Another Good Start

Joba had a great start Friday against the A's, making that two good ones in a row. Many are crediting the success to his quicker pace on the mound.

Yeah, it's great that he's won consecutive starts and has pitched well, but it's going to make the innings-limit-move-to-the-bullpen that much harder. I do get admittedly smitten when I think about Joba being thrown into the bullpen for the playoffs. Aceves, Coke, Hughes, Chamberlain as the bridge to Mo is about as exciting as it gets.

Phil Hughes is the new Joba. And he could be the next Yankee closer in 20 years when Mariano decides he wants to stop dominating baseball.

No rush though, let the Sandman do work.

57-37*

On the surface, one would look at the MLB standings and see that the Yankees are 57-37, currently sit in first place and have won six in a row, sweeping both the Tigers and Orioles. We at The Black and White Cookie provide our readers with a closer look, and a reason for the loud obnoxious Yankee fan to sit back and shut up a bit until Sunday, Aug. 9, after the final game of a four-game series with the (second-place) Red Sox.

When the Yankees make it to the ALCS, they will likely play one of two teams: Red Sox or Angels. The Yankees are a combined 2-12 against these teams. This is why I say the Yankees' current record deserves the Barry Bonds treatment.

Yes, they have the best record in the American League and second-best record in the majors, but their record is hollow. As long as they make the playoffs, and assuming they will draw the AL Central champ in the first round, the Bombers should coast into the ALCS (19-5 against the Central).

Food for thought: It's unrealistic to say the Yankees should be 8-0 against the Sox instead of 0-8, but a reasonable split versus the Beantown Bastards would put the Yanks six games up in the division.

Just sayin'

LeBron dunked on, who cares?

FINALLY! The infamous dunk by Xavier's Jordan Crawford over LeBron James has surfaced! And who cares? The original tape was confiscated by PR reps of LeBron James' Skill Academy, but a cell phone video (and it's actually pretty clear) was dug up by TMZ.

Here's the link to Yahoo's Ball Don't Lie blog which has the video and a little article CLICK HERE. (The above is a still shot of the video)

To be honest, LeBron and his reps were really concerned that this would make its way to the public? I am not impressed with the dunk really, and if LeBron and Co. just let this go when it happened, this would not be as big a deal as it has become. Where did his PR people get their degree? Obviously not WPU.

Don't Want No Scrubs

Dan Bickley of The Arizona Republic is hinting at Jeremy Roenick’s retirement. Roenick, never one to shy away from speaking his mind, having a good time or just generally blabbing, mentioned that he thinks his former Chicago Blackhawks teammate, Chris Chelios, wants to play for the New York Rangers.

"Chelly wants to play until he's 50," Roenick said. "Chelly wants to play in New York, for the Rangers and Glen Sather."

I think I speak for all Rangers fans when I say, NO. If these were the 1998-2003 Rangers, then the 88-year-old Chelios is a shoe-in, but Glen Sather and the Rangers have been doing everything right this off-season, don’t Dorian it up now. Good thing Perry Cox isn’t at the Rangers helm.

The Rangers should bring in a veteran presence on the blueline after they drop either Wade Redden or Michael Rozsival. That veteran should be Sergei Zubov - case closed. In case you missed one of our last entries, we here at The Black and White Cookie are big fans of the Chopped Liver.

As for Roenick, he has been great for hockey. In a league that doesn’t have many personalities, Roenick was always a great quote, and did his best to make hockey interesting to the casual fan.

In other Metro-hockey news, New Jersey Devils General Manager Lou Lamoriello can retract his fangs now that center Travis Zajac agreed to a contract and will avoid arbitration. Meanwhile, the New York Islanders have fired their radio broadcast team and will simulcast the television crew’s broadcast. Oh, and Rick DiPietro may not be healthy enough to start the season - shocker.

Bengals want Big Ben

The Cincinnati Bengals are actively pursuing a trade to acquire Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger.

"We think the character flaws and negative media attention of [Roethlisberger] would be a perfect fit for our franchise," said Mike Brown, owner and general manager of the Bengals. "We would be willing to give up Carson Palmer and a slew of other 'goodie two-shoes' type players."

Notice the shirt, folks.

Yankees Postgame, 7/21 vs. Orioles: First Place!

Welp, the Yankees are in first place, as no-name Sergio Mitre (pictured above wearing a bullet-proof vest) did just enough to assist in a 6-4 victory for the Bombers.

The Yanks will finish up the series with the O's in tomorrow's matinee at The Stadium. Burnett going against some guy named Berken certainly favors New York for the win, but of course crazier things have happened.

Mo locked down the save, Cano hit a home run (don't 'cha know?), and A-Rod was thrown out by a mile at second base (hopefully it was an unsuccessful hit-and-run with Posada swinging and missing).

Oh, the Phillies won again, and the crappy Mets lost... again. They are now a full 10 games back. In true Craig Carton fashion, I am locking up the Mets' season being just about as dead as Michael Jackson, may he rest in all the pieces he was made of.

NHL Winter Classic 2010

The 2010 NHL Winter Classic will be taking place at Boston’s Fenway Park, pitting the Boston Bruins against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Last year’s Classic at Wrigley Field was a grand slam (pun intended). Now, the action will shift to another storied venue with rabid Boston fans and the uncomparable Philly fanatics. Boston and hockey just works (see: Leary, Denis), and the Bruins have been revitalized the last couple seasons, much like the Blackhawks.

