Monthly Archives: August 2003

Mariano Rivera blew his fourth save in the last ten days, and the Yanks lost a heart-breaker to the Rangers tonight, 5-4. Rivera started the ninth with a 4-3 lead, but after a walk and an error, Hank Blalock hit a 2-run single to win it for Texas. It was the fourth error of Rivera’s career and it was costly.

David Wells pitched admirably again, but Rivera was awful. This was a stunning loss.

To make matters worse, Pedro Martinez pitched a complete game in Boston, and the Red Sox beat the Angels 4-2. Anahiem had the bases loaded in the ninth, but Pedro struck Tim Salmon out to end the game. Boston is now two-and-a-half games behind the Yankees and Red Sox Nation will sleep well tonight (it was a perfect night for Red Sox fans). I’ll be tossing and turning. Sort of.

The Nelson trade makes it hard to be too down, but I think this game was worse than any of the recent losses against Oakland and Boston. This was was inexcusable. Plus, it wasted two monstrous home runs; one by Giambi, the other by Nick Johnson. (Johnson’s solo shot put the Yanks ahead in the 7th.)

Rivera looked glum and furious on the bench. It was about as angry as you’ll see him. But he didn’t have anything tonight. Maybe he’s in a slump too. He can join Bernie (who hit into two double plays tonight), Sori and Jorgie in dumpsville.

I left work this evening at 5:00. When I walked into my apartment in the Bronx it was twenty to six. As I changed my clothes I heard Chris Russo on the FAN talking about Jeff Nelson and clearing waivers and some such talk, but I didnít pay close attention. Then I played my messages and heard the news: The Yankees traded Armando Benitez to the Seattle Mariners for Jeff Nelson. Instinctively, I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Benitez for Nellie. (Then I yelled again.) Benitez for Nellie. Itís like music to a Yankee fanís ears. Talk about good karma. (In with the good air, out with the bad air.) Oh, baby. So much for The Curse of Jeff Nelson. It was a nice idea but the Yankees donít have curses, they have potholes. You know, stuff you can fix. Jeff Nelson leaving New York is often regarded as the worst move of the Cashman Era, and now they get a chance to make up for it with Nellie himself. There’s the angle. No one has replaced Nelson since he left. Of course, he might not be as good as he was three years ago; the vacationingLarry Mahnken, for one, is skeptical:

No more nightmares for me.

Last night I was noticing how difficult to was to root for Armando. Some bad guys are great to root for, but Benitez is the like the cross-eyed bully in “Friday.” He’s just tough to like. Benitez looks like a cartoonistsí conception of a baseball player. Heís completely exaggerated in every way. Even when heís trying to be subtle. When he ended the game last night, Benitez ran his right index finger along his brow, as if to wipe off the sweat, and then jerked his arm to his side and flicked the sweat of his fingers. It was right out of Tex Avery. Benitez is Bluto.

He lasted less than a month on the Yankees and thatís a beautiful thing as far as Iím concerned. At the very worst, the Yanks will lose with Nellie instead of Benitez, and Iíll take that bargain any day of the week. Heck, we already know what thatís like to lose with Nellie. Weíve seen Benitez lose dramatically with the Mets for so long, Iím thankful weíll be spared the sight of him blowing big games for the Bombers.

Plus, the Yankees bullpen could just scrap by now. At least they are appealing. Orosco and Hammonds with all that old man soutpaw junk. Gabe White, when he returns, with some heat from the left side. Plus, the not-so-spectacular-but-awfully-amusing Antonio Osuna, who I love just because he reminds me of Luis Guzman (“Carlitoís Way,” “Traffic”), the great New York character actor. Maybe they can get something from Contreras, the soporific Cuban giant, too.

I don’t know if Seattle plans to use Benitez as a closer for Kaz or as a replacement for Nellie. I thought Kaz was about to come back.
Armando could work out well for them. The initial reaction on the radio in New York tonight was that the Yankees swindled the Mariners. The folks at YES could barely conceal their glee. They were a little too happy, if you know what I mean.

