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

The art of networking and schmoozing is the cornerstone of success now. Which I always hated. So does my dad. He was a college professor before he owned the cemetery, and he NEVER graded on attendance or class participation. Because he could spot bullshit from the other side of the globe, and he was much more appreciative of the legitimately smart people in the class. The quiet ones who did the work, knew what they were doing, aced the exams.

And he didn't think that these genuinely intelligent people should have their talent diluted by virtue of students who would come in and blather on for 2 hours. He was grading the outcome, not the effort, and THAT, he thought, is what should be rewarded.

Similarly, Arod is the best baseball player in the game. He's in a different league. When all is said and done, he may very well be the best that ever played. And yet he has to suffer the slings and arrows of social outcry and criticism because he's a mess when it comes to deal with public relations.

Screw them, Arod.

And last night, he did.

He didn't join in the lovefest with Torre before the game. And I respect that. Torre COMPLETELY threw him under the bus with his Yankee Years, and now you expect him to be like, "Oh no big. It's cool. Torre's a great guy. He got screwed."

No.

Arod shouldn't have to swallow his pride just for the sake of making nice. Has Torre ever apologized for this? No. In fact, all he's done is play the innocent, hands up in defense, martyr act like, "I don't know what I did!"

Really, Joe? REALLY?

I'm not saying you're a complete demon, you did a lot of good with the Yanks. But to pick on someone who's perennially the subject of attacks and debate, just because you know that'll appease the target audience, well that's just weeshpy. I don't know if that's a real word, but my dad uses it all the time, and it's appropriate.

So kudos to our clean up batter, for showing what he can do when he's not in the 8-spot, and when he's batting where he belongs. His bomb to left put the Yanks on the board, tying the game after Womanny's RBI single in the first.

Posada plated Arod later in the game to give the Yanks all the run support they'd need.

Another superstar badass of the night= Fatso.

Sabathia (9-3) allowed four hits and one run, struck out seven and walked three. The defense helped him out, turning double plays in the third and fifth innings.

He took off the kid gloves, so to speak, retaliating when Padilla hit Cano in the 4th.

And there's the thing with interleague play. You wanna be a scrub and plunk our best bat? Well then be prepared to put yourself in the line of fire when the tables are turned.

Tubbo didn't waste the opportunity, and promptly drilled Padilla. And the best part was, after the game, there were no vague dismissals about it. Tubbo was pretty overt, pointing at him, staring him down. GOOD. FOR. YOU.

Padilla spared CC in his own AB, and you could sort of tell CC was a little uneasy. The blimp normally LOVES to bat, and at this go around, he was barely even taking his stance. He struck out looking and didn't seemed too surprised or disappointed.

I was in and out of consciousness for the game, and I actually didn't even get home from work til around midnight, so I had to listen to most of it on the radio, watched some of it on the big screen in the office conference room, and finished off my night half awake on the couch. I chugged Pepsi with aggressive determination, since I was just DYING to see the next storied encounter in this series rife with controversy.

WoMANNY vs MARIANO.

Last I remember this matchup, the former was pulling a Beltran and used whatever Krazy Glue embedded his bat to his shoulder during Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. 3 pitches. No swings. 3 strikes. ManRam leaves Boston. Good riddance.

Not a whole lot different this time around. It was indeed well worth it to fight my urges to sleep. Mo struck out the side in the 9th, game over, Yanks win. Other AL East teams lose. Our lead extends to 3, and the Dodgers continue to flail all over the place.

Take that and rewind it back. That's how we roll, LA.

Next time you want to publish a tell all, Joe, remember to mention that.