[198] I am not so sure I'd say the O's have a pretty good lineup. I just think the Yankee pitchers have been pretty bad.

Who in the world is Dennis Sarfate?? and why will we go 3up 3down against him??

Oh christ they have two runs.

Lots of pop-ups off Yankee bats tonight.

I'm more surprised when the Yankees don't pop up.

[203] See krazy kyle give up the dinger to Jim Thome the other night? A friend sent me a really long rant by a Royals blogger about it, guy went off on Trey Hillman..when will people learn??

Another great AB by Sisher...very refreshing after seeing Matsui and Nady hack away while up in the count.

[206] You should point out that he does throw in the high 90s. So he might turn out to be very good.

I saw it and cackled. I don't need the Royals to win to get my credit.

Gardner and KLong may need a few refresher lessons. He appears to be weakly slashing away again.

Well, that's encouraging.

Okay, that's encouraging. Jeter showing a little power is something to take out of this.

I miss the days when a declining Derek Jeter was the Yankees biggest concern ;)

Is baseball reference supposed to start updating daily tomorrow? I thought I saw that.

[214] It's updated now.

Come on Tex...WWAD!

Ah. Good.

So what do you guys think of the new look of BR? I'm getting used to it. I really like the new features.

It always comes down to ARod.
Oh....
jeez....

My mood is much improved.

Huh.
I guess you just never know.

Pitching Change: George Sherril replaces George Sherrill..good to see Gameday is back with the philosophical games of last year!

Stop making me care, Yankees!

Yes!! I heart Tex!

Shut up Kay.;

Oh well. At least they battled.

Come on, Tex. A *real* Yankee would have yelled "HA!"

Oh well. The finish was certainly better than the middle and start.

Pop up to end the game...very fitting conclusion.

Well, that was annoying.

The Sox score 1 in the 8th but leave the bases loaded. 6-2 TB, after 8.

6Now I need the Royals to score.

[227] That was the answer to [216].

OK, back from Lost...I see the boys made it close. I also see that washed up, old man Jeter is keeping up his hot start.

Still, a frustrating game, no?

What exactly does being "geeked up" mean and why can't Kay stop saying it?

[234] Bonus point with watching archived games on mlb.com, no Michael Kay! Unless they areplaying the White Sox I will usually take the vopponents broadcast. Kay is dead to me since his bizzare, racist diatribe about China last year during the Olympics.

[235] Kay is dead to me because he's an idiot. But you and the racism thing again...

I always thought geeked up meant high.

[236] Sorry MP but if you heard what he said..it wasn't even so much "racist" as being just exceedingly strange..He said "How can we give the Olympics to a country where the people don't have freedom, there is so much air pollution and it's a culture where people use the street as a bathroom?" Does that make any sense? I never like his annoucing but thought as a journalist, at least he would have some clue about the outside world..

[238] Excuse the usual horrible typing/spelling errors. My point should be clear anyways; not a big M. Kay fan.

[238] It makes perfect sense to me, at least the first part. The Olympics are politicized (as are all international sports). It makes perfect sense not to "award" the games to certain countries. The Olympics should not have been awarded to Nazi Germany.

In any case, I'm glad you have backed off the "racist" tag--that's a pretty ugly word, and one thrown around far to easily.

God damned royals scored two runs

[240] Olympics have always been a sham and a farce, IMHO. Every country has its skeletons so why pick on one? Yes, "racist" the wrong word. I suppose "ethnocentric" would be more appropriate? Besides, anyone who rode the NYC subway in the 1980s would know that public urination is not unique to China!

[240] Yes, every country has skeletons. Not all of them are totalitarian regimes. Really, to not see the profound lack of basic western freedoms in China is to not look. Is that ethnocentric? Well, if by that you mean favoring certain political systems? Then yes, I'm ethnocentric.

As for public urination--I'll take your word for it that's what he said. I don't know enough to comment on how acceptable the practice is in China. If it is widespread and accepted, then the comparison to NYC subways (in the 1980s!) is flawed. But this is beside the point.

The Mets game is still going on. They started at the same time as the Yanekes.

Hey, the offense will be just fine: hat tip to Pete Abe on this one:

"UPDATE, 8:12 p.m.: The Yankees have played 12 innings this season and have left at least one runner on base in every one of them."

As long as they are getting guys on base, the runs will start to come. Also worth noting: 3 walks, only 1 K for the Yanks' hitters. The O's pitchers' "success", such as it is, is bound to disappear soon enough.

