One bad call and kaboom. Wally Bell is awful. It's like opposite day with him. But Hughes survives. Nice.

Back East

Fate conspired to keep me from my coughbelovedcough blog.

But, with fate having gone on to bigger and better things and the Yankees heading back east, I guess this is the time to establish some consistency with my coughbelovedcough blog.

Things I like so far:

Andy Pettitte: Of course, I've always been a fan. But he looks as good as he's ever looked. He's throwing all he pitches and gets outs in every conceivable way. He's the anti-Vasquez.

Curtis Granderson: His troubles against lefties are overblown. His defense is fine and he's a triple waiting to happen every time he leaves the box.

Brett Gardner: Speed never slumps. His success is making the Melky trade tolerable. Sort of. Gardner gets to first and chances are he'll be on second. It's a nice change for the base-to-base Yankees.

Francisco Cervelli: Good energy. He looks genuinely excited to be on the field.

Phil Hughes: He looks like he could throw a no-hitter every time he takes the ball.

Things I dislike:
Joe Girardi: The Yankees win in spite of him

Damaso Marte: The Yankees lose because of him. Wish Phil Coke was still here.

Joe Girardi: Walk him. No pitch to him. No walk him. No pitch to hi ... uh oh.

Joe Girardi: Still with the braces?!

What?! No four hours of baseball?

I read a book. I encourage you to do the same.

Blast from the past

Haven't see a reliever go three innings in a long, long time. Especially three inning of that quality.

I certainly hope some reporter somewhere wrote the following lead: It was a grand way for the Yankees' new centerfielder to make his mark on the greatest rivalry in sports.

I love shitty puns. Get it? "Grand." Because his name is Granderson? Sigh ...

I spent most of the game watching some dink in a bright yellow shirt seat swap his way to the front row behind home plate, waving and gesturing like some ... well, like some moron who thinks he's more important than what's happening on the field.

George Will made me do it

If, as Michael Kay has asked repeatedly, Brett Gardner is the everyday leftfielder, why sit him last night?

Speed doesn't slump. And, while Curtis Granderson is the everyday centerfielder and struggles against lefties, he started against Jon Lester, and lashed a single to right in one of his at-bats.

Righty Marcus Thames, who fits nicely into the work-the-count Yankees, is inferior defensively and prone to strikeouts. And, Gardner got into the game late anyway and picked up a ducksnort single off Hideki Okajima, a tough lefty.

Dave Robertson started the 8th inning because Kevin Youkilis was 1 for 6 against. 1 for 6. We're not talking about some chump on the Royals, we're talking about the guy who is arguably the Sox best hitter and a chronic pain for the Yankees. You have Joba Chamberlain in the bullpen, superior in all ways to Robertson, who came in later that inning anyway and picked up two strikeouts, yet you allow Youkilis to start what could have been a rally for Boston. And you nearly turn over the lineup to force Mariano Rivera to face Victor Martinez and Youkilis in the ninth.

I'll type this many times this season: The Yankees win despite Joe Girardi's decisions.

How do you allow Okajima to face Derek Jeter when you have a righty warming? Even if that righty spent the last two years in Japan and later allowed Robbie Cano to lean into a hanger for a useful insurance run?

Does anyone in baseball throw an easier 95 than Jon Lester? The Sox would have been better off giving him the Beckett money.

Still four hours

But it could be worse.

Let's hear it for umpires who don't grant time out every 10 seconds.

Batters were so desperate they started asking the pitchers instead.

Hoping pitchers and catchers pick up on this just start taking the free strikes.

Joba looks great out of the bullpen.

Perspective

The Yankees are the most underachieving team in baseball.

I went to bed at 11 pm last night, with the Yanks up by 2.

The game was heading into the bottom of the 7th. At 11 pm, I should have been able to watch an entire baseball game. But no, thanks to MLB (an 8:05 start for the national broadcast Opening Day showcase?) and those two teams, I have no idea how long the game went, nor do I know how it went.

One down, 161 to go. And I'm already sick of Michael Kay.