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.

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.

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).

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

Another strong outing by Mussina

Now that's what the Yankees have come to expect from Mike Mussina this year!
One and two-thirds innings, 7 earned runs on 7 hits and 2 walks.
That brings the one-time ace's season ERA to 5.22 and barring a big comeback in this game, will put his record into the FAILURE category at 8-9.
2007 ... the year the aging loser strategy caught up with the Yanks.