Random Thoughts-Game 69

-We can bitch all we want about Jeter & Cano and their double plays, Girardi’s calling for a bunt here or there and various relievers who had the nerve to give up a run or two. The deciding runs on Saturday and Sunday were allowed on bad fielding plays. Damon’s fielding error on Saturday and Melky’s throwing error on Sunday. There’s not much you can do about DP’s and relief pitchers aren’t going to be perfect, but Fielding errors really bug you.

-As Joe P from RAB so clearly explained, the biggest difference in yesterday’s game was of course losing CC in the 2nd inning. At that point, all bets are off. I thought the Yanks did a good job making that game interesting, especially at the end.

-It’s easy to kill Brett Tomko and his 6.28 ERA. Looking at his game log, he’s only had two bad outings this year which have exploded his ERA in very few innings (14 total). The one yesterday and another against the Mets. In 9 of his other 11 appearances he’s allowed 1 run or less, and in 6 of them he’s allowed no runs. He’s one of our last men in the bullpen, so its not a big deal one way or the other. Until we have a more reliable option coming from Scranton or we make a deal of some sort, he’ll be fine in that limited role.

-The Yankees are #2 in all of Baseball in Runs scored. Remind your fellow fans of this fact the next time they scream about lack of clutch hitting or failing in some ‘key’ situation. Every other team in Baseball (except the Rays) wishes they sucked as bad as we do.

-For all of the drama that surrounds A-Rod, the biggest surprise to me about his Fri/Sat benching was not whether Girardi was in on the conference call (last minute situation) or whether Alex gave 100 friends and family tix (that’s done weeks in advance). The biggest surprise to me, that nobody in the media commented on, was that Hal Steinbrenner was following the team and inserted himself in the Baseball ops. He has no history of doing this and has often said he doesnt know enough about the Baseball end to get involved. He graduated Williams College and has an MBA from the University of Florida. He’s a businessman, not a Baseball man.

-Ian Kennedy is returning to the Scranton Wilkes Barres AAA team to do his rehab work withthe club. He’s still a few weeks away, but he’s getting closer. Good for Ian, I’ve always been a fan of his and I still think he’ll be a good MLB pitcher someday.