Where have you been?

I've been here ... you know, thinking about blogging, but not actually doing so.

Lappy blew out and the boss man doesn't necessarily like it when I post from my phone. So, I'm either late, or absent. Sigh.

Anyway, the Yanks are hot again, reassembling their lineup - is there a guy nicer or more polite than Curtis Granderson? Pretty good player too - and working out their pitching. Sabathia and Vasquez have been mediocre and less than good, Burnett has been up and done, but old dog Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes - the probable ace of the staff - have been rock solid.

People get all worked up about Mariano Rivera. Yeah, he's 40, but 24-year-old closers get hit, too. The guy is healthy and smart and even if he's lost a few miles on his fastball, last night's performance was vintage.

Nick Markakis spun himself into the ground trying to dodge a heat-seeker and dribble a grounder. Ty Wigginton flailed at an outside pitch and did the same, although he didn't luck as chuckly as the Yankees did when he refused to be tagged out.

It took a while for the Yankees to get their act together last year and that turned out pretty well. This year, they're deeper and younger and more athletic.

If I were building the lineup, I'd have Gardner hitting ninth and Swisher hitting second. There's talk of Gardner being hesitant to run when Tex and A-Rod hit, but that wouldn't be a problem with Jeter and Swisher. Jeter shoots the secondbase hole naturally and Swisher has better plate discipline. Gardner on the move would be less of distraction. And at the plate, Gardner would likely feel less pressure to try to hit the hole if Jeter were on base.

Did I mention I love having Curtis Granderson on the Yanks? I do. It's just, please John Sterling, with the singing, please, stop.