I made it to the front end of today’s doubleheader and saw enough baseball to last a week. About four hours for eight pitchers to throw close to 400 pitches. I hardly cared who won after the Mets’ 15-6 drubbing of the Yanks was all over.

The big story was the Mets and Carlos Delgado’s nine RBI (a record for a visitor to Yankee Stadium…A-Rod holds the overall record at ten) so I made my way to the visitors’ clubhouse area. It was a crunch between games as the Mets had 20 minutes to get their things and get on their police-escorted bus to Shea. The media was directed into two circles in which three players and manager Jerry Manuel were rotated in and out. Delgado was a happy camper, but part of you could tell that he wanted to tell the media to shove it since every outlet in the city’s been calling for his head. Perhaps that inspired the .233 hitter to have a big day.

Now I see that Sidney Ponson went six shutout innings in a 9-0 revenge match at Shea. I’m not placing the ranch on this one panning out yet. Seriously, Ponson’s still listed at 6′1″, 258. He sweats when he’s standing still. Until my man sheds some pounds, I’m predicting his second term with the Yanks will be short.

Nonetheless, it’s always nice to see the Yanks beat Pedro.

Before closing, I have one comment on the media’s clear bias in favor of the Yankees over the Mets (which then helps, to some degree, sway public opinion). A colleague up at the stadium, Rich, griped about how he’s given up on being a Met fan after the Willie Randolph firing. Then he seemed to get to the heart of the matter just a little bit more. “They treat you with respect at Yankee Stadium. It’s a class act around here.” And it certainly is. Although media access to players leaves a bit to be desired, the Yankees certainly provide cushy work spaces for the press, keep everything clean and everyone who works there is happy and happy to see you. More importantly, the food is GOOD…famously better than the food at Shea (think high school cafeteria). Today I ate a full plate of eggs, bacon, hash browns, fried chicken and a mini-muffin before putting together a turkey sandwich from the cold cut platter to bring upstairs and eat during the game. As for Shea, let’s just say the last time I ate a full press meal I was on the throne for an inning and a half.

Simply put, the press gets the royal treatment at Yankee Stadium. At Shea, the security often looks at me like I’m trying to steal something. The inside workings of Shea are a dump. There is no space for the media to work besides back upstairs at their game seats (a real pain if you have a deadline or want to keep electronics dry when it rains and water leaks through the ceiling) and paint is peeling off the walls. Hopefully, it’s a lot better next year at the new place.

Now, you could have a worse life than working baseball games at Shea for a living. But when a press member sees his favorite manager go out in the middle of the night AND he’s not fed well…it may be just enough to start influencing some columns.

First of all, I gotta say I was surprised to hear that ex-Yank Shawn Chacon is in trouble for assaulting his boss, GM Ed Wade down in Houston.  Chacon’s side of the story is that Wade got in his face and the GM wouldn’t stop yelling.  That’s when the veteran pitcher slammed Wade to the ground by his neck.

Frankly, I’m stunned.  Back when I covered the Yanks in the ‘05 and ‘06 seasons, Chacon often appeared to be a few hours removed from a session with the peace pipe.  In my interactions with the guy, he was nothing but relaxed and pleasant, exercising a vocabulary that including surfer terminology.  I recall him admitting to “taking a serious digger” once when he slipped on the field.

Still, he choked his boss.  I don’t see the mellow reputation saving him.

As for the Yanks, it’s been a typical two-game stretch where the world has both deemed the season over and then praised them for getting hot at the right time.  I love this town. 

The fact is, Joe Girardi did what he needed to do after Tuesday night’s loss by tearing into his team.  Tuesday was pitiful.  Jeter and Abreu swinging against Tom Gorzelanny after the Pittsburgh starter walked Daryl Rasner (a pitcher) and then Melky Cabrera on four pitches.  The result, of course, was a fielder’s choice ground out and a double play against a guy that couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. 

I turned off the game after that…the Yanks were destined to lose.