It is clear that Nelson’s big, fat mouth got himself traded. But you could do worse than getting Benitez in return, especially when you already have a good bullpen. Looks like a win-win situation for both teams. David Pinto thinks the deal is a wash.

Think the weekend serious against the Mariners in the Bronx is going to be fun? Boone-Boone-Nellie-Benitez? Awwww, bacon.

According to the Newark Star Ledger, the Yankees are showcasing Dave Dellucci, and may be interested in trading him in a package deal for an every day right fielder, like Reggie Sanders. (Thanks to Lee Sinins for the tip.)

That’s too bad, because I like the looks of Dellucci in a Yankee uniform. He’s got a little Henry Rollins in him, and a little Treat Williams too. (I haven’t seen him enough to get a good call on him yet.) Jay Jaffe described him well:

“Dellucci looks like a classic role-player, good looking guy who your girlfriend notices and asks you why he doesn’t get to play more, as you roll your eyes and explain that while he’s got some speed and he hustles, he’s never gonna hit enough. Chad Curtis with a better personality and haircut.”

Zing.

Derek Jeter led off the game last night against Texas with a home run, and then hit another one in the second. They were typical Jeter shots to right field. He came up again in the fifth and hit a long fly ball to straight away center. “No way,” I said aloud. The ball went to the warning track and was caught for a long out, despite being hit farther than the two homers.

Jeter received a round of applause as he jogged back to the dugout, but the damage had already been done. It was not Colby Lewis’ night. Hideki Matsui followed Jeter with a home run of his own in the first, and Jason Giambi was 2-2 when he came to bat later in the fifth. I said to myself, “He’s hitting one here.” Sure enough, Giambi plastered a fastball into the third deck in right field, and the Yankees never looked back, beating Texas 6-2.

My cousin Gabe once said that Giambi at bat looks like a Celtic warrior fighting off his enemies with one hand. Like something out of Conan. That’s what his home run looked like last night. He strong-armed the ball with one arm into the upper deck.

Roger Clemens pitched well on his 41rst birthday, but he found himself in a bases-loaded, no out jam in the fourth. According to the Times:

“The pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre went to the mound as Clemens and catcher Jorge Posada debated pitch selection. After the meeting, Clemens got a popout and a strikeout, and faced Nivar.

Nivar, 23, who was called to the majors last week, was looking for his third career hit. He made Clemens work, fouling off three pitches with an 0-2 count and driving him to distraction.

‘I wish I could have thrown an eephus pitch for the first time,” Clemens said. ‘I was letting it go, and that kid was swinging away. I was like, “Man, this would be the night to do it if I was ever going to do it.” But I think probably Joe would have taken me out of the game. Or he might have fainted.’

Clemens spared Torre the sight of a blooper pitch. But he did go for something unconventional, dropping to a sidearm angle for a tailing fastball. A surprised Nivar bounced it back to the mound, where Clemens snagged it and threw to first to end the inning, pumping his fist at his side.”

It’s too bad Clemens didn’t turn into Dave LaRoche for just one pitch. Now, that would have been funny.

Antonio Osuna knocked Alex Rodriguez down in the eighth inning, much to the delight of the crowd. A-Rod glared in the Yankee dugoug and then popped out to left. Rodriguez has been getting killed in the press lately, but William Rhoden has a sympathetic column on the Texas superstar in the Times today:

“I am baffled by a persistent ambivalence in sports journalism when it comes to athletes and money. We acknowledge that sports is big business, but in our hearts, we seem to resent the business aspect of games that turn young athletes into multimillionaires. For the last three years, Alex Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers has been Exhibit A of our ambivalence.

…For the last three seasons the industry has derived some satisfaction watching A-Rod suffer losing season after losing season.”

