This is a continuation of How bout them Yankees!?...

...they still suck!

The sucking sound has begun to reach South Jersey. The biggest payroll. What a farce that is. Baseball players should get paid like golfers - current performance. If golfers don't earn, they go back to the minors (the Nationwide Tour, or the Hooters Tour, or whatever Tour) and have to qualify again. Giambi should go back to the minors.

You can tell how bad they suck by the way the Yankee fans don't post. But wait....
answer #1
It is early yet.
answer #2
Just wait till the fall...they will be there like every other year.
Answer #3
They still have more rings then Boston!
Answer #4
They need better pitching.These guys are so young.
Answer#5
If Joe Torre was here, we would be on top

and the best answer so far
Answer #6
The thong is in the cleaners!

....and A-Roid is coming back tonight (and I'm a Yankee fan)

(Hey, MC, Seg 3 of Best Ball is starting this week if you wanna join in)

Not if this rain keeps up. Let it rain now, as long as the weather's good on Friday night.

Check out the GOODFELLAS reference in today's Daily News Yankee article.

Yankees hit rock bottom

Well, so much for Alex Rodriguez’s return to the Yanks sparking success for the team. As Ray Liotta said in “GoodFellas,” this is the bad time.

Just when you think the Yankees can’t sink any lower, they do. It’s like when Dylan on “Beverly Hills, 90210” would hit rock bottom every week.

It was such an awful night, what with Mike Mussina stinking up the joint and Derek Jeter getting hurt, that I couldn’t even enjoy Tom Glavine spanking the Mets!

Things are so bad for the Bombers that even Hank Steinbrenner has been rendered speechless, and had the Yankee manager upset in the postgame:

“That’s as ugly as it’s been,” manager Joe Girardi said. “I’m hoping this is rock bottom.”

I had other plans last night, so I didn’t get to see most of the game. Thank goodness for small favors.

My brother teased me that I jinxed Mussina by praising him in yesterday’s Squawk. He also said that when you pin your hopes on Mussina, they’re going to be dashed. Sad but true. And all it took was an error in the infield for Moose to get distracted and fall apart.

On the bright side, I did like what LaTroy Hawkins did last night, in retaliation for Jeter getting knocked out of the game, and at least A-Rod looks like he’s healthy again. Oh, and it looks like Derek is going to be okay. But that’s about the only good things I can say about last night’s game.

What has happened to the Yankees?

From a UK pont of view,they and the Red Sox are the only team we ever hear about!

It's just their turn to be mediocre. It's the nature of baseball . . . of sports in general. But their run was mind boggling.

OMG!! It was a horror show! It was like one of those nightmares that you can't wake up from! And that was just the first inning!

That said, hope does spring eternal for Yankee fans. As FS correctly pointed out, they have been in last place in their division every year for the past 3 that I can remember (and maybe more), and yet they always pull it out in the end. Sigh. We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

Gee, Hank, I guess getting rid of Joe Torre wasn't the strategy you needed, was it??

A couple of things, Yogi. First, age is factoring in. Pettitte, Mussina, Posada, Abreu, Damon and Giambi are past their prime seasons, and don't have the talent to match their salaries. Jeter is still productive, but has lost a little something in the field perhaps, and his best seasons may have already been played.

The commitment to the young arms may work out okay, but Hughes and Kennedy haven't lived up to the hype that was poured on them. Rivera and Chamberlain have done well, but the team needs to be leading in the seventh inning to take advantage of them.

Also, the Yankees have not come close to the team chemistry that allowed them to win championships in the late 90s. The big name/big money players they reeled in with cash that only the Yankees were willing to pay, like Giambi, Mussina, Sheffield, Rodriguez and Damondidn't provide the cohesiveness that slightly less heralded players, like Brosius, Martinez, O'Neill and Williams, provided.

Finally, some of the other teams in the league improved. While it is not unusual for the Yankees to be 6 or 7 games out of first place this time of year, it is odd for them to be in last place on May 21. Reaching the top of the division when you're 7 games out is much harder to do when there are 4 teams in front of you than one.

I still expect the Yankees to contend for the division or play-offs. Four of fourteen teams advance and about 5 teams don't have a realistic chance. Their payroll alone should keep them above .500.

It's too bad that you are pretty much limited to Boston and New York as there are some very exciting and interesting teams in the league. But here too the national media focus on the Yankees and Red Sox, and to a lesser extent, the Mets. American sports coverage in general has adefinite east coast bias, and the Yankees and Sox tend to be the biggest draw.

Would someone bring me up to speed on that one?

Jason Giambi wore a thong to help get him out of his hitting slump

Joba begins process of joining rotation

NEW YORK -- The process for Joba Chamberlain's transition to the rotation officially began on Wednesday, but the seeds were actually planted eight months ago, two decks above the playing field at Yankee Stadium.

It was then that Yankees general manager Brian Cashman leaned over to his companion for two days, the suspended right-handed reliever, and asked a question that would soon fuel countless Big Apple bar debates: "What do you think of this bullpen thing? What do you like better?"

With 35 pitches over two scoreless innings facing the Orioles, the clock officially began on Chamberlain's metamorphosis into a big league starter, with a schedule of appearances to follow in helping get the right-hander to the proper endurance level.

"This is the timetable that we had set," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "It's going to take him a while to get to where he can give you 100 pitches, but this is what we had planned all along. It's our plan that we talked about over the winter and in Spring Training, and you saw the first of it tonight."

It wasn't that Chamberlain didn't relish his role as a dominant flame-thrower and game-shortener, trotting out of the bullpen and setting up for closer Mariano Rivera. If it was best for the team, Chamberlain told Cashman, he'd stay right there.

But the Yankees believe Chamberlain can and will be more than that, a valued piece of their starting rotation for years to come and perhaps their answer to the Josh Beckett-type ace the Red Sox wield. Chamberlain welcomed the challenge.

"We've seen what he's done in a short period of time as a starter at the Minor League level," Cashman said. "We see the ability that he has with the four pitches, and we want to test the theory. We need to find out, and it takes time. It's certainly going to take opportunity."

The Yankees had preset the general area of the second week of May as a time to explore a move for Chamberlain, who is 1-2 with a 2.66 ERA in 18 appearances for the Yankees, walking nine and striking out 25 around 14 hits over 20 1/3 innings.

Chamberlain will still continue to see duty in the late innings, but now it may come at different times. For example, when his pitch count bumps to 50, he could pitch innings six through eight; right now, he could pitch the seventh and eighth or, as he did Wednesday, the eighth and ninth.

"I explained to him that I believe he can be a very successful performer in the rotation, and I know he can be a very successful performer in the bullpen. It was time, really, to make him a part of that process. I needed him to tell me what was in his heart."
-- Brian Cashman

"I don't want to be specific in how or what we're trying to do," Cashman said. "I know this is New York and you don't hide anything very well on any issue. We're going to stretch him out and start preparing him, and we're going to do that at the same time as our schedule's coming up against us every day."

Though much of his big league success has come on the strength of two pitches -- a high-90s fastball and a biting slider -- Chamberlain exposed a little more of his repertoire in his second inning on Wednesday.

He started Aubrey Huff off with two changeups to open the ninth and also tossed a pair of offspeed offerings to the third batter in the inning, Luke Scott. His three strikeouts came on sliders and fastballs, though.

"It's not going to be a different Joba," Chamberlain said. "It's not like I'm transforming into a different person. The stuff in the eighth inning, you're going to see that from the first inning on. You're going to see a few more changeups, a few more curveballs and a few more two-seamers. That's about it."

The Yankees' reaction was one of anticipation. Third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who homered for a second consecutive game on Wednesday, said he was "very excited" by the decision to move Chamberlain.

"We all know how valuable and important starting pitching is, and Joba has great talent. I love it," Rodriguez said.

Chamberlain was informed of the plan by Cashman before the Yankees' game on Tuesday against Baltimore, pulled into the trainer's room out of earshot of the media, just a few yards away from his clubhouse locker.

"I explained to him that I believe he can be a very successful performer in the rotation, and I know he can be a very successful performer in the bullpen," Cashman said. "It was time, really, to make him a part of that process. I needed him to tell me what was in his heart."

The answer, Cashman learned, was that Chamberlain not only wanted an opportunity to start, but he was ready for it to happen now.

Girardi was then called in to confirm that all parties were on the same page, though word of the decision was not leaked until after Chamberlain's appearance on Wednesday.

"I'm excited about the opportunity, but first and foremost, we've got to win ballgames from here on out," Chamberlain said. "Tomorrow starts another day of getting my legs and getting back on the mound to see what happens."

The most Girardi would reveal of the plans is that Chamberlain would not pitch on Thursday against the Orioles. Chamberlain will stay with the Yankees for the immediate future and stretch out at the Major League level.

Though the club has not ruled out a Minor League assignment at some point, Chamberlain said he'd like to feel his way out in the big leagues.

"There's no better place to be than here to learn and to take your licks and to get better," Chamberlain said. "The plan is set to be that way and I'm going to continue to mix things in when I have the opportunity, and understand that I still have to go out and do my job."

Chamberlain's anticipated move to the rotation has become even more of a mysterious topic in recent weeks. Girardi may have thrown a misdirection to the press over the weekend when he hinted that Chamberlain might not even start at all in '08, setting off a hubbub.

Cashman -- caught off guard by a media horde on the field during batting practice -- downplayed those comments, saying that the Yankees continued to have a plan for Chamberlain and that it had not been altered.

The major concern of Chamberlain's development were his innings, having thrown just 88 1/3 Minor League innings last season before tossing an additional 27 2/3 -- including playoffs -- in the big leagues.

"Our plan all along has been to make him a starter," Girardi said. "There were some limitations on innings, because really he's pitched one year of professional baseball. You can't jump guys up too quickly, because it can lead to injury or it can lead to a second year where they struggle. It's what we've talked about all along internally."

Cashman said that team ownership had no part in pushing Chamberlain's plan into action, and also said that the Yankees' recent struggles -- 21-25, last in the American League East -- did not affect the timetable.

Earlier Wednesday in a telephone interview with MLB.com, Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner again pushed for Chamberlain's entry to the starting rotation.

"What I've learned over 35 years of all of this from baseball people is that you can talk all you want about bullpens, but starting pitching is what gets it done," Steinbrenner said. "If you have two great relievers in the bullpen, it doesn't do us any good."

Steinbrenner also later dropped a hint, saying, "If he can stretch out while he's in the bullpen, that's great. Would I like to see him as a starter right now? Yeah, but that's not what's happening. He just doesn't have the innings that [Phil] Hughes and [Ian] Kennedy have or had."

Soon, if the Yankees' plan proceeds as expected, Chamberlain will be able to boast that same stamina late into games. As he continues that process, Chamberlain said he expects to lean upon the Yankees' veteran starters like Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina for helpful tidbits of advice, the same way he soaked up offerings from Rivera during their bullpen downtime.

"I'm going to be able to learn from these guys that have been there," Chamberlain said. "I've never done it, but all of these other guys have. I'm going to continue to lean on them, and I'm also in the bullpen. I need to make sure I get outs in the role I'm in."

Source: Yankees

ARod was cheated out of a home run in last night's game. He hit a ball that cleared the wall but due to a bad umpire call it was not creditted as a homer.

This is a sign of how things are going for them this year (even though they won handily last night).

I'd be willing to bet that in the next couple of years we will see instant replay used to review homerun calls in baseball. I only hope that it is not used to review safe/out calls on the bases.

My brother-in-law is taking my sons to the Yankee/Oriole game on Memorial Day. I may tag along.

Delgado's fair/foul pole home run the other night was the worst non-home run call I've ever seen.

Replay on home runs is essential.

Yes, when seen 42 times on replay from 16 angles of 10 cameras and the scuff marks on the ball and pole AND not to mention Joe Morgan's incessant ranting.

I would venture to guess that in live action that homerun call was very difficult for an umpire. Visually there are many objects and colors in the corner, not to mention angles. If the umpire saw the ball veer off to the foul side of the pole, he probably did not see it strike the top of the wall and the pole. He was following the flight of the ball and it clearly went into foul territory. I didn't see the A-Rod non-HR, but I would agree that replays should be used for a limited number of situations and homeruns are one. Luckily for the Mets they didn't lose by a run or two.

Hey! The Yankees won two in a row! And Cano actually was responsible for tonight's win! Has his bat FINALLY woken up??

Not only that but Ian Kennedy actually had a decent start

That's because I dropped him from my fantasy team.

Thank you. Going to the game tonight, and can't wait!

Enjoy the game tonight, SB, although the Yankees plan to sit Jeter tonight to give him a rest.

(Just kidding)

You're killing me, Klyd!! You're killing me!!

It's my daughter's birthday (18!) and we were going to take her out to dinner and to the game. Now I hear that parking is so bad there because of the construction, that you have to get to the game two hours early. Happy Birthday! Here's a hot dog!

Happy Sweet 18 to Miss Junior Babe. How's mama Babe doing now that she has an 18 year old?

I've usually parked in the big garage next to the stadium. The only problem is that you sometimes have to wait forever to get out. I can only imagine what it's like to get there now.

I didn't find that to be the case when I went there a couple of weeks ago. I arrived only an hour early and we had no problem finding a parking spot in the parking garage by the Stadium (it just cost an arm and a leg at $17).

Oh, just park in Woodlawn and jump on the 4 train. I think suburbia is spoiling you, Miss Babe.

No shit!

She's very excited about her birthday and is donning her Jeter shirt and Yankees hat as we speak.

And Mama feels OLD, Beth, that's how she feels.