Saturday through Tuesday, especially Monday and Tuesday were unseasonably and dangerously hot and humid in New York City.  Moving, much less going to the Mets-Diamondbacks game, was out of the question.

I made the right call for the following reasons:

(1) It was hotter than heck.
(2) The Mets lost 9-5.  The Mets squandered a 5-1 lead. 
(3) There was a 45 minute rain delay and the game didn't finish until about 11:30 pm.
(4) I was home to watch the Lakers-Celtics Game 3 of the NBA Finals.  Even though the Lakers missed lots of free throws, it was a great game.  Sasha Vujacic hit a three pointer to give the Lakers a 81-76 lead late in the fourth quarter.  The Lakers won 87-81.  Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 36 points.

The series is now 2-1 Celtics.  The Lakers are civilization's last hope against the Boston Sports Apocalypse.  Go Lakers!

Posted by a sweating Tank in Hot and Humid NY.

In an era plagued by steroids, watching Ken Griffey Jr hit his 600th home run is very exciting. In 19 major league seasons Jr has proven that he is an awesome player and the real deal. Jr connected to hit his 600th home run and if he stays healthy, it is more than possible that he can pass Sosa and Willie Mays and finish his career in fourth place.

Congratulations to Jr!

This also shows just how good A-Rod is, A-Rod is only 32 and has 528 home runs, on pace to enter the 600 club when he is 35 years old, 3 years younger than Jr.

Player	Home runs
Barry Bonds	762
Hank Aaron	755
Babe Ruth	714
Willie Mays	660
Sammy Sosa	609
Ken Griffey Jr.	600

I was depressed after leaving Friday's game at the Stadium.  Darrell Rasner pitched 119 pitches and held the Royals to 2 runs.  Enough to win, right?  Wrong as the Yankees only scored one paltry run.  The Yankees left many men on base.

I traded in my coat Friday evening for an air conditioner on Saturday as there was about 30+ degrees difference in the game time temperatures.  I didn't go to Saturday's game but psyched that the Yankees rallied three times, including erasing four run deficits on two occassions.  Johnny Damon was 6 for 6.  Whoa!

Sunday was another hot but less stressful game.  The Yankees held on for a 6-3 victory.  A-Rod, Giambi, and Abreu hit home runs.

Monday was even hotter.  Mike Mussina, the American League winner in wins, was down 2-0 before the Yankees tied it.  The Yankees lost the game 3-2. 

Where Do We Go From Here:

Sunday was the third time in 63 games that the Yankee starters played together.  It's a small miracle that the Yankees are at .500.  Think about it, Posada was out for six weeks, A-Rod for 17 games, Jeter for 7 games, Bruney out for the season, Hughes is out for a couple of months.   

Pitching seems to be improving and the bats are coming around, touch wood.  Today would have been a perfect opportunity to get two games above .500. 

Robert in Tampa refers to Hank and Hal Steinbrenner as Honky Tonk and Ham-Bone.  It's little wonder why they managed Mr. Steinbrenner's horse and shipping interests instead of baseball.  They had little choice to get into the baseball business after their brother-in-law recently divorced their sister and Mr. Steinbrenner's health started declining. 

Honky Tonk and Ham-Bone will go through growing pains as owners as the Yankees and Joba do this season.  Let's hope we see as few as possible public outbursts and moves that jeopardize the future of the team.

Posted by a philosophical Tank reporting live from Yankees Stadium in the Boogie Down Bronx.

Today Rafal Nadal defeated Roger Federer in straight sets to win the French Open, his fourth straight, tying Bjorn Borg's record.

Federer was humiliated 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. Nadal won 18 of 22 games: Federer's 4 games was the fewest number of games won by a #1 seed in any Grand Slam final. After losing in Australia and some minor tournaments, is #1 in trouble?

We'll only see at Centre Court at Wimbledon. "If [Nadal] survives the first couple rounds this year, I pick him to win Wimbledon," Bjorn Borg who was on hand today at the French Open.

Posted by Steve in New York

Ana Ivanovic cemented her #1 status in the world after beating Dinara Safina in straight sets at the French Open this morning.  After the recent and sudden retirement of Justine Henin, Ivanovic was already #1 but Henin was on hand to give her trophy and pass the torch in person.

Posted by a celebrating Tank in NY and in spirit at Roland Garos and in Serbia.

The Boston Celtics unfortunately took Game 1 of the NBA Finals last night against the LA Lakers in Boston.

