Michael K. Busch

Proctor, and Gamble

So Scott Proctor did was Scott Proctor does: give up runs in the late innings.  The morning newspapers fell all over themselves trying to reconcile their "Scott Proctor stinks" sentiments with the news that Proctor pitched immediately following his month-old daughter's emergency heart surgery.  Stories focused on Proctor's stiff upper lip performance, while highlighting the fact that he still blew the game in the 9th.

The truth is, it isn't Proctor's fault.  Not entirely, at least.  The Yankees' "Murderer's Row 2006" lineup left 10 men stranded over nine innings last night.  On three separate occasions Johnny Damon made it to second with less than two outs, but was left hanging each time.  Yankee bats were apparently exhausted from the previous night's scoring orgy, and stayed quiet.  Had they been half as productive as on Opening Day, Proctor's performance would have been nothing more than a footnote in the box score.

Holy Cow! The Yanks Opening Day

Not a bad start to the season last night.  I only caught the first couple of innings before heading to bed, but what I saw, I liked.  A-Rod's grand slam in the second was, for all intents and purposes, the end of the game, and the Yankees offensive display was ridiculous.  But it drew attention away from what I thought was more interesting: Joe Torre's playing small ball!  Granted, it wasn't the aggressive philosophy of Ozzie Guillen at work, but the results were productive, and hopefully indicative of a complementary approach to the big bats way of scoring runs. 

Of particular note was the offensive showing by Robinson Cano.  This kid's the real deal.  He's hitting to the opposite field, and more importantly, he seems to have recovered from the Alfonso Soriano disease of swinging at everything that isn't a wild pitch. 

In other news, Carl Pavano, the Yankees answer to Marcus Camby, is on the DL again, and the season hasn't even started!  For a man who can't get out of bed in the morning without hurting himself, $10 million a year makes him a steal.  I'm still not clear how an "awkward lunge to first base" bruises one's buttocks, especially if those buttocks belong to an elite athlete, but OK.  I'm also not convinced that a bruised behind is really grounds for not playing.  Wouldn't sitting on the bench be more painful than pitching a few innings?

The forecast for tonight's game is not looking good.  Hopefully it won't be rained out.