Afternoon Baseball

A whirlwind week of events leading up to the wedding, then an impromptu HS reunion, then driving back four hours to go to work. Those last three events came in a span of about 24 hours.

First, baseball. There's so much good happening in the game right now. Teams such as the Tigers and Diamondbacks playing out of their minds. Teams like the Braves finally facing mortality. The epic hitting of Albert Pujols -- now derailed by injury, but still. Even the distasteful affair of watching Barry Bonds makes us talk about what the game, its records and its obsession with statistics and big numbers mean to us.
As for the Yanks...
In Yankeeland, the injuries just won't stop. When Wang in closing games, Jeter is hitting third, and none of the regular outfield is playing, it's amazing that they've been winning games at all. Jeter needs to stop getting injured, though, and Posada, Bernie and Andy Phillips needs to keep playing over their heads. Ditto for the beautifully named Melky Cabrera.

It's also sad that the Aaron Small honeymoon is over. He was so fun to watch last year. Don't ask me who should be the replacement -- oh wait, it should be that pansy Carl Pavano. Amazingly, Jaret Wright is the second-most reliable option lately behind contract-year wonder Mike Mussina, who faces Josh Beckett tonight.

But despite the injuries, the Yankees have been winning games, which has led Curt Schilling to anoint Joe Torre. He's got somewhat of a point. Torre's not the whole reason behind the recent success, but as reluctant as he is to go to young, unproven talent, when his hand is forced he always gives full confidence to them and an expectation of winning. Not all managers do that (see Jim Tracy). Torre never throws up his hands and says, well, this happened so we can't expect to win.

SG at Replacement Level..., who was also away last week, has a few good thoughts on what moves Torre needs to make next to keep getting the praise of large 200-game winners for the Red Sox (hint, there's two now).