As for last night, the Yanks got the message.  When I saw Bobby Abreu leg out a single in the first and then Alex Rodriguez go hard into second to force a wide throw from Jack Wilson — allowing two runs two score on what would have been an inning-ending double play — I knew the Yanks were going to win.   The fire was there last night.

This weekend it’s the Mets…I’ll be at the Yankee Stadium end of things to watch Dan Giese take on Mike Pelfrey.  I hope, somehow, Hank Steinbrenner has Willie Randolph back in a Yankee uniform either tomorrow or at least to showcase at the All-Star game.  What happened to him was awful.  He’d be a great mentor to some of the young players on the Yankees and is the kind of guy who excels in a professional atmosphere…something that I hear was lacking across town.

It’s the age-old formula to employ against the Yankees: call up a few kids from the minors the Yankees have never seen, hand ‘em the ball and then watch the wins pile up. Yes, the Yankees were playing well until they dropped two of three to the Reds over the weekend. Still, it seems the world is more excited about the Yankees’ pitching than the losses. Mike Mussina looked good, but lost to a very impressive, young Edinson Volquez. Giese lost to first-timer Daryl Thompson (and his bullpen). But Pettitte stepped up and dropped Johnny Cueto — of the Reds’ young guns, perhaps the one with the most impressive stuff.

You had a feeling the Yankees bats weren’t going to get it done when you saw about 15 combined career starts for three opposing pitchers. It’s just the way it’s been for about ten years in the Bronx.

So, uh…Dick Pole…oh, man. Really? How many times did that guy’s name and face come up on tv this weekend? Seriously, I’ve never seen so much attention paid to a pitching coach in my life…announcers loved saying it and the production guys had it up on the screen several times. You would think the guy would go by “Richard”.

Also, a thought on Volquez and the team he came from, the Rangers. As many of us know, he was traded with Danny Herrera for slugger Josh Hamilton. Volquez leads the NL in strike outs and ERA and is second in wins. Hamilton lead the AL in home runs and RBI and is seventh in batting average.

Now, Volquez has no known record of smoking crack and being an alcoholic. Guess who does? Hamilton. Additionally, the Rangers must have an allergic reaction to pitching and their own crack-like addiction to guys that can hit a ton. If they ever get/keep some real arms, perhaps we will see the Rangers in the playoffs again. They should have held on to Volquez who the Reds were smart enough to snag…it should be fun watching Cincinatti develop into a contender. I’m not so certain about Texas.

The Yankees may be on a roll and they may finally be playing solid ball. I look at the record and see they are six games above .500. Great. I see that they are 8-2 in the last 10 games. Wonderful. I see the recent brush success has come during Interleague play. Maybe I’m starting to feel a little less confident about it. I look a little closer and see that the stats are little scary. All of the sudden I’m not so cheerful.

I know I am not the eternal optimist, perhaps the eternal cynic instead. I am not exactly pleased about being five games out from first and three and a half behind the Tampa Bay Rays. I would like Yankee Stadium’s last season to be a little smoother, a little more dominant.

I would like to see the team with highest payroll in Major League Baseball play with a little more passion. I would also like to see a greater run differential than +19. I see that statistically, the Yankees rank in the middle of the rode in runs scored and runs allowed, though our hitting is rated much better than our pitching.

I would like to see an offense that ranks third in hitting average, fourth in slugging percentage, and third in on-base percentage do a little better than sixth in run production. This means that means that for all the power behind Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi’s bats they are more likely to be hitting solo shots than driving batters home. Of course, Rodriguez and Giambi are not the main offenders. If anything they are the exception to the numbers, with both having over 40 RBIs so far this season.

The rest of the offense needs to wake up and start hitting the ball with others on. It is inexcusable for a team to have so many good hitters and struggle to score runs. New York can forget about buying World Series tickets until the offense starts finishing better. Let’s face it- the pitching is not going to get much better, so it is up to the offense to carry the load.

I like this guy. Always have…I’ve been watching Joe Girardi on the tube tonight and have seen a couple of moves I’ve found impressive.

