I think it is high time for the Yankees and Bernie Williams to patch-up whatever hard feelings may exist between them.  The Yankees should honor one of the great modern Yankees in the House of Ruth Built before the end of the season, don’t you think?

A few weeks back, Rich Lederer ran an interesting post about the state of the newspaper business:

With subscriber rates and advertising dwindling, newspaper profits are getting squeezed due to the decreasing revenues in a high fixed-cost business. It remains to be seen whether these companies can turn things around fast enough to remain viable longer term. In the meantime, look for more consolidation, layoffs, and plant closures to reduce capital expenditures and costs. Shareholders may face possible dividend cuts if cash flow weakens to the point where it no longer can support the current payouts. I wouldn’t rule out bankruptcies or unwanted takeovers from opportunistic suitors, who most likely would finance the majority of such acquisitions with debt. Servicing high-cost bank debt and junk bonds would make it that much more difficult for the old media to survive without major changes to their business models.

If the truth be told, the newspaper behemoths were in the best position to lead, rather than lag, the growth in the online media space. Forward-thinking managements, while perhaps not entrepreneurial enough, could have beaten the Googles, Yahoos, eBays, and Monsters to the punch, ensuring not only their survival but prosperity for years and perhaps decades to come. Instead, newspapers are downsizing while changing their business models to focus on local events and become more like magazines by devoting space to features rather than old news.

An ideal companion piece can be found in the recent issue of the Columbia Jouralism Review, where Robert Weintraub writes about the decline of the big-city sports columnist:

The idea that the sports columnist may no longer be a crucial part of the nation’s best newspapers is something to be lamented. The gifted sports columnist often delivered the best writing in the entire paper (and often commanded the highest salary, as fans bought papers to read his take on the local action). Freed from the Journalism 101 tropes, the sports column was home to more emotional and livelier prose than that in, say, the local political columns. At his or her best, a [Tony] Kornheiser or a [Jackie] MacMullan weaved artistry and insights into 750 words. That blend of beauty and concision is a dying art. By contrast, there is ESPN.com’s popular Bill Simmons, who is knowledgeable and funny, but reading his sprawling pieces can consume an entire lunch hour. The Internet’s boundless newshole is a boon to information delivery, but less so to crisp, disciplined writing.

…The big-city columnist’s demise has not been entirely self-inflicted. His position as the go-to guy for both perspective and insider dope has been diminished by the democratization of information and the ability to quickly disseminate it to the public. When everyone has an opinion, and a way to broadcast it, the ability to get the news in the first place is crucial. Yet the columnist cannot get into the nitty-gritty of a local team’s games, because beat writers and obsessed bloggers tend to know much more about the squad and its doings on the playing field, as they parse every game, every dollop of information, every statistic. The columnist is also outflanked by teams themselves, who use the Internet to bypass the press and break news, and by the growing number of athletes who operate their own Web sites where fans can interact.

I wonder if we’ll ever see a fresh, young, must-read columnist, someone who knows their sports and knows how to write, in a major newspaper again.

My impression is that for much of this year and last, Andy Pettitte has pitched pretty well without particularly great stuff – he has decent control, usually, and he knows what he’s doing out there, and so I remember writing a lot of sentences that began something like, “Pettitte wasn’t sharp tonight, but…”

Well, this wasn’t one of those games. Pettitte was excellent Tuesday night, carrying the Yankees to a 5-0 win, and the fact that this outing came against the Devil Rays is no longer any sort of disclaimer. He went eight innings and allowed just four hits – two of them infield singles, another a bloop. There were some very good (by Yankee standards) plays made behind him, sure, but he was dominant, throwing not just a ton of strikes but really nasty, tricky strikes, exactly where he wanted them. Pettitte’s only remotely tough inning was the seventh, when with Rays on first and third and two outs, he induced Willy Aybar to hit a grounder towards the gap between third and short — at which point Derek Jeter made a terrific play (you heard me), ranging far to his right to snag the ball, then executing his patented twisting jump-throw to nail the runner at second and end the inning.

