May 5th @ Texas W 8-7

Didn't catch much of the game last night. Last day of classes, Friday night. Sometimes baseball has to take a back seat. I glanced at the score on my cell phone and it says "8-1, top 7th". I go "All right, nothing big to tune in to". I glance back half an hour later and I see "8-7, bottom 9th". Not what I expected.

Joe Torre probably expectations for Aaron Small higher than he is worth. Now, he did come in to a blow out at the time, so I applaud Torre for trying to get him some work in when he shouldn't hurt the team too much, but give him a short hook for god's sake. At least he didn't bring Sturtze in.

Farnsworth stumbled. It happens. He's looked so good this season that I am not worried by one outing. Relief pitchers are human too.

Giambi, who was the AL's best player in April, seems to be cold right now. That would be a problem, if sleeping dragon hadn't been awakened. Alex Rodriguez, reigning AL MVP, is coming back with something. Plus Mussina was on his game.

Best storyline of the night? Arod being moved back to 5th. Why was this so great?

From Rotoworld.com:

Manager Joe Torre said that batting Rodriguez fifth was unintentional. With Gary Sheffield back, Torre told bench coach Lee Mazzilli to move everyone down a spot, forgetting that Jason Giambi had been hitting third ahead of Rodriguez. That doesn't necessarily mean that he'll go back to the old way on Saturday. After all, the Yankees did score eight runs tonight.

Batting Arod 5th probably makes for a better lineup than batting him 4th. Torre finally changed the lineup around, after weeks of being pushed around by opponent's bullpens - by accident.

Hopefully it sticks. I'd prefer Sheffield lower than Arod, the superior hitter, but Arod hitting home runs behind a .500 OBP isn't bad either.

Amount remaining on Joe Torre's contract: 12,120,987 dollars