A key comeback win followed by a key yankee loss. Nice. I hope the wins and warm weather stick around, as I'm going to some games next week.

The yanks continue to show signs of early 90s-ish yankee play. Tonight: Sierra passes Matsui on the basepaths. The other night: a botched rundown that would've allowed two runs to score but the ump made a bad call on the second run.

Also tonight: Seattle fans boo A-Rod on every pitch, like we did a few weeks ago. And: "yankees suck" chants very noticeable in Oakland, Seattle, and a few weeks back in Chicago. After looking at the schedule, those cities plus Boston and Tampa Bay are the only ones the yanks have been to this year. I didn't hear it in Tampa Bay, but there were plenty in Boston, of course, AND in New York when the Sox were there. So besides Tampa, the yankees have been shown hate in every city they've played in so far this year. Keep it up, non-yankee fans.

The Numbert Magique is down to 132.

The first two nights of the yanks-Oakland series, I stayed up watching until 1 am-ish, only to be disappointed both times, and very tired in the mornings that followed. Last night, I opted for sleep, and went to bed with the score tied at 4. The plan worked. The A's got the W, I'm well-rested, and the Sox are back in sole possession of first. The MAGIC NUMBER is now a measly 134.

In Michael F'n Kay news, today he was talking on his radio show about how he doesn't care about advertisements on the bases. And he was livid that so many people cared about it so much. Then he said, "I just hate people sometimes." Then he went on to agree with me about the fact that he needs to be observed by psychiatrists 24 hours a day. Only his reasoning was that since he's "so different" from "everybody else," (when it comes to opinions on the Spider-Man ads) he must not be human.

It was very weird how he was SO mad that people cared about this issue. He's saying, "go cure cancer, don't spend time on this, it's a business," etc. A caller filled him in on the whole "give 'em an inch, they'll take a yard" theory, but I just don't think Kay got it.

Then of course, there's the issue of the "Ricoh yankees" trying to take the classy road and saying they won't have the ads on their bases during the games. I think the quote from the yanks was, "We feel that these ads will deface an important part of the hallowed field that is Adidas--er, yankee Stadium."

I thought it was cool how Ralph Nader got involved, saying the fans should revolt. I guess we successfully revolted, because the project has been called off. Awesome.

I read someone's post on RedSoxNation.net about Red Sox bars in NYC a while back. So I jotted down the name of one. Tonight, after seeing a show down in the city, Lys and I hit up the Riviera Cafe on W. 4th Street in the Village.

It was so cool, the Sox were on several televisions, and there were a bunch of other Sox fans there. And I got a mozzarella sandwich which was really good. Expensive, but I figure I got to see the end of the game for free. To watch it in my house, I'd have to pay. So it worked out. I can't wait to go down there for Sox-yanks.

In other news, the magic number went down, for the first time since the 70's it seems, to 136 tonight, thanks to the Sox win. But the yanks won, because they're playing the A's, who have gone from playoff team to--how can I describe them? Uh, toddler T-ball team. No, the toddlers could beat 'em. They could easily manage a few runs off that Rincon guy. Or tonight's "hero," Arthur Rhodes. Jesus GD Christ those guys are pathetic.

The good thing about this yankee winning crap is the following: They're not winning in the way you need to win to go all the way. They're making bonehead plays, one after the other, but they keep coming out on top somehow. It won't last, and we know we can beat them. And in a playoff series, anyone with decent pitching WILL beat them. Even their untried and yet to be proven true "Quantrill & Gordon" method--it may seem to be working, but I don't think they had this in mind--to have to come back from a huge deficit that their starter gave up, then when they finally get like a 10-9 lead, bring in "the duo" before going to Mariano (who almost blew it tonight). They won't survive like that.

Not even with the umpires wearing yankee hats, as they always have, and as they've proven this year already.

The more I watch the yanks, the more I say: How can anyone root for this team? Tonight they showed a replay of A-Rod and Enrique Wilson in the dugout screaming, practically crying about a called strike two to Giambi (who also complained, as all yankees do on any called strike), when there's really no way you could tell from the dugout. Screw those pieces of turd, all of 'em. They will not win. No more championships this millenium! That's the goal.

