Hey, Toronto: Exchange Rate THIS!; Paul Splittorff, 1946-2011

I was in Montreal on January 18, 2002, the date of the most favorable exchange rate the U.S. dollar has ever had with the Canadian dollar: US$1.00 = C$1.60.

Today, US$1.00 = C 98 cents.

Fortunately, the Yankees exchanged Monday's poor performance for back-to-back wins, to take 2 of 3 at home against Canada's team, the (Pesky) Toronto Blue Jays.

Last night, the Yankees got a home run from Russell Martin (his 9th), then fell behind 4-1 after 4 innings, but CC Sabathia (5-3) worked out of it, and did the bullpen a favor and pitched a complete game.

It was still 4-1 Jays going to the bottom of the 8th, but the Jays pulled starter Ricky Romero. Big mistake. A double by Robinson Cano and a single by Martin each drove in a run to make it 4-3.

In the bottom of the 9th, Jorge Posada pinch-hit against new Toronto pitcher Frank Francisco (1-2), and doubled to center. Chris Dickerson was sent in to pinch-run for him. Both good moves by Joe Girardi. Derek Jeter grounded out, moving Dickerson to 3rd. Down to their last out, the Yankees got a single from Curtis Granderson (the last of his 4 hits on the night) to send home Dickerson. Granderson stole 2nd, and Mark Teixeira singled him home.

Yankees 5, Blue Jays 4. A welcome walkoff win. And a pie in the face for Teix.

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The Yanks took no chances this afternoon: A run in the 1st, an Andruw Jones homer in the 2nd, a Teix homer in the 3rd, and another Jones homer in the 6th, and the Yanks won, 7-3. WP: Freddy Garcia (3-4). LP: Jo-Jo Reyes (0-4), who dubiously tied the record of most consecutive decisions without a win: 28 straight losses, held by Anthony Young of the Mets in 1992-93. Reyes' last win game on June 13, 2008, in an Interleague game for Atlanta at Anaheim.

Mariano Rivera did something no human being, living or dead, has ever done. No, he didn't get a Met fan to admit that the DH is right. (Even though it is.) He pitched a scoreless 9th, his 1,000th appearance for the Yankees today. Although it was not a save situation, he became the 1st player to pitch 1,000 games for 1 team.

The Yankees have a travel day tomorrow, and head for the West Coast, first Seattle to play the Mariners, then Oakland to play the Athletics, then Anaheim to play the Angels. Coast trips have historically been trouble spots for the Yankees, and even though this hasn't really been the case since the Torre Years began, the Angels have often been a club that's had their number. Hopefully, they can take 2 of 3 against both the M's and the A's before walking into Gene Autry's baseball palace to face the Halos.

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Rafael Soriano is out 6 to 8 weeks. That's the bad news. The good news... might be the same thing. He hasn't exactly been The Third Revelation. In fact, a few hitters have drunk his milkshake.

The weird thing is, I've never seen that movie. I just love that one scene.

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Paul Splittorff, the high-kicking southpaw who was probably the source of the oft-disproven belief that "the Yankees can't hit lefthanders, especially in the postseason," was the Kansas City Royals' winningest pitcher and recently a broadcaster for them, has died of cancer at age 64.

A tip of the cap to a nasty but worthy opponent, who drove the Yankees crazy in the 1976, '77, '78 and '80 American League Championship Series.

UPDATE: He was buried in Blue Springs Cemetery, in the Kansas City suburb of Blue Springs, Missouri.

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So the Yankees have dusted off Canada's Team. Or maybe "Canada's Team" is the Vancouver Canucks. They beat the San Jose Sharks to win the NHL Western Conference title, their 1st since 1994 when they lost the Stanley Cup Finals to... Let's not get into that.

The Canucks have played since 1970, and have never won the Cup. They also reached the Finals in 1982, losing to another New York Tri-State Area team. The Province of British Columbia hasn't won the Cup since 1925, the Victoria Cougars, the last Cup winner that was not the NHL Champion.

And Vancouver hasn't won it since the 1915 Vancouver Millionaires, led by Frank Nighbor, Fred "Cyclone" Taylor and manager Frank Patrick, brother of Lester Patrick who was the first manager of the Rangers.

That's 96 years. And you thought the Rangers' 54-year drought was bad. Well, it was.

The last Canadian team to win their national sport's greatest trophy? The 1993 Montreal Canadiens, 18 years ago.

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Tonight, on SNY: The Biggest Loser features Fred Wilpon trying to shed half of his dead weight.