As the second-half begins, the surprising A’s are a game ahead of the Yankees in the Wild Card race and, like the Yankees, are six games behind in their division. Oakland’s success to this point has been almost entirely due to its pitching and defense, the latter of which boasts the best defensive efficiency in baseball. True, the A’s get a big boost in run prevention from their home park, but only the Braves have allowed fewer runs per game on the road, which isn’t the best news for the Yankee offense, which really needs to hit the ground running in the second half.

Continuing to rebuild despite their unexpected run, the A’s have, in the last ten days, traded three of their top six pitchers by innings pitched. Joe Blanton, who was dealt to the Phillies yesterday for a trio of minor leaguers, is no big loss. His 4.96 ERA was the worst on the staff and the worst in the A’s rotation by nearly a run and a half. Twenty-four-year-old lefty Dallas Braden, who had a rough rookie season last year but has continued to pitch well at triple-A, should be able to replace Blanton in the rotation with little difficulty.

Less clear-cut was the earlier deal that sent fragile ace Rich Harden and swing man Chad Gaudin to the Cubs. I understand why the A’s traded Harden. Though immensely talented, Harden has been unable to stay healthy. After an injury-shortened 2005 campaign, he made just 13 starts in the 2006 and 2007 seasons combined and missed more than a month at the beginning of this season with a shoulder strain. After returning from the DL, however, he dominated over 11 starts (2.59 ERA, 77 K in 66 IP), and Billy Beane cashed him in while he was still healthy. I get that. After losing all of that time to injury, Harden is now 26 and starting to get expensive (the long-term deal he signed before the 2005 season pays him $4.5 million this year and has a $7 million option for 2009). I get that. What I don’t get is the fact that Beane also included Chad Gaudin in the deal and only got back two aging prospects and one young low-risk/low-reward pitcher.

That’s not to make Gaudin out to be something he’s not. He’s a short, 25-year-old righthander with a league-average career ERA, who fell something short of that in his only full season as a starter last year. Gaudin’s also in his arbitration years. Still, given his innings-eater/swing-man role, he’s unlikely to get terribly expensive (he settled for $1.775 million this past winter). Thus, Gaudin was an established and affordable major league arm that could have served as a safety net for younger starting options such as Braden or Gio Gonzalez (part of the Nick Swisher swag) as the A’s continue to try to establish their next generation of starters.

The pitcher obtained from the Cubs, 22-year-old righty Sean Gallagher, who will pitch Sunday, replaces Harden in the rotation, but he was merely average in ten starts for the Cubs, and despite his youth, isn’t projected to get much better than that (though he did ace his A’s debut: 7 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 7 K). In making that swap, Beane was trading fragile brilliance for ordinary dependability.

Still, it could well pay off for him. Harden could go Mark Prior on the Cubs and their pitcher-hating manager, Lou Piniella, in which case Beane will have upgraded from Gaudin to Gallagher and gotten a couple of useful pieces for his trouble. And Matt Murton and Eric Patterson are useful pieces. Unused in Chicago, Murton has gone straight into the A’s lineup as their left fielder. Once the Red Sox prospect who accompanied Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs in that famous three-way deadline deal in 2004, Murton is now 26, but still a high-on-base righty slugger, and the A’s are likely hoping he’ll become another Jack Cust if given proper exposure. Fact is, Murton could be better than Cust, as he’s younger, hits for a better average, and doesn’t strike out nearly as much.

Patterson, meanwhile, receives high marks for his well-rounded offensive game, but his cumulative offensive value is such that his ultimate position will have a great deal of impact on his overall worth. A poor defensive second baseman, Patterson could wind up in the outfield like his older brother Corey, but the A’s have him at the keystone in triple-A, and likely envision him as a replacement for pending free agent Mark Ellis. A career .303/.366/.475 hitter in the minors who will steal 20-plus bags a year at a decent clip, Patterson’s obvious comp is Ray Durham, himself a former Athletic. Patterson’s no kid–a college product, he’s 25–but he doesn’t have many major league miles, so he should be a cheap alternative to Ellis this winter and for several years to come.

