Michael Young will NOT Replace Robinson Cano

Okay, those of you throwing that crazy idea out there of trading for Michael Young and playing him at second base, can stop now. Young has agreed to play third base for the Rangers and has retracted his request to be traded.

Some Yankees fans, those who need an all-star at every position, were hoping the Yankees would deal for Young, enabling them to either move Cano to center field or trade him for pitching or a star center fielder.

Elvis is in the building - Young's spot at shortstop will be taken by 20-yr old rookie Elvis Andrus, who was acquired in 2007 as part of the Mark Teixeira deal with the Braves. He hit .295 last season at Double-A Frisco, with a .350 on-base percentage, and 54 stolen bases, and is considered a stellar defender. He also got a glimpse of Yankee Stadium in it's final season as a participant in the Futures game.

Young know his transition will be tough, but knows it will be even tougher for the rookie.

"Elvis is a good kid," Young said. "There were a couple of things about this that were tough. One is, the fans shouldn't have to choose between the club and a player. We're all working for the same thing. That's the last thing I wanted to happen.

"It's also tough for Elvis. He's a good kid. I met him last year in Spring Training and really like him. I want to be there for him and do everything I can to help him.

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Marathon Man

Steve Politi of the Star Ledger put it best, Yankee Stadium had the last laugh last night. The American League finally prevailed in 15 innings, 4-3. Michael Young's sac fly brought home Justin Morneau with the winning run at 1:37 a.m., some 4 hours and 50 minutes after play began. We were sacked out by the 11th inning, but would have continued to watch had the game started, at oh 8:00. But Fox Sports sucks.

23 pitchers were used in the game, including Brandon Webb, who had pitched Sunday and said he wouldn't be able to go last night. The NL was down one pitcher due to the hospitalization of Giants starter Tim Lincecum, who was dehydrated and suffered from flu-like symptoms.

Perhaps the MLB front office should change the game to a Thursday and then teams can have a full 3 days off before the game so that pitchers will be more rested and can go more than one inning. Aaron Cook was the hero of the night, going 3 innings, and escaped a Dan Uggla disaster to extend the game.

We did enjoy seeing Bud Selig sweating at the possibility of another game ending in a tie. Other highlights included the Bleacher Creatures doing roll call for Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, and chanting "Bobby Murcer". They threw out some "Red Sox suck", as well.

There was a video tribute to Bobby Murcer in the 2nd inning, which was neither mentioned nor shown. But as we said Fox Sports Sucks.

The pre-game festivities with all of the Hall of Fame members in attendance it was truly special. Kudos to Wade Boggs, who went into the Hall as a member of the Red Sox, but wore a Yankees hat last night. And Dave Winfield, who wore a Padres hat, but carried a Yankees hat as well. And having Yogi, Whitey, Reggie, and Goose throw out the first pitch. George Steinbrenner, bawling his eyes out, delivering the balls to the mound. Dan Graziano says George wasn't a nice person back in the day, but he deserves to be in the Hall. We have to agree.

We found it odd that Joe Morgan was there for the home run derby Monday night, but didn't stick around for the game. Was he concerned about the possibility of being booed? No Johnny Bench either.

One person who was at the game was Willie Randolph, as a guest of George Steinbrenner. Willie will always be a Yankee.

Joe Buck and Tim McCarver did a good job, which is not an easy compliment to make. Buck did a very good job handling the pre-game ceremony, and was self deprecating at mispronouncing Justin Duscherer's name.

The excitement of Mariano Rivera coming on in the 9th, and Fox cutting away before he reached the mound, because Fox really sucks. Mo looked like he would get the win before Cook pulled his Houdini act.

It was a typical game for Derek Jeter, a single and a double play grounder in 3 at-bats. A-Rod failed with a runner in scoring position. The Mets didn't fare well either. Billy Wagner blew another save, and David Wright struck out his first two times up before getting a single and a walk.