Meanwhile, up in Beantown, Jeff Suppan had a miserable first outing for the Sox, but the bats led another comeback, and Boston defeated the World Champs, 10-9. Never a dull moment for Sox Nation, right? The Yankee lead is still 3.5 games.

Rob Neyer critiques Oakland’s recent moves: trading for Jose Guillen and signing Scott Hatteberg to a contract extension. While John Harper—who may just be the best baseball columnist in New York—contributes an article on Billy Beane.

Buster Olney has a nice piece on Roy “Doc” Halladay over at ESPN. Buster writes about how movement is more crucial to a pitchers’ success than velocity:

“Halladay, like a lot of pitchers, threw the ball with mechanics that brought his arm angle straight over the top — like a pitching machine. It is a delivery that kept the ball spinning on a centered, balanced axis, the kind of rotation that does not foster movement.

The movement comes when the ball is thrown with its axis and rotation off-center. ‘Some of it is arm angle, finger pressure, hand and wrist position, the grip on the baseball,’ said Mike Flanagan, the 1979 AL Cy Young Award winner and now the general manager of the Baltimore Orioles.

…’There’s a lot of feel, a lot of touch,’ said Flanagan. ‘Some pitchers don’t have it. You’ll look at the videotape with them and they’ll see the movement, but don’t realize it themselves when they throw the ball. You’re talking to them and you say, “Can’t you feel that?” And they don’t.'”

Fortunately for the Blue Jays, Roy Halladay can.

The weather promises to be stormy in New York all week, so it will be interesting to see how many games they can actually get in. Not a whole lot going on this morning. The New York papers are focusing on the troubles of the first-place Yankees, while Bob Ryan wonders whether this could really be “the year” for the Red Sox.

Early last Friday morning, I had a bad dream. Call it a premonition or a nightmare, here’s what happened: I’m in my apartment watching the Yankee game. They are playing the Sox at The Stadium; it’s a night game. The Yankees are leading 5-1, late. My girlfriend Emily is downtown hanging out with a friend of mine that she’s never met in real life (funny how the subconcious works). They are waiting for me to arrive.

As I’m talking with her, the Red Sox start a rally. Meanwhile, I’m feeling stressed because I don’t want to ride the subway for an hour and miss the end of the game. An old, fat lady is now batting for Boston. Right-handed hitter. She faces Benitez and lofts a lazy pop fly to Mondesi in right (even though he had already been traded in real life). Mondesi inexplicably bolts toward first base and the ball falls in right field with nobody near it.

Suddenly, it’s 5-4 Yankees. Armando Benitez is pitching. There are two outs, and it’s the ninth inning. That was when I woke up.

I wasn’t sweating but my heart was racing. There isn’t much to figure out here, except why a fat old lady was batting for the Sox. But I think my anxieties about Armando Benitez should be familiar to Yankee fans everywhere, whether it keeps you up at night or not.

Today is an off-day for the Red Sox and Yankees, but ESPN has two articles about the age-old rivals in case anyone has gotten bored in the last 12 hours. Bob Klapisch writes about the Yankees’ front office hysteria, while Peter Gammons explores the friendly relationship Brian Cashman shares with Theo Epstein.

According to Epstein:

“It’s ridiculous when people try to make it seem as if we have a personal rivalry,” says Epstein. “It’s just the opposite. We are good friends, as much as we can be in our business. We shook hands and joked with one another after each one of our three games at Fenway last weekend. He is one of the general managers I admire and respect most; hey, he’s one of the most respected, period. He doesn’t obsess about what the Red Sox do and I don’t obsess about what the Yankees do because it can be costly and counterpdroductive.”

The Gammons piece concentrates on Epstein’s open-minded way of running things in Boston:

“Theo likes having a lot of people with imput and the constant buzz of ideas,” says one of his assistants. “You have the sage, experienced and fearless voice of Bill Lajoie, and Josh Byrnes. Then there are a bunch of us who brainstorm with him every day. What is most interesting is that he wants voices that disagree. He wants every side to every issue, and encourages contrary opinions.”

