Morning: Travel Day

Yesterday, with the Yanks en route from Seattle to Baltimore (or already there, probably) and the rain falling in NYC, there was nothing for me to do but play poker. I lost 13 bucks in some rich couple's gigantic home in Greenpoint. They had a collection of 5 mortars with pestles. Sophisticated druggies, or just collectors with an old school aesthetic? You decide. They weren't there, so I couldn't ask.

5 Yankee Points is what we do now, so quickly:

1. A Mariano Rivera article from yesterday's Times. They talk about his "understated elegance," and how he now models suits for a high-end Italian company.

2. The Javy Vazquez shitbomb mystery deepens. Here's his quote from Sunday's postgame:

“My fastball is not where I want it to be,” Vazquez said. “It’s my most important pitch and if I can’t locate it, the hitters can sit on my off-speed pitches. It’s not mechanics right now, but if I knew what it was, I would have fixed it by now."

That's a good sign. And Curt Schilling, baseball's biggest idiot, agrees with me that Javy won't succeed in New York. This is just like that time Osama Bin Laden and I agreed that American television can be pretty frivolous.

3. Huggggghhhesss tonight! I think everyone's excited to see the follow-up to his stellar performance against Oakland. Aside from Vazquez, check out the numbers for our starting pitchers: 9-1, 2.43 ERA, .211 BAA, and 3 jacks allowed in 92 innings.

4. Speaking of starting pitchers, go to this page, scroll down, and look at the picture for the AL ERA leader. Oh, that is dandy.

5. Looking ahead to the Orioles series that begins tonight, we've got Phil, CC, and AJ going against Millwood, Guthrie, and Matusz. The Os are averaging 3.2 runs per game, and are 3-16 on the year, the worst in MLB by 5 wins. They're patently awful, and it's time to put on my entitled Yankee cap: anything less than a sweep is disappointing.

The off day is over, my friends. It went the dull and wicked ordinary way.