Pettitte was only half of a tense pitcher’s duel that lasted five innings: Scott Kazmir had very, very impressive stuff, though in the end he wasn’t all that efficient. (Even after all this time I’m reluctant to even mention the name “Scott Kazmir” because it still sends my Mets fan friends into such fits of seething rage. Every GM makes mistakes but I can’t help feeling that if I were Steve Phillips I would forgo the ESPN commentating and dedicate my life to charity and self-abnegation in a futile bid for karmic redemption). For a while there it looked like Kazmir might be gearing up for a no-hitter, he was plowing through the Yankees’ Giambi-less, Damon-less, Matsui-less lineup with such ease. But he flashed a little mortality in the third, when Robinson Cano and Jose Molina managed consecutive singles and, after two frustrating outs, Captain Intangibles himself drove both runners in with a double to right field.

The game stayed taut until the eighth, when the Yanks tacked on off of Rays relievers Gary Glover (good pitcher name, there, vastly better than teammate Grant Balfour’s) and Jason Hammel. Melky Cabrera semi-redeemed himself after some thoroughly lousy earlier ABs with a home run, and Jeter singled, then scored from first on Abreu’s double. After sliding home, Jeter stayed down for a very long second, and I thought for sure he was injured, but apparently not – he gathered himself, got up, and walked back to the dugout with no visible limp, and no one on the Yankees’ staff seemed concerned. Obviously Jeter had a very nice game overall, but in that one moment, it really looked like he was either in significant pain or just bone-tired.

Anyway, after that Mariano Rivera sat down, Edwar Ramirez stood up, Cano eventually singled in Abreu, and the Yanks took a one game lead in their season series against the Rays; they’re now 7.5 games out of first place, and still 4.5 out of the Wild Card (hey, Twins… knock it off!).

I clicked over to SNY after the game to try to get the Mets highlights, and the dudes on SportsNite were all saying that this was a “statement game” by the Yanks. Hmmm… maybe, maybe not. Isn’t it pretty to think so?

Most likely this is simply another period of transition as the 24-year-old Garza works to establish himself alongside lefty Scott Kazmir (also 24) and righty James Shields (26) to give the Rays the best trio of starters their brief existence, prospects from Longoria and Brignac to 2007 top pick and potential ace David Price continue to fight their way toward the majors, and established starters such as Upton and catcher Dioner Navarro attempt to mature on the job. The rate at which each of those things happen will determine the rate of the Rays’ improvement. Heck, by the All-Star break, this team could have Longoria and any of a handful of pitching prospects in place, Garza, Upton and company could be thriving, and the Rays could be well on their way to that 88-win projection, but given their bad luck and self-defeating maneuvers such as the demotion of Longoria, I just don’t see it happening.

While the Rays’ have made incremental improvements in their pitching and defense, their offense should break even as Carlos Peña regresses from his monster breakout season of a year ago. The result is likely something resembling a well-balanced 75-win team, which is a nice step up from a duck-and-cover 67-win team, but it’s not about to change the complexion of the division. At least not this season. –Cliff Corcoran, April 4, 2008

Uhm . . . oops.

To be fair a lot of those “things” that I said needed to happen for the Rays to become a winning team have happened. Longoria was called up and installed at third base just a week after I wrote the above and has since emerged as the second-best third baseman in the American League behind Alex Rodriguez by hitting .283/.354/.535 while playing fantastic defense. Longoria, who has hit .331/.397/.653 since June 1, is probably the most deserving of the Final Vote candidates for the final spot on the AL All-Star roster. Dioner Navarro, who is hitting .317/.371/.436, is already on the All-Star roster and has been the second best catcher in the league in the first half. B.J. Upton has lost a lot of the power he showed last year, but has made up for it with an tremendous improvement in his approach at the plate as evidenced by the drop in his K/BB ratio from 2.37 in 2007 to 1.21 and his .391 on-base percentage against a .277 average. Garza overcame some early-season elbow trouble and has posted a 3.02 ERA in his last 14 starts. Reid Brignac and pitching prospect Mitch Talbot have had tastes of the major leagues already this year.

Everything has gone according to the Rays’ plan in the first half. They have the best defensive efficiency in baseball. That has lifted their pitching from last in the league to third, with both Garza and lefty ace Scott Kazmir, who starts against Andy Pettitte tonight, benefiting greatly on balls in play with BABIPs in the low .260s. Former Dodgers prospect Edwin Jackson, still just 24 year old, has gotten a lift as well with a .281 BABIP and a league-average major league ERA which is more than a run better than his career mark. Rounded out by Andy Sonnanstine, who has a 3.15 ERA in his last seven starts, the Rays have a solid five-man rotation of which the 26-year-old James Shields is the oldest member. More good pitching out of the bullpen and a surprisingly strong offense led by the rookie Longoria, a career year from four-corner utility man Eric Hinske (.264/.349/.524), and the robust on-base percentages of Upton and Navarro, have put the Rays in a position from which they could post a .446 winning percentage the rest of the way and still fulfill PECOTA’s bold 88-win projection.

