Yankees Overthrow King Felix

Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez is known as "King Felix." I don't know why: "Felix" suggests "cat," not royalty; and he's never appeared in a postseason game, much less won a title, like King (LeBron) James, 1930s Hall of Fame pitcher King Carl Hubbell, and 1880s Hall of Fame catcher Mike (King) Kelly.

It's not that he doesn't have great career stats. He's 169-131 despite pitching for a weak team most of his career, and he's got 2,498 strikeouts, a Cy Young Award, a perfect game, and 6 All-Star berths. He could end up in the Hall himself.

But last night, he was up against a pitcher who's not only had a better career, but may be better right now, despite being 6 years older: CC Sabathia, going for career win Number 248, in his 1st start since gaining strikeout Number 3,000. The Yankees backed CC up by once again overthrowing the "King." You might even say they crowned him.

They did so early. Luke Voit launched a 2-run home run off him in the 1st inning. Then came 4 runs in the 2nd, including a homer by Brett Gardner and the 1st major league home run by 23-year-old Venezuelan infielder Thairo Estrada, wearing Number 30. They tacked another run on in the 3rd, to make it 7-0.

And yet, both starting pitchers went just 5 innings. Although, in CC's case, it was less because he allowed 2 runs in the 4th and another in the 5th, and more because he hit the Holy Pitch Limit. But, between them, Jonathan Holder, Adam Ottavino, Zack Britton and Luis Cessa pitched 4 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits and a walk.

Yankees 7, Mariners 3. WP: Sabathia (2-1). No save. LP: Hernandez (1-3).

The series continues tonight. Masahiro Tanaka starts against Marco Gonzales.

Sevy Overthrows King Felix

The Yankees opened a series against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field last night. Felix Hernandez started for the M's. He is nicknamed King Felix.

King? He's 31 years old, and has never appeared in a postseason game. His 159 wins make him the active leader among pitchers who haven't. He's not going to appear in one this season, either: The Mariners are 16 games out of 1st place in the American League West (the Houston Astros have all but wrapped the Division up), and their Wild Card chances aren't good, either.

The game was scoreless until the 6th inning, when Brett Gardner took the alleged King downtown, his 16th home run of the season. The speed guy has 16 home runs in July. The Yankees added a run in the 8th, and 2 more in the 9th.

Meanwhile, Luis Severino pitched like an ace. Joe Girardi let him throw 7 innings, an even 100 pitches, and he allowed no runs on 8 hits and just 1 walk, striking out 6. King who? King Luis. Sevy overthrew the King. Dellin Betances got into a little trouble in the 8th, but preserved the shutout.

The bottom of the 9th inning was not a save situation, but Girardi put Aroldis Chapman in anyway, probably as much to let him pitch without pressure as for any other reason. But he put pressure on himself. (If you're an Arsenal fan, as I am, feel free to insert a Tottenham joke. here.) He walked the leadoff man. Then he threw a wild pitch. He got 2 strikeouts, then allowed a double, and suddenly there was a little bit of doubt. But he got a flyout to end it.

The game ended with some worry, but then, that's why Brian Cashman brought David Robertson back, right? Anyway, Yankees 4, Mariners 1. WP: Severino (6-4). No save. LP: Hernandez (5-4).

The series continues tonight. CC Sabathia starts against Andrew Moore. Come on you Bombers!

I Don't Believe in Coincidences: 39 LOB = 0-4

In their last 4 games, the Yankees have scored 7 runs. They have left 39 men on base. They are 0-4.

In the immortal words of Leroy Jethro Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon on NCIS), I don't believe in coincidences.

Here's the damage from yesterday's game:

Alex Rodriguez: 0-for-5 with 3 strikeouts, and 4 men left on base. As the player released early in the film Bull Durham might say, A-Rod is 0-for-his-last-19, a big-fucking-donut-hole-for-19. Is it being 40 years old (41 in late July)? Is it the cool weather? Or is it no more steroids?

Didi Gregorius: 0-for-4, and 4 men left on base.

Chase Headley: 2 walks, but 0-for-3, with 4 men left on base, including the tying and winning runs as he made the last out of the game.

Brett Gardner: 2-for-5, but left 5 men on base.

Starlin Castro: 3-for-5, but 2 men left on.

Jacoby Ellsbury: Only 1 man left on, but 0-for-3, albeit with 2 walks.

Mark Teixeira: No men left on base, and 2 walks, but 0-for-3.

Austin Romine, 1-for-3, 2 men left on base. Brian McCann, still nursing that bruised toe, pinch-hit for him late, but didn't get on.

The only Yankee who did much of anything yesterday was Carlos Beltran: 4-for-5, with 2 doubles, 1 for an RBI in the 3rd inning, and his 3rd home run of the season (the 395th of his career) in the 7th for the Yankees' other run.

Throw in the usual "Onebadinningitis" for CC Sabathia, the 5th inning, including a Leonys Martin home run, ruining an otherwise decent start, opposite Seattle ace Felix Hernandez, and it ended Mariners 3, Yankees 2.

WP: Hernandez (1-1). SV: Steve Cishek (1). LP: Sabathia (1-1).

Why can't CC's inevitable one bad inning be the 8th inning? Joe Girardi never lets a starting pitcher pitch that long anyway.

The Yankees were 4-2, and looking strong. They are now 4-6, and looking as bad as the Mets did before this streak began.

The series concludes this afternoon. Both starting pitchers are Japanese: Masahiro Tanaka for the Yankees, and Hisashi Iwakuma for the Mariners.

Come on, Yankees, convert your opportunities and get some runs!

24 LOB & 1 DGANG: Day Game After a Night Game

I hate a day game after a night game (DGANG). Especially when A., I have to blog about it; B, the Yankees lost said night game; and C, the pitcher in the day game is a good one.

Last night, the Yankees made it 3 straight losses, in the opener of a home series against the Seattle Mariners. Brett Gardner hit a home run in the 1st inning (his 1st of the young season). After that, nothing. Jacoby Ellsbury left 5 men on base. Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann and Dustin Ackley, 4 each. Carlos Beltran, 3.

The team as a whole: 24. Think about that: Last night, the Yankees left twenty-four men on base. In 33 at-bats. It doesn't really work out this way, but, technically, that means that, in every 4 at-bats, we left the bases loaded.

Luis Severino, whom I've called the real ace among New York pitchers, had nothing. He didn't get out of the 6th inning.

Mariners 7, Yankees 1. WP: Nate Karns (1-1). No save. LP: Severino (0-2).

The fact that Robinson Cano is playing for the Mariners, and got 2 hits, 1 of them for an RBI, while Ellsbury, the man Brian Cashman paid for long-term instead of keeping Cano long-term, went 0-for-5 while leaving 5 men on base, also sticks in my craw.

The Yankees were 4-2 and looking good. They are now 4-5.

And now, just 15 hours or so after it ended, they have to bat against Felix Hernandez.

As you might guess, I am not in a good mood.

Come on, Yankees: Put me in a good mood this afternoon.

Yanks Better Off Without Jeter? Beat Mariners Despite "King" Felix

The Yankees concluded their home series with the Seattle Mariners with a 2-1 win, their 50th win of the season against 41 losses, a pace for 89 wins. That's usually not enough to win the American League Eastern Division, but, this year, it might be.

At first, it looked like one of those games, with the Mariners scoring a run off CC Sabathia in the 5th inning, and keeping that 1-0 lead into the bottom of the 6th. CC pitched very well, going 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 6 hits and 1 walk, striking out 7. Robinson Cano, the ex-Yankee who hit 2 home runs the day before, couldn't touch the Yankees this time, going 0-for-3. But another ex-Yankee, Austin Jackson, sent to the Detroit Tigers in the Curtis Granderson trade, singled home the run.

