First - of all, thanks to our hosts for a nice evening Friday night.  It was great!

Second – Rocket.  It just goes to show you.  You should never put your faith in Clemens.  What a let down.  That is why I was so unenthusiastic when he came back.  He could never live up to the hype of that return, the money.  Even a humble return he couldn’t live up to.  I don’t want to hear the cover up.  From the moment he stepped on the mound last night – he had nothing.  That’s no hindsight evaluation.  I spoke to Mike T (who was at the game) and in the 2nd inning I said: “Tell everyone sitting around you, looking at Clemens on the monitor, he’s got nothing.”  I don’t want to hear his hamstring locked up on Kenny Lofton’s bunt attempt.  Nonsense.  He wasn’t in any kind of condition to take the ball, he took the ball because it would have been a personal embarrassment for him to be paid that kind of money and not give the Yankees a playoff start.  But – he did take the ball, and when you take the ball – as Donna Rice says “no excuses.”  Thankfully I won’t have to see him again in a Yankee uniform.   

Third – Damon, who had an unbelievable game, said they were playing for a manager that they love.  What happened last year, Johnny?  I’m still waiting for that explanation.  Anyway, I’m not going to be too hard, if that’s what motivates them so be it. 

Fourth – General Steinbrenner.  For all of the mockery he gets for his so-called “missives” this one worked.  And you know what?  He was right.  Now, we all know that Steinbrenner wasn’t this bold last year because Torre was still under contract.  He’s got no contract now, so ultimatums are a little more forthcoming.  But, he’s right, if these players love their manager so much, let’s go and wake up.

Five – What the heck is wrong with Jeter?  One hit, one error (even though the official scorer marked it a hit, we all know it was an error), two double plays last night.  He’s playing like elephant dung.  For all the nonsense A-Rod gets…..

Six – Matusi.  I didn’t see any qualitative difference in his at-bats last night.  Sure he got two hits, but to me it just looked like he found some holes.  He’s still not really driving the ball.  But we’ll take the two hits because Giambi really didn’t do much.

Seven -  Phil Hughes.  Hughes saved the season.  From the moment he came in, you could tell he was on his game.  Sure, I think he was a little overwhelmed at first and gave up the double (charged to Clemens), but after that – he was golden.  A live fastball, a hypnotizing curveball.  I thought Torre should have tried to go one more inning with him (63 pitches) and try to save Joba as much as possible.

Eight – Joba.  Again, I thought Torre should have tried to squeeze one more out of Hughes before turning to Joba.  But I understand the desire to lock the game down and get the win.  So there’s a tension there, but it creates a little problem for tonight.  Joba obviously got tired toward the end of that second inning and I thought Joe should have had Mariano up sooner to potentially bail him out, but thankfully it was unnecessary.  And did Mo look great, or what?

Nine – Cleveland defense.  That’s the Cleveland defense I know and love.  Trot Nixon who can’t bend down anymore, Jhonny Peralta getting lazy with his throws and Victor Martinez who threw to third, what the heck was he doing? 

Ten – Wang.  Wang.  Wang.  We need six strong innings from him tonight.  Then I think it’s Mussina for one, and they say Joba can go one inning and then Mo.Â