Boston's J.D. Drew homered, drawing the only applause for a Red Sox player, and captured the game's MVP award.

July 15, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15		R	H	E
NL All-Stars	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		3	13	4
AL All-Stars	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1		4	14	1

NL All-Stars	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Ramirez, H, SS	3	1	2	0	0	1	0	.667
Tejada, SS	3	1	2	0	1	0	0	.667
Utley, 2B	3	0	1	0	0	1	1	.333
Uggla, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	3	6	.000
Berkman, 1B	2	0	0	1	0	1	0	.000
Gonzalez, A, 1B	3	0	1	1	0	1	3	.333
Pujols, DH	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	.667
a-Wright, PH-DH	3	0	1	0	1	2	1	.333
Jones, C, 3B	3	0	1	0	0	1	2	.333
Ramirez, A, 3B	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.000
1-Guzman, PR-3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000
Holliday, RF	3	1	1	1	0	0	3	.333
Hart, C, RF	3	0	0	0	0	1	3	.000
Braun, LF	3	0	0	0	0	2	1	.000
Ludwick, LF	2	0	0	0	1	1	2	.000
Fukudome, CF	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
McLouth, CF	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.250
Soto, C	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Martin, C	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.333
McCann, C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	52	3	13	3	4	17	25
a-Struck out for Pujols in the 8th. 1-Ran for Ramirez, A in the 9th.
BATTING HR: Holliday (1, 5th inning off Santana, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Ramirez, H 2; Tejada 2; Utley; Gonzalez, A; Pujols 2; Wright; Jones, C; Holliday 4; McLouth; Martin. RBI: Holliday (1), Berkman (1), Gonzalez, A (1). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Braun; Holliday; Gonzalez, A 2. S: Martin. SF: Berkman; Gonzalez, A. GIDP: Uggla. Team LOB: 11. BASERUNNING SB: Tejada (1, 2nd base off Papelbon/Navarro). CS: Guzman (1, 2nd base by Rivera/Navarro). FIELDING E: Ramirez, H (1, throw), Uggla 3 (3, fielding, fielding, fielding). Outfield assists: McLouth (Navarro at home). DP: (Ramirez, H-Utley-Berkman). Pickoffs: Zambrano (Bradley at 1st base).

NL All-Stars	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Sheets	2.0	1	0	0	2	3	0	0.00
Zambrano	2.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Haren (H, 1)	2.0	2	0	0	1	2	0	0.00
Volquez (BS, 1)	1.0	2	2	2	0	2	1	18.00
Wilson (H, 1)	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Wagner (BS, 1)	0.1	2	1	1	0	0	0	27.00
Dempster	1.0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0.00
Cook	3.0	4	0	0	3	1	0	0.00
Marmol	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Webb	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Lidge (L, 0-1)	0.2	2	1	1	1	0	0	13.50

