Only 100 to go!

Thats right folks. We have a mere 100 games left to this season. Following today's win against the Astros, the Yankees stand at 39-23, an excellent 16 games over .500. So, here is the report card for Yankee Players as of the 38 percent of the season mark. In no particular order

Robbie Cano-A. Cano is on fire this season, and shows no signs of slowing down. He's batting .373 with an OBP of .417. He's slugging .610. He leads the Yanks in OBP (1.027), so he's having a great year. On the fielding front, he hasn't made nearly as many bonehead plays in the field as he has in past years.

Derek Jeter-B. A subpar start for Jeter, but that's ok. He tends to come on later on anyways. I'm not too concerned about Jeter. He's only about .1 points below .300 batting and his OBP is respectable (.343). He looked strong today with 2 home runs against the 'Stros.

Mark Teixeira- D-. Tex has clearly struggled. About a month ago, we blamed it on April. May wasn't much better. Mark is last among the Yankee starters in batting average. However, he's 4th on the squad in RBIs and 3rd in home runs. It's just the lack of singles and doubles thats keeping him down. I foresee a down year for Mark, but he should still improve by the end of the year.

Carsten Charles Sabathia- B-. Sabathia has looked brilliant in his wins this year, especially in his near no hitter against Tampa Bay. However, it's the losses that's dragging Carsten Charles down. 4th among the starters in ERA, Sabathia just isn't shutting down opponants like the way he was last year. Expect a rebound soon from CC.

Andy Pettite- A. A Cy Young-esque year for the Southern Man . He's wheelin' and dealin'. He's leading the Yankees with 8 wins. He leads the starters in ERA (2.46) and BB/9 (2.5). Pettite looks poised to win a Cy Young this season, but in order to do so, he'll have to beat out teammate...

Phil Hughes-A. Cy Young-esque year for the young gun. If Pettite doesn't lead the starters in a category, Hughes does. This is the sort of pitcher the Yankees have been waiting for from Hughes. Have a pair of teammates ever been this dominate? One has to look back to the dreaded 2001 Diamondbacks with Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson.

And last, but not least

Joba Chamberlain-D. Joba has done horrible this season. He is 1-3 on the season (from the bullpen) with an ERA of 4.94. Joba seems to be struggling to get anyone out. As of late, he's brought his grade up from the depths of hell, but he needs to give up less runs. His strikeout number is excellent and his low walks make him seem better. But he needs to turn around quickly in order to be the dominant pitcher he has the potential to be.

Let's go on a badenture through the Blogosphere

As I just said to my Yankee copanaera Liz, let's take a badenture through the world of Sports Blogging. As Ron Burgandy said, "I'm kind of a big deal". Well, not really. I just survived my Junior Year in high school. I'm still convinced that the only way I actually survived Spanish was because my teacher loves the Yankees. On November 5th, he and I had a "fiesta"in class.

I love the Yankees. I'm a man, so I try not to cry. But when we won in November, I cried. Broke down in tears while on the phone with my sister. I was 7 when we won in 2000. Not really a fan, I remember only this from the series. I never thought we would win again, but we did.

The Yankees are my first, my only and my true love. Sure, I like other sports. I'm a Knicks, Giants and Rangers fan. But there's always been something about the Yankees. Maybe it was the first major league home run I saw (John Van Der Wall, by the way) or maybe it was just the first view of the grass at the Stadium. Maybe it was the kid in the net against Chicago. Or maybe it's just hearing John and Suzyn or Michael, Kenny, Al and Flash calling the game. I love the game and I love this team.

I'm a Posada guy. He's a natural, among the best catchers ever. I like Jeter too. He's never said a mean thing about anyone, a real class act. I like Andy. Man, he can pitch. Robbie, Gardy, Swish, Tex, Mo; All great players, love 'em all.

Two players are clearly missing from that list. A-Rod and Joba. They're both completely overrated. I was at the Cleveland game a couple of weeks ago. We had a lead and Joba comes in. I look to my dad and say "10 bucks we're losing after he's done". Guess who walked out of the Stadium with 10 dollars more than he started with? A-Rod is completely annoying. He thinks he's hot stuff. But really, no. He's nothing more than a pretty boy with some decent strength and a weak groin.

I hate the Sox. Pedroia is terrible. He's a niche player who can only play in Fenway. Papelbon is a Mariano wannabe. He'd be lucky to be half the man that Mo is. Beckett requires a shave NOW. He looks like a complete scumbag. Playing for the Evil Empire doesn't help his image either. But the worst player on the Red Sux? David "Big Papi" Ortiz. He's a horrible, horrible player. He's fat, can't field, can't run and can't hit (ever since he quit the 'roids)

So, I look forward to writing sports for all of you. It's a hobby of mine. I hope all y'all enjoy this. I know I will!

Going for 28

Last fall, I was in the midst of a miserable semester. It was my sophomore year of college. I was 250 miles from home and nothing was going my way. I was exhausted, run-down and hadn't gotten a full nights sleep in weeks.

After three weeks of tossing and turning, I'd tried just about every solution in the book. I drank chamomile tea and no caffeine, I took herbal supplements, I tried running before bed, I started meditating. Nothing worked.

Finally, one night in a fit of desperation, I signed up for an mlb.com account. I gave them my credit card number and could now listen to any baseball game in the country.

I immediately turned on the game John Sterling was calling that night on WCBS and I felt a sense of calm I hadn't felt in weeks wash over me. It took me back to the summer nights of my childhood, driving home in the backseat of the car, listening to a Yankees game.

I fell asleep in twenty minutes.

I use this as a story of what baseball and the Yankees mean to me. It's not that I find baseball boring, and listening to Sterling puts me to sleep. I wouldn't be writing this if Idid. But baseball, and the Yankees, have always been a piece of my home. It's not an exxageration to say the sound of my childhood was the Yankees Soundtrack. I feel like the team is an extended part of the family.

So it's fitting that I'm writing this blog with my brother, Mike. He's much stat-focused than I am. So look for me more for my feelings about the team, growing up a Yankees fan, being a transplanted Yankees fan, team gossip (Will Jeter ever actually marry Minka Kelly? What's up with ARod and Cameron Diaz) and book/magazine/blog reviews.

We're going for 28 this year. Leave a comment if you are too.