Still, if Harden leads the Cubs to their first World Series in 63 years and goes on to pick up a Cy Young or two, all of which are very likely if he can only stay healthy, Beane’s return is going to look awfully light.

As it pertains to this series, the Yankees benefit from not running right into Harden out of the break, but also would have been better off facing Blanton tonight. Facing Gallagher on Sunday splits the difference to a certain degree. In place of Blanton, the Yanks face rookie Greg Smith tonight, himself rebuilding booty from the Dan Haren trade (Beane has now traded 60 percent of his 2007 rotation). A 24-year-old lefty, Smith has an ERA nearly a run higher on the road, but that road mark is a still-strong 3.86. Smith gets by on his curve and changeup, but is far from dominating. Over his last six starts, he’s posted a 2.78 ERA, but has walked more than he’s struck out.

Expect newest Yankee Richie Sexson to get a start against the lefty Smith with Jose Molina continuing to serve as personal catcher for Mike Mussina. That will leave Jason Giambi and Jorge Posada to duke it out over DH duties. The Yankees have never faced smith before and Giambi has faired better against lefties than switch-hitting Posada, but Smith smokes lefties (.205/.250/.265 on the season), so maybe the pitcher’s splits trump the hitters’ here.

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Very Hot…

Now I know how fans who idolized Mickey Mantle felt on the summer day of August 13, 1995, when "The Mick" succumbed after a graceful and courageous battle with liver cancer. I experienced those feelings last Saturday afternoon, when I clicked onto MLB.com and saw that Bobby Murcer had passed away.

Murcer’s death didn’t come as a complete shock. After hearing him on a Yankee broadcast earlier this season, I came away feeling discouraged. He didn’t sound right; his voice was weak and distant, and he lacked his usual positive bundle of energy. I came away from that broadcast feeling that he might not announce another Yankee game. Then came reports that Murcer’s health was sagging, that he wasn’t doing as well as he appeared to be last summer. But even with all of those warning signs, I wasn’t completely prepared. I thought we’d see him attend at least one more Old-Timers’ Game, maybe even make a studio appearance on the YES Network during the postseason (another case of wishful thinking, but on a far less important scale). So then, when I heard the news of Murcer’s death, I still took a hit to the stomach. No matter how much we try to prepare or assume, it’s just unavoidable.

Why did I like Murcer so much? After all, he didn’t play for either of the world championship teams in 1977 or ’78, and he failed to live up to the expectations—however unfair—of being the next Mantle. Well, neither of those realities mattered to me. In my mind, Murcer was plenty good; he was a little 180-pound guy who showed surprising power from the left side of the plate, ran faster than most white guys were supposed to run, and played a very good center field. He also seemed to be an easy-going, down-home, pleasant and kind gentleman, and all of that added up to him being one of my favorite ballplayers.

I didn’t know it at the time, but Murcer’s service to his country provided another exemplary characteristic to his persona. He sacrificed two of his prime developmental years to the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. As much as we talk about ballplayers who served in World War II and the Korean War, we tend to ignore Vietnam and the players who were drafted, like Murcer, Ed Figueroa, and Carlos May. Employed as a radio operator (the same work done by fellow big leaguer Bill Campbell), Murcer missed out completely on the 1967 and ’68 seasons. Although he was terrified at first, Murcer learned about discipline and responsibility during his military tenure. Emerging stronger and more self-reliant, Murcer became a better ballplayer after he returned to baseball.

At times when being a Yankee fan produced mostly dark moments, Murcer provided some necessary lighting. In the early 1970s, the Yankees found themselves weighed down in a muddle of mediocrity. They had middle infielders who couldn’t hit, a parade of feeble third basemen (at least until Graig Nettles arrived in 1973), no real right fielder, and a troublesome back end of the starting rotation. There was too much Horace "Hoss" Clarke, Jerry Kenney, and Mike Kekich, and no more Mantle, Elston Howard, and Whitey Ford. Yet, the Yankees were still worth watching. They had Munson. They had Roy White and Mel Stottlemyre, and Sparky Lyle, beginning in ‘72. And they had Murcer.