AL All-Stars	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Suzuki, RF	3	0	1	0	0	1	2	.333
Drew, RF	4	1	2	2	1	1	0	.500
Jeter, SS	3	0	1	0	0	0	3	.333
Young, SS	4	0	1	1	0	2	1	.250
Hamilton, CF-LF	3	0	1	0	0	1	1	.333
Quentin, LF	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.000
Rodriguez, A, 3B	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000
Crede, 3B	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
b-Guillen, PH-3B	3	0	1	0	1	1	0	.333
Ramirez, M, LF	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
Sizemore, CF	5	1	1	0	0	2	5	.200
Bradley, DH	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.000
c-Longoria, PH-DH	4	0	1	1	0	2	4	.250
Youkilis, 1B	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000
Morneau, 1B	4	2	2	0	1	0	4	.500
Mauer, C	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	1.000
1-Kinsler, PR-2B	5	0	1	0	0	1	4	.200
Pedroia, 2B	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	.000
Varitek, C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
a-Navarro, PH-C	4	0	1	0	1	2	1	.250
Totals	57	4	14	4	7	17	34
a-Struck out for Varitek in the 7th. b-Struck out for Crede in the 8th. c-Doubled for Bradley in the 8th. 1-Ran for Mauer in the 5th.
BATTING 2B: Morneau (1, Volquez), Longoria (1, Wagner), Guillen (1, Cook). HR: Drew (1, 7th inning off Volquez, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Suzuki; Drew 5; Jeter; Young; Hamilton; Guillen 2; Sizemore; Longoria 2; Morneau 3; Mauer; Kinsler; Navarro. RBI: Drew 2 (2), Longoria (1), Young (1). 2-out RBI: Drew 2; Longoria. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rodriguez, A; Pedroia; Jeter; Bradley; Morneau 3; Quentin 3; Kinsler 2. SF: Young. GIDP: Jeter. Team LOB: 17. BASERUNNING SB: Drew (1, 2nd base off Marmol/Martin), Sizemore (1, 2nd base off Wagner/Martin), Jeter (1, 2nd base off Sheets/Soto), Hamilton (1, 2nd base off Haren/Martin), Bradley (1, 2nd base off Sheets/Soto), Kinsler (1, 2nd base off Haren/Martin). CS: Kinsler (1, 2nd base by Cook/Martin). PO: Bradley (1st base by Zambrano). FIELDING E: Navarro (1, throw). Outfield assists: Suzuki (Pujols at 2nd base). DP: 2 (Navarro-Kinsler, Kinsler-Young-Morneau).

AL All-Stars IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Lee 2.0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0.00 Saunders 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 Halladay 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 Santana 1.0 1 1 1 0 2 1 9.00 Duchscherer 1.0 3 1 1 0 1 0 9.00 Nathan 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 Papelbon 1.0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0.00 Rodriguez, F 0.1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 Rivera 1.2 2 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 Soria 1.2 2 0 0 2 2 0 0.00 Sherrill 2.1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 Kazmir (W, 1-0) 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.00

IBB: Guillen (by Cook), Morneau (by Cook), Tejada (by Soria). Pitches-strikes: Sheets 42-24, Zambrano 20-12, Haren 36-22, Volquez 18-11, Wilson 12-7, Wagner 9-6, Dempster 18-10, Cook 42-21, Marmol 19-12, Webb 13-8, Lidge 19-12, Lee 20-16, Saunders 12-8, Halladay 9-8, Santana 20-15, Duchscherer 22-15, Nathan 8-5, Papelbon 11-9, Rodriguez, F 8-4, Rivera 26-18, Soria 30-17, Sherrill 25-18, Kazmir 14-7. Ground outs-fly outs: Sheets 0-3, Zambrano 4-0, Haren 1-3, Volquez 1-0, Wilson 0-1, Wagner 1-0, Dempster 0-0, Cook 6-0, Marmol 1-0, Webb 0-1, Lidge 0-2, Lee 2-1, Saunders 2-1, Halladay 1-0, Santana 1-0, Duchscherer 0-2, Nathan 0-2, Papelbon 0-1, Rodriguez, F 0-1, Rivera 2-0, Soria 1-2, Sherrill 2-3, Kazmir 1-1. Batters faced: Sheets 9, Zambrano 6, Haren 9, Volquez 5, Wilson 2, Wagner 3, Dempster 3, Cook 16, Marmol 4, Webb 3, Lidge 5, Lee 7, Saunders 4, Halladay 3, Santana 4, Duchscherer 6, Nathan 3, Papelbon 4, Rodriguez, F 2, Rivera 5, Soria 9, Sherrill 8, Kazmir 4. Inherited runners-scored: Rivera 1-0, Sherrill 3-0. Umpires: HP: Derryl Cousins. 1B: Ed Rapuano. 2B: Tom Hallion. 3B: Mark Wegner. LF: Greg Gibson. RF: Phil Cuzzi. Weather: 82 degrees, clear. Wind: 8 mph, Out to CF. T: 4:50. Att: 55,632.