Hopefully Burnett will be decent or better tomorrow.

monkeypants, Lost is sure getting really interesting this season. Its about time they started really answering some of the mysteries. I think that has peaked my interest in this season more than anything else. There's still so much I want to know, though - I hope they cover everything in a realistic way by the end.

[243] I would challenge you on the term "basic Western freedoms" (is Guantanomo in the "west") but we'd be veering into political territory..so let's just say that Michael kay should stick to ranting about sports on his radio show and leave it at that! :)

Btw..never seen "Lost".Is it worth the time investment? I still havn't watched the Sopranos yet and have heard that should be at the top of the pile! But with baseball season here..tv time is minimal.

I didn't know China was "a culture where people use the street as a bathroom". However, I do know there are many American homes with a telephone and a TV next to the toilet.

[246] Again, you take the extreme example (Guantanamo Bay, where people who fall through the cracks of international law because they do not fight under a national flag), which is pretty much the exception in one place, and compare it to a nation with systemic abuses of basic western freedoms--to a nation where freedom of speech is curtailed as government policy; where freedom of religion is curtailed; where just the other day a Catholic bishop was arrested for not conforming to the state run "Catholic" church. If Guantanamo is worthy of scorn, then China is worthy of having heaps of scorn.

Yes, this is veering into politics. I am easily drawn into such conversations when I overhear/oversee a sloppy accusation of "racism." I simply cannot accept that Michael Kay deserves criticism for having the audacity to say that China should not have received the Olympics--nor do I think this is a racist opinion.

My main point is that some who post here are far to quick to drop the "R" word.

[245] Yeah, once they stated that the series would end after a fixed number of episodes, they have really sped up the narrative and provided many more answers than questions. i still miss the feeling of the first couple of seasons, but I guess you can never really go back. It would have been too contrived to continue only having mysteries for more than a couple of seasons.

I preferred the old days when their were more main characters. They were brave to kill off so many beloved characters (and usually catching me off guard), but now they have fallen into the dangerous position that we have a handful of stars who you don't sense will ever die. meanwhile, everyone else who is introduced is a red shirt, if you know what I mean.

[248] For every example you give about the lack of freedoms in China (all true), I can easily provide a similar list of abuses committed at "home" in the US. Using a term like "western freedoms" is itself offensive to people outside the West, as if the freedoms are somhow more profound or deep.
Michael Kay deserves heaps of criticism for being culturally ignorant. Criticizing the selection of China to host the Olympics on grounds of human rights abuses is a valid and worthwhile point. Saying it is "a culture that accepts public urination" is ignorant, insensitive and ethnocentric. It reveals his lack of knowledge about the outside world and the infrastructure problems in many countries in Asia. As a "journalist", he should think and prepare before spuouting such nonsense.

I have no hesitation to use the word "racist" if it applies. I was wrong to use about Michael Kay, and acknowledged that. His words were, however, offensive, ignorant and insulting to a culture that goes back 4000 years, and does not need to be lectured to by a baseball announcer.

[246] Is it worth investing in Lost? Who knows. I never saw an episode until last year, when I saw a few reruns on Sci Fi and got totally hooked. We then rented the first four seasons and watched them voraciously. We caught up to the series and now follow the live airing of the fifth season. At this point I cannot tell how much I really like the show, and how much I am simply addicted and want to see the mysteries unravel.

By contrast, most of my friends and colleagues who watched the show in the first few seasons have long ago given up on it.

Maybe it is easier or better to attack the show via DVD, rather than one week at a time. At least until you're hooked.

[250] For every example you give about the lack of freedoms in China (all true), I can easily provide a similar list of abuses committed at “home” in the US.

Except that you can't--not in scale, or not in this century. remind, what is the state run church in the US? Which church is illegal in the US (like the non-state run Catholic church is, technically, in China)? How many cardinals and bishops have been imprisoned in the US?

[252] Monkey-san, I'l gladly reply at length (baseball, jazz and politics I can argue all day) but I do not want to viloate the Banter rules any further than we already have..click my name and you can find my contact details on the site. More than happy to continue via email if you so wish. I will just say here that living outside the US for 11 years now has completely changed my view of our country..for good and for bad.

On tv: too many programs that have missed and people keep recommending. Not interested in 24 and Lost sounds a bit weak..will stick to baseball and "Desperate Housewives" (my lady likes it..)

