What I Learned From Tonight’s Blowout
1) iPhones are the greatest invention known to mankind.
I’ve had mine for awhile now, but tonight it allowed me to do three things at once: eat dinner with a friend, “watch” the Yankees beat the tar out of the Indians and enjoy the beautiful view of the Santa Barbara harbor at the Endless Summer cafe.
2) Dustin Moseley knows how to pitch.
He was great tonight after some first inning jitters. Threw strikes. Kept his cool. Deserves another start for sure.
3) Cervelli has the ability to make me mad.
Memo to him: When you come up with the bases loaded and the opposing pitcher has done nothing but walk batters, do not swing at the first pitch and ground into a rally killing DP.
4) A-Rod is allowed to have fun during his chase for #600.
The guy has been an RBI machine, so people need to stop worrying about the homers. He’s helping us win – big time.
5) Scoring seven runs in one inning is what I’d like the Yankees to do over the weekend in Tampa.
Not that I didn’t appreciate the runs tonight, but I’d really like a lot of offense against the Rays. Please.
6) Chan Ho Park cannot – I repeat – CANNOT – pitch two innings.
I know. It was a laugher. But thanks to him things got a little hairy in the ninth. All those walks. Seriously. He’s okay for one inning (if nobody else is available), but not for two. That is all.
7) Marcus Thames reminded me of these in his attempt to play third.
Yeah, he’d never played there before and he was giving A-Rod a rest. But I had flashbacks of Angel Berroa. Not good.
8) The grilled mahi mahi at Endless Summer is worth checking out if you’re ever in the neighborhood.
Confessions of a She-Fan 
I learned that Andy Marte has a more heat on this fastball than Aaron Laffey.
-Amy
http://amyharber.mlblogs.com (Jobu’s Teepee)
Andy Marte was terrific, Amy! I loved how the crowd chanted “Andy Andy Andy!” The whole scenario reminded me of when Swisher had to pitch for the Yanks during a blowout in Tampa.
I came home just in time to see Moseley pitch in the first, and saw his struggles. He really bounced back in the next few innings, and I was impressed with what I saw. Good move by Joe starting him over Mitre.
The offense was great today as well. And I agree with you, even though A-Rod hasn’t hit 600, he’s been SO productive. The team comes first, and he’s been helping the team out. 600 will come, but for now, you can’t complain about what A-Rod has been doing.
Sarah
Ok, so I wasn’t the only one yelling at Cervi last night. I was mad that he swung on the first pitch that inning. He did have an RBI hit later in the game. So I forgave him. For all the energy he has, I can’t believe he still hasn’t hit a hr this season. Thames at 3rd was interesting. He has only played 1st base his whole career. I too want 600 to be over with. All the hype and the special baseballs. Just do it already. Can’t complain too much. At least A-Rod is getting some hits and driving in runs. And Park, he’s another story. Oy! Did anyone see at the end of the game when Cervelli went to console him. Park kind of brushed him off. I would not have consoled him in the first place. Cervi works hard at motivating the pitchers. I read a quote where he said that when the pitcher loses so does the catcher. I’m excited about the Rays series. We need to sweep them, or at least take 2 out of 3. I’m hearing all 3 games are sold out. Let’s go Yankees!!!
Ah yes… the showdown is upon us. I’ve been gettin’ excited about these Rays/Yanks matchups this season. May this weekend’s be no less entertaining.
–Jeff
http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/
http://mtrredstatebluestate.com
Moseley was a little worrisome at first but he clearly straightened up and deserves another start. CHOP is off my list – I know he’s okay for one inning and not two but I still don’t trust his stuff.
The early innings were frustrating to see so many runners left in scoring position but them come the 7th with two outs and our guys let loose. Amazing production. I agree, Jane, would like to have saved a few of those runs for the series that starts tonight but maybe this is just a sign that they are on a roll and we needn’t worry. Swisher has good numbers against tonight’s Rays’ starting pitcher so lets hope he gets the ball rolling – no, I mean flying. LOL. GO YANKEES!!!
Two innings? They’re rolling the dice letting him pitch one!
http://www.paullebowitz.com/
http://princeofny.blogspot.com/
And so, here we go…down to the Trop, where anything goes…Tampa has been a Chamber of Horrors for me in seasons past, as my fave football and college hoops teams have lost championships there…but that was outdoors then, and here we are now…
Sure was good to see Young Mr. Moseley do so well — and maybe A-Rod is saving that tater for a dramatic moment? We can only hope…
As for Chan Ho-rible — I think I’ve told you before about how, in bygone fantasy beisbol, we had what we called Pig Pitchers. They eat innings, and leave whatever kinda mess behind — only to be used in 11-1 games up or down. We are in a state of Oink with More Park’s Sausages, Mom…
Fun to see da boyz have fun with Wild Man Marcus at the hot corner…a little live levity, good for the team…
And finally — note that SI has published “The 25 Most Hated Teams Of All Time” this week, for all sports. Let our fellow bloggers guess who may be on it…just one Yankee team, the Boys of ’78 (Reggie, Thurm, Bucky F. Dent, Goose, Puff, and Billy, until he was fired)…the Bane of Bahston!!!