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Slide Continues

When you have allowed five runs in two games to the Texas Rangers, the league leader in runs scored, you should be chalking up two victories. But the Yankees bats are running silent right now. Instead of two wins, they have two more losses and are two more games back in the American League East. The Rangers scored the game winner in the 9th and held on, after some questionable managing by Joe Girardi in the 9th inning, for a 3-2 victory.

The game was tied 2-2 when Mariano Rivera entered the contest in the 9th inning. In possibly his finest season to date, Mo has struggled in tie games. The trend continued last night when Ian Kinsler lead off the inning with a double to left. He promptly stole 3rd base and scored when Michael Young bounced one up the middle, through the drawn in infield, for the go ahead run. Rivera would get out of a 1st and 3rd, 1-out jam, but the damage was already done.

The Yankees had a chance against Rangers closer C.J. Wilson in the bottom of the 9th, but Girardi's choice to have Melky Cabrera swing away ended all that. Wilson Betemit drew a lead off walk, which brought up the Yankees struggling center fielder. Cabrera mired in an 0-20 slump, should have been bunting, it was the clear fundamental play. But instead Girardi opted to have Cabrera swing away, despite having Derek Jeter available on the bench. Faster than you can say "managerial mistake", Cabrera bounced into a rally killing 6-4-3 double play. Wilson then retired Johnny Damon on a game ending ground out.

Joba Chamberlain made his first start since his 114 pitch effort, and whether or not that had an effect, the Yankees reliever turned starter struggled with his control. After issuing a walk in the 1st inning, he issued back to back walks to David Murphy and Marlon Byrd to start the 2nd. Rookie Chris Davis drilled a ball off of the base of the wall in left-center to score Murphy, who had inexplicably held up on the play, causing Byrd to stop at 2nd base. The Rangers base running in the inning would only get worse.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled to center to score Byrd, but Davis was gunned down by Cabrera trying to go to 3rd. Saltalamacchia advanced to 2nd base on the play, but quickly committed another base running cardinal sin by trying to advance to 3rd on Ramon Vazquez's grounder to short. Betemit threw to Alex Rodriguez, who actually missed the tag, but sold it well enough that umpire Dan Iassogna, who called Saltalamacchia out. Chamberlain then struck out Kinsler to escape further trouble.

Chamberlain was right back in the soup in the 3rd inning when he gave up a single to Michael Young and walked Josh Hamilton. But the gritty right-hander bounced back with strike outs of Milton Bradley (the 6th straight time he struck out) and Murphy, and then retired Byrd on a fly out to center. The 4th would be Chamberlain's last inning as the Rangers again put two men aboard with 2 outs, but failed to score when Young lined out.

The Yankees finally broke through against Rangers starter Kevin Millwood in the 4th. Jason Giambi drew a 1-out walk and moved to third on Jorge Posada's line drive single off the wall in right field. Robinson Cano singled through the right side to cut the Rangers lead in half. Millwood got a huge out when he struck out Betemit swinging, and then retired Cabrera on a fly out to left to end the threat.

Millwood was hit by a comebacker off the shin in the 2nd inning and it swelled to the point that he was forced from the game after five innings. The Yankees immediately took advantage against reliever Josh Rupe. Though Rupe retired the first two hitters, Posada, Cano, and Betemit strung singles together to tie the game up.

Dan Giese, Dave Robertson, who looked especially impressive, and Jose Veras got the game into the hands of Mariano Rivera, but the reliever's rep in tie games is becoming as standard as his rep in save situations.


News and Notes

Derek Jeter sat out completely for the first time since April 13.

Melky Cabrera's 0-18 the last 5 games has dropped his average to a season low .240.

Joba Chamberlain threw 91 pitches in 4 innings. His ERA jumped to 2.22.

All 4 runs that Mariano Rivera has allowed this season have come in non-save situations.

