Upon Baseball

So the Yankees have taken yet another series (2 0f 3 against Texas), and head now to woeful Seattle to start with the M's. Another strong outing by Duque, showing the escapability that will make him invaluable in any playoff run. I'm all for the overpowering starts that we saw last week, when the Yanks had a run of 4 straight 8 inning starts. I'd love to see the team run guys out there for20-24 batters, then treat them to a dose of Q-G-R (Quantrill/Gordon/Rivera). However, as we have seen throughout the season, this will not often be the case. You are typically not gonna see 3-up, 3-down, inning after inning. What I was pleased to see was Duque's response to jams. Key strike-outs with men on. Pitching strong and confident from behind in the count. This is exactly what you need from a playoff starter, and that is exactly what the rest of the regular season figures to be, auditions for which slot you will fill in the playoff rotation.

I need to see something from Mussina this weekend. I am willing to write off much of his season thus far as an aberration. Take away Japan and his struggles to find the plate, and you can have his string of wins with it. Lets take it back to page one. This team will struggle to go deep in the playoffs without Moose near or at the top of the rotation. He has an array of pitches to keep any lineup guessing, and if his location is there he can be unhittable. Mike has rarely looked like himself this year, and I think he needs to show and prove in this cupcake game that he can be back and dealing come October.

Look for John Olerud to receive a warm reception from the Seattle fans. Class act that guy. I am very happy with the pickup. Something about the way he presents that target at first base just inspires confidence in me.

I'll stop before this becomes an epic. I could write about this team all day and not get tired.