I love the match-up for this game. Two tough teams, from blue-collar cities, and plenty of skill to boot. We may actually see our first Winter Classic fight! Now, I know people wanted to see some sort of Original Six game between the Bruins and the Canadiens or Rangers, and some wanted to see Alexander Ovechkin on an outdoor frozen tundra like he probably played on in mother-Russia, but sports fans are getting a legit hockey game to watch this New Year’s Day. You’re going to see some good, old-school hockey.

Not to get all Paul Lukas on you, but the only issue I have with this game is Black and Gold versus Orange and Black....not a fan.

The only question left for this game, who trades for Ty Conklin?

Mets: "We don't need Roy Halladay"

According to SI's Jon Heyman, the New York Mets declined an offer from the Toronto Blue Jays that would have brought ace Roy Halladay to Queens for two minor-leaguers and a bag of Skittles.

Fernando Martinez (.176 BA in 91 major-league at-bats), Jonathon Niese (career 6.47 ERA in the bigs), Bobby Parnell (respectable 4.25 ERA in 36 innings in 2009) and some shortstop named Ruben Tejada.

Omar Minaya (clown pictured above) said "No, thank you. We're fine the way we are. We've got the Phillies right where we want them."

By the way, Halladay's crazy good stats can be found here. Taste the Rainbow.

Yankees Postgame, 7/20 vs. Orioles: Jap-Attack

Very well-pitched game from old man Andy. Actually went into the 8th inning (an inning Joba has seen exactly once since he left the bullpen), throwing 110 pitches and striking out 8.

Some outstanding defensive plays in the top of the 8th helped bail out Pettitte. I have to credit a drunk Yanks fan at the game on Sunday for the following nugget of genius. When Girardi went to Coke in Sunday's game: "STAY OFF THE BLOW, GIRARDI!" Joe's infatuation with Phil Coke could turn into a huge problem that could prompt rehab for the Yankee skipper if Coke doesn't continue to pitch well.

Another 2-1 win, another walk-off home run. Matsui wasn't available for comment on the field with Kim Jones because his translator was in the John and he still doesn't speak a word of English after six years in New York.

Looking forward: Sergio Mitre???

Erin Andrews Naked

By now, I'm sure most of you have heard about the peephole incident involving Erin Andrews. Don't bother searching for the video online, because hackers are using it to spread a computer virus.

Ms. Andrews is in the peeping-Tom video doing her hair and make up in an unidentified hotel room. The problem lies in the fact that she is doing all of this completely naked. Why? I have no idea. Here at The Black and White Cookie, we don't, and will never claim to, understand women.

Anyway, it's a big deal, she's suing, whole nine. Twitter-nation talking about it here.

Chopped Liver Back In Blue?

Incase you didn’t know, Chopped Liver is Sergei Zubov’s nickname. OK, well not really, but that’s how he’s been treated for most of his career.

During his 16-year NHL career, Zubov has ranked among the best defensemen in the entire league. In 1993-1994 he led the New York Rangers in regular season points with 89. That’s right, Zubov (which actually means tooth in Russian - enjoy that nugget of meaningless info), a defenseman on the best team in the entire league, led the Rangers in points en route to their first Stanley Cup in 54 years.

During the lockout year of 1994-1995 he amassed 36 points in 38 games. So what does Zubov get rewarded with after two brilliant years on Broadway? Ah, yes, a trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins where he recorded 66 points in 64 games.

He then spent the next 11 years with the Dallas Stars as a stud, I repeat STUD defenseman. He’s a two-time Cup winner, a three-time All-Star, and a one-time Norris Trophy (drum roll please...) runner-up!

That’s right, Chopped Liver has never won a Norris Trophy. He’s only been nominated in 2006. Now I know Nicklas Lidstrom has pretty much urinated all over that piece of hardware to mark his territory, but Zubov just seems to get no respect. Hell, he’s only been nominated once. One nomination! He’s the Susan Lucci of the NHL, but even she eventually won (I promise that is the last soap opera reference you will ever see on this blog).

Now at 39-years-old, I doubt that all the wrongs that have been done to this man will be made right by the time he retires. However, the Rangers may be one of the few to correct their mistake (if you didn’t think Zubov and Petr Nedved for Ulf Samuelsson and Luc Robitaille was a mistake please click the little ‘x’ on the top right corner of this page, thank you).

With the Rangers looking to unload one of either Wade Redden or Michael Roszival, this may open the door to bring in Zubov at a cheaper price. Granted, he is older than Redden and Rozy, but he is still a better power play quarterback and is probably better defensively also.

I’m getting goose bumps right now picturing Zubov (wearing No. 21 of course) feather passes to Marian Gaborik.

Joba

I've said it since there was discussion about taking him from the bullpen, and I will continue to say it until he becomes a reliable starting pitcher: Joba is a relief pitcher, and the perfect successor to the great Mariano Rivera.

Joba first pitched on Aug. 7, 2007, immediately became a fan-favorite and, rightly so, received a tremendous cult-following. In his first 24 innings , he gave up 12 hits, struck out 34, and only suffered one blemish on an otherwise perfect scorecard. Mike Lowell turned on a high, inside fastball and put it into the stands in left field.

Anyone replacing Mo Rivera is going to be compared to greatness. Why not a guy that already had a boat-load of bandwagon fans? Joba had the makeup for a perfect closer, mixing a 100 mph fastball with a devastating slider, placing both pitches.

Okay, that's it for the preamble. Yesterday, Joba pitched "great." Yes, he went six and two-thirds, struck out eight, and only gave up one. But he walked three (only walked six in 2007), hit a batter and balked. He had the crowd on the edge of their seats, but seemed to always get out of the jam, getting himself a win. For that, he should be commended.

In other news, isn't it strange that Hughes is doing Chamberlain's job and Chamberlain is doing Hughes' job?