Great Night in Yankeeland

Even before the Bronx Bombers drubbed the Blue Jays north of the border, it was already a perfect day for Yankee fans. Johnny Damon snubbed the Boston Red Sox and rejected his trade from the Detroit Tigers, preferring to remain in Michigan rather than enter in a playoff race with his former team. To me, that just shows you that Damon is tired of the Red Sox fans' antics and playing in Fenway Park. Not only was it a slap in the face of Beantown, but it kept the surging Red Sox from adding a clutch October player.

After the great news about Damon, it was announced that the young Ivan Nova would remain in the rotation, while the atrocious Javy Vazquez would head out to the bullpen. Great move by the Yankees. Who cares about Javy's self-esteem in the midst of a pennant race? Nova looks like he has a great future and a lot of guts, challenging the over-confident Jose Bautista on Monday.

Then, the game started, and the offense showed up to back up Dustin Moseley. Mark Teixeira, Jorge Posada, and Marcus Thames had monster nights. Curtis Granderson hit another homer, and Derek Jeter waited until it was an eight run game to contribute, but he did hit a ball over a fence, something he hasn't done in almost two months. Coming off of a difficult 3-2 loss on Monday, the team responded perfectly with an 11-5 drubbing.

Dustin Moseley has been just what the doctor ordered for the Yankees' ailing staff. No, he hasn't been lights out and he hasn't won all of his starts. But he's been solid. The guy throws strikes, and without joking around, he's been better than AJ Burnett and Javier Vazquez. We aren't hearing much about Andy Pettitte, so we really don't know if we can count on him for the stretch run or even the post-season. In my mind, Moseley or Nova will be a fourth starter come October. Ideally, we'd see a rotation of Sabathia, Hughes, Pettitte, and Nova/Moseley. Notice how Mr. Burnett and Mr. Vazquez have not been included.

A lopsided victory, a Beantown embarrassment, and a smart decision removing a horrible pitcher from the starting rotation. Just an ordinary kind of day.