"King" Felix Hernandez was equal to the task, and the Yankees got next to nothing off him for 5 innings. But Brett Gardner led off the bottom of the 6th with a walk. Those leadoff walks are trouble, and, this time, it was trouble in our favor.

Hernandez struck out Alex Rodriguez, but Mark Teixeira singled. Hernandez struck out Brian McCann, and gloom settled over Yankee Stadium again. But Carlos Beltran -- yes, Beltran -- singled Gardy home.

Justin Wilson relieved CC in the 7th, and worked out of a jam he'd gotten himself into. Dellin Betances looked a little shaky in the 8th, but he didn't allow a run, either.

Mariner manager Lloyd McClendon made a mistake, relieving "King" Felix with ex-Yankee Vidal Nuno. Then, after Nuno eliminated all 4 batters he'd faced, McClendon pulled him for Fernando Rodney. After Rodney got the 2nd out in the bottom of the 8th, he hung a pitch to Teixeira. Boom: Teix Message down the right field line, his 23rd homer of the season. Also the 386th of his career, passing Dwight Evans on the all-time list.

Andrew Miller pitched a perfect 9th. Yankees 2, Mariners 1. WP: Betances (6-2). SV: Miller (20). LP: Rodney (2-4).

*

The Yankees aren't doing great, but they're doing fine, fine enough to lead the AL East on July 21.

Even Lisa Swan from Subway Squawkers, the most pessimistic Yankee Fan you could ever meet, is getting a little optimistic. (One of the reasons she's so pessimistic is that, like me, she grew up in the 1980s, the worst Yankee decade since the 1910s. One of these days, I'm going to have to do that piece on how much the Eighties stunk.)

With the clutch hits the Yankees are getting, they're starting to remind me of the 2009 team that was looser than any Yankee team in recent memory, and seemed to get a walkoff, or at least a late go-ahead, hit every night.

And they were loose, with Derek Jeter, who could have been called Captain Coporate, allowing the team's personalities to fly, especially with then-newcomers CC, Teix, Nick Swisher and A.J. Burnett.

It's only been 6 seasons, but there's only 4 players left from that team: CC, Teix, Gardy and A-Rod. And, without Jeter around, A-Rod has loosened up a bit, allowing him to hit better -- which has allowed Teix to hit better, with A-Rod as "protection."

It's been said that the worst advice you can give some people is "be yourself." Well, without Jeter, A-Rod is a whole lot better off being himself.

The contending Baltimore Orioles, managed by ex-Yankee manager Buck Showalter, come in next.

Mission Impossible: Mr. Phelps vs. King Felix

Remember Mission: Impossible? The 1960s TV show, not the insult to the fans that is the Tom Cruise movie franchise, which did to that show what J.J. Abrams did to Star Trek.

Peter Graves played Jim Phelps, the director of the Impossible Mission Force -- effectively, Leroy Jethro Gibbs to the IMF's NCIS Major Case Response Team. Each episode would begin with him playing a tape and looking at briefing information.

The voice on the tape would say, "Good morning, Mr. Phelps," and explain the mission -- "should you choose to accept it." At the conclusion, the voice would say, "As always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim." And then the tape would start smoking and disintegrate, eliminating the evidence.

All too often, Yankee pitcher David Phelps has self-destructed on the mound, seemingly in five seconds.

Last night, in the makeup of a rainout the month before, the Yankees hosted the Seattle Mariners. Starting for the Yankees was our own Mr. Phelps. Sadly, Joe Girardi's Binder refuses to disavow any knowledge of Phelps' pitching record.

Starting for the Mariners was Felix Hernandez, a.k.a. "King Felix" -- a ridiculous nickname, since a king wears a crown, and this guy has never pitched in the pressure of a playoff race game, let a lone a playoff game. Still, Hernandez is one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Was this an impossible mission? It didn't start out that way. Phelps only fell behind 2-0 after 4 innings, and in the bottom of the 4th, the Yankees tied the game. After 6 innings, it was still 2-2.

A reasonable manager would conclude that Phelps had done his job, and removed him, and sent in the bullpen.

But Joe Girardi trusted his Binder, which said, "Leave Phelps in."

Big mistake. Phelps faced 4 batters in the top of the 7th: Double, walk, bunt single, 2-run single. 4-2 Mariners.

That's when Girardi took Mr. Phelps out, and replaced him with Matt Thornton: Sacrifice bunt, 2-run single. 6-2 Mariners.

The Mariners tacked on 4 more in the 9th to make the final score 10-2. WP: Hernandez (8-1). No save. LP: Phelps (1-3).

But the moment that most observers are talking about came in the top of the 4th. Kyle Seager led off with a popup that Derek Jeter could have handled, but he thought it was going to land foul. It didn't, and by the time Brett Gardner was able to get to it and get it back to the infield, Seager was on 3rd base with a cheap triple.

"It never even crossed my mind that it was fair," Jeter said. "I almost gave it to a fan. I'm glad I didn't."

At least Jeter didn't disavow any knowledge of his own actions.

Lip-readers saw Phelps yelling at the Captain: "Throw the ball!"

In all fairness, this was a rookie mistake by Jeter, who will turn 40 this month. He should not have let it go.

Was Phelps wrong to yell at Jeter? No. He was, however, wrong to throw that pitch in the first place.

Then again, Girardi was wrong to leave him in the game for a 7th inning -- if not wrong to start him at all.

*

So here we are, 9 weeks into the 26-week season, and the American League Eastern Division standings look like this:

Toronto	34	24	.586	-
NY Yankees	29	27	.518	4.0
Baltimore	28	27	.509	4.5
Boston	27	30	.474	6.5
Tampa Bay	23	35	.397	11.0

All that hype about the Toronto Blue Jays last year, and they were horrible. This year, for the moment, they're getting it done, having won 11 of their last 13.

The Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox, as expected, are by no means out of it -- the Sox having followed a 10-game losing streak with a 7-game winning streak. But the Tampa Bay Rays' run of 6 seasons in contention for the Playoffs appears to be over: Teams 11 games back in early June can certainly get back into the race, but they usually don't.

The elimination numbers for the Jays to win the AL East are as follows: Rays 94, Sox 100, Yanks 103, O's (who have games in hand) 104.

*

Tonight, the Yankees begin a 3-game home series with the Oakland Athletics. Here are the projected pitching matchups:

Tonight, 7:05 PM: Hiroki Kuroda vs. Scott Kazmir. Injured have prevented the former Met phenom Kazmir from becoming the star he could have been, so that's one bonehead trade for which the Mets can't really be blamed for anymore.

Tomorrow, 7:05 PM: Vidal Nuno vs. Jesse Chavez. That's an A's win.

Thursday, 1:05 PM: Masahiro Tanaka vs. Drew Pomeranz.

Then it's off on a long Western roadtrip: 4 in Kansas City, 3 in Seattle, 3 in Oakland.

In spite of all the grumbling about injuries, RISPfails, blown saves by David Robertson, the fielding of Kelly Johnson, and Jeter's rare lapse last night, the wheels haven't come off yet. But these next 13 -- the 6 vs. Oakland, the 4 vs. K.C., and the 3 vs. Seattle -- could set the tone for the rest of the season: If the Yankees come out of them okay, they should be able to make a Playoff run. If not, it's build for 2015 time.

