How are we actually in first?

Ok. Here's a scavenger hunt for y'all. Open up your newspaper to the Sports Section. Find the baseball standings. What team is in first place in the American League East? The New York Yankees. While I am truly overjoyed by this, I have to wonder how this happened.

Have you watched this team lately? We've been playing like garbage, similar to how North Korea looked against Portugal. I see two key reasons as to why we are in first:

First off, Andy Pettite and Phil Hughes have been indomitable lions this year. They have a combined 18 wins and 3 losses. Hughes is third in ESPN's Cy Young Tracker (behind Price and Bucholtz). Pettite is 4th. Both these pitchers are rolling. They're the Super Eagles of this squad.

Second, Robbie Cano. Don't Ya Know? Cano is on a tear this season. His BA is about .25 points higher than anybody in the majors. First in the AL in hits, second in the Majors to Martin Prado on Atlanta. He's driving the car known as the Yankee offense right now. He's batting like the Celestial Blue Sky.

See...we really shouldn't be in first place. I'm a huge Yankee fan, but come on:

We have AJ. He's tanking fast. Last six starts? 2-4, 6.55 ERA, a WHIP over 1.5, and not too statistically, he can't get people out on two outs. We've got nothing on the top. Jeter is struggling, Tex started slow, but hopefully will get up soon and A-Rod just isn't crushing it this season. We need these guys to get going soon.

We're not going be in first for long without a third of our line up hitting and a two fifths of our rotation pitching like garbage. Especially since we have the Red Sox Fury and the Bafana of the Rays slowly gaining on us.

World Cup Contest:

I will give a prize to the first person who can name all the World Cup References in this post. In order to win, you must comment the references on this post. There are 5 of them.

Other notes:

Vote Nick Swisher to the All-Star team. He needs all the support he can get. Vote here early and often.

AJ looked like crap yesterday. No two ways of saying it.

GO TEAM USA TOMORROW IN THEIR GAME.

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!