Mike Lupica Sums Up The Yankees Loss

Mike Lupica, Daily News:

The end of it for the Yankees, the end of a four-game sweep that just happened to take six games, was the bat on Alex Rodriguez's shoulder against a kid closer named Neftali Feliz. It was 6-1 for the Rangers in Game 6 by then. The Yankees hadn't just been beaten. They had been bounced around most of the last week, Arlington to the Bronx and back, and finally been embarrassed. So there really was no need for A-Rod to take the bat off his shoulder. The Yankees had stopped playing an hour ago. ...

This wasn't as bad an AL pennant defense as we got from the Yankees in 2004, when the Red Sox came back from 0-3 down. It was bad enough. ...

One out away. A-Rod. Of course. Of course it had to be him. Took a called third strike. They paid him $252 million once to put the Rangers in the World Series. Now he had.

(via Joy of Sox)

A-Rod: Yankees need Jeter

Alex Rodriguez can't imagine life without Derek Jeter in pinstripes. "Derek Jeter was born to be a Yankee and he was born to wear pinstripes," Rodriguez told a gathering of media. "He's our captain and we need him here. I envision he'll finish his career here. I can't envision him wearing any other uniform."

That's a far cry from Rodriguez's 2001 comments to Esquire when he said the Captain "has never had to lead. He can just go and play and have fun." He drew from the Yankees' past glories when he also told the magazine, "You go into New York, you want to stop Bernie [Williams] and [Paul] O'Neill. You never say, 'Don't let Derek beat us.' He's never your concern," he said.

From New York Daily "News"

Vlad's 400th Career Homer

Former Montreal Expos great Vladimir Guerrero hit his 400th home run last night. It was a solo shot in the 7th that ended up being the game-winner, as it gave the Angels an 8-7 lead, which they held on to.

Guerrero became the 45th player in Major League history to reach 400 home runs, passing Andres Galarraga and Al Kaline, who both hit 399.

He also became one of nine active big leaguers with 400, joining Carlos Delgado, Jason Giambi, Ken Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield and Jim Thome.

But more impressively, he became only the sixth player in Major League history with 400 homers and a career batting average of at least .320. While his batting average is a little shaky and might not hold up, he is in some impressive company (listed alphabetically)...

Jimmie Foxx .325 534 HR
Lou Gehrig .340 493 HR
Vladimir Guerrero .322 400 HR
Stan Musial .331 475 HR
Babe Ruth .342 714 HR
Ted Williams .344 521 HR

A-Rod Backs Stimulus

A-Rod Backs Stimulus

Says Economy Needs Shot in Arm

President Barack Obama picked up support for his stimulus package from an unexpected source today as Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez said that he was "totally in favor of stimulus."

"Sometimes when you have to get the job done, you need a shot in the arm," said Mr. Rodriguez at a press conference in the parking lot of Yankee Stadium. "This stimulus sounds like it could be that injection."

The slugger, known to his fans and detractors alike as A-Rod, said that the U.S. economy may not seem very muscular at the moment, but that "juicing the economy" could change that overnight.

"Mark my words," he said. "If the economy gets the right injection, its muscles will bulge to monstrous proportions."

Mr. Rodriguez's words were in stark contrast with remarks made last week by another athlete, swimmer Michael Phelps, who said that the economy "just needs to chill."

"As far as the economy goes, I'm comfortably numb about it," Mr. Phelps said. "Dude, did I just say that out loud?"

At his press conference today, Mr. Rodriguez bristled when asked questions about steroid use, at one point throwing a car at a reporter.

*from The Borowitz Report