Of Kings and Men

LeBron James was called King James long before he won an NBA title. It got to be a joke. Well, nobody's laughing now. He's won one, and is now 3 wins away from another -- although, in Game 1, we saw the old LeBron, vanishing in the 4th quarter.

Henrik Lundqvist is called King Henrik. He's never played in a Stanley Cup Finals. In the biggest game he's ever played, Game 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals, he got beat by Adam Henrique, a rookie. He'd blown it in other big games. But at least he's gotten into some big games. (UPDATE: He helped the Rangers reach the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals.)

Felix Hernandez is called King Felix. He's never even been in a big game. Only once since he arrived in the majors, all with the Seattle Mariners, has his team even finished within 6 games of a Playoff berth. He's never pitched with a Playoff berth on the line, or even within view. Yet people call him "King."

Having just turned 27, he's got a career record of 105-80, for a winning percentage of .568. That's not bad, but it ranks 28th among active pitchers (minimum of 1,000 innings pitched), behind guys like Jered Weaver (the active leader at .660), CC Sabathia, Clayton Kershaw, Jon Lester, Johan Santana, Adam Wainwright, Roy Halladay, Andy Pettitte, Roy Oswalt, Cliff Lee, Yovani Gallardo, Freddy Garcia, Carlos Zambrano, Bartolo Colon, John Lackey and Josh Beckett.

He's got a career ERA+ of 128. Very good, but it ranks 6th among active pitchers, behind Mariano Rivera (the active leader with a whopping 206), Clayton Kershaw, Santana, Wainwright, Halladay and Oswalt.

He's got a career WHIP of 1.203. Pretty good, but it ranks 14th among active pitchers, behind pitchers such as Rivera (the active leader at exactly 1.000), Santana, Kershaw, Wainwright, Halladay, Weaver, Oswalt and Lee.

He's won a Cy Young Award. You know who else has won Cy Young Awards? Dean Chance, Mike McCormick, Steve Stone, Pete Vuckovich, LaMarr Hoyt, John Denny, Mark Davis, Brandon Webb. If you're thinking that those guys aren't exactly all-time greats, you're right.

You know who never won a Cy Young Award -- even though they were eligible for it, from 1956 onward? Juan Marichal, Phil Niekro, Nolan Ryan, Bert Blyleven, Don Sutton, Jack Morris, Curt Schilling, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina. (I'm not even going to count Mariano, because it's harder for a reliever to win it.)

He's pitched 2 no-hitters. You know who else pitched 2 no-hitters in their careers? Johnny Vander Meer, Jim Tobin, Virgil Trucks, Carl Erskine, Sam Jones (the 1950s-60 NLer, not the 1910s-20s ALer), the aforementioned Dean Chance, Bill Stoneman, Don Wilson, Ken Holtzman, Steve Busby, Bob Forsch, Mark Buehrle. Some good pitchers there, but can any of them be called "King"?

You know who never threw a no-hitter? Grover Cleveland Alexander, Lefty Grove, Whitey Ford, Steve Carlton, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux. Not to mention the entire San Diego Padre and New York Met franchises. (Don't tell me Santana pitched one.  He allowed a hit, the umpire just didn't call it right.)

One of his no-hitters was a perfect game. You know who else has pitched perfect games? Charlie Robertson, Don Larsen, Len Barker, Mike Witt and Dallas Braden.

Now, it may be true that Felix Hernandez is a good example of the old argument, "What if Derek Jeter had been drafted by the Kansas City Royals?" In other words, how much of a winner would a great player be on a lousy team? Maybe Felix would have won Pennants on another team. Look at Barry Zito: Pitched great for Oakland, never won a Pennant; went across the Bay, signed with San Francisco, stunk it up, but got a ring, then got another one to which he actually did make some contribution.

But if you want the clincher as to why Felix Hernandez should not be called "King," look at yesterday's series finale between his Mariners and the Yankees.

Hernandez was pitching. At home. In a pitcher's park. With thousands of people (43,389, a great crowd by Seattle standards) cheering him on and booing the Yankees.

And he didn't win. Not only that, he got matched by the other starter.

David Phelps.

Now, someday, Phelps might be thought of as one of the best pitchers in baseball.  As of now, that is not the case.

Felix Hernandez had so much in his favor, and he couldn't outpitch David Phelps.

Baseball's Mike Kelly and Carl Hubbell. Basketball's LeBron James. Hockey's Frank Clancy. Golf's Arnold Palmer. Track's Carl Lewis. Soccer's Pele, Colin Bell, Charlie George, Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish, Eric Cantona, Oliver Kahn and Thierry Henry. All of these men were called "King," and all had some justification. (Former Yankee Jim Leyritz was also called "King," and unlike Henrik Lundqvist thus far, won titles. But let's not kid ourselves.)

Felix Hernandez? "King," my ass.

*

Hernandez pitched 7 innings yesterday, allowing 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7. Phelps pitched 6, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks, striking out 6. Neither was involved in the decision.

It was the former Mariner star, Ichiro Suzuki, who set the result in motion by drawing a walk to lead off the top of the 9th. Jayson Nix sacrificed him to 2nd. But Reid Brignac flew to left, so that was 2 outs.

Up came Chris Stewart. A rather unlikely hero. Well, he decided to heck with the "unlikely" part, and singled to left, and Ichiro came around to score.

Things could well have gone bad to worse, as the M's brought in former Met hero turned fans' punching bag Oliver Perez. He allowed a single to Brett Gardner and walked Robinson Cano to load the bases.  He couldn't find the plate with a GPS.

But he was facing Mark Teixeira, who, so often, is an all-or-nothing hitter. Teix swung and missed at what should have been ball 4 and a run-forcing walk.

But the Yankees did get the lead, putting David Robertson, who pitched the 8th, in position to get the win. (Boone Logan somehow pitched a perfect 7th.) But Mariano was a little shaky. He allowed a leadoff single to Kyle Seager, but got Kendrys Morales to ground into a double play, before walking Raul Ibanez, the closest thing last year's Yankees had to a postseason hero.

Another blast from the Flushing past came up to pinch-hit: Endy Chavez. He singled Ibanez over to 2nd.  Suddenly, that double play loomed very large.

Mo got Michael Saunders to fly out to end it.

Yankees 2, Mariners 1. WP: Robertson (4-1). SV: Rivera (23). LP: Yoervis Medina (0-1).

The Yankees have today off, and head down the Pacific Coast to play a 3-game series against the Oakland Athletics, starting tomorrow night.

UPDATE: Through the 2018 season, the Mariners have still not gotten within 6 games of a Playoff berth with Felix Hernandez.

Felix Who? Yankees Beat Mariners

Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez is known as "King Felix." Why?

The 27-year-old Venezuelan won the American League Cy Young Award in 2010 -- when he was 13-12, although he did lead the League in ERA with 2.27. And he's a 3-time All-Star who pitched a perfect game on August 15 last season, against the Tampa Bay Rays.

But he has never won 20 games in a season -- he went 19-5 in 2009 -- and has never pitched a game in a Playoff race, let alone in the Playoffs. He reached the majors in 2005, and since then, the M's have finished the following number of games out of the closest available Playoff berth: 26, 17, 6, 34, 10, 29, 24 and 18. The closest they've come to the Playoffs since he got there was 2007, when they were 6 games behind the Whatever They Were Calling Themselves That Season Angels of Anaheim for the AL Western Division title, and also 6 games behind the Yankees for the Wild Card.

"King"? A king wears a crown. Felix Hernandez has never won a World Series. Or a Pennant. He's never even seen a postseason game, except on television, much less been tested in a big game.