Odds are they’ll do better than that. Despite all of the above going their way, the Rays have still suffered from repeated injuries to closer Troy Percival and DH Cliff Floyd. Garza and Kazmir have both lost time to injury as well, and Rocco Baldelli hasn’t played above A-ball all year. What’s more, shortstop Jason Bartlett, who came over in the deal for Garza, was supposed to be the anchor of their improved defense, but has been a disappointment in the field and an embarrassment at the plate (.204/.268/.358, only slightly better than Jose Molina). Bartlett is on the DL with a knee sprain right now, opening the door to an improvement at his position as prospect Reid Brignac battles Ben Zobrist for playing time at shortstop. In addition to the upgrade at Bartlett’s spot, the Rays should be able to expect more pop from Upton and more than the league-average production they’ve received from Carl Crawford in the first half.

Good health and those slight improvements on offense could offset some of the expected regressions elsewhere. With 74 games left to play, if the Rays merely played that the level the Yankees have in the first half (.528 winning percentage entering tonight’s game) they would win 94 games, a total that could put them in the postseason, as it did for the Yankees a year ago.

Given all of that, the Yankees have done well to split their first ten games against the Rays this season. However, four of those five wins came in April. In their last meeting in mid-May, the Rays took three of four from the Bombers at the Trop. Coming into this week’s brief two-game set in the Bronx, the Rays are red-hot having won 11 of their last 13 including a three-game sweep of the Red Sox.

The good news is that Kazmir has cooled off after a stretch of six starts in May, including one against the Yankees, in which he allowed four runs in 41 innings. Since then, Kazmir has posted a 4.67 ERA and turned in just one quality start in five tries, that coming back on June 11. Kazmir still isn’t giving up very many hits, but the ones he is giving up are traveling, as he’s allowed a .471 slugging percentage over those five starts with nearly half of his hits allowed going for extra bases. He’s also getting wild again, walking 5 men per nine innings over those last five starts. Over the same stretch, Andy Pettitte was dominant for four starts (4-0, 1.00 ERA) before his ugly outing against the Red Sox on Thursday.

Despite yesterday’s off-day, Jose Molina will make his third-straight start behind the plate tonight with Jason Giambi getting a day off against the lefty Kazmir. Jorge Posada will DH with Wilson Betemit at first base. Those two are hitting fifth and sixth in the order ahead of Robinson Cano despite the fact that Cano is hitting .396/.400/.625 over his last dozen games (note the complete lack of walks, those extra OBP points are from a HBP).

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How do you spell C-O-O-L?

How about this bit of tastiness for your ears? Ideal for keeping it low and slow on another hot day in the Big Apple.

Scott Kazmir and the Rays are ready to rumble in the Bronx. According to Bart O’Connell in the Tampa Trib:

“It’s going to be different. I think the fans are going to be a little more on us, compared to the past,” Kazmir said. “It might be kind of mixed a little bit, because we’ve been beating the Red Sox and they like that, but coming into their park, I don’t think they’re going to be too happy to see us and we’re ahead of them. There’s going to be a lot of tension in there.”

Kazmir does not see this series alone as an opportunity to knock the Yankees out of postseason contention, a possibility some have suggested.

“No, no, no. Nothing like that. We still have a whole half of the season to go, so it couldn’t just be on one game, one inning,” he said. “But if we put the pressure on them these next couple games, and end up finishing strong in the first half, I think it’ll put us in a good situation.”

In the New York Post, Brian Costello has this from Cliff Floyd:

“It used to be going to play the Yankees was a big deal. It’s not a big deal. We’re just going to play baseball. We put ourselves in a position where there’s no pressure.”

Also, from the Tampa Trib:

“Sometimes you could beat them on mistakes, and they don’t make mistakes any more,” [Jason] Giambi said.

…”When you get veterans from other teams saying those kinds of things, that, to me, means as much as anything,” Maddon said after reading Giambi’s words of praise. “I think peer acceptance, peer validation, is the strongest or the one that resonates the loudest. For me, that does mean something and it does matter and we as an organization appreciate those comments.”

