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

I realized that when the Yankees are winning, I never expect them to lose. I don't know why. It's like if there's so much as a 1-run lead, I think it's in the bag.

Because I'm thinking to myself, "You know how hard it is to get a hit in baseball? And then not only get a hit, but enough hits to score a run before 3 outs are made? It's so hard, and I'm surprised teams can do it at all sometimes."

But maybe I should recall the sage words of LouAnn Johnson of Dangerous Minds:



I guess it's a lot easier to lose an A than earn one. Or in terms of the game, a lot easier to lose the lead than take one? Hm. Not sure.

But it certainly is something I should consider the next time I'm so convinced the Yanks have a victory locked up on account of a 1-run lead.

AJ was pitching really well, and since I was listening to the first part of the game on the radio at the office, I was confused why Sterling/Waldman weren't making more of this. In fact, despite the fact it was a mere 1-0 score, the way they were calling it, they made it sound like AJ was just throwing the ball away. If they hadn't said the score, I would have guessed it'd be somewhere in the range of 7-5 by just the way they were lamenting Burnett's lack of control and "off-day."

Those things are not really congruous with a scoreless outing.

Anyways, I don't know what they were talking about, because when I got home around 2:30, AJ was still pitching and he looked good from where I was sitting.

4 hits, 0 runs, 6Ks. Not too bad.

The bad came in when the game went into extras. The J's tied it up when Joba/Justin (of course) gave up a run on 2 hits and a walk. God, I loathe him.

But, ok whatever, he sucked and let the W get away from AJ, and I think AJ's a psychopath enough that he probably tortured Joba mercilessly after the game. I hope I hope I hope, anyway.

Then Mo comes in, holds the game, induces tsk-tsking from Torre somewhere I'm sure ("BUT THAT'S NOT A SAVE SITUATION!") and manages to get out of inning, run-free (despite hitting Gonzalez with a pitch, but he's Mo, so he gets some latitude. He's been getting a lot of latitude lately, actually, but I support this, because there's gotta be SOME reward for being that god-like and immortal so consistently for so many years, right?)

The game was lost when D-Rob came in and let up a run. Michael Kay notes, "So Robertson apparently is taking it out on his mitt." I love when the announcers do that. Seriously. I don't know why, but I think it's hilarious when they make these deadpan comments half-mocking the pitchers who blow leads.

They've seen a million times, and I guess for them it's borderline amusing how often the pitchers have temper tantrums like 5 year olds, after what will ultimately be a meaningless blip in the grand scheme of their lives.

I used to love D-Rob. I don't anymore. I don't hate him, but I don't like it when pitchers act all pouty and irate when they blow a lead when someone like D-Rob really shouldn't be surprised by it at this point. I mean, it's one thing if Mo blows a lead. Part of me would be ok if he got all pissed off at himself. It's rare and it's jarring.

But when a pitcher like Joba/Justin or D-Rob loses the game for us and then acts like a crazy person, I'm thinking, "Ok relax small fry. Stop acting like this is such a frustrating departure from your usual stuff. You do this all the time. Either get used to it and stop acting like a baby, or even better, stop screwing everything up for the rest of the team."

Speaking of screwing things up, Chan Ho Park comes in, and I get the following message from my coworker Gerry:

"WHY IS HE EVEN ON THE TEAM?"

I respond, "He's our Bowel Movement Specialist."

His reply: "WE DON'T NEED THAT."

Fair enough.

The Yanks lose in extra innings, spoiling a perfectly good outing from Good AJ, and pissing me off to high heaven. The first day of 4th of July weekend, and I have to start it with the bitter taste of an extra inning defeat on my tongue. It tastes chalky and sour.

Oh, and along the lines of my increasing concerns about the Yanks' patience at the plate...well, yesterday only further bolstered my mounting fears. In the games prior to last night's, the Yanks were taking an average of 115 pitches, which was roughly at least 70 less than what their opponents were doing.

Last night? In 11 innings, they saw 148 pitches....to the J's 211.

Kevin Long, Kevin Long, where are thou, Kevin Long?

I don't know what it is with the J's, but I feel like every single time we push them past the regulation 9 innings, they best us. A weird coincidence, perhaps. And if today's game hadn't already started, (and disappointing me), then I might spend more time researching this.

But as it is, the Yanks are currently losing 2-0 in the bottom of the 2nd, and I'm really starting to get annoyed.

Be back later with the game highlights, and let's hope this time around we can avoid extras not to mention sidestepping a loss landmine.

Happy 4th of July Eve, btw!