"King," my ass.

*

Last night, in the opener of a 3-game series at Yankee Stadium, Hernandez looked royal early on, outpitching Yankee ace CC Sabathia. He got into the 6th inning without allowing a run. To make matters worse, Raul Ibanez hit a home run -- and he no longer plays for the Yankees.

But in the 4th inning, Hernandez fielded a Lyle Overbay grounder, tried to field the play himself, and there was a collision. Overbay was ruled safe due to interference, and Hernandez hurt his back on the play.

He pitched on until the 6th inning, with a 3-0 lead. But the Yankees, as empires tend to do, struck back. Robinson Cano led off with a single. Vernon Wells popped up. Curtis Granderson, returning from injury to play his 1st game all season, grounded into a force play; Cano was out at 2nd, Grandy was safe at 1st. Then Lyle Overbay drove a double to right, scoring Grandy.

Mariners manager Eric Wedge didn't want to risk his "king" any further, so he brought Yoervis Medina to pitch the 7th. Chris Nelson led off with a single. Medina struck out Austin Romine, but before he could complete the strikeout, a wild pitch sent Nelson to 2nd. Wedge brought in Charlie Furbush, and he walked Brett Gardner. Then Cano doubled home the tying runs. The Mariners intentionally walked Wells. Then Furbush unintentionally walked Granderson to load the bases with just 1 out. Overbay hit a drive to center, deep enough to score Cano with the go-ahead run.

CC wasn't great, but he did get into the 7th, allowing 3 runs, 2 of them earned (on the Ibanez homer), 10 hits, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts.  Shawn Kelly finished the 7th, David Robertson pitched a scoreless 8th, Mariano Rivera a perfect 9th.

Yankees 4, Mariners 3. WP: Kelley (2-0). SV: Rivera (16 for 16). LP: Furbush (0-2).

Last night, the Baltimore Orioles lost, so they're 2 games behind the Yankees in the AL East. The Boston Red Sox also lost, so they're 3 back. The Rays are on a roll, winning 6 straight, and are now 4 1/2 back (4 in the loss column). The Toronto Blue Jays have won 3 straight, and they're 9 1/2 (10) back.

R.A. Dickey, the ex-Met knuckleballer, was the winning pitcher for the Jays last night. Well, of course he won: He was facing a National League team. True, the San Francisco Giants have won 2 of the last 3 World Series, but it's not like he was facing an American League team. Pitching against ALers is hard!

As for Dickey's former team, the Mets got shuffled by the Cards, 10-4. Dillon Gee gets an F, going only 4 innings, allowing 6 runs on 9 hits and 3 walks. Gee was no whiz.

The Yanks-M's series continues tonight. Phil Hughes starts against Hisashi Iwakuma.

The Story of the Season Is Taking Shape

There's an old saying in baseball: "Good pitching beats good hitting, and vice versa." It's usually attributed to Yankee Legend Yogi Berra, but I'm guessing he didn't say it.

Over the weekend, there was a lot of good pitching at Yankee Stadium II, in the series between the Yankees and the Seattle Mariners.

On Friday night, CC Sabathia started against Kevin Millwood. CC is still one of the best pitchers in baseball. Millwood used to be, but not anymore.

Eric Chavez -- remember, he's supposed to be neither the starting 3rd baseman nor the starting designated hitter -- hit his 10th home run of the season off Millwood. Robinson Cano hit his 30th double (remember, it's the 1st week of August), Derek Jeter hit his 21st, and Russell Martin doubled as well, going 2-for-4, to bring his average up to... .195. But when he does hit, he usually comes through.

CC, meanwhile, went the distance. He took a 6-1 lead into the 9th, before Dustin Ackley hit a 2-run homer to make the game interesting. But CC bore down and gave the bullpen a much-needed night off. Yankees 6, Mariners 3. WP: CC (11-3). No save. LP: Millwood (4-9; his ERA is only 4.01, so he hasn't been awful this season, but he needs to get out of Seattle any way he can).

*

On Saturday, Hiroki Kuroda went up against Felix Hernandez.  hat Kuroda did would usually be more than enough to give his own team's hitters the chance to win the game: He got into the 7th inning having allowed just 1 run, and between them, Boone Logan, David Robertson and Clay Rapada allowed no more.

But Hernandez showed why some people (who don't seem to grasp that he's never pitched a game under Pennant race pressure in his life) call him "King Felix": He threw a complete-game 2-hit shutout. He allowed a Cano double in the 1st, an Ichiro Suzuki single in the 3rd (erased by a double play), a Curtis Granderson walk in the 6th, a Raul Ibanez walk in the 7th, and that's it: 4 baserunners in 9 innings.

Mariners 1, Yankees 0. WP: Hernandez (10-5). LP: Kuroda (10-8, who really deserved a better fate).

*

Felix or no, it would have been very bad for the Yankees to drop a home series against the Mariners, who are well over .500. And who was scheduled to start for the Yanks yesterday afternoon? Freddy Garcia, the former Mariner ace now barely hanging on to his spot in the Yankee rotation. And when the Mariners scored in the top of the 1st, it seemed deflating. There was a "Here we go again" mentality.

But the Yankees struck back immediately in the bottom of the 1st: Granderson walked, Jeter grounded into a force play, Cano singled Jeter to 3rd, and Mark Teixeira singled Jeter home. In the 2nd, Granderson scored on a throwing error. Jeter singled home a run in the 4th.

The Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda trade, in which the Yankees gave up their biggest prospect for a pitcher whose injury won't allow him to pitch for them at all this season, came back to bite them again, as Montero singled home a run in the top of the 5th. But an Ibanez homer -- his 15th, in the 1st week of August, and did I mention he's 40 years old? -- canceled that out. He singled home 2 more in the 6th, off former Met Oliver Perez, in relief of starter Hisashi Iwakuma.

Garcia went only 5 innings, and was really laboring, but allowed only the 2 runs. Logan, Robertson and Soriano pitched the remaining 4, and retired 12 of the last 13 batters, allowing only a walk given up by Robertson.

Yankees 6, Mariners 2. WP: Garcia (5-5 -- the 150th win of his career). LP: Iwakuma (2-3).

*

So the Yankees take 2 out of 3 from the Mariners. Reward? They get to go to Detroit, for 4 games, before 3 more in Toronto.

They are 6 1/2 games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles (7 in the loss column), 7 1/2 (8) ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, 10 (11) ahead of the Boston Red Sox, and 10 1/2 (11) ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Elimination numbers: Sox 43, Jays 44, Rays 47 and O's 48. That's right, the Yankees' Magic Number to clinch their 20th American League Eastern Division Championship (their 49th 1st-place finish overall) is just 48.

If the regular season ended today, these would be the Playoff matchups, with the team with the home-field advantage listed first:

* Yankees vs. winner of Oakland Athletics vs. Detroit Tigers.

* Texas Rangers vs. Chicago White Sox.

* Cincinnati Reds vs. Atlanta Braves, if Braves win Wild Card play-in game vs. Pittsburgh Pirates; if Pirates win it, Reds vs. San Francisco Giants.

* Washington Nationals vs. Giants if Braves win; if Pirates win, Nats vs. Bucs.

If we're going by who deserves it the most...

* The Nats have never won a postseason series, including in their earlier incarnation as the Montreal Expos  They haven't even won a postseason game since 1981, their only berth.

* No Washington team has won a Pennant since the 1933 Senators, and none has won a postseason series since the Senators went all the way in 1924.

* The A's haven't won a postseason series since 2006, an ALCS game since 1992, a Pennant since 1990 or a World Series since 1989.

