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

"I think Arod might retire with 599." --OchoOcho

Is anyone else starting to find this even more frustrating than the pursuit of 500? I don't know, it's a tough call, I guess. With 500, it was especially noticeable because he had been popping off HRs 40 times a day, and then at 499 it's like he came to a cartoonish screeching halt, like he's Wile E Coyote chasing the Road Runner right til he gets to the edge of a cliff or something.

He hasn't been QUITE as productive as he was that year, but I guess I'm perhaps more frustrated because I didn't think Arod was vulnerable to that kind of pressure anymore. You know, that whole proving-he's-actually-invaluable-in-the-clutch thing kind of voided everything we ever thought we knew about the guy.

But here we are, pathetically getting instinctively somewhat disappointed when he knocks a double off the wall, and not a ding over it.

Also, here's the headline for the game recap on ESPN:

A-Rod stuck at 599 but hits back resurgent Burnett as Yanks roll

I had to reread that about 2934823 times before I could figure out what they were trying to say.

But once I could pick it apart...yeah, it's not false.

AJ= resurgent (I hope?)
Hits= a lot of them
Yanks roll= in spades

The longer Arod goes without hitting 600, the more personable he seems to get. He went 2 for 5 today, and when he hit a double in the 6th, his slide knocked the base right out of the ground (another cartoon moment for the superstar).

"I thought the milestone was doubles, so I took the base," Rodriguez said in explaining why he held the bag aloft.

Well played, Alex. Well played.



"This is the best infield evr. I challng ne1 to name a better 1. all have rocket arms. Greatgloves. hof [sic] bats."

(Ha, I love my friends. I always end up writing in weird text shorthand when I'm watching game, too, because I get too excited to write full words. Or real words, for that matter.)

Here's how our infield did tonight:
Tex: 2 for 4, 2 ribbies
Cano: 2 for 5, 1 ribbie, HR
Jeter: 0-5
Arod: 2 for 5, 1 ribbie

They are so so so good. And their defense is just the icing on the cake. Seriously, we don't even appreciate it as much as we should sometimes because, to wax cliche for a second, they make it look so easy. Their offense is mind-boggling and often dramatic, but their fielding doesn't get the sparkly accolades because for them, everything is a routine out.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit." -Aristotle

And speaking of excellent...AJ BURNETT.

Our favorite loony tune (cartoon reference #3 for those of you counting) struck out 7 and gave up zero runs in his 3rd win out of his last 4 outings.

Fausto Carmona...not as strong, and definitely not as "charismatic."

Carmona was pounded for seven runs and 10 hits over 2 2/3 innings."You know what happened," the right-hander said. "I gave up a bunch of base hits."

Thanks, Fausto. You paint us quite the picture there.

Their younger pitchers, however, leveraged the whole "The first time I see the Yankees is also the last time I beat them" thing. Yanks can't hit off new pitchers. At all. I get that it's probably harder, but you'd think that adjustment etc was part of the job description.

And then on the opposite end of the spectrum is Justin Chamberlain, who's thrown so many freaking sliders that batters know him better than himself.

Sometimes when I'm playing beirut and miss the first shot, I judge myself. As Strange once said, "The day I can't hit a cup on a full rack is the day I quit playing." Awesome. SIMILARLY, I think Justin should be saying the same sort of thing to himself:

"8-0 lead. How could I possibly f this up?"

No lead is safe with him on the mound.

Braden Looper, you're off the hook. I've found a new awful reliever to drop my energies upon. ("Unless you're a Yankee fan, every single fanbase hates their closer/relievers." --Ollie)

Good point, Oillie.

And... I'm off to bed. That's right. MY BED. (Which ultimately is for the best since if I tried to stay awake any longer, I'd be making even less sense than I am now. I wore no socks to work today by accident. I need to get my freaking head back in the game.

Final game in the series agains the Tribe. Let's close it out.

And let's hope I soon remember which day is "Friday."

I have got to stop telling cab drivers to "have a good weekend" when it's only Tuesday morning.