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Around the Horn - 4/11

Mad Dog Russo must be having a wet dream, the Giants have won 3 in a row. Kevin Correia gave them 7+ shutout innings last night in a 5-1 win over the Cardinals.

Rookie of the Year candidate Geovany Soto had 4 hits, including a home run in the Cubs 7-3 win over the Pirates. Jon Lieber threw 4.1 innings of scoreless baseball to pick up the win.

The Marlins sent the Nationals to their 7th straight loss, 4-3. Jorge Cantu enjoyed a 3-hit, 2 RBI night.

Aaron Heilman and the Mets blew a 3-0 lead, but Angel Pagan saved the day with the game winning single in the bottom of the 12th for a 4-3 win over the Phillies. Heilman has allowed 6 runs in 6 innings this season.

Edwin Encarnacion's 2-run HR snapped a 1-1 in the 7th to lead the Reds over the Brewers 4-1.

The Braves-Rockies game was rained out and will be made up at a later date. The Braves did place closer Rafael Soriano on the 15-day DL with elbow tendinitis.

The Orioles 6-game winning streak came to a screeching halt, as the Texas Rangers swept them in a twi-night doubleheader. Kevin Millwood improved to 1-2, 1.29 in helping the Rangers take game 1, 3-1. Michael Young homered, and C.J. Wilson completed a two-save night as the Ranger took the nightcap, 5-4.

Travis Buck drove in all 3 A's runs, including the game winning 2-run double in the 12th, as Oakland topped the Blue Jays 4-3. Keith Foulke gave up a run in the bottom of the 12th, but picked up his first save since 2005. The A's lost Rich Harden to the DL once again, this time with a strained back.

The Tigers got offense for the 2nd straight night- 6 runs- but their pitching got pummeled in a 12-6 loss to the Red Sox. Mike Lowell was put on the DL with a sprained left thumb, but his replacement, Sean Casey, knocked in 3 runs.

2-0, 0.64 ERA. Looking at those stats, you wouldn't think we would be taking about Rays starter Edwin Jackson, but that's exactly what his numbers are so far. The normally erratic right-hander went 8 innings in the Rays 7-0 pasting of the Mariners. Backup catcher Mike DeFelice knocked in 3 runs.

The Twins and White Sox were rained out and we'll make it up at a later date.

The Indians had the day off, but rewarded Fausto Carmona with a 4-year, $15 million deal.

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Blogging: Enter with Caution

C.J. Wilson of the Texas Rangers may now be heeding that advice. Wilson is in hot water with his teammates after making a general, derogatory comment about them and their lack of interest in the presidential campaign.

Wilson commented to ESPN.com that he was frustrated by his teammate's apathy. Brandon McCarthy responded with a lengthy critical post on lonestar.com. Wilson gave McCarthy kudos for expressing himself, but took a shot at the rest of the Rangers.

"Come on man you have to admit the median or average guy in a baseball clubhouse does drive an SUV, drinks beer, golfs, likes college sports, chews or dips tobacco and is relatively a [expletive]."

Michael Young, Kevin Millwood, and Frank Catalanotto all got in Wilson's face about his choice of tactics.

"I think if you are going to be online, you have to choose your words wisely," Catalanotto said. "And if you have something to say to someone, I think you should say that directly to them. Otherwise, it can misconstrued, even if it was meant in a joking manner. That doesn't come across on the Web. Hopefully, C.J. has learned his lesson. You can say something online that makes yourself or your teammates look bad."

General Manager Jon Daniels didn't let it just go either.

"I've spoken to him about his blogging in the past – using good judgment, what's appropriate and what's not – but not about this specifically. My understanding is the players are handling it themselves.

"We're a family, and it's important to handle things internally. I don't see much benefit in getting into it publicly. In this case, C.J. used poor judgment in what he wrote and that reflects poorly on him and by extension the team he represents."

We could probably dismiss it as just the antics of another loony lefty, but it's a big mistake to tick off your teammates...even if you might be right.

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