* The Tigers haven't won a postseason series since 2006, or a World Series since 1984.

* The Rangers have won the last 2 AL Pennants, but have never won a World Series since they began play in Texas in 1972, or at all since they began as "the new Washington Senators" in 1961.

* The Braves haven't won a postseason series since 2001, a Pennant since 1999, or a World Series since 1995.  Hard to believe, since they were a paragon of stability for so long, reaching every postseason that was played from 1991 to 2005.

* The Reds haven't won a postseason series since 1995, and haven't won an NLCS game, a Pennant or a World Series since 1990.

* The Orioles, only a game out of the 2nd AL Wild Card spot, haven't reached the postseason since 1997, and haven't won a Pennant or a World Series since 1983.

* The Blue Jays, 5 games out of the 2nd AL Wild Card spot, haven't reached the postseason, or won a Pennant or a World Series, since 1993.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers, 3 games out of the 2nd NL Wild Card spot, haven't won a Pennant or a World Series since 1988.

* And the Pirates haven't reached the postseason, or even had a winning season, since 1992, and haven't won a Pennant or a World Series since 1979.

The story of this season is beginning to take shape.  What it will end up as, is anybody's guess.

It wouldn't be good for the Yankees to stand in the way of someone like Washington or Pittsburgh.  It wouldn't be fair to beat either of them, and I certainly don't want to lose.

On the other hand, the Pirates did win the last Series against the Yankees, in 1960.  And the Yanks have been looking for a rematch with the Reds since 1976 and the Dodgers since 1981.

So, not being a team owner, whose first priority is making money, regardless of what it does to the team and the fans thereof, I want to win.

King Coward Felix: A-Bad Break for A-Rod

Mariners 4, Yankees 2. WP: "King" without a ring Felix Hernandez (9-5). SV: Tom Wilhelmsen (11). LP: Freddy Garcia, the ex-Mariner (4-4). But that hardly tells the story.

After allowing 3 runs in the 1st 3 innings, Freddy settled down and retired 15 in a row. Then, with 1 out in the bottom of the 8th, and the Yanks trailing 3-2, with the runs scoring on Curtis Granderson's 27th homer and a double by Mariner-turned-Yankee Ichiro Suzuki (so far, so good with that trade), Joe Girardi blew it again.

He took Garcia out, and replaced him with Clay Rapada. That didn't work, so he replaced him with Chad Qualls. That didn't work, so he replaced him with Boone Logan. That didn't work, so he replaced him with Cody Eppley. Five pitchers in one inning. Incredibly, only 1 run scored, but it ruined the Yankees' momentum.

On WCBS, John Sterling called it "a nightmare of an inning." So what would he call the 12th inning of the Mets' Sunday game, when they allowed 5 runs in Los Angeles? Or the 10th inning of the Mets' Monday game, when they allowed 6 runs in Washington?

Had Girardi simply let Garcia pitch the 8th, the Yankees still might have lost, but it would have looked a lot less like Girardi doesn't know how to handle a pitching staff.

I am thisclose to saying, "Joe, thank you for 2009, but it's time to move on." Alas, I do not get to make that decision.

And that's hardly the story, either.

"King" Felix hit 3 Yankee batters. His ex-teammate Ichiro. Stay classy, Felix. Derek Jeter. Big deal, every headhunter hits Jeter. And Alex Rodriguez. In this case, the pitch broke A-Rod's hand.

This was all within the space of 5 batters, over 2 innings. And "King" Felix wasn't thrown out of the game after any of these incidents. Although Mariner manager Eric Wedge did go to his bullpen after "King" Felix plunked A-Rod.

Jeter said, "It wasn't intentional. I mean, it was a close game at the time. I think Al got hit with a changeup. It's just one of those freak things. You wish it didn't happen. Obviously, when somebody gets injured, it's pretty bad."

"Wasn't intentional."

Three batters out of five. Three batters, each with over 2,500 hits in the majors.

Derek has been a Yankee for 17 years. He knows damn well when it's intentional.

Felix Hernandez, you are not a king. You are a goddamned coward. You think the Yankees should trade for you? I don't want you on the Yankees.

(Yeah, I know, I said that about Roger Clemens, too. I was wrong. But I also said it about Randy Johnson, and I turned out to be right.   also said it about Pedro Martinez, and, wisely, Brian Cashman never tested it.)

Most likely, Eric Chavez will be the everyday 3rd baseman until A-Rod comes back. No word yet on how long he'll be out, or on who will be called up from Scranton, or activated from the Disabled List, to replace him.

My concern is that A-Rod will be back just in time for the postseason, but not be back enough. Which would certainly give him a viable excuse for not hitting well in October.

A few years back, I joked that the only way the Yankees would win a World Series with A-Rod on the payroll would be if he caught the flu. Not a 24-hour virus, a 24-day virus, keeping him out for the postseason. In other words, they only way he would get a ring would be if he wasn't on the roster.

I'd been saying A-Rod would get his 3,000th hit next June, with the qualifier "barring injury." As that great Yankee Fan Richard Schiff would say, "You don't want to tempt the wrath of the thing from on high."

Let's just hope he's ready for the postseason. A-Rod, that is, not Schiff, best known for playing Toby Ziegler on The West Wing. I'd rather go in with no excuses.

This bitch of a West Coast roadtrip concludes with a 3:40 PM (12:40 local time) start today, Ivan Nova going against Hisashi Iwakuma.

Yanks Show "King Felix" to Be Pretender to Throne

Long ago, in baseball, there was a man named Michael Joseph Kelly, who was known as Mike Kelly or King Kelly. He helped the Chicago White Stockings -- the team that became the Cubs in 1900, and not connected to the White Sox who would be founded the next year -- win the 1880, '81, '82, '85 and '86 National League Pennants.

He was considered so good and so popular that the Boston Beaneaters -- later the Braves, now in Atlanta -- purchased his contract for $10,000, considered an insane amount of money at the time. But with all the Irish-American fans packing their ballpark, as their compatriots in Chicago had once done there, it paid off for the club.

They won the Pennant in 1891, but by that point the King was already in serious decline due to his prodigious drinking, which would end his career in 1893, just 36, and kill him the next year.

Long ago, in baseball, there was a man named Carl Hubbell, who was known as King Carl or the Meal Ticket. He helped the New York Giants win the 1933 World Series. In 1936, he began a 24-game regular-season winning streak that would carry over into the next season. In both of those years, the Giants won the Pennant, although both times they lost the Series to the Yankees, including the Yankees breaking up the streak in the '36 Series.

Not that long ago, in baseball, there was a man named Jim Leyrtiz, who was nicknamed King. But it was sarcastic, as he thought very highly of himself. Still, he had a knack for coming through in the clutch, and he did help the Yankees win 2 World Series, so it wasn't totally ridiculous.

*

Today, in baseball, there is a man named Felix Hernandez, who is nicknamed King Felix. He is a highly regarded pitcher for the Seattle Mariners. The only way he's ever seen a postseason game is on television.

King, my ass.

Last night, the Yankees knocked "King" Felix on his.

Dustin Ackley led off the game with a home run off Yankee starter Hiroki Kuroda, but the Yankees got the run back in the bottom of the 1st when Robinson Cano singled home Curtis Granderson.

In the top of the 6th, the Mariners took a 2-1 lead on a home run by... Jesus Montero, whom the Yankees traded away for Michael Pineda and a minor leaguer, neither of whom will play for the Yankees this season (in Pineda's case, due to injury). Upon this homer, Yankee Fans began to grumble.

