Here we go . . .

Yankees 4, Blue Jays 1

Mussina good again, enough offense, and tremendous outings from Farnsworth and Mariano.

Although Mussina wasn't quite as good as the box score might indicate. There seemed to be baserunners all day but Moose always got the crucial outs.

The most interesting aspect of this game was the umpiring, specifically behind the plate. A rookie ump was calling balls and strikes, and, to be chairtable, he was having a tough day. His strike zone seemed to fluctuate from one inning to the next. Amazingly, Mussina, of all people, kept it together. Normally an umpiring job like yesterday's would send Moose right over the edge into a meltdown. And it was no better for Chacin; at least the umpire's missing ball and stirke calls was evernly distributed.

Torre got thrown out, bewtween innings. At one point the Toronto manager had obviously had enough, too, and he got thrown out.

I have no idea if the ump. Adam Dowdy, is in the regular rotation, or is he was filling in for a sick/injured umpire, or what. But he's not likely to forget his Sunday in the Bronx.


Into the belly of the beast

Here we go. Yankees at Red Sox. The first of a two-game series, a little warmup. The big story of course is Damon's return to Boston. I've heard a lot of people speculating about what the reaction of Boston fans will be. I think it's safe to say that the reaction will be loud and overwhelmingly negative. Will there be a smattering of cheers when Damon leads off in the top of the frst and is announced? I imagine there will be; not everyone will be bombed in the top of the first.

Should they boo? Of course not. Damon was an integral part of the first World Championship for the Red Sox in 86 years. It's not like he left for a few hundred thousand dollars more. It was a difference between $40 million over four years and $52 million over four years. That's a lot of money, even for someone making that much. Holier-than-thou fans who claim they woudn't take the $52 million are fooling no one, not even themselves. Plus, Damon played there four years. Not fourteen. He's not from Boston. The Yankees were in fact his third choice, behind Boston and the Dodgers (Damon apparently loved playing for Grady Little, now Dodgers' manager).

But of course Damon will be booed lustily. Damon, for his part, has gone out of his way to praise the Boston fans and speak fondly of his time there. That won't matter tonight at 7:08 when Damon steps into the batter's box, of course.

I would like to think that Yankee fans, in a similar situation, would react a little differently. Being fair, they probably wouldn't. But it will be interesting to see tonight if the Boston fans have at least started to make the transition from the losing to the winning psychology and take a moment to realize, and recognize, what Damon meant to them, and that his appearance in pinstripes is a function of the way baseball works today, and little else.

P. S. The Red Sox finally got tired of not having anyone who can catch a knuckleball and re-obtained Doug Mirabelli today. With our luck Mirabelli will go 4-4 tonight.