Game 7 - YANKEES 6, Rays 1

Whaddaya know? We might be able to get something out of Moose after all this year. Last night Mike Mussina defined the term "crafty veteran" as he mixed his pitches well, hit his spots, and went 6 innings while only giving up 2 hits and 1 run. I don't know that he's gonna have that kind of command every start, but if his year ends up being a mix of his first start and his last one, I'll take that in the fifth spot.

After Moose left, Brian Bruney came on and continued to impress this year. Farnsworth had one of his good days, and LaTroy Hawkins finished up, but made you sweat while you did it.

One note on Hawkins: I know I slammed him the other day, I have absolutely no faith in the guy and will slam him the next time he blows up (which we shouldn't have to wait long for), but can we wait on the booing and the "Paul O'Neill" chants until the guy actually screws up? Do those Yankee fans want him to blow the game? Let's not completely destroy the guy's psyche when we need him to get another 3 outs.

The offense finally woke up, with Bobby Abreu leading the charge and coming one hit shy of the cycle, but, of course, the big news is Jeter and his strained quad. I think the Yankees can make it a week or two without him. Let's hope it's no longer than that, but I'm gonna hold off pressing the panic button until I hear more.

Today's drawing is a colored pencil and marker sketch of the scene as Moose was about to unload on Johnny Gomes.

Game 4 - Yankees 4, RAYS 13

What a goddamned mess. Actually, if you remove Kennedy and Hawkins from the equation it wasn't too bad, but, "Hoo, boy!", did they stink the joint up last night.

I don't think Kennedy's control problems last night portend anything dire for the rest of the season. Hopefully, he'll work out whatever the problem is and be fine by his next start, but I hope they saved the receipt for LaTroy Hawkins. From what I've read, Hawkins is supposed to be a helluva guy - and I know he's wearing 21 to honor Roberto Clemente - but, I would probably still have been one of the crowd chanting "Paul O'Neill". Here's a tip, LaTroy: If you're going to wear 21 to honor Clemente, you probably don't want to do your best impression of a plane crash when you take the mound.

Albaladejo, Ohlendorf, and Traber were the bright spots last night, and it looks like the bullpen should be pretty good this year, except for crossing our fingers when Farnsworth is out there and closing our eyes when Hawkins is.

The Rays now look like they may have another good young starter in Andy Sonnanstine to go with Scott Kazmir, and they're lineup is a pain-in-the-damn-ass. They're gonna be trouble this year, and, along with the resurgent Blue Jays, could provide a nice wrinkle into the whole "Yankee, Red Sox Battle For World Supremacy".

Below is today's drawing. It features young Mr. Kennedy in an homage to 'The Empire Strikes Back'.