POOR LITTLE RICH TEAM

The Yankees had Monday off as they flew out west to start a three-game series against the World Champs. That gave them a day to stew in the juices of two difficult weekend losses in Boston. Maybe the team isn’t stewing at all, but that didn’t prevent Boss George from issuing a brief statement. “This will not stand, man. This aggression will not stand,” a stoned Dude once said. The New York Times has an article ^[1] today about the Yankees’ troublesome bullpen, while Joel Sherman ^[2] assigns some blame to the Bombers offense, who have been lousy in clutch situations.

Meanwhile, Rob Neyer ^[3] has a piece comparing Yankee Stadium with Fenway Park. As much as I want to disagree with him, Neyer makes some good points, especially about how loud, and noisy Yankee Stadium is. Almost every time I’m there, I wish they could turn down the volume on the nonsense, and replace it with a simple organist. (For what it’s worth, Neyer does think the Yanks are better than the Sox.)

If you haven’t been to Larry Mahnken’s Replacement Level Yankees Weblog ^[4] yet, you are missing out. Mahnken delivers the goods; he has made so many sharp observations during the past week, I don’t know where to start (OK, today’s post is about “The Curse of Jeff Nelson”). Do yourself a favor and make his page a part of your daily Yankee fix. You won’t be sorry.