[250] I also defy you find a US parallel to the one-child policy, and the attendant enforcement mechanisms.

That Chinese culture goes back 4000 years is irrelevant to the discussion. If what he said was offensive (and I grant that the "bathroom" comment was insensitive--I cannot vouch for its accuracy), it was offensive on its own merits, not because of the antiquity of the culture that he offended.

As for Kay's political pontifications as a baseball announcer--well, that's the deal with international sports, the very sort of competition that I (as you know) despise. Since the sport aspect and the political aspect of the Olympics are so intertwined, then sports announcers are drawn inherently into making political statements. The fault is not Kays'--it's the fault of mixing sports and politics through such nonsense as the modern Olympics.

In the end, though, I would agree with you. No mixing sports commentary with political commentary. That would include: no comments by Kay about teh Olympics, but no Joe Biden in the booth during the baseball game, no Curt Schilling spouting off from the right, but no Carlos Delgado refusing to stand for the national anthem as a protest against the Iraq War, and so on.

I would ALL for that!

[254] Yes, I would agree too about ZERO politics in sports! The problem is that "generally", the right side of the scale gets a free pass "God Bless America", fighter-jets over the stadium, honor the troops nights, etc..but the other side (where I obviously reside) "generally" does not...

OMG, are the Mariners still letting Carlos Silva start games for them?? Just looking at the scores..why don't they just eat his contract??

[255] That's interesting that you consider "God Bless America" and "honoring the troops" to be a "right" thing? So, by extension, you are saying that overt patriotism is "right wing," meaning that "left wing" is...anti-patriotic? "Left-wing" doesn't honor the troops (or dishonors the troops)? Interesting...

More to the point, I see it the other way, at least reading sites like Bronx Banter. Most print journalists, including internet journalists, lean pretty heavily to the left. The most scandalous and offensive things can be uttered from the left side of the spectrum without comment. Abrasive analysis rooted in, essentially, left-leaning assumptions are the norm. Just look at the commentary on the funding for the new Yankee Stadium--only William has exerted the energy to challenge the standard liberal narrative of the bad corporate Yankees stealing taxpayer dollars to line their greedy pockets, while shunning the poor working man (heck, even I have argued against William on this one).

[256] The real question: looking at his numbers, why did they sign him in the first place, for 8 million in 2008 (I don't know what his remaining contract looks like).

[254] "That would include: no comments by Kay about teh Olympics, but no Joe Biden in the booth during the baseball game, no Curt Schilling spouting off from the right, but no Carlos Delgado refusing to stand for the national anthem as a protest against the Iraq War, and so on."

Actually, I would disagree a bit here. I don't want announcers injecting politics into baseball when they are supposed to be announcing the game. So, no to Kay talking about the Olympics or how the public should fund a new Yankee Stadium.

Though I don't think much of either person, I have no problem with Joe Biden or Rudy Guiliani in the booth talking baseball. I also have no problem with Schilling shilling for Bush or Delgado not standing for the national anthem. The players are still playing baseball as they are supposed to do. If they use their fame to push their opinions, then that's their right and their business. No one is forcing you to go to Curt's blog. But we do have to listen to Kay if we want to hear the Yankee broadcast.

[257] No, I was unclear in that post. Obviously the "Left" honors the troops..I would like to think we honor them more by not sending them to other countries at all and keeping them safe at home!
Honoring veterans at a baseball game for "protecting our freedoms out there" is an explicitly political statement. I personally go to a game to watch baseball and NOT be told to honor someone whose work I do NOT support. Try saying that at your average sports stadium in the US and see the reaction you get..it is ugly and frankly UN-American. If we have true freedom, then I should be allowed to NOT honor an institution that commits what I view to be a crime...
Perhaps the mainstream media in the US is as you say, left-biased. I really have no idea not being there. But in the sports world..it is very, very RIGHT.

[257] "Most print journalists, including internet journalists, lean pretty heavily to the left. The most scandalous and offensive things can be uttered from the left side of the spectrum without comment. Abrasive analysis rooted in, essentially, left-leaning assumptions are the norm."

Wow. Generalize much?

Since you mentioned the Banter as an example, if you can give me examples of "the most scandalous and offensive things" that have been uttered without comment here on this site, please produce them.

I'll be headed for the DL with bleeding ulcers like Ichiro if these starters "hurl" five klunkers in a row and head home 3-6 or worse!