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The Yankees open the second half of the 2008 baseball season with a 50-45 (.526) record. They are in third place in the AL East, six games behind the division-leading Red Sox and 5.5 games behind the second-play Rays. In the Wild Card picture, they rank fourth behind the Rays, Twins (3 games), and A’s (1 game), and just a half game ahead of the Texas Rangers.

A year ago, they were in a nearly identical position. Ninety-six games into the 2007 season, the Yankees had a 50-46 (.521) record, were in second place in the East, 7.5 games behind the Red Sox, and were in fourth place in the Wild Card race, 6.5 games behind the Indians, four games behind the Mariners, and a half game behind the Twins.

From that point, the 2007 Yankees went 44-22 (.667) to come within two games of the eventual World Champion Red Sox in the East and take the Wild Card by six games over the Mariners, who went 37-28 (.569) over the same span.

The Yankees weren’t supposed to find themselves in this sort of spot again, and will have a much more difficult time digging themselves out of it this year due to potentially season-ending injuries to Chien-Ming Wang and Hideki Matsui and the continued lineup shuffling required by Jorge Posada’s sore shoulder. Here’s a look at what went right and wrong in the first half of this season for the Yankees, and what we might expect to see from them in the second half.

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Here’s the rumor. Would be something if it were true. But I’ll go with fugazi.

Update: Would you believe, Richie Sexson?

Oy and veh. Better ‘n a Betemit I suppose.

From Johnny’s last show, Ladies and Gents…The Great Flydini.

We all know about pitchers who can write: Pat Jordan, Jim Brosnan, Jim Bouton. But there are also a handful of writers who can pitch too. Historian Glenn Stout used to pitch in an over 30 league. Kevin Kerrane pitched semi-pro ball too. And veteran New York sports writer Bob Klapisch has been pitching since he was in college (he used to pitch against Ron Darling when he was at Columbia and Darling was at Yale). For the past couple of years I’ve been meaning to go watch Klap pitch in a game, thinking it would make for an interesting story.

Unfortunately, Klap’s playing career came to an abrupt end last week when he was struck in the right eye by a ground ball. In a recent e-mail, Klap explained what happened:

I was pitching Thursday night in Parsippany NJ for the Morris Mariners, one of the two semi-pro teams I play for. (Hackensack Troasts is the other). Batter hit a hard comebacker which took a wicked bounce over my glove. It was one of those old-fashioned configurations, with a bowling alley-like strip of dirt connected the pitching mound to home plate. So the ball was traveling on dirt, not grass, and must’ve hit a rock. It flew up towards my face, like a stone skipping on a lake. Caught me flush in the right eye.

Had to have emergency surgery that night. It was just my right eye that was damaged. I can do everything (read, write, play with the kids) with the left. The right suffered a partially detached retina, and damaged cornea, which will require a transplant. I also have multiple fractures which will require plastic surgery. The whole process starts on Monday when I go under for repair of the retina. After 3-6 months, the doctors say I’ll have my vision back. Worst case, 20/200, best case 20/50. It sure beats the alternative, which is what I’m experiencing now – a black curtain over the right side of my face. Very strange.

My baseball career is over, so my goal is to play catch in the backyard with my kids. I am determined to make that happen.

Man, talk about a bad break. What a humbling way for the universe to tell you it’s time to stop playing ball. Klap does seem to be taking it exceedingly well, however. And he’s one tough cookie.

Still, it must be a scary spot for him to be in. So here’s sending best wishes to Klap. Let’s hope that his surgeries are a success. Hang in there, Klap, you’re the man.

Can I Kick it?  Yes, you can!

Last night I was on the uptown platform at 103rd street. I had just missed a train. There was a tall, dark lady cop on the platform. I said hello as I passed her. Then, I started making small talk, about staying up late for the All-Star game. I asked if she ever worked up at the Stadium and she said that she did and that it was a fun beat.

"Unless, they are playing the Red Sox. Too much alcohol. Then we have to take people out."

