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

Brian Cashman seems to know what he's doing.

We all wondered what in God name's he could POSSIBLY want with Randy Winn. Did he have any discernible utility or value to speak of?

Yes, we needed more outfielders, but it was a curious choice. I mean, we had just literally sold the farm to get Granderson. Now we were getting arbitrary back up plans in the form of Mr. Irrelevant? And Marcus Thames to boot? Why them? What exactly did Cashman see in them? Were they just picked up solely for their bargain prices and availability? Or did he actually foresee these two particular randoms playing specific and pointed roles in the Yankee lineup?

How do you look at these guys and think, "THEM. I want THEM. They would fit in perfectly with my master dynamic. They're the missing pieces. PICK 'EM UP!"?

And can I make it any more obvious that I've been decidedly OD-ing on 48 Hours: Hard Evidence, as I continue this line of thought like I'm cross-examining a murder witness and not simply musing over the interesting off-season acquisitions?

Well, I don't know. I DO know that one of possibly 8 things I learned as a Theater Major was, as Chekhov asserted, "If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there."

Today, the seemingly odd-placed gun set down on the table during the offseason was finally fired.

Two days ago, Grandy goes down.

Today, Randy Winn comes in.

Winn has been not only useless but, worse, detrimental. A week ago, we get bestest by the (vomit) O's, in a 5-4 loss that could easily be pinned on a throw from Randy Winn that resembled someone throwing a shuttlecock on the beach.

Today, however, with Winn filling his roll as the Man behind the Grand, he came through.

It almost reminds me of what my dad always says to me whenever he can tell I'm nervous about a game. "Don't worry about it, Kris. I've already seen this one. It's a rerun, the Yanks end up coming back in the 6th when Posada hits a grandslam."

Did Cashman already see this season? Because I gotta say, it couldn't have gone any more according to plan than if they had hired Frank.



So, yeah. Basically what happens here is that without Randy Winn, CC's outing is deemed shaky, but with him, it's a gem.

Wonder rookie Wieters takes CheeseCake deep early, giving the O's a 1-0 lead. And any O's fan would be lying they didn't admit to the feeling they had at that point: c'mon you know you felt it. You just swept the Sux. Now you got an early lead against the Yanks in our Bronx abode. You thought the pendulum of momentum was affixed in your side of the world.

Then the crack of a bat snapped you all back into reality. Swish singles deep to right, scores Arod, and it's a tie game.

For like, 34 seconds.

2 batters later, Randy Winn steps up to the plate and drops a long ball into the ever popular right center homerun territory.

4-1 Yankees. And after the 4th, no one would score again. Soo...insert your own punchy lines about Winn and win etc, here.

Swish and Winn were actually the only contributers to the offense today, with #33 going an impressive 3 for 3.

Guthrie was pretty good (for an O) but CC was better. Barely. BUT, I did learn the most interesting thing about pitchers ever today, thanks to Leiter's much enjoyed and much appreciated little in-game pitching clinics he shares with Kay in the broadcast booth:

The shoulder rotating on a pitcher is the fastest motion in any and all sports. 6800 degrees per second. (Of course, when I first relayed this stat, I may have been a little too excited and hence replace "degrees" with miles.

SEMANTICS.

Fatty gave up 6 hits and 1 HR, only striking out 2, but, as usual, going deep into the game. Joba comes in to close it out, and something I've been noticing a little more with Joba is that he's MERCIFULLY trying to go for the jugular and NOT rely on the completely predictable slider. If you watch closely, and pay attention to the radar, you'll see our young Joba's velocity inching back to awesome, inching away from subpar. WELL DONE, WELL DONE.

And well done to you, too, Powers That Be. I don't how you do, I generally don't know WHY you do it, but I suppose now is as good a time as any to fully acknowledge and embrace the Yankee Universe's faith in you.

Yeah, well played, guys. Cashman's coo'.