Sunday, May 27, 2012

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

## So far, it is for the Yanks. Winning 4 out of 6 on a West Coast trip is pretty good and the Yanks are half way to the four wins. Today they  face Tommy Milone, who is arguably their best starter. You never know what you'll get from Kuroda, so we'll have to hope for the best.  At least the offense seems to be coming around.

## At least Teixeira has awakened, hitting three home runs in the last two games. He SAYS he decided to quit trying to beat the extreme shifts teams throw at him and just go back to mashing the ball and taking his chances. This sounds good, but I never saw him try to hit the ball to left while batting left-handed, much less attempting a bunt. I don't think Mark can even spell bunt.

## Nick Swisher also says he's changing his style of hitting, too.  He's not trying to steer the ball, hitting it away from fielders. When asked if Coach Kevin Long gave him any tips, he said no, he was taking his grandmothers advice. What was that?  "Just hit the damn ball!"

## Boston and Tampa are having fun. Rays manager Joe Maddon said the Boston coaches were the most aggressive people in their bench-clearing brawl Friday, and their actions were "...a disgrace and unprofessional," among other things. Bobby Valentine said his coaches were "doing their job" and trying to stop the fight and that Tampa's coaches were doing all the pushing and shoving and were "out of control." It's a playground fight. I'm waiting for "Nyah, nyah. My bench coach can beat up your bench coach."

## Of course, Valentine doesn't needs Maddon's help to look silly.  Yesterday, in a 0-0 game with 2 outs in the bottom of the sixth, he inserted a pinch runner for Adrian Gonzales at second base, even though there was a man on third, too. This accomplished two things: it lost another at bat for one of their best hitters in a tight game and at the same time, irritated Gonzales. If the next guy gets a hit, you will score at least one run, which may be enough and if you don't, it's still 0-0 and you'll need A-Gon to get another chance at the plate. Valentine said it was a "total roll of the dice." Maybe in Japan, Bobby, not here. I want that big bat in the lineup.

***THEY SAID IT***
"Ex-pitcher Curt Schilling's troubled video-game company laid off its entire staff of 400 on Thursday. Red Sox apologists immediately blamed it on too many employees drinking beer and eating chicken in the break room."  -- Dwight Perry
"The Kentucky Derby is often called "The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports." Wait a minute; that might be Kim Kardashian."  -- RJ Currie
"After being thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple: "I always think I'm faster than I am."  -- Mark Teixeira
"Hal Steinbrenner denied a report that the Yankees are for sale for $3 billion. Imagine, $3 billion. Do you have any idea how many players the Yankees could sign for that kind of money? Well, two."  -- Brad Dickson
"A veterinarian told CBS he's spotted golf balls, fish hooks, needles and toys when X-raying a dog's stomach. "They've pretty much seen it all, well, except homework."  -- Cam Hutchinson
"The  Roger Clemens (second) trial has now dragged on over six weeks. Six weeks?! That’s longer than the 2012 Cubs stayed in playoff contention."  -- Janice Hough
"Four-hundred Spanish soccer fans missed a match in Bucharest after mistakenly going to Budapest. When I hear comforting stories like this, I feel reassured that not every country in the world is about to surpass the United States."  -- Brad Dickson

CP-

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