The bottom of the 6th ended that grumbling. Alex Rodriguez led off with a walk. Gee, if a pitcher is nicknamed "King," walking the leadoff man is an even worse thing than usual.

Cano then singled A-Rod over to 2nd. Mark Teixeira groundws into a force out, but it moved the runners over: 2nd & 3rd, just 1 out.

"King" Felix then struck out Nick Swisher. Now it's 2nd & 3rd, 2 outs. The grumbling got louder.

Raul Ibanez turned the grumbles to cheers with a home run into the right field stands, his 6th homer of the season. 4-2 Yanks.

Andruw Jones added his 4th homer to center in the 8th. Between them, Clay Rapada, Cory Wade, Boone Logan and David Robertson got the last 6 outs.

Yankees 6, Mariners 2. WP: Kuroda (3-4). LP: Hernandez (3-2).

The series continues today at 4:00, a Fox Game of the Week.

Yanks Dethrone "King" Felix

Last night, the Yankees began a 3-game series against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field.

The Mariner starter was Felix Hernandez, a 25-year-old righthander from Venezuela who is known as "King Felix."

What has Hernandez done to earn the nickname "King"?

Has he helped a team win a World Series? No.

Has he helped a team win a Pennant? No.

Has he helped a team to even reach the Playoffs? No.

Has he won 300 games in his career? No, he's just 25, and has won 85 thus far. At this rate, he'll probably win 200, but not 250, and certainly not 300.

Has he struck out 3,000 batters in his career? No, as I said he's just 25, and his career total stands at 1,257 -- which means he could reach 3,000, but has a long way to go.

Has he won 20 games in a season? No, his best is 19, in 2009.

Has he pitched a no-hitter? No.

He has been named to 2 All-Star Teams. In 2009 he led the American League in wins, winning percentage, and fewest hits per 9 innings -- but also in wild pitches. He went 19-5, and finished 2nd in the voting for the Cy Young Award to Zach Greinke, even though the award, which is supposed to be given to "the pitcher judged to be most valuable to his team," should have gone to CC Sabathia of the Yankees, who was the best pitcher on the League Champions, and thus, by definition, the most valuable pitcher in the League that season.

In 2010, Hernandez finished a mere 13-12, but led the AL in earned run average, starts, innings pitched, batters faced and hits per 9 innings, and won the Cy Young Award, even though his efforts didn't help his team get anywhere near the postseason. Finishing 2nd in the voting was David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays, who did win the AL Eastern Division, thus Price was far more deserving.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, his "10 Most Similar Pitchers" through his current age are: Dennis Eckersley, Dave Boswell, Gary Nolan, Don Drysdale, Bret Saberhagen, Joe Coleman Jr., Ken Holtzman, Fernando Valenzuela, Larry Dierker and Milt Pappas. Of these, only 2 went on to make it to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Eckersley, who only did so after being converted to a reliever; and Drysdale, who is a borderline case.

In his 6 full seasons with the Mariners, they have finished 26, 17, 6, 34, 10 and 34 games out of a Playoff berth. If the current MLB standings hold to the end of the season, the M's will finish 24 games out of the AL Wild Card.

So while Felix Hernandez has been rather successful on an individual basis, this has not translated into team success.

"King," my ass.

There has been a lot of talk that the Mariners will have to cut costs and will thus trade Hernandez. Possibly to the Yankees, one of the few teams that could afford someone with his kind of hype.

*

So last night's game was between starting pitchers "King" Felix Hernandez and Phil Hughes -- who is younger than Hernandez (albeit by just 2 months), and has already been a contributor to 4 postseason teams (counting this season), has already helped win a Pennant and a World Series, had a 2010 season at least as good as Hernandez', and was once considered worthy of being included in a package to trade for Johan Santana, who was, at the time, considered an even better pitcher than "King" Felix. (Then he got traded to the Mets... but that's a story for another time.)

The game was 1-1 in the top of the 4th, when the Yankees decided to have a little revolution. Off with King Felix's head!

Broadcaster John Sterling began the inning with a pause for station identification. No sooner had the WCBS recording finished than Mark Teixeira crunched one, hitting his 37th home run of the season to right field. Sterling didn't even have time to go into, "It is high! It is far! It is gone!" He did, however, do, "Mark Teixeira sends a Tex Message! Ho-ho, you're on the Mark, Teixeira!"

Then Robinson Cano hit his 41st double of the season. Nick Swisher singled, although Cano could only get to 3rd. No problem: Eric Chavez, filling in for Alex Rodriguez who continues to sit out with a thumb injury, got Cano home with a sacrifice fly. Then Brett Gardner doubled to left with an inside-out swing to bring home Swish.

Then up came Chris Dickerson, playing right field, with Swisher playing 1st base, with Teixeira as the designated hitter. Dickerson is a 29-year-old Southern Californian in only his 49th game for the Yankees, who has never had 300 plate appearances in a season, and had a grand total for 8 home runs in his career.

Make it 9: He hit one out to right, scoring Gardner ahead of him. Sterling didn't even have a line to use for him, like "Tex Message" or "Jorgie juiced one!" or "Robbie Cano, don't ya know!" or "An A-Bomb for A-Rod!" or "Swish-a-licious!"

So the Yankees smacked "King" Felix for 5 runs in an inning, including a homer from a highly unlikely source. And yet, at exactly the point where you would have expected him to do so, Sterling did not turn to his broadcast partner Suzyn Waldman and say, "You know, Suzyn, you just can't predict baseball!"

"You Just Can't Predict Baseball" would be a great title for a baseball-themed blog. Especially a Yankee-themed blog. Certainly, it would be a better title (though not necessarily a better blog) than "Scott Proctor's Arm."

Unfortunately, after the Yankees scored 3 more runs in the 7th (thanks in part to Cano's 42nd double) to take a 9-1 lead, Joe Girardi decided that Scott Proctor's arm should be used in this game. Hey, even Proctor can't blow an 8-run lead with 3 innings to go in a pitcher's park like Safeco, right?

He did his best. In the bottom of the 7th, he allowed a double and a wild pitch, but got out of it. In the 8th, he allowed a leadoff single, got a double play, then walked Justin Smoak and allowed a homer to Miguel Olivo. (If Smoak is ever acquired by the Yankees, Sterling can say, "Oh-ho, Justin smoked one!")

That made it 9-3, and Proctor did no further damage, but Girardi isn't stupid: He sent Luis Ayala to close it out, and he got 3 weak grounders.

Yankees 9, Mariners 3. WP: Hughes (5-5), who pitched 6 strong innings. LP: Hernandez (14-12), who also pitched 6 innings, and really only had the 1 bad one, but it was bad enough to put the game out of the reach of even a team facing Scott Proctor.

The Boston Red Sox were idle last night, but the Tampa Bay Rays won again. This means the Yankees are now 4 games, including 4 in the loss column, ahead of the Red Sox with 16 to play. The Magic Number to clinch the AL East is 13. It also means the Rays have closed the Wild Card race gap to 3. The Sox' Magic Number to clinch at least the Wild Card is 14.

In the AL Central, the Magic Number for the Detroit Tigers to eliminate the Cleveland Indians and clinch is 5; to eliminate the Chicago White Sox, 6. In the AL West, the Texas Rangers are down to 13 to clinch over the Whatever They're Calling Themselves This Season Angels of Anaheim.

In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies' Magic Number to clinch the East over the Atlanta Braves is 5. The Milwaukee Brewers are down to 9 to eliminate the St. Louis Cardinals and clinch the Central. The Arizona Diamondbacks are down to 7 to eliminate the San Francisco Giants and win the West. The Braves' Magic Number to eliminate the Cardinals and clinch the Wild Card is 11. To eliminate the Giants, it's 9.

