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

A look at the first game on their west coast road trip... 10:05 against Seattle.


And then some additional thoughts...

Jorge Posada had the right idea when he did his best impression of [insert maddening Hills character]. He got some vacation and down time, and all it cost him was general disdain and public disappointment. Looking down the barrel of a week out west, I'd say that's a small price to pay.

The Yanks officially pull the trump card on any complaining we may do about our jobs, since they decidely have a worse work schedule for the rest of the season than any strung out investment banker. They kick it off by going 3000 miles to face Felix Hernandez (15-5, 2.52)...whose ERA in September starts is so disgusting. I don't even want to type it.

I actually have the same nauseous reflex when I think about spelling out our own starter's auspicious numbers of late. A.J. Burnett (11-9, 4.33) is 1-5 with a 6.14 ERA since August 1. You know somewhere Mitre's thinking, "Well, even I could do that."

But I'm not worried about AJ. He'll shut them down tonight, because he has to shut them down tonight. That's all there is to it.* Because every game til the end of the season is going to be meaningful...even when it's technically not.

*Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira eat pitches of Felix for breakfast. (Damon: 5-9; Tex: .333, 3 dings). So I wouldn't mind this as a backup plan. Just in case AJ doesn't actually do what he has to. God, I can't believe AJ Burnett precipitated Seattle as a 61% favorite...over the best team in baseball. Ouch. It's like swinging at a 3-0 pitch from Randy Johnson in his prime.