, you've still got Kyle Farnsworth and Wilson Bettimet.

A-Rod in Boston? Not if Red Sox fans can help it

It's increasingly apparent that Alex Rodriguez won't be a Yankee next year.

He's having an incredible season, and even though the fans now love him, he surely remembers being booed on his way to the MVP Award. He's getting ready to say, as he heads out the door, "Screw you, New York, how you like me now?"

Many have speculated that A-Rod is bound for Boston.

Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell is a free agent after this season, and the Sox have made no overt public moves toward re-signing him. Hell, A-Rod could probably move back to his old shortstop position if he went to the Sox or pretty much any other team without a Derek Jeter.

The problem with Alex Rodriguez in a Boston uniform is that Red Sox fans HATE HIM.

Affectionately referred to as "Gay-Rod" and much worse, he's the antithesis of what makes the Red Sox special and what won them a World Series in 2004.

Sox fans have come to love hard-working, humble, working-class players like Kevin Youkilis, Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield and the likes of Kevin Millar and Trot Nixon from seasons past.

To them, A-Rod in a Red Sox uniform would be like Justin Timberlake taking over as lead singer of Aerosmith.

And WHY NOT just re-sign Lowell? He's easily the MVP of the Red Sox this year, and has put up numbers that rival A-Rod. Plus, he's not a friggin' wussy attention whore.

Tigers take second place in Wild Card race

Detroit beat Seattle last night in a series that will determine who has the best shot at beating the Yankees for the Wild Card.
Yankees fans will remember the Tigers from last year.

How the Yankees can lose the Wild Card

The Yankees' best chance of losing the Wild Card and missing the playoffs this year is to Detroit, not Seattle.

Of the three teams (Seattle and Detroit are tied 3 games behind the Yankees for the Wild Card going into tonight's games), the Mariners have the most difficult schedule through the end of the season.

Seattle plays Oakland (69-72) six times, Los Angeles (83-57), Cleveland (81-59) and Tampa Bay (58-82) four times each, and Detroit (75-65) and Texas (65-74) three times each. That's 11 games against winning teams and 13 games against teams with losing records.

The Yankees will play Toronto (71-68) seven times, Baltimore (60-79) six times, and Kansas City (62-77), Tampa Bay (58-82) and Boston (85-56) three times each. That's 10 games against winning teams and 12 games against teams with losing records.

Detroit, on the other hand, has only seven games remaining on the schedule against teams with winning records ... three games each against Seattle (74-64) and Cleveland (81-59) and one game against Toronto (71-68). They play Minnesota (69-71) six more times, and Chicago (59-81) and Kansas City (62-77) three more times each.

And even though the Orioles have absolutely sucked (32-3, anyone?) over the past month, they have owned the Yankees this season, with an 8-4 advantage on the season series so far. So the Yankees could have more trouble with a big chunk of the "easy" part of their remaining schedule.

And Tampa Bay and Toronto, which account for nearly half of the Yankees' remaining games, have played the Yankees almost evenly this year, splitting their respective series so far 8-7 and 6-5 in favor of New York.

Detroit has underachieved all year.

Our prediction is that the Tigers will be the team that leaves New York out in the cold for the first time in a while this playoff season.

Wounded

Oops, A-Rod's got a boo-boo.
And so does Wang.

Starting young

Bronx Nursing Home intramural squad falls to Seattle

The 45-year-old Roger Clemens showed his age again last night, lasting only 4 innings while getting pounded by Seattle for 5 runs and 8 hits. He won't make his next start due to general old man aches and pains.

And boy was it fun watching Mike Mussina (7 hits, 2 runs in 3.2 innings) come out of the bullpen for mopup duty.

The funny thing is that he'll probably take Clemens' place in the starting rotation for at least one turn.

Now that's a dynamic duo.

With the loss, the Yankees' lead in the Wild Card race falls to 1.

And meanwhile, the Red Sox mustered 12 more runs than the Yankees last night in beating Toronto.

The Yankees fall 7 games back in the AL East, and Boston's magic number is 18.

The magic number

You know it's almost over when they start printing the "magic number" next to the Red Sox record in the AL East standings.

It's 20, by the way. That's the combination of Red Sox wins and Yankees losses needed for Boston to win the division.

Yankees fail to make Little League World Series

Andy Pettitte has provided consistent good pitching for the Yankees. Until today, when a Little League team pounded him for 5 runs in 6.1 innings.