She didn’t mean escort them out, she meant take them out. By any means necessary. She looked up the platform as we spoke and said there are usually around thirty arrests when the Sox are in town.

I held out my hand and introduced myself.

"My name is Jack," she said and pointed to her badge. It read, "Jack." Not Jackie, not Jacklyn. Jack.

Yes, M’am.

Jack went on to tell me that when she works the Stadium she is stationed where the visiting players’ wives sit. She said the wives tell her how much safer it is at the Stadium than in other parks around the league. Go figure that, right?

"They told me that teams generally have to bring their own security with them at other places. Not here. Not since Steinbrenner adopted a zero-tolerance policy."

Jack then told me, with considerable pride, about how quickly two fans were bounced on two nights earlier during the home run derby. It was when Josh Hamilton hit one into the black seats and two kids chased after it. I was watching on TV and recall seeing a cop put his hands around one of the kids’ neck.

Jack shook her head and smiled.

She said that the cops working inside the Stadium are not on the job, they are paid privately "by Steinbrenner."

Hey, I’d feel pretty safe if Jack had my back. Man, it sure ain’t like the old days no more.

I know I’m late to the party on this, but man, what a drag about our ailing Godzilla. Could be that the Matsui is gone for the year. Steven Goldman takes a look in today’s New York Sun.

I was able to watch a good portion of yesterday’s parade up sixth avenue from my office building. Players sat in the back of sparkling Chevy trucks which proceeded slowly from Bryant Park to 57th street. When Hank Aaron’s truck stopped in front of my building, I saw a little old lady with a big white hat approach him. She walked right by the police, up to the truck like she came down to the parade to do just one thing. She went right up and shook Aaron’s hand. It was brief. Then she walked back to the sidewalk where a small boy was waiting for her.

As she moved away from Aaron, she clenched her fists and shook them over and over again. It was as she was saying, “Yes. I shook the man’s hand.” I don’t know if she had been waiting for years to make that contact but the moment clearly made her day, if not her whole year.

It must be a strange sensation to be a ball player, knowing that your accomplishments mean so much to so many people. I wonder how many of these kinds of encounters an athltete remembers? They must all blur together after awhile. One thing for sure though, that lady will never forget touching Hank Aaron, even it was just for a moment.

The opening ceremonies were but a distant memory by the time the All Star game merifully ended close to 2:00 a.m. but the sight of George Steinbrenner being carted around the field will be the image I remember most. There was the Boss, with his trademark navy blue blazer and aviator sunglasses, sitting next to his daughter, his son Hal right behind him, bawling like a baby, overcome with emotion. The Fox cameras tastefully kept their distance until Steinbrenner’s cart reached the pitcher’s mound. There, his daughter handed him a plain manilla envelope. The Boss took out four baseballs and gave one each to Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Goose Gossage and Reggie Jackson. Ford leaned over and kissed George on the cheek, so did Yogi. Paying their respects to The Godfather. Steinbrenner was then quickly ushered off the field, perhaps for the final time.

It’s funny how things turn out. For as long as I can remember, Steinbrenner has lorded over his team as The Boss, commanding the back and sometimes even the front pages of the local newspapers, hiring-and-firing managers and general managers at an alarming rate, throwing buckets of money at free agents, harassing his employees, berating his players, building championship teams and then tearing them down. He was boorish, obnoxious, paranoid, driven, obsessed. He was also generous, charitable, and unfailingly patriotic. Steinbrenner was a lot of things, and most of all, he was vital, a force.

In 1989, when I was a senior in high school, I honestly believed that the Yankees would never been a winning organization again until Steinbrenner was gone. I was wrong of course, and the Yankees’ run in the nineties was more spectactular and satisfying than the one in the late seventies. Steinbrenner deserves credit for that, even if the team was carefully re-built while he was serving his second suspension from the game, and even if Joe Torre gets most of the ink for the teams’ great run.