Hi Jane and fellow bloggers friends:
Mi life is a mess, and I’m sorry for the absence, but the past weeks were, well, terrible is just beginning to describe them; the only good thing is the Yanks are winning. I read a report in some local paper about the Yankees talking with the Royals about Joakim Soria as the successor of Mo. Any of you knows something? I know the kid has great stuff, I know his team doesn’t help him in the statistics, but I’ve always considered him as a top closer; even I can’t even imagine the Yanks without Mo, I think Joakim would be a nice closer, but what about Joba??
Jane: How DARE you yell at Cervelli! I was a little annoyed at that, but I didn’t let him know it 🙂 The Andy Marte thing was the highlight of my evening. I love how the drummer drummed for him!
-Virginia
http://southernbelle.mlblogs.com
My sentiments exactly, Sarah. Moseley got over his early jams and A-Rod is contributing to the team effort for wins. Another positive that I forgot to mention was Colin Curtis. I know I praise him a lot here, but he’s been a bright spot.
No, you weren’t the only one yelling at Cervelli, Becky. The problem was that I was in a public place when I yelled. LOL. I must have missed seeing Cervelli try to console Park and Park’s brushoff. Rude! Park was handicapped by Thames throwing error and wasn’t there a passed ball (or was it a wild pitch)? But still. Those walks with an 11-1 lead. What was he thinking? I’m excited about the series with the Rays too, but no predictions from me. I’m taking the games one at a time!
The series should be interesting, Jeff. Whenever the top two teams in the division go head to head, it’s fun and scary and nail biting. My palms are getting sweaty already.
The Yanks did leave a lot of runners on base, Diane. So true. When you think about all the walks – didn’t the Indians pitchers give up 12 or something like that? – they should have scored more than 11 runs. But I’ll take the win any day. Park is a puzzle. I don’t know what to say. Do they DFA him, keep trying to fix him, limit him to an inning, what? I hope Swisher will tee off on Wade tonight, but I take nothing for granted, stats or no stats.
Park has done OK for an inning, Paul. Not great but OK. It’s the second inning when he implodes and I can’t for the life of me figure out why Girardi keeps sending him back out there.
That drummer is quite a fan, Virginia. I wrote about him in the She-Fan book. His name is John Adams and he schleps that drum to the games and sits way up at the top of the bleachers and tries to rally the team – even when they’re 10 runs down!
Just one Yankees team is on SI’s list, Dave? I’m shocked! Given the anti-Bombers sentiment in sports, I expected that there would be more. Yes, on to Tampa. There will be many, many Yankee fans in attendance so maybe that’ll spur our boys to victory.
James, I’m so sorry to hear things haven’t been going well for you. I’m glad the Yankees are providing at least a little bit of pleasure. Soria has been talked about in a possible trade but the Yanks would have to give up a lot to get him, and it doesn’t sound like Cashman wants to do that. So I doubt we’ll be seeing him in pinstripes. I was hoping we’d get bullpen help, given the iffy situation with Joba, but they seem determined to stick with him for now.
Thanks Jane, I hope things start to turn around soon. And returning to the Soria thing, giving a lot doesn’t sounds like Cashman’s favorite things, I’m just worried a lot for the boys in the bullpen. I hope Joba returns to his old sparkling self and Cashman, please bring some help for our boys..
Cashman can be tricky, James. Sometimes he makes deals when we least expect them, so stay tuned.
Jane,
I am feeling so much like New York chef Bobby Flay today.
Are you ready for a Throwdown? I am not talking those backyard BBQ kind here, I am talking leaving it all out on the turf. Pulling your tired bones off that fake grass and somehow finding the enrgy to go home and do it all again tomorrow kind of festival.
That is the vibe bouncing off the Trop right now. It is not the soundcheck for the Los Lobos concert, it is the millions of words,sound bytes, and potential eyes all waiting for this giant showdown.
I am buckled up, loadedfor bear, and got the camera ready totake in the good,the bad and the ugly tonight…..Hopefully, the best teams wins tonight.
Rays Renegade
http://raysrenegade.mlblogs.com
I love Bobby Flay’s “Throwdown,” Renegade, and it’s the perfect analogy for our series. Sometimes the hometown chef wins and sometimes it’s Flay, the out-of-towner from New York. I guess we’ll find out soon enough whose recipes mean success. I hope I’m wrong but I think the Rays are probably more “up” for the festivities than the Yankees, just because it’s the difference between chasing the #1 spot as opposed to fending off the challenger. But we’ll see. I’m ready for a throwdown! Lucky you that you’ll be there in person.
There seems to be a lot of those 9th inning drama’s going around. I do remember Park had issues past 1 inning which always seemed funny to me because he kept going on about how he wanted to be a starter again. Not if you can only pitch one inning…duh! Silly man.
Jenn
http://philliesphollowers.mlblogs.com/
He wanted to be a starter again, Jenn? That’s not happening any time soon. At least not with the Yankees. And not when he walks people with a 10 run lead!
Sounds like a deal for Berkman, Mike, but after the last two “deals” that didn’t materialize, I’m waiting until someone actually confirms this one. If it’s just a money thing and we don’t have to give up prospects/players, fine. But this team needs pitching, not offense, IMO.
“Tricky” Cashman looks like he’s about to land Lance Berkman for the Bombers. Nothing harkens back to the good old days of Yankee third basemen like Mickey Klutts does! Doh!
Mike
http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.mlblogs.com/