Damon’s been on fire lately and I’ll be the first to admit I thought he was through (though I have little doubt his numbers will cool off soon), but watching his defensive play over the first half of the season confirmed what I’ve thought for a while now. Damon is incapable of playing center field at any respectable level. His arm, always bad, has regressed further. As a kid playing catch we’d often get bored and start throwing to each other with our catching arm and catching with our throwing arm. That’s Johnny Damon’s arm today.

Joe Posnanski:

it’s ASTONISHING how weak his arm is

And if Damon can’t play center, he’d have no place in Boston even if he’d stayed. He’s not a good enough player at this point in his career to put Manny or Drew on the bench. It’s clear now that not signing Johnny Damon (and Pedro Martinez) was the correct move.

Yankees Pitchers Go Head Hunting

It’s becoming apparent that Yankee pitchers are incapable of retaliating without throwing at a hitters head. Chamberlain? Check. Farnsworth? Check. Hawkins? Check. And all three lacked the guts to admit their intentions.

Joe Girardi Does His Best Earl Weaver Imitation

Watching Joe Girardi kick dirt and throw a tantrum was great entertainment. Acting out like a child only goes over well if you’re old enough that people just think you’re senile, or Earl Weaver. Girardi hadn’t yet shown the fiery change from Joe Torre Yankee fans had expected.

You could almost see Girardi’s mind spinning. “Here’s my chance to get the fans on my side”. It was very similar to the Lou Pinella commercial.

Other Yankee Observations

• Turning Joba into a starter is the right move. Still, it’s going to be nice to face 7th and 8th innings without him around.
• Mussina’s success has surprised me. I have no idea how he’s getting away with the stuff he’s got left, but give him credit. Still, I’ll be shocked if he can continue at this level as the season progresses, and I’m confident a healthy Red Sox lineup eats him up.
• Giambi’s Mustache does the impossible; making him look even sleazier than his normal greasy, swollen, sweating self. Who told him this is a good look?

So why are my thoughts all on New York? Because Boston was playing Tampa recently, and even though I subscribe to MLB’s cable package, two of the three games were unavailable to me. Why? Because I live in Florida, so I should use the local broadcast. Except that Florida is a big state. Tampa is 7 hours away, and I don’t get the majority of the Rays’ games.

Even the middle game, shown on ESPN, was blacked out. To put that into perspective we were unable to watch a game shown to the whole country, taking place a thousand miles from us, even when we paid an extra 200 bucks to see every game. So I’m stuck watching Giambi scare small children.

Great job MLB.

“We’re OK. Nothing has got in our way. With the number of injuries we’ve had and the bounces not going our way, we still have our heads up. When all is said and done, we’re going to get back to normal.”

I’ll skip the lame injury comment. Everyone has injuries. It’s part of the game. No one’s going to feel sorry for a team that pays one player more than some team payrolls.

As far as the bounces not going New York’s way I happened to catch most of the game.

• In the bottom of the 6th with the score tied at 3 the Indians sacrificed runners to 2nd and 3rd. With only 1 out the Indians were on the brink of taking the lead. Blake drilled a ball down the 3rd base line headed for the corner. Unfortunately the ball was also hit directly at the Yankee 3rd baseman who caught the line-drive and easily doubled off the runner at 3rd to end the inning.
• In the bottom of the 8th the Indians again were on the verge of scoring the go ahead run when Martinez was called out at 2nd despite Yankee 2nd baseman Cano bobbling the throw from Jeter; as terrible a call as I’ve seen this season.
• In the top of the 9th with the score still tied and 1 out Damon had his bat shattered but his bloop fell softly in the Indian outfield for an excuse-me single.

Was Damon even paying attention? Only through cheating could more have gone the Yankees’ way. Then again, I’m pretty sure I heard the same quote from Damon last year. I guess the baseball gods hate poor Johnny.