This is the reason why Epstein is so appealing, and why the Sox are an extremely likable team. (It was much easier to despise them when Dan Duquette was running the team.) Reading this article reminded me of something that Oakland’s assistant GM, Paul DePodesta said in “Moneyball:”

“It’s looking at process rather than outcomes,” Paul says. “Too many people make decisions based on outcomes rather than process.”

Focusing on the process is not a luxury Brain Cashman can afford working for Boss George, which makes what he’s been able to accomplish in New York all the more impressive.

Baseball is always under criticism for not being what it once was, or what it should be. But are we in fact living through a “Golden Age?” A writer named Tom Keaton has good an article dispelling a few of the most commonly held myths about baseball’s problems.

Rich Lederer has another wonderfully original article up on his site. This one is about some of the most obscure home run hitters of all-time. Certainly worth perusing.

Pettitte vs. Mulder. Not a thinking-manís delight, but a big boy special instead. Andy is 6í5 and Mulder is 6í6. They are both guys you want to call “Meat.” Mulder has been striking guys out recently, but Ben Jacobs thinks it could cost him in the long run. Pettitte has enjoyed an excellent string of pitching winning his last eight starts.

Iíve been critical of Pettitte this year. Here is a portion of a letter I received last week from a reader named Steve:

“I think the thing with Pettitte that gets him in trouble on the hill is that he has a pretty wide repertoire of pitches and too much Mike Mussina in him. Mussina is a thinker but I think he’s a confident thinker. He’s playing chess out there and always seems to be on the attack. Andy on the other hand starts questioning himself, and always seems to default to the cutter when he questions his other stuff. I think (and this is totally subjective and I could be very wrong) that Andy is at his best when he trusts his breaking stuff and doesn’t try to overpower guys. When he gets fastball happy he gets knocked around.”

Mulder starts off well and so does Andy. The Aís have the only hit through three (a single by Jose Guillen that was misplayed by Soriano; could have been an error, but it was a tough play). Mulder is quick and efficient. This guy makes it look easy. Heís got the Yankees anxious, swinging at pitches early in the count. Cruising through the early innings without breaking a sweat. He retires the first twelve without incident.

The Aís are hitting a ton of ground balls to Boone at third.

Funny how humbling the game can be, but Eric Byrnes, who played so well against the Yankees early in the year, is in a deep funk. Since he hit for the cycle in June, Byrnes came into Sundayís game 8 for his last 80.

Mulder retires the first two batters in the fifth, and then Aaron Boone laces a double over Eric Byrnesí head. Soriano follows with a hard-hit one-hopper to short. It narrowly misses hitting Boone, who bends his back to get out of the way, as if he was avoiding a tag in a rundown. Tejada times his leap for the ball perfectly, but it takes a funny hop, and skips past his glove into center for a single. (It was slower than he thought.) Tejada slaps his glove on the ground, and Boone scores his first run as a Yankee.

After giving up a hit in the first, Pettitte has retired 14 in a row through five. Byrnes is now 8 for his last 82.

Jeter singles to start the sixth. Bernie flies out to right on the first pitch. That helped Mulder out a lot. Boos for Giambi. Michael Kay is ‘sticking upí for Giambi. (Spare us.) Giambi grounds into a 3-5 double play (Chavez is the only infielder on the left side of the infield in the Giambi shift) to end the inning.

Terrance Long skies a pop foul to the left side. Matsui runs for days to catch it, but he makes the play for the first out. Eric Piatt follows with a hard liner to center field, but itís right at Bernie Williams who makes the catch for out number two. Thatís probably the hardest hit ball for the Aís all day. Pettitte walks Mark Ellis on five pitches. The first man to reach in sixteen batters. Now Pettitte works out of the stretch. Andy rears back and Kís Jose Guillen on a high heater, out of the zone (thank you Rocket Clemens Workout!) to get out of the inning. (Andy seems to be throwing his change-up effectively today too.)

