Updates and Notes

So, having split their six games against the Mets and Red Sox, the Yankees now have to face their third first-place team in a row, the AL West-leading Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, of California, of the United States of America (the LAAoCAUSA, for short), at the Stadium. Then it's on to a week-and-a-half on the road against Toronto, Boston (again) and the White Sox, before the Interleague thing starts up again. This is a tough stretch, and despite their recent signs of life, the Yankees at 21-24 need to make up ground, desperately.

Caught some of the Rocket's second tuneup at the pool hall on Wednesday, and that didn't look like imminent rescue was on its way. True, for Clemens it's more like a Spring Training start--more about getting your pitches in and working on your stuff than serious competition-- but Roger didn't show much command (4 walks in 5 1/3 innings), and the AA batters didn't look overwhelmed by his stuff. Still, it seems that whether or not Clemens makes one more minor league start--this time at Scranton--will be a call the Rocket himself will make.

In other news, I forgot to plug my new series at Baseball Prospectus in this space. It's called Prospectus Toolbox, my attempt to explain some of the numbers that the Prospectus crowd throws about, in language fit for a layperson. You can check out the debut installment, a bit about VORP, here, and the follow-up, with a comparison between VORP and WARP, here.

In sadder news, Anne Ursu, the indominable Batgirl, has decided to hang up her legos (hat tip to BTF). Even though she has no love for the Yanks, Ursu's site has been the best Twins blog out there, and a great source of humor for all baseball fans. The rest of us will be flying in the missing blogger formation during her absence. There's hope that she'll return after she's done teaching her newborn, Dashiell, how to keep score and to throw a slider.

Speaking of taking time off, I'm away at a friend's wedding as I write this, so posts might be scant for the next week or so. But there should be some pretty fun stuff coming down the pike...stay tuned.