CAN THEY KEEP IT GOING?

***YANKS ON A ROLL***
They finished the road trip 5-4, which is very good. Contributions from a lot of people and an obvious belief that they can win every game. I especially liked the fact that Damon gave credit publicly to Melky Cabrera for his contributions, moving runners along and playing good defense, in helping to win the game. Next up is an important 4-game set with the Bosox. I believe the Yanks will do well in this series, even though Steve Phillips, baseball's true Jonah, has endorsed the Yanks. If they don't win, I'm blaming you, Steve.

***WHAT'S HE THINKING?***
Prince Fielder of the Brewers, gets plunked in the 9th inning of a game they're losing 17-4, in retaliation for the Brewers hitting Manny. Well, you knew that was coming and in true old-time baseball tradition, Fielder got up, glared at the pitcher, and walked to 1st base. No problem, right? Nope. AFTER the game, Fielder must have decided that he forgot to charge the mound, so he went thru the tunnel and tried to charge the Dodger clubhouse. Good thinking: all alone against 30 or so Dodgers. You're not that big, Prince. Luckily, he was stopped at the door.

***THIS CAN'T BE***
Jim Thome of the White Sox hit 2 homers last night, but the rumor is that the Sox have no intention of resigning him at the end of the year. He has 20 homers, 66 RBI's and a .390 On-Base Pct. I can't believe GM Kenny Williams has this plan in mine.

***A MOVE THAT HELPED JETER***
I think moving Jeter to the leadoff spot has made him a better hitter. I think he felt that hitting second, his job was to take pitches and try to give Damon a chance to steal or move him along. Now, he's being very aggressive, often swinging at the first pitch of the game and keeping pitchers from getting that nothing-on-it first pitch over for a strike. Damon is doing well, too. He's become more of a free swinger, evidenced by his 19 home runs. A Girardi move that has worked out very well.

***MORE NICKNAMES***
Longview CANNIBALS. "Makes the phrase '...that pitch ate him up' take on a whole new meaning, doesn't it."
Ashville TOURISTS "They must play all their games on the road."
Albuquerque ISOTOPES "I guess they're not all dumb jocks."
Las Vegas 51'S "Can someone explain this one to me?"

***TRIVIA ANSWER***
(What Yankee hit for the cycle twice?)
My original answer was Joe DiMaggio, but that bastion of truth and honesty, The Bimb, pointed out that Lou Gehrig also did it twice. And then to prove how faulty my research was, she also mentioned that Bob Meusel did it THREE times. Thanks a lot, Bimb. You just gave Vod another reason to sneer at me.

I haven't seen Hannah in a few days. Hope she isn't sick. Have you heard anything, Vod?