Yanks 1, Aís 0.

(44,528 announced crowd in Oakland. The largest of the weekend.)

Top of the Seventh

Posada leads off. Mulder never steps off the rub. Heís perpetually ready to pitch. He gets Jorgie swinging in the dirt at a good off-speed pitch for his sixth strike out of the day. One out. Curve ball, outside to Matsui, 1-0. Fastball, strike. Slider, low, 2-1. Swing and a miss foul, 2-2. (Matsui broke his bat.) Breaking ball, 55-footer, 3-2. Fastball, on the outside corner. Delayed call

Whatís the best way to avenge a tough loss? Beat the snot out of Barry Zito. Oh, baby, when I heard that Giambi hit a three-run bomb off of his old teammate, in the second inning, I was set with my pleasure quotient for the weekend. Whatever else happens, it was worth it for that. Bernie responded too, going 4-5. He hit a homer, his first since May 10th. Godziller and John Flaherty went deep as well and the Yanks won a slugfest, 10-7 (Tejada had two more hits and Chavez went 4-4 for the Aís).

The 1973 Aís were honored before the game and my boy Reginald Martinez Jackson threw out the first pitch. (You were expecting Blue Moon Odom maybe?)

Jeff Weaver started, and had a mediocre start. He have up two in the first, one in the second, and one in the third. But he got through the middle innings before running into trouble again in the seventh. He hung in there on a lousy day is the way I look at it. I am not discouraged with the start. Of course if the Yankees had lost 4-1 I would be a little less forgiving.

Zito fell to 8-9, even though he still sports an excellent 3.30 ERA. I like Zito personally, but I love to hate him on the field. Heís just so nasty, that beating him is almost like beating Pedro: a treat to be savored. (Cause it wonít happen often.) Mulder is too non-descript to hate, and I love Hudson too much to hate him. Even when heís sticking it to the Yankees, I love him so much I want to marry him.

The beauty part is that the Red Sox lost again to the Orioles. Boston led 2-1 going into the bottom of the sixth when Baltimore plated seven runs. The Oís won, 11-2. Derek Lowe took the loss. Mike Timlin and Ramiro Mendoza both gave up runs, and Todd Jones gave up two in relief.

The Yankee lead is now 4.5. The Sox are in a slide since they played the Yankees and received all sorts of glowing reviews for their performance on and off the field. Red Sox fatalists are probably saying ‘I told you so,í at all of those who foolishly jumped on the bandwagon. But this Boston team has been resilient and instead of wilting against the likes of the Mariners and Aís (14 straight games starting August 11th), I think they could step up and excel in those games.

You never know.

Mike Mussina and Tim Hudson lived up to advanced billing on Friday. They both pitched seven innings and gave up four hits apiece. Hudson walked three and struck out five; Moose walked one guy and whiffed nine. Hudson threw 119 pitches, Mussina 98. And Mike Mussina led going into the eighth, 2-1.

But the Yankee bullpen couldnít hold the lead and the game went into extra innings. Orosco started the eighth and promptly stuck out Terrance Long. In comes Harmando who struck out pinch-hitter Billy McMillon. Mark Ellis singled, and then Hatteberg drew a walk. What else? That was it for the big guy. Torre called for Rivera.

Up steps Miguel Tejada. Mo shatters his bat. Sharp grounder to second. Soriano boots it. Ellis scored from second, and the game was tied. Mo broke Erubiel Durzoís bat too; he popped out to Jeter to end the inning. Soriano was dropped in the batting order to eighth last night for the first time all year. He took the move in stride, but went hitless and made a crucial error.

Antonio Osuna gave up a solo bomb to Tejada in the 10th, and the Aís pulled out a 3-2 win. The loss for the Yankees is similar to the two games they dropped to the Red Sox last weekend. Gut-wrenching to watch; clearly games they were in control of winning. Games that cost them in the standings.

