'Don't Stop Relievin' Review

This thing got off to a real slow start, then I heard 'Dont Stop Relievin - ACL's Healin'.  I laughed.  Really the only thing that's made me laugh about the Yankees in days.  At first I thought this had no promise.  None.  I went to a school where the original song might as well be the theme song. Heard it 2 million times too many.  Somehow, however, this goofy guy managed to make me laugh by working in 'meniscus tear' to the tune of Steve Perry.  The power of Mo I guess.  Well done sir well done.

The Yankees better win this series with the O's.  Or I'm going to start thinking 'Our Pets Heads Are Falling Off'.  Nuff said.

Grading Pettitte : Positive First Outting

Andy Pettitte lasted till into the 7th today.  Showing some signs of rust, but generally doing what he always has.  His pitch count was low late and despite a few mistakes, I'd view this as a positive outing.  It's absolutely reassuring to see him pitch well, and I thought he deserved the ovation he got.  It's not easy to sit on the couch for 18 months and then come back out and pitch in the Majors. If I took my eyes off the internet for that long and tried to bring my A-Game back, I wouldn't even know where to begin.  This game could have been an absolute dud for Andy, but he held his own, and we can only hope he continues to fine tune things and builds on this performance.  Overall useless letter grade: B

What is awful is the Yankees 2-3-4-5 hitter going a combined 1-13 against 37 year old Kevin Millwood.  Mark Teixeira, who I've attacked previously for everything from being a softy, to thinking I was drunk when I read his .212 BA, needs to be dropped in the lineup at this point and ARod should be put in the 5 hole.  I mentioned something to the tune of this earlier in the week, and the Yankees just aren't seeing the output needed from them.  Russel Martin's anemic .182 BA also cannot be overlooked at this point.  ARod has gotten by, but Tex and Martin are now massive holes in the lineup.

This is a problem.  Again, if this team believed their spots in the batting order were in doubt, they might play better, but that just doesn't seem to be the case with Girardi.  He's willing to give players endless amounts of time to come around and it has more than often come back to hurt the team.  If Big George (RIP) was still around, I guarantee there would be some action here.

All in, Welcome Back Andy.  One more World Series run and people are going to struggle to not vote you into the Hall.  Happy Mothers Day.