*

Tonight, A.J. Burnett goes for the Yankees. The Mariners' starter will be Charlie Furbush, a 25-year-old lefthander from Maine, whom the Yankees have never seen before. A lefty? That the Yankees have never seen before? From Red Sox Nation? Against A.J.? Uh-oh... At least it's not a Fox or ESPN game!

Ah, who knows, maybe "Good A.J." will show up tonight.

Jeter hits 3074 DONE
Rivera saves 599 3
A-Rod homers 628 135
A-Rod hits 2769 231
Magic Number 13 (to eliminate Scum for Division, 10 for Rays for Playoffs, 1 for Jays, O's done)

Boone Logan Must Go, Carlos Beltran Does

I had a feeling the Yankees would lose yesterday's series finale with the Seattle Mariners.

And lookey what we have here: Phil Hughes got outpitched by "King" Felix Hernandez, but did not pitch badly: 6 innings (okay), 9 hits (a lot), 1 walk (very good), 2 runs (reasonable with what our lineup can do). But Hernandez allowed only 1 run over 7.

But the final score was Mariners 9, Yankees 2. It was the bullpen that messed it up, including... ARGHHHH... Boone Logan!

Cory Wade started the 7th, and got the first out, then allowed 2 hits. Then Joe Girardi brought Logan in, for the only purpose for which a pitcher like Logan is supposed to be brought in: To force a lefty-on-lefty matchup.

The batter was Dustin Ackley, a rookie infielder who entered the at-bat with 133 major league plate appearances to his credit, albeit with a batting average of .301, an on-base percentage of .351, a slugging percentage of .512, an OPS of .863 and an OPS+ of 145. Thus far, lefties have a 138 OPS+ off Logan, whose sole purpose is to get lefties out.

As they say in the military, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?" (Check the initials.) I don't know about you, but in my opinion, this invalidates Logan's very reason for being in the major leagues.

But Girardi brought him in. Now, in all fairness, the Yankees were already losing (though only by 1 run, 2-1), and Wade had already gotten in trouble, putting the potential 3rd and 4th Seattle runs on. But Wade hasn't already gotten on my nerves the way Logan does.

Logan appeared to do the job. He got Ackley to ground to 2nd. Should have been a double play. Except Robinson Cano threw it away. 3-1 Seattle.

Then Logan walked Justin Smoak. Can't blame his defense or the preceding pitching for that. Bases loaded, one out. To his credit, Logan struck out Adam Kennedy. Bases loaded, two out.

Logan gave up a triple to Adam Kennedy. Bases cleared. 6-1 Seattle.

Out goes Logan, after giving up 4 "Logan's Runs." Luis Ayala came in. Not much better: Frankie Gutierrez doubled home another run. 7-1 Seattle. Hector Noesi was no prize, either, allowing 2 more Seattle runs in the 9th, after the Yanks got one back in the 8th (RBI groundout by Cano, hardly making up for the error, but I'm not going to blame him for the loss).

On the one hand, the Yankees had already won the first 2 games of the series. On the other hand, the Mariners had lost 17 straight games, and The Scum won, too, so the Yanks are back to being 3 games out of first place.

*

The Mets had 4 big question marks regarding big stars and big salaries. They have now answered 2.

Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez took his mercurial ways to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers are a very good team. That trade may win a Pennant, but not for the Mets.

Now, the Mets have traded Carlos Beltran to the San Francisco Giants, the defending World Champions. That trade could win a Pennant as well -- but not for the Mets.

That leaves David Wright, solid and mentally stable, but prone to injuries and disappearing acts by his bat in September; and Jose Reyes, spectacular at times, but not right in the head, and also prone to injuries and disappearing acts by his bat in September.

The Mets will probably keep one, but not both. Which one do they let go?

Whichever they choose, it will turn out to be the wrong one. This is the Mets we're talking about.

Even if they have won 3 straight in Cincinnati against the Reds, a Playoff team last season and having a shot at it again this season.

For every trade of Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey for Keith Hernandez, the Mets usually have about five Rusty Staub for Mickey Loliches. Staub for Lolich would have been a great trade after the 1966 season. Or even a reasonable trade after 1970. The Mets made it after 1975, and Staub then reached his peak, while Lolich was pretty much done. They did get Staub back, but...

Ah, the Mets, the Mets, the Mets, the Mets.

*

Days until the Red Bulls play again: 2, this Saturday, in the Emirates Cup, the preseason tournament hosted by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in London. At 9:00 New York time, the Red Bulls will play Paris Saint-Germain, the largest team in the French capital; the nightcap of the doubleheader will feature Arsenal play Boca Juniors, the legendary club out of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Usually manned by European clubs, the Emirates Cup is hosting Western Hemisphere teams for the first time. On Sunday morning, PSG will play Boca, and the Red Bulls will bring Captain and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry back onto his former pitch to play his former club. The ovation should be huge. Let's be clear about this: I'll be rooting for the Red Bulls against PSG (a club with a reputation for bigotry of various kinds), but against Arsenal, they're out of luck. Although the Red Bulls were playing as my "home team" for 12 years before I became aware of Arsenal, it was Arsenal that drew me to get into this sport, and thus guided me to the Red Bulls -- not the other way around.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 8, a week from tomorrow night, on Friday, August 5, at Fenway Park. Just one week.

Days until Arsenal play again in a competitive match: 16, on Saturday, August 13, against Newcastle United at St. James Park. Just over 2 weeks.

Days until the Red Bulls play another "derby": 23, on Saturday, August 20, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. Just 3 weeks. And they next play their CLOSEST rivals, the Philadelphia Union, in their regular season finale, on Thursday night, October 20, at Red Bull Arena.

Days until Rutgers plays football again: 35, on Thursday, September 1, home to North Carolina Central. Just 5 weeks.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 43, on Friday night, September 9, at Monroe. Just 6 weeks.

Days until the next North London Derby: 65, on Saturday, October 1, at White Hart Lane. Just 9 weeks.

Days until the Devils play another local rival: 72, on Saturday, October 8, at 7:00 PM, in their season opener, at home, against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Prudential Center. Just 10 weeks. The first game against the New York Islanders is a day-after-Thanksgiving matinee, Friday, November 25, at the Nassau Coliseum. The first game against The Scum isn't until Tuesday night, December 20, at the Prudential.

Days until the Rutgers-Army football game at Yankee Stadium: 107.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving clash: 119. Under 4 months.

Days until the last Nets game in New Jersey: 265, on Wednesday night, April 18, 2012, against the Chicago Bulls, at the Prudential Center. Under 9 months before New Jersey no longer has an NBA team.

Days until the 2012 Olympics begin in London: 365 (July 27). One year.

Days until Alex Rodriguez collects his 3,000th career hit: 712 (estimated -- adjusted for his current injury). Under 2 years.

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 700th career home run: 843 (estimated).

Days until Super Bowl XLVIII at the Meadowlands: 920 (tentatively scheduled for February 2, 2014, although it could end up being moved back a week or 2).

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 756th career home run to surpass all-time leader Hank Aaron: 1,454 (estimated).

Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 763rd career home run to become as close to a "real" all-time leader as we are likely to have: 1,568 (estimated).

Ambition Is Good, Naked Ambition Is Not

Ambition is good in sports. Or, to paraphrase Michael Douglas in The American President (even though I'm still in love with his wife), "Yes, my team tries to buy a championship every year. The question is, why doesn't yours, Bob?"

Ambition is good. Naked ambition is not.

During Saturday's game at Safeco Field, 3 people ran onto the field. The rrd came in the 8th inning, and he wasn't wearin' nothin' but a smile.

That's not the kind of streak I want to see at a ballgame. Both John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WCBS said they'd never seen a streaker at a ballgame before. Guys running onto the field, yes; naked, no.

To make matters worse, the Yankees lost. They tied it with a run in the 7th, following home runs by Robinson Cano (his 10th of the season) and Mark Teixeira (his 15th), both off the incredibly overrated (at least until he becomes a Yankee, if he does) "King" Felix Hernandez of the Mariners. But in the bottom of the 12th, Mariano Rivera (1-1) came in and couldn't hold the tie, making a winner out of Seattle righthanded reliever David Pauley (4-0). Mariners 5, Yankees 4.

Yesterday, however, was a different story. Just as I was beginning to worry that this would be yet another of those West Coast journeys that would turn into a Borg Roadtrip -- losing 7 of 9 -- the Yankees scored 5 runs in the top of the 3rd, bracketed by single runs in the 2nd and 4th, and beat the Mariners 7-1 to salvage the series finale.

CC Sabathia (6-3) was fantastic, doing what aces to, holding the opponents down and going long to ease the fatigue of your bullpen, before Lance Pendleton allowed a leadoff single in the 9th and then got the next 3 outs. (No save. Jason Vargas was the starter and loser for Seattle, 3-3.)

The 2nd inning run came on a much-needed home run by Nick Swisher (his 3rd). The key hit in the 5-inning 3rd was a bases-loaded triple by Andruw Jones, who doesn't look washed-up anymore.

The Yankees get underway in Oakland in a few minutes, a Memorial Day matinee. Remember when Memorial Day meant a doubleheader? Anyway, Bartolo Colon starts for the Yankees, Trevor Cahill for the A's. Cahill's 6-2 with a 2.03 ERA this season, but he's 0-2 lifetime against the Yankees.

Today I caught a little of the Memorial Day parade in nearby South River, New Jersey. Some veterans were marching in their full dress uniforms. It's 88 degrees out there. Haven't they suffered enough? Especially the ones who served in hot climates like Vietnam, Nicaragua, Iraq and Afghanistan?

(Oops, the Reagan acolytes don't want you to know about Nicaragua. I could have added Bosnia, but Sarajevo is actually at a higher north latitude than Boston, so it probably wasn't as consistently hot as those other places.)

Yesterday was the 16th Anniversary of Derek Jeter's major league debut. He is now just 20 hits away from 3,000. I spent the day down the Shore. Turns out that the Goo Goo Dolls (who I don't especially like) and Michelle Branch (who I do kind of like) are sharing a bill at the Tropicana in Atlantic City on July 23.

Jeter's been playing for 16 years? The Goo Goo Dolls and Michelle Branch are playing at a casino?

I don't recall growing older... when did they?

Jeter hits 2980 20
Rivera saves 572 29
A-Rod homers 622 141
A-Rod hits 2723 277

Quality Is Not Joba One

Remember Ford Motor Company's old slogan? "Quality is Job 1." Well, quality was not Joba One last night.

Javier Vazquez again looked like the pitcher the Yankees were hoping he'd be when they reacquired him, putting his awful start to the season firmly into the past with 7 shutout innings against the Mariners in Seattle last night. Then Joba Chamberlain blew it in the 8th, showing no command, loading the bases, and allowing a grand slam.

The Yankees got a home run from Nick Swisher in the 3rd to give Javy a 1-0 lead, which he handed over to Joba, who should have been able to hand it over to The Man. But The Man remained in the bullpen as the slam left the yard. The Yanks did mount a comeback attempt in the 9th, getting 2 men on and thus the tying run to the plate, but Felix Hernandez finished the complete game. Mariners 4, Yankees 1.

Maybe Joe Girardi should have taken another one of Ford's old slogan's: "Ford's Got a Better Idea." The better idea would have been to bring in Mariano Rivera for a 5-out save. It's not like he's going to be overused, with the All-Star Break coming up. At most, he would have pitched just 2 more innings in the next 5 days.

*

Today is the series, and 1st-half, finale, with CC Sabathia going against Ryan Rowland-Smith. Which is an entry in "Who's Who" going up against an entry in "Who's He?"

Reminds me of a joke Phyllis Diller used to tell -- she's still alive, and Saturday will be her 93rd birthday, but age and infirmity have led her to retire from performing. The Janeane Garofalo of her time, she liked to make jokes about her appearance: "I'm not mentioned in Who's Who, but I'm featured in What's That!"

*

Speaking of Hernandez, why is he called King Felix? Sure, he's a really good pitcher, went 19-5 for an 85-win team last season, and at age 24 already has 65 wins with a "career" (better term to use in this case than "lifetime") ERA+ of a very strong 127. But he's never appeared in the postseason.

And there's no precedent for the name, either. At least when LeBron James, bum and idiot that he is, is called "King James," even though he's a consistent postseason choker, James has been a name given to a number of kings, including the man who was King James VI in Scotland before becoming King James I of England, sponsor of what became the defining Protestant text of the next 300 years, the King James Bible. (The Revised Standard or RSV set the tone for the 20th Century, and the New International Version or NIV seems to be the preferred for my generation and the one that's followed.) I can find no reference to a king named Felix in any country.

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Cliff Lee started for the Texas Rangers last night, and got rocked. At home. By the hopeless Baltimore Orioles. Nice trade, Arlington.

The Mets got only 4 hits off Tim Hudson of the Atlanta Braves last night. Three of them by Angel Pagan. Mike Pelfrey didn't get the job done. The Mets have begun their annual September Swoon in July this time. And Jose Reyes got hurt again. Seriously, when was the last time a New York baseball player was as overrated as Reyes? Probably never, because anybody who was, was so overrated before the ability of even New York's media to make a mountain out of a molehill on a modern, cable-news scale.

The Phillies did another extra-inning walkoff against the surprising NL Central leaders, the Cincinnati Reds. They were being no-hit into the 9th, but won it in the 12th. Looks like the Phils remembered they're the 3-time defending NL East champions, the 2-time defending NL champions, and a World Champion just 2 years ago. Now, if only somebody can beat the Braves... ah, but the Mets aren't somebodies, they're nobodies.

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I saw the New York Red Bulls play D.C. United last night. The game had its moments, but ended 0-0. Still, with Metro having beaten their arch-rivals 2-0 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in D.C. earlier in the season, they won 2-0 on aggregate, and claimed the Atlantic Cup, the trophy awarded to the winner of the season series between them. First time in 7 years.

United have now won it 10 times, the MetroStars/Red Bulls (the name was changed in 2005) 5. The all-time series between the teams is 27-17-7 in United's scummy favor.

Just 4 more days until the MLS transfer window opens, and the Red Bulls can announce their new signing. If it's not former Arsenal star Thierry Henry, there's going to be a lot of people who are pissed. That's "pissed" in the American sense, meaning "very, very angry"; not in the British sense, meaning "drunk." Though that may soon follow for some.

Three and a half hours to the World Cup Final. Come on, Netherlands. Current Arsenal star Robin van Persie, this Gooner is behind you! As for current Arsenal Captain Cesc Fabregas, remember: Not playing on this Spain team full of Barcelona stars is what you have to look forward to if you play for Barcelona, whereas with Arsenal, you will lead the way... if you stay. So, stay.

In other words, Robin, bring back the Cup... and Cesc!