"It's great to be young and a Yankee."

Last year I probably went to around 30 games. This year I haven't cracked 5. B ut I HAVE spent probably circa 130 hours with Sterling and Waldman. Tonight was another radio-at-deskside-in-the-office night, but I've found that these types of low-scoring games are actually quite palatable in terms of CBS 880. For obvious reasons.

And I DEFINITELY was okay with Sterling so deliriously enthused about the pitching for the last few days. "You know, I think Yankee fans would be quite happy if they kept up this kind of pitching. ERA of 1, nothing wrong with that. HAHAHAHA." Oh, John.

So for the third day in a row, the Yanks win on a score of 2-1, which more of less kills my NY-heavy fantasy roster, but a small price to pay to loll Sterling's point around in my mind over and over. ERA of 1. I know, it's against the O's. But it's a like a guy turning down the hot chick in favor of asking out the frump because he's more attracted to her. See, the Melba* will occasionally clean up but it's because of her candid wit or guileless charm, but never because of her physical assets.

Similarly, the Yankees have been able to overcome their lacklaster pitching because of their charismatic slugging. It just doesn't happen that their pitching is the feature that gets all the attention at the MLBar.

Pettitte pitched the game of his season, going 7 and a third and blanking 8. The defense wasn't exactly "dialed in" and flawless, but they were something that was just as good, if not better: unrelenting. They threw out 2 runners at home on consecutive pitches and plays that were anything but routine.

When Tex threw out the first of the 2, Sterling acted like a high school cheerleader whose boyfriend on the team just nailed a game-winning buzzer beater. "EVERY GAME. EVERY GAME HE DOES THIS. I mean, WOW. He does a new incredible thing every game." I'm pretty sure those were the exact words he used to describe the dreamy BMOC at 1st. "A new incredible thing." Reminded me of last month when a coworker asked me what I meant by "bringing props to the meeting." My lucid, brilliant, response: "Um..like, stuff." The interns present were undoubtedly awed by the copywriting prowess just oozing from their supervisor. (Ok, I challenge anyone to come up with an off-the-top-of-your-head bare bones definition of "props." It's harder than it sounds.)

Hinske probably doesn't need to "earn his paycheck" in the same way that Tex and ARod have done, especially since he's been on the Swisher Early Jump to BreakOut Plan, the origins of which trace back to perhaps Kevin Maas' heyday, but popularized by folks like Cody Ransom (yeah, remember that? Weird.), Shelley Duncan, and Shane Spencer. The difference may be that Swisher's early season hitfest was largely sensational and fortified by his charm and affability and spunk. But Hinske's bombs seem to be more economical and deliberate, and above all, well-timed. I feel bad for him when he has the audacity to hit a 3-run bomb with a 10 run lead. Fans hate that in a player.

In honor of the real hero of the night, I present this:

Jeter played a good defensive game, and it reminded me of the fact that on Saturday's Baseball Tonight, a decent amount of time was devoted to debunking the Jeter Sucks At Short school of thought. They replayed our SS throwing out Brandon Inge on a "very Jeterian off balance throw." (Yup, been extremely overexposed to Yankees radio..) So Dave Winfield very simply and eloquently boils it down to this: "Another SS wouldn't have made the play that Jeter did, wouldn't have gotten off the throw, and wouldn't have kept the other team from winning."

I never thought I'd see the day when an ESPN sanctioned program condones this type of propoganda...

Oh speaking of the ESPNemy, Boston lost today. Gave up 5 runs to the Rangers to relinquish a 2-1 lead. Lost 6-3 (thanks CJ Wilson). They also had to shove over a little in their slippery 1st place spot. It's like Teflon up there. I feel like the Yankees and Sux are like venturing up to the top of Death Mountain, like little nimbly-footed Zeldas. But heart supplies don't last like they used to, and they're quickly sliced up by the labyrinth bad guys and have to climb back up all over again.

Girardi's playing like he stuck a Game Genie in, though. Well, "genie" may be too strong a word to describe the relatively basic concept of putting in some kind of combination of Coke-Aceves-Hughes to bridge the gap to Mariano. But, you know, positive reinforcement! It's a welcome improvement over Girardi's previous habit of frantically blowing in the cartridge as a band-aid fix that ultimately never helps.

That's why I hate painkillers and anesthesia. I feel like they're just pulling the wool over my eyes without doing anything good.

Maybe the whole "good night's sleep" thing actually holds some merit. Good knowledge on the Yankees' part to capitalize on the "break" part of the All Star Break, and going the way of a "Reading Days"-type break as opposed to a "Cancun Spring Break."

Interestingly, Ron Guidry is looking past the immediate advantages of the restedness seen in the Yankees play in the last few games. Are the Yanks' tight performances really an accurate barometer of how they're going to fare once they're in the thick of rapid firing scheduling? Not according the the ace from '78. He was lights out solid on Sunday because of a cat nap. I don't disagree at all.

In honor of the Yankees hitting the top spot again: