Zzzzzzzzz...

Sorry for the pause between posts. I was waiting until I had something to say besides “the Yankees look tired and aren’t playing well,” but the team hasn’t cooperated. Damn I hate losing to the Angels -- as I may have mentioned before, my least-favorite team in baseball, if not all of sports (though I may hate the Finnish curling team more... long story, don’t ask). One or two more looks at that godforsaken monkey and I can't vouch for the safety of my television set.

In lieu of panicking, I’m going to chalk the Yankees' recent stretch of 1-4 baseball up to exhaustion, and you certainly can’t blame them for that (particularly since the Red Sox have been playing nearly as badly and are still five games back; for some illogical reason, five games seems like a solid lead, whereas four does not). They’ve now played 20 games in 19 days. Forgetting about the Angels for a moment -- indeed, for as long as possible -- the Yankees are certainly a better team than the Mariners, who took two of three from them earlier in the week. Their hitters are worn out and their pitchers are worse, and that isn’t a winning combination. With the semi-promising Jeff Karstens on the mound, I don’t expect the Yanks to snap out of it today, but fortunately they have tomorrow off to regroup.

I know everyone is shocked, stunned, astonished, astounded, flabbergasted, staggered, and otherwise amazed to learn that Carl Pavano may have had another setback, this time feeling some discomfort in his oblique muscle. I know. My world is shattered too. Now… here’s the thing. If Carl Pavano has a body made of tissue paper and Swarovski crystal, that’s not his fault. Just the way he was born. It’s a shame, too, because honestly, the guy is easy on the eyes -- though of course if you kissed him, it would probably shatter his jaw, which is a bit of a turn off. That said, if you had "bruised buttocks" like Pavano did in Spring Training this year... well, wouldn't you lie about it? Out of sheer embarassment, wouldn't you keep your mouth shut and play through it? I feel bad for the guy, he's taking a lot of crap from all sides, but he does seem to have brought it on himself.