Before the game started, I knew that the Sox had already lost to Baltimore, 2-1. The Sox managed four hits, and wasted another good outing from old man Burkett. So the Yanks failed to gain another game in the standings.

Having no desire to subject myself to such craziness, I went to bed after watching the first couple of innings. So I didnít have to suffer and lose sleep over it. After all, I condition myself during the week to not watch or listen to the games, and can do it fairly easily, even on a Friday night. In the spirit of “Moneyball,” Iíve become more efficient as a fan; I realize how much stress I can take, and I adjust accordingly. (There is only so much drama that Iím willing to take in early August.)

The most interesting part of the night was seeing Aaron Boone play third base for the Yankees. They showed a clip of Ventura in the Dodgers dugout, and he had a distracted, far-away look. Actually, the showed him so briefly it was hard to detect his expression at all. It was blank and calm as always. I projected the other stuff onto him. But suddenly, I missed him more than I ever thought I could. I missed the idea of having him around. In a jolt, I felt a surge of emotion that made me connect with all of the Ventura fans that I know out there. So thatís what theyíve been talking about. Okay.

Boone looks more like his father than his brother. Brett Boone is compact but powerful. Like Barney Rubble with springs. Aaronís face is narrow, and he had dark hair, and dark eyes. Itís a completely different energy. Itís also very different from Ventura. Hudson struck Boone out with ease in his first at bat. Boone hit sixth and had a single to go with another strike out. (I bet Boone wished he could have joined the Yanks back home against Texas.)

The first thing I thought about when I first saw Boone was Roy Smalley. Iím not saying there is anything to it; Iím just reporting the first thing that came to my mind. The analogy doesnít really work when you think it through, but there is something similar in the look.

Bernie went 0-5 and whiffed twice, Matsui was 0-4, Giambi 0-2 (with two walks).

Derek Jeterís Rating

By Bronx Banter correspondent, Christopher DeRosa

Derek Jeterís up to .324/.394/.464 now, and itís been, oh, a day or two since Iíve heard how overrated he is.

When Jeter struggled back from his shoulder injury, the Yankees played some of their worst ball in recent memory. He wasnít hitting, and instead of fielding ground balls, he was yucking it up with George in a Visa commercial. At the beginning of the July, somebody sent me Page 2ís list of the ten most overrated athletes. Derek Jeter was #3. The failings of the new Yankee Captain afield were suddenly visible enough for the story of his overratedness to crest. That was probably pretty gratifying for some in the sabermetric community who have for years bewailed Jeterís reputation as a superstar, or clutch player, or winner, or whatever.

Iíd like talk a bit about Jeterís rating, but first off, let me recognize that there are more than two positions in the debate. There are:

1. The people who think Jeter can do no wrong, possesses magical abilities, and is better than A-Rod.
2. The people who know A-Rodís better, but still count Jeter among the elite.
3. The people who think Jeterís good, while understanding that heís a not a good fielder.
4. The people who think heís first and foremost a lousy shortstop, but still a decent player in other ways.
5. The people who think Jeter sucks, resent that girls like him, and hate the Yankees.

Grouping the opinions of 2, 3, and 4 with those of 1 or 5 tends to emotionalize the issue, so let me state up front that though a fan of Jeter, I can see that most of his critics are just trying to evaluate a player as honestly as they can, and get irked when they think a player has an inflated reputation. My premise here is that a player can be praised up and down without really being overrated.

The opinion that Derek Jeter is overrated is common, and fast approaching Point Rudi, when the people convinced of a playerís under- or overrated-ness out-number the holders of the original perception. If you made an all star team of the players whose overrated-ness has upset the most people, Jeter would probably be in the starting line-up, along with Steve Garvey and Pete Rose (although I donít know that he could move Phil Rizzuto off the shortstop position, what with his awful range and all).