The Yankees fall 6 games back in the AL East as the Sox were led to victory by another rookie pitcher, and enter a series with the Seattle Mariners having just gotten their asses kicked by Tampa Bay. That's got to be demoralizing.

And Seattle, in a major slump with 8 straight losses, is due to snap out of it right about now. They're a much better team than their recent performance would indicate.

In short, the Yankees are poised to squander the Wild Card lead. Can't wait.

Young pitching? We'll show you young pitching

The Yankees' big new focus, their Great White Hope, is young pitching.
Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy.
Well, Hughes' ERA is astronomical, Chamberlain has been suspended, and Kennedy didn't look bad at all tonight.
But once again, New York is upstaged by the 2007 Red Sox.
In only his second Major League start, Clay Buchholz, who looks like he's about 12 years old, threw a no-hitter tonight against the Baltimore Orioles. And by the way, the Sox had some offense, too, winning 10-0.

Offense takes the day off

The Yankees put in one of their worst offensive performances of the season yesterday ... and it was against a Little League team, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Meanwhile, the youth strategy isn't working, as Phil Hughes gave up 5 runs in 4 1/3rd innings.

Joba Chamberlain? Outta here!

Young Joba Chamberlain earned his pinstripes yesterday.

Congratulations, rookie, you're officially a Yankee asshole.

After throwing two near-100 mile an hour fastballs at the head of Kevin Youkilis, Major League Baseball suspended Chamberlain for two games today.

There's more than one point to be made about this one:

- First of all, what was Youkilis' crime? Playing with hustle. Youkilis is the anti-Yankee. He's the type of player who has put the Red Sox in first place this year and the type of player who helped them win a World Series in 2004. In his world, you run like hell on every ground ball and pop fly. These overpaid, lifeless, passion-less Yankees hate guys like him. He's the anti-Yankee. So apparently, Chamberlain was throwing at Youkilis because 1) he slid safely into first after Giambi was pulled away from the base on another Yankee throwing error and had to try to tag him, and 2) he ran outside the base line to avoid a tag by A-Rod later in the inning, was called safe, and then called out when the umpires reversed themselves.

- Throwing a 100 mile an hour fastball at someone's head is a hell of a lot different than someone like Jamie Moyer or Tim Wakefield throwing a 75 mile an hour pitch at someone's head.

- Joba is clearly learning from the best when it comes to gutless American League headhunters. Roger Clemens is the most infamous guy in modern Major League Baseball for doing this kind of thing.

- The penalties handed down by Major League Baseball in the case of both Chamberlain and Clemens earlier this season will do nothing whatsoever to stop guys from getting thrown at. Chamberlain wasn't going to pitch the next two days anhow because of Brian Cashman's restrictions on the number of pitches he can throw. Clemens is a starting pitcher. His five-game suspension meant that he missed one scheduled start ... really, he just got an extra day of rest.

- Did this rookie throw at Youkilis on his own? Is that really his instinct after two seconds in the league? Very, very doubtful. This has Joe Torre's fingerprints all over it, and he deserved a suspension also. And his suspensions should be doubled the second time (remember his part in Clemens' shenanigans earlier this season), and be tripled the third time.

Abreu? Outta here! Damon? Outta here!

The Boston Globe has reported that the Yankees have no plans to re-sign Bobby Abreu when he is a free agent after this season, and that they might also try to get rid of Johnny Damon.

Add that to Jorge Posada's potential departure, Alex Rodriguez's potential departure, Roger Clemens' move to the nursing home, the fact that Mike Mussina is toast, Carl Pavano is toast, Jason Giambi is almost toast.

And there won't be much left of the 2007 squad.

Will the team really make a shift toward trying to develop younger players next year?

Yeah, right.

Expect a new roster of overpaid high-profile free agents with zero team chemistry to replace this roster of overpaid high-profile free agent-signed losers.

It's the Yankee way.

Suzie Waldman emcees an Irish wake for Mussina

Did anyone catch Suzyn Waldman's WCBS 880 radio interview with Mike Mussina prior to this afternoon's game against the Red Sox?
He sounded extremely depressed. No surprise there, after losing his spot in the Yankees' starting rotation.
Waldman, in a rare, no-doubt-accidental departure from complete Yankee ass-kissing, asked him what he thought of the irony that Ian Kennedy, the Minor League phenom called up to take his starting job, has been described as a "Mike Mussina clone."
Mussina bristled, and said something to the effect of, "we won't talk about that until they ask me to clean out my locker and he takes my jersey."
Waldman signed off for the commercial break in hushed tones, like she was broadcasting from the scene of a funeral.
I guess, in a sense, it was.

