Not a fluke

The Yankees have been very good this season at beating the weaker teams in the AL, but against the elite teams? Well this weekend's nightmarish series against the LAAofA was pretty indicative of their chances should they make it to October.

Fair enough. They are 51-37 and if the playoffs started tomorrow, they would be the wild card.

But the Yankees have played four teams (the Angels, Red Sox, Phillies and Tigers) who lead their respective divisions at the break and they are 5-15 against those teams. That’s why you can’t dismiss this weekend as just some bad luck.

The idea for a $210 million team in a $1.5 billion ballpark isn’t to make the playoffs, it’s to win them. For now, the Yankees have not been especially competitive against the best teams.

That has to change in the second half. The Yankees have 10 more games against Boston, three against the Angels and three against the Tigers starting on Friday. And don’t forget the nine games left against Tampa Bay.

The Yankees had the bases loaded and no outs in the seventh yesterday. Teixeira struck out and Rodriguez hit into a double play, though he did hit the ball on the screws and Figgins made an outstanding play at third. Dem's the breaks.

They just look at you with those brown eyes

C-Money (Brian Cashman, Yankee GM), is, shall we say, straightforward.

• Brian Bruney “lied” to him about his elbow. “It drives me nuts,” Cashman said. Cashman said he went to Scranton to see Bruney’s rehab the first time around. “It was a waste of a two-and-half-hour drive,” he said. He compared injured players to pets because they can’t or won’t tell you what is wrong.

Get outta my luxury box, you punks

Suggestion to the New York Yankees organization: you may want to consider a spokesman other than Lonn Trost in the future.

Seriously, though, he can bluster all he wants, but he's responsible for the "magnificent" new stadium that

1. has a concrete moat around its best seats...seats that are, most of the time, empty
2. makes it too easy for fans sitting directly behind the wall in right field to obstruct play
3. appears to be a launching pad to right field

And, by the way, Lonn, no one begrudges young kids trying to get an autograph during teams' batting practices.

Memories of Yankee Stadium

They've been doing the "favorite game at The Stadium" over at Bronx Banter for some time now. This one, from Emma Span, is definitely my favorite.

The past sure is tense

It occurs to me that I've had four jobs and at least six bosses since the Yankees last did not make the playoffs.

Day in the life of the Yankee beat writer

As the Yankees head to see their long-time nemesis, the LA Angels of Anaheim, they slide into fourth place.

As consolation, Peter Abraham provides insight on what it's like to cover the Yankees.

"It gets late early around here"

The last time the Yankees finished the season without a playoff berth, Danny Tartabull was the highest paid player on the team.

White flag

For those of you who don't listen to Mike and the Mad Dog on WFAN, this one's a classic of the genre: Mike Francessa rips Hank Steinbrenner, and rightly so. Hank ain't no George.

All I can say is, Joe Torre and Manny "Almost cut my hair" Ramirez seem to be having a ball.

Dr. James Andrews

You don't go to see him unless something is very, very wrong.

Asked why the Yankees sent Chamberlain to Birmingham, instead of simply sending the results of his magnetic resonance imaging test there, Cashman said it was standard procedure. But the need for an extra trip for Chamberlain — which was not announced — was a curious development.

“Generally, especially when one M.R.I.’s already been done, Andrews is looking at it for a second opinion,” said the YES broadcaster David Cone, who saw Andrews for shoulder problems during his pitching career. “But you don’t get a second opinion unless the first M.R.I. showed something, generally speaking. What you see on the M.R.I. is the key, and to shuffle it down to him must mean you see something on there. What, I don’t know.”

Asked if he knew whether his son has a major or minor shoulder problem, Harlan Chamberlain said he could not say.

“The only thing I can say is I have every confidence that he’ll be back,” he said. “I hope and pray that it’s nothing of a serious nature. Obviously, he’s going to have to do some rest. As for how long that rest is going to be, time will tell.”

Chamberlain added: “He’ll be back, there’s no doubt. He’s a strong kid and we’ve confronted adversarial things throughout his career, and we’ve been able to answer them each time. It’s not like this is insurmountable. It’s a temporary setback. That’s the only way you can look at it.”

Indeed.

But unless the Devil Rays implode or Fenway burns to the ground, the Yankees are not going to be playing professional baseball in October of 2008.

UPDATE: Can Brett Favre pitch?

"Doesn't anyone here know how to play this game?"

Bad. Just bad.

As consolation, I can amuse myself by watching manager Joe Girardi self-immolate in the dugout.