Links & Notes

Since they bested King Felix, the Yankees have lost 5-1 to the Mariners, as Jaret Wright got nailed by a line drive which hit him on the collarbone, and then were humiliated 12-0 by the Oakland A's, with news that Mike Mussina may be done for the season, with his painful elbow.

This is the way it is, in Yankeeland 2005. One minute you're riding high--won 5 out of 6, guys are coming off the DL and back into the rotation, Randy Johnson's looking better, and then suddenly you've lost 3 of 4 and you've scored 13 runs on the week, the majority of them on Monday.

Aaron Small starts today, and if he pitches the way he has, it looks like he might have a permanent job. A word to Chien Ming Wang--get better, soon. Al Leiter might have found his way into the bullpen, although I'm not sure that he'd be all that effective in the role. I'd run that down here, but I'm on deadline for my monthly Yankees jam at Prospectus, and I have to prestidigitate something to talk about.

I'm feeling gloomy about baseball on a glorious pre-Fall day outside. Let's look at some links:

I mentioned my Prospectus Notebook gig before. Friday I took on the Red Sox, looking at the decision to perform experimental surgery on Schilling's ankle--an injury which still hasn't healed, 10 months later. Enjoy.

Over at Baseball Analysts, they have a great piece by Bob Klapisch about his obsession with pitching. I've never been a great fan of the Klap's columns--I always got the impression that he was just a little too in-your-face for my comfort level, the kind of guy who injects himself into the team's story. But to hear him talk about playing catch with Al Leiter, in the context of a blog rather than a piece of reporting? It's good stuff.

I was reading an article by Bill Simmons (another person who needs a permanent link on the righthand side, there) earlier this week about the possibility of an NFL strike, when it occurred to me: part of the reason that the NFL is so popular is because they managed to crush their players' union. It's ironic--football players are (other than boxers) the athletes who take the most physical punishment for our amusement. They sacrifice their health, and often leave the sport with their bodies broken, or seriously impaired. But NFL fans begrudge the players guaranteed contracts or a decent pension. I guess that's because if NFL players had these luxuries, you'd never know if they were trying their hardest.

Bleagh. As Brother Joe mentioned this week, people suck.

When you call a show "Battle of the Network Reality Stars" you probably don't know what an oxymoron is. The appeal of the old Battle of the Network Stars specials was that they showed a bunch of actors--people who are actually stars--competing in an unfamiliar, non-fictional setting, sports. These reality TV guys aren't stars, just celebrity wannabes. All that we've seen them do is compete in silly games on TV.

In other words, I'm pretty damn tired of Omarosa being herself on TV. And I haven't even seen any of the things she's been in since the Apprentice. Next time I see any of these guys, I want to see them exhibiting some sort of skill they actually have--be it singing, acting, or (most likely) taking my order at a local McDonalds. Other than that, please go back to your damn lives.