THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

***THE GOOD***
There is a lot of good:
->  The Yanks win a series for the first time since...well, Michael Kay told us about 3 times, but I'm so used to ignoring all his useless stats, that I didn't listen.
-> A-Rod hit his first homer and looked better at the plate than last Friday. Couple that with Soriano getting his 2000th hit - also a homer - and we see what the Yanks have been missing: power.
-> The bullpen (except for Rivera) was pretty good even though David Robertson found a unique way to get a double play to end the 8th.
-> Brett Gardner made a couple of outstanding plays in the outfield to go along with his walk-off homer. I've never seen a double play that went 8-7-6-4 before.
-> I am not Michael Kay's biggest fan, but I liked his take on the A-Rod situation. Would fans cheer him or boo him? Kay's answer was short and simple: "If he hits, they'll cheer for him. If he doesn't, they'll  boo him." Right on, Michael.

***THE BAD***
-> Andy Pettitte just does not look like he has it anymore. He can't get out of the 5th inning, And teams should be bunting him because he doesn't get off the mound very well anymore.
-> In spite of what Ken & Michael said, I don't think it was Mariano's location of his pitches that was the problem. They didn't look to me like the 'cut' was there. The movement on his cutter has been sporadic all year.
-> The umpires made their usual number of bad calls, but I hate when they try to intimidate the players on the field. After home plate umpire Paul Emmel blew a call and Verlander reacted mildly to it, Emmet had to walk out toward the mound yelling at Verlander. Luckily, catcher Brayan Pena held him back or Verlander might have been ejected needlessly from the game.

-> Mike Lupica thinks the NCAA should not punish Johnny Manziel at all, because "...what would the college football season look like without the one kid we really want to watch." Sure, it doesn't matter that he broke the rules if he accepted money for autographing merchandise, or has been taped being ejected from a frat party, that he has been know to drink and party like crazy and that he doesn't have the sense of responsibility to fullfil his obligations at Peyton Manning's football camp. All that matters is that Mike L:upica gets to see him play.
-> Tim Kurkjian sometimes likes to make up situations to defend his point of view. In discussing the hidden-ball play the Tampa Bay Rays pulled off on the Dodger Juan Uribe the other day, Kurkjian said it was another example of how bad today's base runners are, that they don't pay attention to the situations around them. He believes the hidden-ball play happens more and more often than ever before. Right, Tim. I could only find 7 instances in the last 10 years. Most of the ones I could find occurred over 50 years ago.
Even Michael Kay and Ken Singleton commented that if this happened more than twice in a season, managers would beat it into their players head on how to prevent this.

***THE UGLY***
This category is for Stephen A. Smith alone. Smith is a paid analyst and commentator for ESPN. Remember that fact.  Stephen couldn't rag on Riley Cooper enough for his use of the N-word in a video, saying at one point, "...the word shouldn't be used by anyone -  including black folks." Former football player, Hugh Douglas and Michael Smith both work for ESPN. Douglas as an analyst and Smith as host of "Numbers Don't Lie," an ESPN regular show. At an event  in Orlando, Florida, Douglas and Smith - both black - got into a little spat and Douglas referred to Michael Smith as a "...an Uncle Tom and a House N---."
A caller to Stephen A.'s show said he had been listening for two days and "had not heard the Douglas situation discussed." Stephen didn't like that very much. "That's a very ignorant question," he said. "I am not going to bring up  an internal (ESPN) matter and discuss it on these airwaves. The company is handling it. It's none of our damn business." You sure are fair and reasonable, Stephen A. Apparently working for ESPN allows you freedom that all us peons aren't entitled to. We shouldn't ask ignorant questions, either.

***THEY SAID IT***
" If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life - without even considering if there is a man on base."  -- Dave Barry
"The Johnny Manziel autograph controversy has football fans divided. His detractors call it a bad sign; supporters say it's just a signature move."  -- RJ Currie
"As of July 15, the Las Vegas betting line on the Houston Astros winning the World Series: 5,000-1. To provide a little perspective, the odds of a space alien landing at midfield during the Super Bowl halftime show are 4,500-1."  -- Brad Dickson
" Is it just me, or has Johnny Football turned into Johnny Paycheck?"  -- Mike Bianchi
"A massive sinkhole opened up at Ste-Catherines and Guy Streets in downtown Montreal. The hole goes so far down, witnesses say, that gawkers could even see the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East."  -- Dwight Perry
"Curt Schilling of ESPN, on Alex Rodriguez’s return to the Yankee lineup: “Playing third, batting fourth and pleading the Fifth.”
 "A man once told me to walk with the Lord. I'd rather walk with the bases loaded."  -- Ken Singleton
"The University of Miami is considering renaming a baseball stadium now named for Alex Rodriguez. This is a new low — you’re told you’re too corrupt for the University of Miami."  -- Brad Dickson

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