First C.C. and his belly warmer, now Wang and his neck brace from all the whiplash! And the lineup? Wow! When I asked for seven runs per game, I meant our offense, not theirs! Bonk!

Mr. OK Jazz, you should have told us Uehara was Sandy Koufax! He seemed like another Igawa-esque puffballer to me. Pretty pathetic for the lineup to be beat by 88 MPH crap and changeups. Makes me wonder what other, more "locked in" AL East lineups will do against him.

: /

[261] I think the Dixie Chicks might take issue with the idea that "[t]he most scandalous and offensive things can be uttered from the left side of the spectrum without comment."

All they said was that:"We're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas," and their careers were temporarily ruined.

[263] Without comment within most print media. Their careers were ruined by consumers--and mostly by retailers--who took offense at what they said, not because the NY Times was offended, which they weren't.

[262] Uehara used to deal it when he first came up! Since his injuries am sure he's more a finnesse pitcher now..didn't see him much last year as he was in the bullpen and I don't follow the Yomiuri Giants much (the Yankees of Japan!)

[264] Depends on your perspective my friend..to me, the print media in the US is awfully conservative...the "liberal media" thing is pretty much a myth..

[264] Who do you think disseminated their comment? The mainstream print media along with the talking heads on cable news offering their disapprobation.

Clear Channel refused to allow their radio stations to play their music. That kind of stacks the deck against consumer decisions operating in a free market.

Why should anyone be offended by what they said? Far worse has already been said about Obama, and I don't see anyone being punished for it (not that they should be).

[261] This site is pretty low key; Goldman's political commentary is (or at least was) more overt and abrasive, such that I tired of the site and stopped reading.

However, i distinctly remember a discussion thread on the banter in which most everyone made fun of the Rockies for--gasp--the players' religiosity. I found about 70% of the comments on that thread to be offensive, and frankly unthinking (certainly poorly informed from a theological perspective).

Not meaning to pile on poor Tokyo, but the ease with which the "R" word is whipped out is another example. Announcer X mentions Barry Binds and steroids and is instantly accused of racism, at least by several posters on these threads.

As for abrasive, left-leaning assumptions undergirding commentary: I already sited the analysis of the new stadium, especially with regard to financing. William has been the only person, between the authors of the site and the comment section posters, to challenge critically the accepted left-leaning narrative of bad corporate Yankees sticking it to the common man, "stealing" parkland, "stealing" taxes, etc.

[265] to me, the print media in the US is awfully conservative…

This does not surprise.

[266] Why should anyone be offended by what they said?

I don't know, maybe because they expressed "shame" over their president. In general I can imagine that being a sore spot for a good many folks who--agree or disagree--feel that the office should be respected.

And why they were offended is irrelevant. Thems the risks when you make political commentary, no?

[267] But Monkey, you already acknowledged that you yourself did NOT agree with William! When the Economist magazine (hardly a left-wing rag) comes out with critical comments on the stadium then I don't think you can claim its a bias issue..

As for Bonds, not sure what incident you are referring to. From almost ALL accounts, Bonds is a major-league ###hole. That still doesn't explain his obvious blackballing from the game when he could still have been a productive player..and the coverage of him vs someone like Pettite (an admiited juicer)..well, I won't claim racism but it does seem a bit suspicious how the religious, folksy white player gets a pass while the surly black player does not..or to bring up the NFL, how Kurt Warner is "feisty" and a "leader" when he barks at his OC on the sidelines, while Anquan Boldin is a "malcontent" and "dispruptive"...you think that is fair coverage?

[264] "Without comment within most print media."

Correctly so, the comments were ignored by the media (including Fox News). Geez, if every outrageous comment by musicians, ball players, etc... were to get coverage, there would't be enough reporters to cover the actual news.

It wasn't until radio stations picked up on the comments that the controversy started. At that point it became "newsworthy."

[265.2] You are right when you mention perspective in terms of liberal and conservative.

I have to constantly "defend" the US policies when I am traveling abroad. It seems that everyone in the world is more liberal than the "liberals" here. In fact, the term "liberal" is so tainted that the libs here hide under the term "progressive."

BTW, quick baseball note amidst the forbidden politics posts..you all might be enthused to know that the new stadium for the Hiroshima Carp is called "Mazda Zoom Zoom Stadium"...seriously....

just humor to keep us from burning down the Banter..

[269] So they were ashamed. They didn't say he pals around with terrorists; they didn't say he was a socialist; they didn't say he is making America less safe.