Again, it’s interesting to see how things turn out. Instead of a dramatic departure, Steinbrenner has slowly faded, like the air fizzling out of a birthday ballon that is three weeks old. It is humbling. And his many critics have laid off of him as his health has declined. Mike Lupica, one of his biggest foes, has written nothing but glowing things about Steinbrenner for the past few years. And so even an orge gets a moment of grace.

I enjoyed the pre-game introductions. Thought it was typically crass of Willie Mays to ignore Josh Hamilton when the young center fielder took his place next to the Say Hey Kid. Also, is New York the only place in the world where you can get away with following-up Hank Aaron with Reggie Jackson or what? And yo, you had to love them saving Yogi, the best, for last.

The fourth and final All-Star Game in Yankee Stadium started out as something of a dud, but it sure did get interesting before the AL came away its eleventh-straight win after 15 innings and nearly five hours of baseball.

Scoreless after four innings, the early part of the game was notable only for its lack of offense. Derek Jeter singled and stole second in his first at-bat, but was stranded there, ground into a double play in his second trip, and ground out again to kill a fifth-inning rally in his final at-bat. Alex Rodriguez fouled out and struck out in his two at-bats. The AL had five runners in the first four frames, but one was erased by Jeter’s double play, and Milton Bradley was picked off first base after reaching on a Hanley Ramirez throwing error in the fourth. The NL had just three baserunners in the first four frames. Of those three, Albert Pujols was nailed by a laser throw from Ichiro Suzuki while trying to stretch a single into the right field corner into a double. That play was the highlight of the early part of the game, though everyone had a good laugh when Carlos Zambrano’s first pitch to Manny Ramirez in the bottom of the fourth was a curveball that broke over and behind Ramirez’s head.

The NL finally broke the dam when Matt Holliday led off the fifth with an opposite-field solo homer off Ervin Santana that was also the first extra-base hit of the game. The senior circuit added another run against Justin Duchscherer the following inning when Hanely Ramirez and Chase Utley singled to put runners on the corners with no outs, and Lance Berkman plated Ramirez with a sac fly to center.

The game was still 2-0 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh when J.D. Drew tied things up with a two-run homer that plated Justin Morneau (who had doubled to lead off the inning), making Drew the first Boston player to get a genuine cheer from a Yankee Stadium crowd in my memory.

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The NL has the better lineup and the roster that better represents the best of their league, but they haven’t won one of these things since 1996, when the AL was shutout by a nonet of pitchers that included Mark Wohlers, Steve Trachsel, and Phillies closer Ricky Bottalico, and they won’t get last licks tonight.

The NL has had some turnover in its roster since it was first announced. In addition to Corey Hart, who was added via the Final Vote, David Wright, who finished second in that voting, replaces the injured Alfonso Soriano, and Carlos Marmol replaces his bullpen-mate Kerry Wood, who developed blister on his right index finger last weekend. What’s more, today there have been reports that the Giants sophomore sensation Tim Lincecum, my pick to start for the NL squad, fell ill with the flu yesterday and may not even make it to the Stadium. The only roster issue for the ALers was the injured David Ortiz being replaced by Final Vote winner Evan Longoria.

Here are the lineups:

American League

RF – Ichiro Suzuki (L)
SS – Derek Jeter (R)
CF – Josh Hamilton (L)
3B – Alex Rodriguez (R)
LF – Manny Ramirez (R)
DH – Milton Bradley (S)
1B – Kevin Youkilis (R)
C – Joe Mauer (L)
2B – Dustin Pedroia (R)

P – Cliff Lee (L)

National League

SS – Hanely Ramirez (R)
2B – Chase Utley (L)
1B – Lance Berkman (S)
DH – Albert Pujols (R)
3B – Chipper Jones (S)
RF – Matt Holliday (R)
LF – Ryan Braun (R)
CF – Kosuke Fukudome (L)
C – Geovany Soto (R)

P – Ben Sheets (R)

In lieu of FOX’s Zelaskoed pre-game coverage, check our man Alex’s write up on the Stadium over at SI.com, and let’s all hope this won’t be the last night they break the bunting out at the old yard.

More fun: Paul Lukas on All-Star Game uniform shenanigans, including several of those mentioned in my 1977 game recap earlier today.