Could be a fun two-game series. Sure is a hot one out there…

I used to litter causually, without giving it much thought.  I’d think nothing of stuffing a newspaper between my legs, under my seat on the train when I was finished with it.  Or I’d toss a gum wrapper on the ground. 

Then one day about ten years ago, I was walking down the street with my friend Joey La P and I tossed something on the ground without thinking.  Joey got all over me.  "How about a little respect, bro?"  He didn’t humiliate me, but didn’t let it slide either.  Since that day, I’ve been aware about littering (not that I didn’t know it was a lousy thing to do before that).  So much so that now I’m like one of those reformed smokers, vigilant, judgemental.  I give people the evil eye when I see them blatantly throw their crap on the floor, although I am careful exactly who I stare at and for how long. 

But I’ve become a righteous prig.  What can you do?  Mostly, if I’m really bothered, I just walk over and pick up whatever has just been dumped and, without saying a word, or even looking at the offender, place it in a garbage can myself.  If I’m with a friend, I give them the ol’ Joey La P treatment.  "Yo, how about a little respect?"

Here’s the routine…

Fans have a few days to select the final player for the AL and NL All Star squads.  Our own Jason Giambi is on the AL ballot and is a fine cherce, although I don’t know that I’d vote for him over Jermaine Dye or that kid playing third for the Rays.

Last week, as the voting drew to a close, I posted my preferred All-Star rosters for this year’s mid-summer classic at Yankee Stadium. Yesterday, the actual rosters were announced. My preferences are hardly the final word on the subject, but I thought that by comparing the two we might be able to glean some insight into the current selection process.

American League

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A few months ago I invited myself to Ray Robinson’s apartment, ostensibly to get his list of ten essential baseball books, but really so I could lay eyes on his library of sports books.  Robinson, an author (Iron Horse) and longtime magazine editor, grew up on the Upper West Side, near Columbia.  When he was a kid, Robinson got a delivery job at a local liquor store, and he found himself making stops over at Babe Ruth’s apartment at 110 Riverside Drive. He’d say, ‘Thanks keed,'” Ray told me.  “He called everybody ‘keeed,’ because he couldn’t remember anyone’s name.  And he would invariably honor me with a couple of dollar bills.”

Ray and his wife, Phyliss were wonderful with me.  We chatted in the living room of their comfortable New York apartment for about an hour and Ray shared his selections of favorite baseball books with me.  I poked my nose through his collection and as I was about to leave, Ray said, “Oh, would you like to see my scrapbooks?”

“Sure, I would.”

Ray picked-up a bright orange plastic bag from the bottom of the bookshelf, the kind you’d get from the local Chinese take out.  He pulled out two weathered books, practically falling apart, one dated 1932, the other, 1933.  They were filled with pictures of players from every team in baseball.  Ray cut-out images mostly from The New York Sun, The Saturday Evening Post, assorted baseball magazines as well as baseball cards.  Then, along with some friends, he’d scout the hotel lobbies where the out-of-town teams stayed, to get autographs.

The books are lovingly, obsessively assembled, filled with small notations.  Ray expressed some embarrassment when I complemented him on how wonderful, how personal the books are. He dismissed his sketch of the Babe as being awful, but I liked it and his wife did too.

Ray asked if he should sell the books–after all, he’s got a couple of Lefty Groves in there, a Honus Wagner, Dizzy Dean.  Phyliss said that she didn’t think that was a good idea. I quickly agreed.

“You can’t sell these,” I said.  “They belong in a museum or for your grandkids.”

As I looked carefully through the two books, Ray kept wondering if he should sell them.  I said, “No way,” but when I left I felt foolish.  Who am I to say that he shouldn’t sell them?  There is probably some serious money in those two books.  Still, they feel too personal to part with.  They are not kept under a glass case, they are in a plastic bag on the shelf, a secret baseball treasure on the Upper East Side.

Yesterday, the New York Times featured a short essay by Ray Robinson about his scrapbooks.

Check it out and dig what I was able to see:

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New York magazine has an article on the hawking-off of Yankee Stadium.  Everything Must Go, One Time Only!

*

I realize that Manny Ramirez is in a slump.  Still, it was a strange sight watching him look at three pitches against Mariano Rivera last night, before returning to the dugout.  After the game, Rivera told reporters, "I was kind of surprised, definitely, that he never took the bat off his shoulder," Rivera said. "I don’t know what he was thinking. That’s Manny."