They were led by veteran Paul Pierce who was injured in the third quarter.  With shades of Willis Reed limping onto the Garden floor in 1970, Pierce returned to the roar of the crowd.  Laker Coach Phil Jackson wisely took a timeout to try to stop the momentum.  But, Pierce hit three point shots including a four point play after being fouled by Vladimir Radmanovic.

Pierce finished with 22 points and the Celtics won 98-88.

I don't hate Pierce nor KG or Ray Allen for that matter.  I must root for the Lakers because I became a fan in the 1980s.  (I met former Lakers Magic Johnson and Vlade Divac in July 1991 and February 2002, respectively.).  Though I predicted a Celtics NBA Championship before the beginning of the season, I want the Lakers to win and the Celtics to lose as to prevent the Boston Sports Apocalypse. 

If you think Patriots and Red Sox fans are obnoxious, the Celtics fans will be much worse because they haven't won in a long time.  Celtics fans may not know what to do with themselves and may even totally destroy the beautiful city of Boston if the Celtics win.  The fate of Boston, the sports world, and the rest of the world relies on your prayers and the Lakers to prevent the Boston Sports Apocalypse.

Posted by a concerned Tank in NY.

 

It is reported the construction of Citi  Field have been nearly completed. The dimensions are also there, shown with paint on the outfield walls. It is:

Right Field: 330

Dead Center: 408

Left-Center (14+ foot high wall to get Santana's home runs down?): 379

Left Field: 335

Posted by Steve in Orlando.

Pedro Martinez looked good last night, going 6 innings and scattering 7 hits and 3 runs, walking 3 and striking out 3 to earn a win in his first start coming off the DL. This is a short in the arm for the Mets, who are more and more worried about 1/3 of an inning Oliver Perez. Pedro threw 109 pitches and struggled some times but was solid.

Pedro said: “I’m thankful to be back. I hope I can stay a little longer. It was a while back (the last outing), especially with all the distractions I had off the field, which made it even tougher. … I still feel like every time I’m given the ball I have the same responsibility, to set an example.”

Joba Chamberlain, lasted only 2.1 innings and allowed 4 walks, 1 hit and 2 runs (only 1 earned) while throwing 62 pitches. While the first pitch was 101 mph, the entire performance that bad but under whelming. In a sign that he was rushed into this role, Joba threw his mitt at the doughout wall when he was pulled from the game.

Joba said: “It didn’t go very good.I wanted to get my team a lot deeper into the game. Gotta be better, that’s for sure.”

Posted by Steve in Orlando

One of the greatest songs of all time, "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey, was playing over the loudspeakers as the Detroit Red Wings were winning 3-2 in the last minute of the third period against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Red Wings were in line to win their third Stanley Cup in 11 years.

But, the Penguins' Talbot tied to it with 31.3 seconds remaining.

Wow!  Talbot took all the air out of the Joe Louis Arena.  The alternating cheers of "We want the Cup" and Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" lyrics "...Born and Raised South Detroit..." stopped immediately.

Hockey may NOT get as much attention as it deserves but it has the best playoff format, sudden death overtime.  One shot, one mistake is the difference between raising the Cup for Detroit or extending the series to a sixth game to Pittsburgh.

After a brief intermission, Detroit was better rested as Pittsburgh had to expend lots of energy to tie the game.

Detroit had the most shots in the first overtime period but Fleury was equal to the task.  The Red Wings outshot the Penguins by almost two to one for the game.

The Penguins had a man advantage early in the second overtime but the Red Wings killed the penalty.

One of the TV announcers granted permission to his 11 and 13 year old children to stay up late as the game was over 100 minutes long.

Detroit's made a critical mistake as Hudler hit Skadery in the mouth for a four minute penalty with about ten minutes left in the third overtime.

Sykora pulled a Babe Ruth and told one of the TV announcers that he would score the winning goal.  True to his word, Sykora put the puck past Osgood to win the game and send the series back to Pittsburgh.

Posted by a Tired Tank in NY.

Tomorrow is a big day in New York pitching starting rotations. Joba Chamberlain, who has not started a single game in the minors in preparation for tuesday, is starting. Is he going to cut it? Will the Yankee's bullpen lose its oomf?

Pedro Martinez makes his return from the DL for the Mets tomorrow. Can he last the remainder of the year without stubbing his toe, hurting himself in his sleep, or falling down the stairs?

New York is waiting. Steve and the Tank's predictions? Both will be under whelming. But both will provide a boost to ailing teams.

 

Posted by Steve in Orlando. (And the talk of the town are "Are the Rays for real?")