Dave James

Patrone. With some rock salt and a slice of lime. Got into taking a shot in the evenings when I was in Hawaii. 100% agave. It's a good thing.

Uhhh what does one thing have to do with the other? To coin a phrase, I think Aric is saying "there but for fortune..." I agree.

I'm not much of a National League fan, but that Giants Braves game last night was a lot of fun. Great to see Rick Ankiel win the game. Baseball is all about getting up after you've been knocked down and there's no better example of that than Ankiel. I won't soon forget the sound of his bat making contact with the ball. I'm sure that was music to the ears of Braves' fans everywhere. On another NL note, Cincinnati is literally destroying themselves. Not sure I recall seeing a team melt down like they did last night. That series should have been tied 1-1, no questions asked. It also shows that no matter how much stuff Aroldis Chapman has (and, man, he has plenty) he's still just a rookie and clearly hasn't learned how to handle adversity. When Dusty Baker visited the mound last night it looked more like a father talking to his son than a manager to his player. I really thought when he came in last night, the way he was throwing, it's was lights out for the Phils. Not so. They are really, really good at making you accountable for your mistakes. Go Yanks!

I wonder who among us would have successfully identified Hank if this video had been posted in the form of a blindfold test,. I know I wouldn't have. I love Mobley, but to me, this doesn't sound even remotely like him. I couldn't make it all the way through this. Very sad.

This is a great webcast. Don't stop with Sharon Jones. Check out the other guests while you're on site. There is some great music here. Here's an active link: My link

I'm not in any way knocking the outstanding effort of Roy Halladay earlier today, but all this "move over Don Larsen" talk is B.S. First of all, Larsen threw his no-no in a World Series and, secondly, his was a perfect game, 27 up 27 down. Also, on the TBS postgame show, they said Larsen struck out Dal Maxvill to end the game against the Dodgers in '56. In fact, it was Dale Mitchell. All they got right were the initials. Nicely done. They need to hire stat boy from Pardon The Interruption.

He'd sure look good in pinstripes. Oh, hold it. He's already in pin stripes. Oh well, I can dream can't I? Yanks are about to face off against the Twins. With their rotation in total disarray, this is a must win. By the time this is all said and done, I'm afraid New York is going to regret not getting Cliff Lee.

The Twins are 2-8 in their last 10 games. Gardenhire actually reamed the whole team out just the other day for their lackluster performance. That's the good news. The bad news is the Yankees are limping, and that may be a generous assessment, into to the playoffs. Like someone said, about all you can do right now if you're a Yankee fan is pray for four days of rain after every Sabbathia start. Unfortunately, I don't think we're going to see a repeat of 2000 when New York entered the post-season on the same downward trajectory. No matter how I slice and dice the possibilities, it just doesn't feel right. I am already preparing myself for an early exit from the playoffs.

I read this yesterday on ESPN. Chilling.

Looks like a great day. Congrats to the newly weds. What does your brother do? Is he in the music business, or is he smart?

The seller wants $195 for a 3-CD set that's available from Mosaic for $44 and he calls himself cdgiveawaysco. What's wrong with that picture?

Yes, but I believe the runner who co-occupies the base must be tagged out.

Considering what's going on with Cliff Lee and Josh Hamilton, the Rangers could use some good news.

The two two-run home runs Hughes surrendered to the Blue Jays today were both on 0-2 counts. How does that happen? Since June 19th, his record is 6-6. Much cause for concern.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I'm so weak.

A-Rod returns and the Yankees are losing 4-1 to Toronto in the 5th. Hmmmm. Phil Hughes has given up four hits in five innings, two of which were home runs. Hmmmm. Here's a thought. Bench A-Rod and start the bullpen any time Sabbathia is not scheduled to pitch.

How do you like your hats? Medium rare?

I read this a few days ago. The guy who wrote it is a scout, so I have to assume he knows of what he speaks. What we're talking about here is bat speed. Jeter's great strength as a hitter was his ability to wait that additional nano-second before initiating his swing. In a sport where reaction time is everything, even the slightest deterioration is magnified a hundred fold in results. Jeter is 36 years old so it's no surprise that he's slowed down just enough to make about a 30 point difference in his batting average. The chances of his being able to successfully compensate for this are fairly slim. That means, as David says, that he's never again going to be what he was and that he probably will get worse. How the Yankees can afford to pay him what he's going to want is beyond me. I just can't see justifying that kind of money just because of who he is and what he's meant to this team and this city. If there's even a shred of fiscal sanity in the house of pinstripes, they absolutely have to pay for what they're going to get going forward not for what they got in the past. Perhaps the solution is to give him a small ownership percentage in lieu of salary. If that's not good enough and he leaves (IMO, a highly unlikely scenario) so be it.

With regard to the future of Cliff Lee, most of what I'm seeing says that, in spite of Texas believing that they have a chance to re-sign him, the odds he'll wind up a Yankee next year are pretty high. Apparently Lee is all about the money and, Lord knows, when if comes to baseball, we all know where that's printed. One source I read said he'd pitch in Siberia for the right contract.

Too bad you're not the guy who tried to shut down the Hadron collider. He could listen to this by simply adjusting his time space co-ordinates.

An amusing video of Pat Venditte, the Staten Island Yankee farmhand who throws both left and right handed, facing a switch hitter in a game with the Brooklyn Cyclones. Venditte uses a custom made six finger glove that he can wear on either hand.

IMO, the seven head to head games between the Yanks and Rays will seal the deal for one team or the other. The rest is a wash.

Heralded rookie Aroldis Chapman will be called up by the Cincinnati Reds this week. He's recently been clocked at 105 MPH and has other tools in his kit besides an unhittable heater. He should be fun to watch. The Red Sox have finally thrown in the towel on Manny Delcarman, trading him to the Rockies for "prospects". Not sure what this signals, although I for one will miss seeing Manny enter a game, any game. He was about as unpredictable as they come.

Assuming Jeter's forgettable season continues, it will put the Yankees in a rather unenviable position when it comes time to negotiate a new contract. Do you 1) simply assume that he had an off year and will bounce back next season, 2) pay him $20 million a year for 3-5 more years in deference to what he was and not what he is or 3) get real, pay him what he's worth given what he currently brings to the table, and risk the fallout that would inevitably ensue? If you're Brian Cashman and the Steinbrenners, you're going to find yourselves in a very awkward, potentially no-win situation.

Phil Hughes had the snot knocked out of him tonight in Toronto. That forced the Yankees to go to their secret weapon, Javy Vazquez out of the pen. He's pitched one inning so far and gave up just one hit which just happened to be a home run. You know what I like in my life? I like consistency. I like to know that when you try the same thing over and over again, you'll always and without fail achieve the same result. Thank God for Javy Vazquez. He leaves nothing to chance. Nothing.