Seven batters were hit in Saturday’s game and yet there was no beef between the Yankees and Red Sox.  My, how times have changed.  But things got lively on Sunday night–Kevin Youkilis slid hard into home, brushing against Joba Chamberlain’s leg in the fifth inning, and Chamberlain threw a pitch behind The Greek God of Walks in the sixth before walking him on a 3-2 pitch.   Joba vs Youk would be some Beffy Battle Royale but it’ll have to wait for another day.  The loudest fight of the night came when Joe Girardi got himself run for arguing balls and strikes with home plate ump, Laz Diaz.  But the Yanks had the biggest fight in them, as they rallied and won in extra innings, 5-4. 

Chamberlain pitched well in the early going, working quickly and efficiently through the first four innings.  But he allowed the first three runners to reach base in the fifth, with Youkilis scoring on a wild pitch.  Chamberlain regrouped, struck out the next two batters and then shook Jose Molina off before throwing a 3-2 pitch to Jacoby Ellsbury.  Molina went out to talk to Chamberlain who proceeded to walk Ellsbury on a check swing.  Chamberlain threw a slider; apparently, Molina wanted a fastball.  Dustin Pedroia was next and he fisted an inside fastball into right field for a two-run single.  Chamberlain gave up three runs on four hits, he walked four and struck out five in six innings. 

Alex Rodriguez, front page tabloid fodder all weekend, launched a knuckle ball into the left field seats to lead off the second inning, his 18th homer of the year and 536th of his career, tying him with Mickey Mantle on the all-time list.  It would be the last hit the Yankees would collect until the sixth.  Derek Jeter singled home a run before that inning was out, then helped give one right back in the top of the seventh as a throwing error led to a run.

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We’ve got a nice pitching match-up for the Sunday Night finale of this four-game series, as Joba Chamberlain goes against the old knuckler, Tim Wakefield. Never know what you are going to get from Wake, but we’ve seen him hand it to the Yanks on more than one occasion. Chamberlain is coming off a poor start against the Rangers where he was wild and threw a ton of pitches and was gone after four innings. Tonight is his biggest start yet. A huge game for the Yankees to keep pace–yes, the Rays won again this afternoon.

The All Star rosters were announced this afternoon and neither Mike Mussina and Jason Giambi made the team. I’m sure that’ll give Joe Morgan something to talk about tonight.

Oy.

Let’s hope the bats are boomin’ so it ain’t too painful and

Let’s Go Yan-Kees!

…Something great can happen and that’s why we watch sports.

Today at Wimbledon, something great did happen. Rafael Nadal, the Red Sox to Roger Federer’s Yankees, defeated the five-time defending champ in what could possibly be the greatest finals match of all time, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7. John MacEnroe sure thought it was. Nadal and Federer both showed great courage and determination, and the level of play was brilliant, the shot-making suburb, the drama palpable.

It reminded me of something Carlton Fisk once told Tom Boswell about being on deck with Yaz up in the ninth at the end of the playoff game of ’78 between the Yanks and Sox:

I was in the on-deck circle, just like I was when Yaz flew out to end the ’75 Series. You know, they should have stopped the game right then and said, ‘Okay, that’s it. The season is over. You’re both world champions. We can’t decide between you, and neither of you should have to lose.’

Nadal and Federer elevated the game today. Remarkable.

Here’s a quick look at Mike Mussina’s greatest efforts against the Red Sox.

May 24, 2001

May 30, 2001

Sep 2, 2001

Sep 8, 2001

June 1, 2002

July 19, 2002

Aug 28, 2002

July 7, 2003

Sep 19, 2004

July 5, 2008

And of course, the biggest relief outing of Moose’s career came against Boston.

The Yankees and Red Sox combined to put 23 men on base yesterday afternoon, but just three of them came around to score as the Yankees pulled out a slim 2-1 victory.

The Sox set the tone in the top of the first inning. With one out, Dustin Pedroia lined a ball down the left field line that kicked out to left fielder Brett Gardner. Pedroia attempted to stretch the hit into a double, but was nailed at second base by a perfect throw from Gardner. Two pitches later, J.D. Drew doubled, but with Pedroia already in the dugout, Boston had nothing to show for their back-to-back hits. Yankee starter Mike Mussina then moved Drew to third on a wild pitch and lost control of a 3-2 changeup which slipped behind Manny Ramirez and hit him in the rump to put runners on the corners, but rallied to strike out Mike Lowell to strand both runners.