$195 million of payroll ... on the bench and in minors

With a payroll that towers ridiculously above all other Major League teams, the Yankees are turning to extremely low-paid rookies to salvage the 2007 season and put them back in contention in the AL Wild Card race.

Clemens sucks at $28 million a year.

Giambi and Damon are part-time players at $23 million and $13 million, respectively.

Mussina, at $11 million a year, can't make it out of the third inning and has lost his spot in the starting rotation.

Kyle Farnsworth, at $5.6 million a year, can be counted on to lose games or fill space when you're down 13-0.

Kei Igawa, at $4 million a year, sent down to the Minors.

Carl Pavano, $10 million a year ... ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

And even Doug Mintkiewicz, at $1.5 million, is overpaid for what he has produced for the Yanks this season.

What are the bright spots for the Yankees?

Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain, Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes, and now, phenom pitcher Ian Kennedy, who will be called up after a whirlwind trip through the Minors to take Mussina's place.

All of these guys make less than $500,000 a year.

Not the Roger Boston used to know

A far fatter, weaker, cockier Roger Clemens faces the team he started his Major League career with tonight as stock in the Red Sox goes in the opposite direction of the team to which the Rocket has hitched his wide wagon this year in what quickly shaped up to be a failed attempt to win another World Series ring.

Like their decisions to jettison Johnny Damon and Pedro Martinez, who absolutely fell apart physically after leaving the Sox for greener greenbacks with the Mets and Yankees, Theo Epstein and Co. have got to be thrilled at their decision not to outbid the Yankees for Roger's services this year.

So tonight the Sox will be sending Cy Young candidate Josh Beckett to the mound to face a future Hall of Famer whose $28 million salary this year has produced a 5-5 record, 4.34 ERA and 6 runs given up in five innings in his last start.

Mussina yanked from starting rotation

NEW YORK (AP) - Mike Mussina is out. Call up another kid.
The New York Yankees dropped a struggling Mussina from their rotation Tuesday, turning to touted prospect Ian Kennedy over a pitcher with 247 major league wins - in the middle of a pennant race.
Bold move. But not out of character for the Yankees lately.
Kennedy, who spent most of last year playing college ball at USC, will be called up from the minors to start in Mussina's place Saturday against last-place Tampa Bay. He'll join a pitching staff that already features rookies Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Edwar Ramirez in key roles.
Not long ago, the big-budget Yankees always seemed to favor experienced veterans over unproven talent. Now, they're hanging their playoff hopes on a pack of young arms - and the 38-year-old Mussina has been shoved aside.
"He was disappointed, naturally. This was very difficult for me," manager Joe Torre said. "We have relied on him every year since he's been here."
Following three terrible starts in a row by Mussina, Torre told the five-time All-Star he'll be passed over when his next turn in the rotation comes up. The right-hander declined to comment Tuesday night as he left the clubhouse after a 5-3 victory over Boston that pulled New York closer in the playoff chase.
The Yankees won the series opener behind stopper Andy Pettitte, and 45-year-old Roger Clemens gets the ball Wednesday night against his original team. Josh Beckett, seeking his 17th win, will be on the mound for Boston.
The Yankees are one game behind Seattle, the AL wild-card leader, and seven back of the first-place Red Sox in the AL East. But as the Bronx Bombers get set for the September stretch drive, Chien-Ming Wang is the only pitcher left from last year's rotation.
Because of injuries and ineffectiveness, rookie pitchers have started 41 games for the Yankees this season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that's the most for the club since rookies started 54 times in 1991 on a team that finished 20 games below .500.
Plus, three relatively green hitters have become regulars in the 2007 lineup: Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera and Andy Phillips.
Kennedy, a first-round draft pick last year, relies on good control. He will be called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he was 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA in six starts.
"He's got great mound presence," said Chamberlain, the hard-throwing relief sensation who called Kennedy his best friend. "He understands how to pitch and how to get outs. He's going to come up and do a great job. It's going to be exciting to see."
Kennedy, a 22-year-old right-hander who began the season in Class-A, pitched last Saturday for Scranton. How long he stays in the Yankees' rotation will depend on how well he performs.
Torre didn't say whether he would consider using Mussina out of the bullpen. The manager said he told his former ace: "`Keep doing what you're doing. Keep doing your work. Keep doing your throwing so you don't lose that, the arm strength part of it.'"
Cerebral and finicky, Mussina was the team's top starter not long ago, but he has faded fast. After going 15-7 with a 3.51 ERA last season, he is 8-10 with a 5.53 ERA this year. He has a 17.69 ERA in his past three starts, struggling with velocity and control.
Before the game, Torre said he wanted to speak with Mussina about his recent slump before making a decision. He said the pitcher "earned that conversation" because of "who he is and what he's done."
"I just want to hear how he feels, and from there we'll talk about what we're going to do," Torre said before the game.
"Some conversations are difficult to have," he added. "I hope he makes it easy on me."
Mussina's last three starts have been particularly alarming. He has allowed 19 earned runs in 9 2-3 innings spanning two outings against the hard-hitting Detroit Tigers and one against the Los Angeles Angels.
Before this slide, Mussina won four straight starts - giving up eight runs in all - and improved to 8-7.
Does he simply need a breather, or is he washed up? The latter is what Yankees fans are afraid of, especially since Mussina has a year remaining on his $23 million, two-year contract.
"I know he's probably looked at some video to see if there's anything with his mechanics," Torre said. "He's obviously at times trying to make more perfect pitches than he's probably capable of making."
Mussina and Torre have both said they think the right-hander has more productivity left, but the Yankees decided they couldn't afford to wait for him to find his form.
His latest flop, three ineffective innings Monday night in a 16-0 loss at Detroit, dropped Mussina to 0-7 following Yankees losses this year. It also left him visibly dejected. Mussina said he would "understand" if Torre went with another pitcher next time through the rotation.
"You like to be loyal to all your players. But loyalty to all 25 comes before loyalty to any individual," Torre said.