The last All-Star Game to take place at Yankee Stadium was played on July 19, 1977, five days after the blackout that devastated parts of the city. It was the second season of the renovated Stadium, which had already seen Chris Chambliss hit his ALCS-winning home run against the Royals and the Reds sweep the Yankees in the World Series the previous October. At the break, the Yankees were in third place in a tight race in the AL East, 2.5 games behind the Red Sox and three games behind the Orioles, both of whom would finish the season 2.5 games behind the repeating AL champions.

The Yankees had five representatives at the All-Star Game that year, not counting AL manager Billy Martin and his coaching staff. Reggie Jackson, in his first year with the team, started in right field and was booed loudly by the home crown upon being announced by Bob Sheppard before the game. Willie Randolph, in his second season as a Yankee, made his first All-Star start at second base. Thurman Munson, Graig Nettles, and Sparky Lyle all made the team as reserves.

While the six members of the 1976 World Champion Reds on the NL roster (Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, George Foster, and Dave Concepcion in the starting lineup, Pete Rose and Ken Griffy on the bench) were booed loudly by the Yankee Stadium crowd, the loudest ovation during the pre-game introductions went to another Red, Tom Seaver, who had been traded to Cincinnati by the Mets just a month earlier. Watching the game now, it’s also striking to see future Yankee stars Dave Winfield and Goose Gossage, both playing for the NL squad, met with near silence by the Stadium fans, and to see Billy Martin cheerfully greet his first base coach, White Sox manager Bob Lemon, who would replace him as Yankee manager the following season.

Orioles ace Jim Palmer started for the AL squad. Having thrown 638 innings over the previous two seasons, Palmer had thrown 187 2/3 innings in the first half of 1977 and was clearly fatigued. Joe Morgan, who had started the scoring in the 1976 World Series with a first-inning home run off Doyle Alexander, led off and put Palmer’s sixth pitch into the right field box seats. As Reggie Jackson ran out of room to chase Morgan’s leadoff homer, he pressed his face against the right field wall and rolled around as if to say "here we go again." The NL had won the previous five All-Star Games and 18 of the previous 20. They would win this one and the next five as well before Fred Lynn’s grand slam off Atlee Hammaker finally broke their dominance in 1983.

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The reason why baseball movies will never get it right is because no amount of clever CGI can ever replicate what we saw from Josh Hamilton, a real life Roy Hobbs, last night at the Stadium. I still feel buzzed.

“If I was managing the team, I would close,” [Jonathan] Papelbon said. “I’m not managing the team, so it don’t matter.”

…”We’ve both earned that right; us, by winning the World Series and having the opportunity of having our manager there and our team being represented, and Mariano by what he’s done for this role, we’re in Yankee Stadium and blah, blah, blah,” Papelbon said. “It’s not that easy. Everybody thinks it’s a cut and dry answer, but it’s not.”
(N.Y. Daily News)

Well, Jonathan Paplebon is an athlete. And I’d rather have a guy who is dumb and good than smart and crappy. So this wasn’t an especially bright thing to say. He isn’t paid to be bright.

ESPN will broadcast the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium at 8pm tonight. It will be the first and last Home Run Derby in the Stadium’s history as the Derby only dates back to 1985 and Yankee Stadium last hosted the All-Star Game in 1977.

The balls for the Derby tend to be a bit juiced, so it’s quite possible that there will be balls hit to previously unreached portions of the park tonight. If you follow the link above, you’ll find a video that shows where the furthest-hit balls in this decade’s Derbies would have landed in Yankee Stadium. A several of them would have landed safely in the left field bleachers, a section that’s only been reached once during a game, and one would have hit off the wall behind those bleachers.

Unfortunately, none of the seven hitters responsible for the blasts in that video will be participating tonight. In fact, if you look at the top home run totals over the 2004 to 2007 seasons, Lance Berkman is the only member of the top 10 who will be taking his hacks tonight, and the next participant on the list is Justin Morneau all the way down at 27th.

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Joe Pos takes a look.  Peep, don’t sleep.