The Yankees took an early lead against Boston’s rookie starter Justin Masterson in the bottom of the second on a four-pitch walk to Jason Giambi and two-out singles by Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera, but Jose Molina grounded out to strand two more runners. An inning later, they loaded the bases with one out when Derek Jeter singled, Bobby Abreu walked, and Alex Rodriguez was hit on the right thigh by a pitch, but Giambi struck out and Wilson Betemit grounded out to strand all three.

That third inning featured two key defensive plays by the Red Sox’s infield. With Brett Gardner leading off the inning, third baseman Mike Lowell was playing several steps in on the grass to protect against the bunt. When Gardner instead hit a would-be double down the third base line, Lowell made a great diving stop to his right to retire the rookie. Betemit’s inning-ending groundout was also hit hard and required second baseman Dustin Pedroia to range far to his left and make a spinning catch and throw to kill the Yankee rally.

Hit batsmen, sharp defensive plays, and runners left on base would continue to be the order of the day.

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We all knew the Yankees weren’t going to sweep their current four-game series against the Red Sox to pull into a second-place tie in the AL East, but the possibility was there. Now, having dropped the first two games, the Yankees have to sweep the final two in order to avoid losing ground to Boston as a result of this series.

Looking to snap the Yanks out of their malaise in today’s nationally-televised afternoon tilt will be Mike Mussina. The bad news is that two of Mussina’s three worst starts this season came against the Red Sox in April. Here’s Moose’s line from those two starts against Boston: 8 2/3 IP, 15 H, 9 R, 3 HR, 0 BB, 2 K, 9.35 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, 0-2. Manny Ramirez did the bulk of the damage against Mussina in those games, going 4-for-5 with a double and three home runs, driving in six of the nine runs Mussina allowed and scoring a seventh. It would thus seem a natural to have Mussina pitch around Ramirez today, but the man hitting behind Ramirez is Mike Lowell, who has a .579/.600/1.158 career line against Mussina. Ironically, Lowell was on the DL when Mussina faced the Red Sox in April, but in 2007, Lowell went 4-for-5 with a walk, a double, and two home runs against Mussina, and in 2006, he went 5-for-10 with a double and a homer against Moose.

So there will be no pitching around Manny today. Instead the Mussina will have to focus on keeping runners off base ahead of Ramirez and Lowell. Third-place hitter J.D. Drew is just 1 for 11 with no walks in his career against Mussina, but Boston’s top-two hitters, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, have a combined .555 OBP against Mussina (Moose has never walked either one, but he’s plunked Ellsbury twice and the two are a combined 8-for-16 against him).

Gulp.

Opposing Mussina will be 23-year-old rookie Justin Masterson. Masterson, who is just the fourth major leaguer to have been born in Kingston, Jamaica (Devon White and ex-Yankee Chili Davis are two of the other three) is a big dude (6-foot-6, 250 lbs.). He’s also a sinkerballer in search of an effective second pitch. Masterson made two strong spot starts for the Red Sox in the season’s first two months, but since being installed in the rotation at the beginning of June in place of the then-injured Daisuke Matsuzaka, has been merely average, posting a 4.54 ERA, walking 4.79 men per nine innings, and allowing seven home runs in six starts. I keep waiting for the Red Sox to swap him back out for Clay Buchholz, who is younger, better, and allowed just two runs in six June starts for triple-A Pawtucket (4-1, 0.88 ERA).

With Johnny Damon out due to the shoulder contusion he suffered in yesterday’s game, Brett Gardner will lead off and play left field today. Wilson Betemit gets the start at first base with Jason Giambi at DH. That means Jorge Posada rides pine as Mike Mussina pitches to his personal catcher in Jose Molina.

