Afternoon Baseball

Well, every Yankee starter has pitched, and none has pitched more than five innings. Andy Pettitte needed two appearances to get to that point.

It's not the end of the world. After all, the 1998 Yankees did start 0-3, to use a wildly optimistic example. On a more realistic note, it's been chilly because Major League Baseball thought it a grand idea to have all the cold-weather teams host many warm-weather or dome teams in early April.

But when Carl Pavano is your de facto ace, things aren't so bright. The bigger worry, I think, is the injury situation. Outfielders and middle infielders in their 30s getting nagging injuries is the stuff of legends -- or rather, teams with legends that go nowhere.

Three notes from yesterday's loss: Alex Rodriguez hit another home run off physical reaction. Muscle, and not much else, gets that ball over the wall. Keep not thinking, A-Rod!

When they showed Giambi's walk-off grand slam from 2002 -- the famous 14-inning rain game (link coming) -- did anyone else notice how thin, yet ripped his torso was? Not natural at all, in hindsight.

Josh Phelps is the gawky kid who's really tall in middle school but is the worst basketball player. Maybe I'm wrong on him, but he doesn't look like a major leaguer. Hensley Meulens tore up AAA, too, and we know how well he did. Amazingly, Meulens is not yet 40.

Labels: Baseball, Pavano, Yankees