Community outraged by Yankees hats that use gang colors.

Red Sox displace Yankees as "America's team," drawing more fans on the road than any other team.

The series begins

Yankees take fun out of ridiculing them

The Yankees are so bad right now that all the fun is being sapped out of writing a "Yankees Suck" blog.
Where's the challenge?
Mike Mussina is pitching away any reputation he once had as an ace in Major League Baseball. We predicted he'd continue to suck tonight, and boy, did he, putting the Yankees at a 6-0 disadvantage before being yanked in the 3rd inning.
And this overpayed collection of primadona sissyboys just gives up when down by that much. And that's why a 6-0 deficit turns into the 16-0 final score of tonight's loss to Detroit.
Hating the Yankees is not fun anymore. It's just too easy to laugh at them now.
Well ... it is still fun to laugh, actually.
And for you Yankees fans ... there's no crying in baseball!

Mussina makes last Major League start tonight

Mike Mussina takes the mound in Detroit tonight for his 10th loss of the season and his final start as a Major League pitcher.
Hey, it's not so far-fetched considering the aging tosser of beach balls has given up 13 runs in his last two starts over 6.2 innings.
There has been lots of talk of Mussina losing his place in the Yankees starting rotation.
And tonight he could just play himself out of a job as a starting pitcher.
Not a great way to end your career. Why not just retire?

Hughes to miss next start due to whiplash

Phenom Phil's neck's a bit sore this evening after watching three balls quickly leave Comerica Park and his ERA balloon to 5.35.

The Yankees aren't so good against real competition, it seems, as they now fall 7.5 games behind Boston in the AL East.

Julian Tavarez, the fifth starter in the Sox rotation, meanwhile, gave up only 2 hits today, while their fourth starter, Tim Wakefield, is tied for the Major League lead with 16 victories this year.

And the worst member of the Boston bullpen at this point is Eric Gagne, who's capable of and due once again to be the lights-out closer that he has developed into over theh past few years.

Cost of missing the playoffs for the first time in recent history? $195 million.

Good pitching? Priceless.

Maybe it was past Roger's bedtime

After a four-hour rain delay, Yankees fall farther behind in the AL East and Wild Card race.
Apparently, Roger Clemens doesn't magically turn back into a good pitcher after midnight.

Yankees suck T-shirts

In the market for anti-Yankees merchandise?

Sucking without even taking the field

The Yankees don't even play and they fall another game behind the Sox.