Hell, Baseball Prospectus wanted to move him to third after the 1998 season. The idea that Jeter is a good fielder seems limited to Yankee broadcasters John Sterling (radio) and Michael Kay (YES). Iíve even read several accounts of how Jeterís shovel pass in the 9-6-2 that nipped Jeremy Giambi at the plate in the 2001 Division Series was really an example of his poor play, either because he was actually supposed to be covering second base, or because he interfered with an accurate throw by Shane Spencer. One of my friends compares Jeter to David Beckham (I know thatís a put-down but Iím not quite sure how bad). People are not reluctant to criticize this guy. Itís not a revelation to say heís overrated, itís an old refrain. The very fact that you are right now having an encounter with Jeter-is-Overrated Backlash should tell you that this is a notion in general circulation. Who has inspired all this comment though? Who is doing the overrating?

Is it the traditional sportswriters? When Jeter arguably deserved the MVP award in 1999, the writers voted five players ahead of him.

How about the fans? The fans have never elected Jeter to the All Star team. In 1999, the year Alex Rodriquez was injured and Jeter was playing his best ball, the fans elected Nomar Garciaparra

SI’s senior baseball writer Tom Verducci weighs in on the trade-deadline activity:

“Give the Red Sox credit. They put the heat on the Yankees. Boston hasn’t been this close to New York in the standings this late in the season since the Yankees started winning championships in the Joe Torre era. The Red Sox have definitely improved themselves, especially in the bullpen. They upped the ante on New York, and I think the Yankees got caught up in the atmosphere of holding off Boston. And the Yankees should be worried about the Red Sox. There was a little more urgency for New York to get a deal done this week than in past years.”

Former YankeeJeff Nelson, never shy about expressing his opinions, let Mariners GM “Stand” Pat Gillick have it after the M’s failure to make a deadline trade:

“It’s frustrating for everybody in here, and it should be frustrating for the people who go out there and pay for tickets and pay these outrageous prices at these concession stands,” the veteran reliever said. “They deserve a winner. Seattle, I think the whole city is aching for a winner, either the Seahawks, the Sonics or the Mariners. We have an opportunity to do that, and it’s just unfortunate we didn’t make a move.

“We have a good team, and we’re in first place by four games. You watch these other contending teams — New York, Boston, Oakland, Chicago — they’re very good teams as well, but they want to be better. And they better themselves by going out and making these trades. It’s tough to sit here year after year and watch this team not do things to better themselves.

“I’ve never seen an impact player come to this team (at the trade deadline), nor have they ever seemed to go out and try to get one. Every year it’s, ‘Oh, we tried to make moves, we tried to make moves,’ but other teams seem to do it.”

Meanwhile, hold everything: Louie and the D-Rays went 14-12 in July. How sweet it is…

Theo Epstein’s pop, Leslie Epstein, is an academic with an attitude against the Yankees. He’s rooted against them for years, and raised his kids to loath them too. Like many Yankee-haters—especially of an older generation—Mr. Epstein looks at the Bombers as the essence of corporate, Republican America:

“Is it true Steinbrenner summoned all of them down to Tampa?” Leslie wondered after hearing about the Boss’ meeting of the minions in Florida this week. “He must be asking them, ‘How come this little jerk is making you guys look like fools?’ They wanted both Scotts (Williamson and Sauerbeck), and we got them. We’re supposed to have the depleted farm system, right? What’s going on here?

“I don’t like to gloat over (Brian) Cashman getting reamed by his boss, because I know he’s a good guy, but if Darth Vader The Convicted Felon should be discomforted, well, it pleases me to no end. … The fact that my son is part of doing that to him is even better.”

You got to love it when the eggheads get personal.

Think the next two months will be exciting, if not histrionic?

The Yankees drew 11 walks last night, and stranded most of them on base. Though New York left 12 runners on (the Angels left 8), Nick Johnson smacked an RBI single off a Troy Percival heater in the 10th inning, and the Yanks beat the Angels,2-1. The Yanks swept the World Champs and gained another game on Boston who were busy losing an extra-inning affair of their own. Boomer Wells pitched well, and Armando Benitez got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the eighth (he got the win, Rivera the save).