Let me get this straight: Molina caught yesterday’s game (with Posada DHing). Tomorrow’s game is a night game. Monday is an off-day. Yet, Girardi can’t find a way to get Posada into the lineup against the Red Sox today with Johnny Damon hurt and his team desperate to pull out a series split? I think I’d like to have my own team meeting with the Yankee skipper. I realize the Yankees are babying Posada’s throwing shoulder out of necessity, but Girardi needs to prioritize. Molina has hit .191/.234/.243 since injuring his hamstring against the Red Sox in mid-April. He’s killing this team. Posada has hit .263/.380/.421 since coming off the DL at the beginning of June. The Yankees need that OBP in the lineup. Meanwhile, in the last month, Chad Moeller has entered just one game before the eighth inning and had just five plate appearances (in which he’s doubled and been hit by a pitch). Even if Posada’s shoulder is so tender that he really can’t catch today, it’s long since time to give Moeller a chance to contribute again, Mussina’s preference be damned.

Update: Per Pete Abe, Posada’s “a little under the weather.” That excuses that, but not the continued preference of Molina over Moeller.

Admit it, you like those yellow and brown uniforms the San Diego Padres wore during the 1972 and ’73 seasons. There’s just something especially captivating about those yellow jerseys and pants. So colorful, so bright and cheery. Oh, who am I kidding? As much as I loved baseball in the seventies, those uniforms may have been the worst creation in on-field fashion this side of the Houston Astros’ rainbow uniforms and the short pants worn by the Chicago White Sox for three games in 1976.

In spite of having to wear those hideous polyester monstrosities, Nate Colbert is doing his best to maintain a happy face while posing for his 1973 Topps card. As the former Padres slugger pointed out to me during his recent visit to Cooperstown, those duds were major league uniforms, far superior to anything that he would have endured wearing in the Pacific Coast League. "Well, the brown didn’t bother me," says Colbert. "The yellow ones, which were called ‘Mission Gold’—I don’t know where they got that name from—when I first put them on, I felt really embarrassed. But I looked at it like this is the major leagues; this is the uniform I was required to wear. I took a lot of ribbing, especially from the Reds and Pirates players. Even my mother used to tease me. She said I looked like a caution light that was stuck. You know, it was a big league uniform. I’d rather have that than one with the Hawaii Rainbows on it, that being the Triple-A team for the Padres [at the time]."

In many ways, that’s just Nate being Nate. Just as he appears on his Topps card—smiling, positive, and upbeat—Nate tends to looks at the bright side of things. If Colbert had chosen a different path, he could have worn the more dignified pinstriped uniforms of the Yankees. As an amateur ballplayer in 1964, Colbert was offered a lucrative contract by the Yankees. They promised to double any offers given to him by any of the other 19 major league teams, but Colbert had his heart set in another direction.

If the Yankees had signed Colbert, they presumably would have brought him to the majors by the late 1960s. That would have been good timing for the struggling franchise, considering the instability the Yankees had at first base. Given Mickey Mantle’s impending retirement and Joe Pepitone’s imminent departure, the Yankees endured a period of mediocrity at the position. Patchwork players like Danny Cater, Johnny Ellis, and Mike Hegan, and the oft-injured Ron Blomberg could have given way to Colbert, who put up big slugging numbers from 1970 to 1972. Colbert also would have supplied some much-needed right-handed power, balancing a lineup that had Bobby Murcer (and later Graig Nettles) from the left side of the plate.

It was not to be. Colbert briefly considered the Yankees’ offer, but opted to sign with his hometown St. Louis Cardinals. That fulfilled a dream for Colbert, who wanted to play for the same team as his idol, Stan Musial. Unfortunately, the Cardinals had such depth at first base and in the outfield that Colbert faced major roadblocks. After the 1965 season, the Redbirds left Colbert unprotected in the Rule Five draft.

The Astros jumped in and picked Colbert, bringing him to the major leagues in 1966. As it turned out, Colbert would cross paths with the Yankees one more time. Prior to the start of the season, the Astros hosted the Yankees in an exhibition game at the Astrodome, giving Colbert his first glimpse at a Yankee legend. "Mickey Mantle was taking batting practice," says Colbert, recalling his boyish enthusiasm that day. "I said to my teammates, ‘Oh my gosh! Hey guys, that’s Mickey Mantle.’ The other guys on the team just said calmly, ‘I know.’ "

Colbert made his major league debut in 1966. Two years later, he met his most colorful teammate ever, Doug Rader. "When we were with the Astros, he and one of the guys, another player on the team, went down to the pet store. That’s when it was legal to own alligators. And they bought three alligators, baby alligators. They waited until we were all in the shower, and they let them loose in the shower, down in Cocoa, Florida. We were trying to climb the walls, these little baby alligators all around us."

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