In case you missed it: Posada outta here, too

How many other Yankees will follow A-Rod out the door after the end of this sucky season?
Jorge Posada wants to be a free agent.

Villone placed on disabled list with strained ERA

DETROIT (AP) -- The Yankees put left-handed reliever Ron Villone on the disabled list Friday and recalled right-hander Brian Bruney from Triple-A Scranton.
Villone injured his lower back covering first base Tuesday night at Anaheim.
"Talking to Joe (Torre) yesterday, I told him 'It's not good,"' Villone said. "I've got to do something, I guess rest a little bit. I'm hoping it will just take the 15 days.
"I don't think it's anything major, but maybe a strain that leads to a spasm."
Villone has a 4.42 ERA in 31 games, striking out 25 and walking 15 over 36 2-3 innings. He pitched in a career-high 70 games last season for the Yankees.
Bruney was 2-1 with a 3.40 ERA in 50 games. He struggled in July, allowing nine of his 18 total earned runs this season over 10 appearances.

Roger Clemens in 2057

Click here to see a video of Roger Clemens in 2057

In case you missed it: A-Rod's outta here

If anyone missed this story last week, the Evil Empire is taking a firm stance on A-Rod's contract situation.

"Live with your contract or suck it," to paraphrase Brian Cashman.

In other words, if Alex Rodriguez opts out of his bazillion dollar contract at the end of this season hoping the Yankees will renegotiate for a gazillion dollar contract, he can go play for the Cubs or Angels next year instead.

Don't worry, Yankees fans, you've got Wilson Betimet ready to fill those shoes.

Mo' sucking

Yankees fans don't want to admit it. But Mariano Rivera doesn't have it anymore.

Lucky for New York last night, when the sainted closer entered the game in the 9th inning, the team already had a seven-run lead. Not really a situation to bring your closer into, but New York had used up every other pitcher on its roster ahead of today's off-day as Angels batters rocked Mike Mussina and the bullpen for 25 runs in two days.
It was another crappy performance by Rivera, who gave up a run and three hits, and far from the dominance he was known for in yesteryear. In Rivera's last 10 games, he's given up 14 hits and 6 runs over 10 2/3rd innings.

He's a great symbol of how things have fallen apart all at once for the Yanks in 2007.

What will $195 million buy you? Not pitching, apparently

The Yankees' total team salary stood at $195,229,045 before signing Roger Clemens to a $28 million, one-year deal.

The Angels, who have destroyed Yankees pitching in the past two games at a critical time for New York's playoff chances, are among the top-spending teams in the Major Leagues - fifth overall. But their payroll is still nearly $100 million a year less than the Yankees.

And there are four teams - Washington, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Florida, with payrolls less than the combined single-year salaries of Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi.
New York Yankees 2007 Salaries from ESPN.com:
1. Alex Rodriguez, $27,708,525
2. Jason Giambi, $23,428,571
3. Derek Jeter, $21,600,000
4. Andy Pettitte, $16,000,000
5. Bobby Abreu, $15,600,000
6. Johnny Damon, $13,000,000
7. Hideki Matsui, $13,000,000
8. Jorge Posada, $12,000,000
9. Mike Mussina, $11,070,423
10. Mariano Rivera, $10,500,000
11. Carl Pavano, $10,000,000
12. Kyle Farnsworth, $5,666,667
13. Luis Vizcaino, $3,000,000
14. Doug Mientkiewicz, $1,500,000
15. Jose Molina, $1,350,000
16. Robinson Cano, $490,800
17. Chien-Ming Wang, $489,500
18. Melky Cabrera, $432,400
19. Wilson Betemit, $405,000
20. Darrell Rasner, $384,523
21. Sean Henn, $382,048
22. Humberto Sanchez, $380,000

Where's George?

Who's in charge in the Yankees organization these days? Is anyone in charge?

Has the aging George Steinbrenner finally lost his marbles, as has been reported in various press outlets?

In years past, a loss like last night's 18-9 smackdown in Anaheim, not to mention the Yankees getting off to a miserable start early in the season, would have prompted an "I'm disappointed in this team" decree from King George.

Or even a good firing or two.

Apparently the Yankees owner has lost his touch, or is just too out of it to be involved in the management of the team anymore.

What other explanation could there be for this silence?

And what happens if Mark Cuban buys the Cubs? Will the Yankees completely forego their status as the team with the owner most likely to spend any amount of money and fire any number of managers to win?