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

That's what I sent to my coworker when I got out of a conference call and realized that sometime in the span of the 40 minute call, that the 6-0 game had turned into a 1-run game with about 1000 baserunners on, threatening to give me a heart attack.

The truth of the matter is, a brainstorm session wasn't even necessary because there's just one person to blame, and it's the same person it always is. Well, almost always is. There's a 50-50 chance.

Flip a coin. Heads it's Chan Ho Park. Tails it's Justin Chamberlain.

Tails came up today.

But the Yanks came up on top, so all's well that end's well, right?

Of course, the day-game-ness of it meant I didn't get to see anything actually unfold beyond the staccato viewing of a Blueberry refresh screen. Javy "looked" good (or seemed good, anyway, based on the fact he held the Halos to 0 runs through the first half of the game), but the kid started to melt literally and figuratively, in the 2nd half.

The runs started with an RBI single from Frandsen (who?) and then continued with more dings from Wilson and Matsui. (Yeah, he used to be a Yankee. Our WS MVP. Who we traded. As much as I'd LOVE to use this time to go on about how we never should have traded him, I'm ok with that move. I love Matsui, but I can see the rationale behind dealing him.)

The homeruns came in droves today, actually, with basically the entire world going yard. Not really, but whenever Juan Miranda takes someone deep, I have to assume that it was just on the heels of everyone else doing it, too.

And that wasn't even the biggest bomb of the day.

GGBG gets ejected from the game, leading me to think that homeplate umpire Emmel is basically the dean from "Old School."



Give me a break, dude. Tossing someone mid-AB? I remember once during a HS softball game, I was pitching and my coach pulled me mid-AB. I think that might have been the point me and my dad decided not to listen to anything she said ever again ever.

Which was hilarious, because I had the coach on the sidelines giving me signals, and my dad in the bleachers doing the same thing, and the coach's signals would become these frantic hand waving motions when she realized I wasn't even remotely paying attention to her.

Whatever, lady. My dad's smarter. FAMILY FIRST.

Anyways, just as it was a mistake to pull me mid-batter, it was a mistake for Emmel to thumb GGBG. (And I say mistake because YOU KNOW that guy hates the Yankees. There's no such thing as neutrality, unless you're talking about chemically charged ions.)

Colin Curtis steps up and crushes it into the right field stands for a 3-run homer.

A.) It's official, I have a huge crush on him and am making it my mission to "accidentally run into" him since we live in the same neighborhood.

B.) Here's the funniest part about the kid's first MLB homerun:

Curtis said a Yankees security official retrieved the souvenir ball from the fan who caught it -- in exchange for a ball signed by Jeter and A-Rod."I had to ask them for autographs after the game," Curtis said.

HA! The guy gets a curtain call then has to actually barter with a guy in the stands. Geez. Can't you just let the guy have his day in the sun? I'm not happy with that guy. NOT COOL, FAN. NOT COOL.

Let this be a lesson to you non-Yankee-proponents. Don't toss someone mid-bat, because whatever's behind door #2 is probably just as lethal if not more so. It's like not intentionally walking Tex to get to A-Rod. Out of the frying pan, into the f'n fire.

So back to the pitching. Javy through 80 pitches in 5 innings, which is pretty outstanding, especially considering 74% of them were strikes. He walked no one, and I think that's more valuable than it even suggests. COMMAND and CONTROL are exactly what the rotation needs. Excellent showing, Javy.

Piniero, not as great, and his 7-game win streak is snapped.

Justin Chamberlain...well, I just don't like him. And I know I made it sound like he blew the game or something in the beginning of this, or even that he was the one who squandered the lead. But look at what the rest of the bullpen did: THEIR JOB.

D-Rob, Boone Logan, and Mo all came in and kept the Angels from scoring. Justin came in and gave up 3 hits and a run on 20 pitches. He couldn't be any less trustworthy if he was in politics.

So there was the game. The Yanks split it with the Halos, Boston loses to the A's, and TB narrowly edges out the O's.

The standings: Yanks, TB (-2.5), Boston (-7), J's (-12), O's (INF).

Tomorrow we host the Royals, today Fatso celebrates his 30th birthday.

It was a good day to show the world the Yanks offense is fine (15 hits on the day. Our 8th batter is batting .300.)

And as for the "slumping" Jeter:3 H, 3 R.

Maybe that'll shut up the armchair psychologists probing Jeter's mental state.

How's his confidence looking NOW?