After losing to the Angels in the playoffs last year, it sure is nice to spank the World Champs, who are not even playing .500 ball.

Meanwhile, Pedro Martinez left after six innings last night in Texas trailing, 3-2. Trot Nixon tied the game with a homer in the ninth, and B.Y. Kim threw three scoreless innings. But Buster Olney’s boy, Alex Rodriguez crushed a grand salami off of Todd Jones in the 11th to give Texas the win. The Yanks lead is now three-and-a-half games.

The Bombers head to Oakland to face The Big Three this weekend. Mussina v. Hudson to start it off tonight. Should be worth the price of admission.

It was interesting to see the reaction to the Aaron Boone trade yesterday. Around my office, the Mets fans rolled their eyes with envy and said, ‘The Yankees get whatever they want.’ The fact that the Bombers had to part with their top pitching prospect didn’t seem to faze them in the slightest. Meanwhile, many Yankee fans seemed to react with anger and frustration. ‘Why did we need to get rid of Claussen for a third baseman? What about a right fielder?’

Then there was some sadness surrounding Robin Ventura’s departure. Ventura, the laconic team comedian, was very well-liked with the fans, and his personality will be missed.

“I’d say I’m disappointed,” Ventura said. “It’s a great place to play, the guys are great, Joe and his staff are great . . . It’s a special place.”

I’ve always liked Ventura more as a person—though I’ve never met him, of course—than as a ballplayer, though he was a solid defender with a good hitting-eye. His best days are clearly behind him. But it was hard to break the news to my friend Mindy, who simply adores him.

I was exhausted by the time the deal was finally announced yesterday. Following the trade rumors since Tuesday, I felt like a kid on a junk-food high. By 4:00 pm, I crashed. I was bemused when I first heard the Boone rumor, and then melancholy. I understand the anger that Jay Jaffe (who has another impressive critique this morning at Futility Infielder) and others feel towards the deal, but after rooting for the Yankees for 25-some odd years, I’ve developed a thick skin for this kind of move. They make me feel weary more than anything else. I’m resigned to the fact that George makes moves like this in his sleep, and that he’s made far worse trades in the past.

If this is the cross Yankee fans have to bear—gluttony and stupidity—so be it. It’s the kind of problem most fans would love to have. Of course, I would have liked to see Claussen develop in a Yankee uniform. It’s a nice fantasy.

Still, the New York media almost uniformly agrees this was a superfluous and panicky deal by Boss George and co. A reaction to the nifty trades Boston has made all season. Here is what some of the heavy-hitters have to say about it: Sherman, Madden, Lupica, and Jack Curry.

Here are some of Rob Neyer’s impressions on the deal, which were posted in his chat session yesterday:

“As for what the Yankees gave up to get Boone, 1) they never give young pitchers a chance, anyway, and 2) Claussen has a great arm, but he’s coming off Tommy John surgery and has just 39 K’s in 69 innings this season.

…I don’t think they’re thinking about the long haul. If [Jeff] Weaver works out, great. If he doesn’t, they can always sign a free agent or trade for somebody’s high-priced veteran. When your budget is unlimited, you don’t have to worry about next year

…They’re a tad soft in right field, but essentially the Yankees are now without a single weakness. Which doesn’t mean the Sox are sunk, of course. They have to beat out either the Yankees or the A’s/M’s. And I think they will.”

Aaron Boone is no Brian Giles, but from what I’ve heard he’s an animated and spirited player; a younger, more powerful Scott Brosius. (According to The Post, the Yanks could have had Giles for Claussen, Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera, and minor-league pitcher, Chien-Ming Wang. The asking price was too steep for New York, but which trade would you have made?)

If Boone’s a true gamer, he won’t have any troubles with the New York fans. I want to like him, even if the trade does leave me feeling hung-over.