First, when Melky Cabrera lined out hard in his first at-bat you could see Joe trying to catch Melky’s eye while the center fielder was putting his helmet back in the cubbie. Moments later the camera panned back to Joe, with his back to the game, talking to Melky and seemingly offering encouragement to the struggling young player. The next time up Melky hit a double. Now, Melky may have hit a double regardless of Girardi’s pep talk, but all players — particularly young ones — need encouragement from time to time.

Second, Darrell Rasner has just finished the top of the fifth inning and has struggled, yet managed to keep his team ahead 4-2 to this point. Once again, Girardi is up and this time talking to Rasner. Maybe it’s the teacher in me, but I can’t help but find this mentality refreshing in a world of laissez faire managing.

The Yankees are getting hot right now, and I begin to wonder if Joe G’s personality is beginning to take hold on a club that may have felt a bit unstable without Joe Torre anymore. The jury is still out, and the Yankees are not hot enough to get too excited, but it’s nice to see a coach connecting with his players.

A lot brewing today including the 3am firing of Willie Randolph and Hank Steinbrenner looking to change how the NL plays ball because Chien-Ming Wang broke his foot.  One is kinda like someone punching your cousin and the other is like seeing a child cry because one of his favorite toys is broken.

First with Willie, forever a Yankee, it will be the Mets’ loss that he’s gone.  Like many say, he was set up to fail by a power structure that did not support him…the Mets’ management wanted Randolph gone and thus Randolph was blamed for Carlos Delgado’s .242 average as well as slumps by Jose Reyes and the relief pitching. Meanwhile, the Mets’ pitching staff is 6th in the NL in ERA…yet the pitching coach also took a hit.  Foolish.

Perhaps the Yanks will make a little room to bring home a faithful third base and bench coach…

As for Hank…well, I know his years in the game (and then years out) give him the right to brush off NL rules that would have a pitcher run the bases…or is it his money and birth family that give him that right…here’s the million dollar quote:

“The pitcher has enough work to do. It’s something Bud (Selig) needs to address and he needs to address it soon. Don’t give me that traditionalist crap.

“We go to these NL cities, draw great crowds and we end up losing one of our best pitchers. I’m not happy.”

Of course you’re not happy, Hank…you lost a very expensive toy…and it’s hard to buy new 19-game winners. 

Yeah, um….November as my last post…wow, this is awkward. My bad.

I mean I knew in my mind that I wouldn’t be posting until June, but this still feels like a hell of a long break.

But there’s good reason and I won’t bore anyone who still looks in at this site once in a while with many of the details. See, I just finished my first year of teaching Sports Journalism to high school students. Seriously, it was a trip…and in our last month I taught them how to make sports blogs. Honestly, a great experience I wouldn’t trade for the world as my kids started with game recaps, learned sports columns, profiles and finally the blogs…from writing a new curriculum, to writing grants for supplies and taking educational grad classes, there was just no time for the blog. Still, I managed to squeeze in coverage of a few games here and there (Rangers, Knicks, Mets and Yanks)…and now, with school out for the summer, I’ve got nothing but time.

So here the Yankees are seven games out and off in Oakland…did anyone expect much else? New manager…young (and oft injured) pitchers…I have to say if Joe Girardi has made one good move (and he’s made several), it’s that he threw Jason Giambi back at first base. It seems that everyone in the world besides Joe Torre knew that Giambi hit better when he also played in the field. Call it a psychological quirk or what have you, the numbers simply did not lie…yet Torre insisted on sitting Jason for health reasons even when he was healthy — Joe T. used to worry about Jason’s knees — and for defense. Well, after starting the season with a woeful .165 average in April, Giambi hit .315 in May and is at .364 for the month of June. Not to mention that Giambi is 4th in the AL in home runs. Kudos, Joe G.

Meanwhile, Giambi has 4 errors in 43 games at first for a fielding percentage of .990…his glove is always good for a scoop and even though he won’t get to all the balls in the hole, he’s not losing games with his defense.

Not bad at all…

Anyway, I don’t see any reason why I won’t be back at this on a regular basis throughout the summer. Hopefully, I haven’t been gone so long as to lose all of my readers. Certainly, it feels good to be writing again.