Dear John Sterling,
I've noticed that you pronounce yankee infielder Enrique Wilson's name "On-ree-kay." The "ree-kay" part is correct. Some people like to say "ree-KWAY;" so you've got that part down. But when you pronounce "En" as "On," you, sir, are speaking inaccurate Spanish. Perhaps you are thinking of the French word "Encore," which is of course pronounced "ON-kor." Mr. Wilson is clearly not French. I don't know what's worse, when someone ignorantly "Americanizes" a name, or when someone thinks they are being smart, but are actually substituting the pronunciation of one language for that of another.
I hope this helps.
Also, please stop blatantly rooting for the yankees during your broadcasts.

Dear Charlie Steiner,
You are a RADIO announcer. That means that, chances are, when your audience is listening to you describe a baseball game, they CAN'T SEE what's going on. That's why it's your job to SAY what's going on as it's happening. Maybe jot this down and keep it near you in the booth so you can refer back to it when necessary.
Also, please stop acting like you are somehow a part of the phony-ass yankee tradition and mystique.

Dear Bobby Murcer,
It doesn't seem possible that there could be an announcer who could make me say "I'd rather be hearing Michael Kay." But it is, and you are the man.
Also, please look at some colleges in your area that you might want to attend next winter. You sound like you may need some help with speaking the English language. Also, I get the feeling that if you did go to college, your major was sports medicine. Try something else this time, it can't hurt to get the old IQ up a few notches.

Dear Ken Singleton,
See letter to Bobby Murcer.
Also stop calling every ball hit to the outfield "fairly deep." I know you're just trying to cover your ass since you and Murcer obviously have no depth perception, but c'mon, enough with the fairly deep nonsense.
P.S. I realize neither you nor Murcer are play-by-by-play men. Maybe you could ask George to get a backup for those times when Michael Kay is too lazy to fly to the west coast, that way we, the audience, won't be stuck with two color commentators and no play-by-play announcers.

Dear Michael Kay,
See the rest of this blog. You'll find plenty of tips.

BONUS LETTER:

Dear Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto,
If you're dead, why do I keep hearing you on radio commercials doing schtick with Yogi Berra?

Whenever I see Mark Bellhorn with that number twelve on his back, and those high socks, I think of Todd Walker. I always feel bad for doing this, because they're clearly two different men. But it's funny how Bellhorn keeps getting walks, so not only is he the new Walker, but a true walker as well.

And if he builds a bomb shelter in his yard, he'd have that in common with Mr. Walker, my old driver's ed teacher.

I've never actually rooted for a guy to get a walk. Well, I have when the count is 3-0, and I've rooted for guys to take pitches to make a pitcher work, but there's never been a guy who I root for to walk right when he gets up, every time. Hopefully, the rest of the team will learn something from this guy. You know, walk-wise.

The magic number to beat the yanks and win the division is now the same, as the yanks are in second place. Thru 5/2: 137.

The suddenly slumping Sox need to get back on track. Only Red Sox fans can feel like it's the end of the world while their team has the best record in baseball--oh, sorry, a half game back of the Rangers, now ahead of us due to their sweeping us. If we can take anything positive from that series, besides the fact that we did get the tying run to the plate in the ninth in every game, it's just knowing that the Rangers are doing well without A-Rod and with Soriano, and can sweep the Sox, while A-Rod and the yanks only could only beat us once out of seven tries. Feel better? Didn't think so.

Don Zimmer has a new book coming out called The Zen of Zim. It's good to hear him talk about Steinbrenner and what an arse he is. But of course, he spews a lot of BS about Pedro and the "throwdown."

He says "everyone" knows Pedro was throwing at Garcia on purpose. And since he felt Pedro started everything, and says Pedro was pointing at his head because he wanted to hit Posada in the head--which is incorrect--he saw an oppurtunity and tried to take a swing at Pedro.

Then he goes on to say that Clemens was NOT throwing that bat at Mike Piazza on purpose. Whatever. More yankee bull crap.

He's just senile at this point.

In today's yankee game, there were entire sections that were empty in the upper deck. Now the other night, you could try and use the weekday night in April excuse, but today was a Sunday in May. Francessa was bragging so much about how they'll get almost 4 million fans this year. It ain't gonna happen this way.