I think we need some context to fully understand how benign their comment was in comparison to much of the discourse directed at the current POTUS.

Not to mention that Bill Clinton was accused of being a murderer in a videotape distributed by those affiliated with Jerry Falwell.

[272] I forgot about the ban.

My apologies.

I'm out.

Let's win today!!!!!!!!!!

[274] hey, me and monkey have violated it about 35 times each tonight so don't worry..maybe need a hockey-style penalty box for us? slow afternoon here so it's the Banter and some jazz sites on the desktop at the moment..

[251] I love Lost and I've watched it from the beginning. It had a rough patch here and there but for the most part it's been great. It's changed, is the thing, and I think that turned off a lot of people were into what it started out as. I always figured that early iterations were unsustainable and have been pleased that their modifications to the initial model have been so effective.

That all being said, I thought tonight's episode was kind of hokey and slightly disappointing. Which is still a lot better than the Yankee game.

Ah tomorrow: Will Burnett begin to fulfill my half-assed prediction that he would be the best pitcher on the team this season?

[267] Your experience on this blog is skewed because NYC is a left leaning city. "Reading sites like Bronx Banter" doesn't allow you the data to infer that ALL the media is lefty-biased.

I think that if you followed a Dallas Cowboys blog that you would have a different perception. They would have responded differently to the Dixie Chicks and the religious Rockies. They still may have agreed with this blog on public financing of stadiums, however (even though you seem to think this is a partisan issue).

[277] Perhaps.

[270] When the Economist magazine (hardly a left-wing rag) comes out with critical comments on the stadium then I don’t think you can claim its a bias issue...

I disagreed with William inasmuch as I felt that the new stadium as catering to a wealthier client base at the expense of more modest fans. I have generally agreed with him that the financing of the stadium is not an obvious swindle, as it is often posited. More germane to the point, ONLY William has been willing to even challenge the dominant assumptions--the dominant narrative--which have been largely accepted uncritically here. And yes, I think this is a product of partisanship, since the dominant narrative (bad corporation hurts kids and steals parkland) ill tend to be more plausible to one side of the aisle.

[276] always figured that early iterations were unsustainable

Yeah, I agree. the writers have always claimed that they envisioned a sort of three act narrative arc. Taking them at their word, it looks like we are in act three, resolution.

I don't entirely agree that tonight was hokey, but I really want SOMEONE to just pop Ben and be done with it. The only guy who seems to have figured this out is Jack, and ends up looking like a bad guy! At the risk of giving away too much for those who might yet watch: I was very disappointed that they went the whole time-travel route..I tend to really dislike time travel based sci fi narratives. So I was a bit irritated early in season 5, but I've come to terms with this.

[278] Goddammit--U really need to be more careful with tags. OK, off to bed.
.
.
.
I apologize for breaking the rules and antagonizing others. Hopefully O will not wake up tomorrow banned from the banter.

Just to let MP, Mr. OK and others know....
I completely enjoyed the political Banter.
I love the Yankees....
but it was well past game time,..
and we have intelligent people here,..
and there was no 'Yankee talk' goin' on...
and it was past midnight.
So.....
TO HELL WITH THE RULES!
(Don't tell Alex I said that)

There's nothing like late night political Banter.
Too bad we couldn't all be in the same room with a few joints being passed around.

[280] Thanks,OYF! Hope we don't get DFA'd from the Banter for our debate!
(would love the late night Mary Jane/political chat/jazz music session but being in Japan "Land of the Insanely strict drug laws" I'm afraid those days are long gone for me..)

Back to baseball if anyone is still out there! Does the idiocy ever cease?? Check out this quote from a "scout", from Jason Stark's article on espn.

"To me," said one scout, "the Yankees feel more like a bunch of stars who happen to be playing together than a real baseball team."
"With the Yankees, you always wonder about their chemistry," another panelist said. "If you think that's been one of their problems in the past -- and I do -- you can see where it might not be a good situation this year. And wait 'til A-Rod shows up. At some point, that black cloud is coming back. And how will they handle that?"

[282] He may as well write "I think the Queen of England has big tits... but does the Duke apprecitae them?"

I guess that would generate some hits and some buzz.

Actually, Considering XMan, Swish, Brett in CF and all the unknowns in the BP, we are less 'starlike' they we have been in a while. I guess Stark and his ilk think that the richest team in MLB should pick up bottom feeders instead?

This is New York Mr. Stark. Get with the program!