How I ended up seeing the Yankees play in Toronto

I'm recently back from a road trip with my friend David that started in Boulder and ended in Montreal. We stopped in Toronto, and the Yankees just happened to be in town.

Originally, we planned to be in Toronto last Monday, but the trip got pushed back a day, so we ended up at the Tuesday game. On Monday, the Jays won, 3-2. As it turned out, the Jays also won on Wednesday, taking two of three.

Naturally, I was at the Tuesday game, when the Yankees hit five home runs.

At least we were late to the game and missed the Bombers' three-homer barrage in the top of the third. But by the time we got into the stadium in the bottom of the third, the Yankees already led, 6-0.

The weather was nice, so the roof was open at the Rogers Centre (see photo). There were plenty of Yankee fans in attendance, and numerous Jeter jerseys, but unlike when Squawker Lisa and I saw the Yankees play in Baltimore, the home team did have a lot more support, even in a blowout.

The Yankees built their lead to 10-1 before winning, 11-5. Considering that in the last Met game I went to, the Mets lost to the D-Backs, 14-1, maybe it's time to stop going to ballgames for a while.

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On one of Lisa's posts, reader Uncle Mike wondered if I traded my "Mets money" for "loonies" at the border. No, Uncle Mike, I'll leave that to Omar Minaya and his signings of the likes of Oliver Perez and Francisco Rodriguez.

Photo by Jon Lewin.

A vacation from the Mets

I was traveling for a week and a half and did not get to see any Met games during that time. So, despite the way the season has turned out, I looked forward to finally watching a game in its entirety tonight.

Oh well.

I never root for the Mets to lose, but tonight's 9-3 shellacking by the Braves has its bright spots. Now everyone can finally concede that the Mets are out of contention. No more talk of, if the Mets sweep the Braves, then go on a run, and so forth. Boy am I glad I missed all the theoretical dream scenarios while I was away.

The worst thing about this wishful thinking is that it ultimately comes down to believing the Mets can stage a miracle run because the NL East's first place team collapsed in both 2007 and 2008. In other words, the Mets choked, so the other guys can as well.

Only there's nothing to suggest that the Braves will choke (putting aside blowing a 10-1 game last week). And even if the Braves did choke, the Phillies are right behind them. So both the Braves and the Phillies would have to choke, and the Mets would still have to go on a run.

Now that there will be no meaningful games in September, at least we can look forward to the future. The Mets could signal a new beginning by firing Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel now, or at least Manuel. Instead, we'll get to hear Manuel talk about how excited he is when Jenrry Mejia gets added to the rotation, when it was Manuel who wanted to keep him in the bullpen in the majors and delayed Mejia's progress.

At least Manuel gave Bobby Parnell a chance to close Friday night, but Manuel need to give him more than a couple of batters before yanking him. Manuel is so quick to change players' roles that it's no wonder everyone seems to be playing tight, afraid to make the mistake that sends you to the bench.

Seeing Billy Wagner set down the Mets in the ninth served as a reminder that not all Met free-agent signings were busts. In fact, if Wagner had not gotten hurt in 2008, the Mets might well have made the playoffs. They probably wouldn't have won a World Series with Wagner, who has a bad history in big games, but at least they would have gotten to play big games.

Here's how long a season it's been: The first game I went to at Citi Field this season was on April 23 against the Braves. John Maine started, Ike Davis hit his first major-league homer, Squawker Lisa cheered for Melky Cabrera, Hisanori Takahashi struck out seven in three innings to get the win, and the Mets swept the Braves in a three-game series. The Mets allowed only three runs in those three games, going on to win seven in a row. The Braves played poorly and did not look like a contender, much less a team that would hold a 11-game lead over the Mets before the end of August.

Maybe I should go on another trip.

Are you joining the CitiField Sit Out movement?

There's been a whole to-do in the Mets community as of late over the Citi Field Sit Out, organized by My Summer Family Mets blogger Taryn Cooper. Tonight, August 25, some Met fans are staying away from the stadium to register their displeasure with what's going on these days in Metsland, even though some of them, like Taryn, had already bought tickets for the game.

Anyhow, I interviewed Taryn about the event to see what it's all about. You can read the whole interview at The Faster Times site. I guess Squawker Jon and I will be participating, as neither of us will be going to the game. Then again, we already weren't planning on attending, so I don't know if that counts!

Anyhow, go here to read the story. I'm sure reader Uncle Mike will have a lot to say about it!

Squawker Jon brings Yankees luck in Toronto

Squawker Jon is mostly incommunicado these days. He's on a road trip, and his current phone plan has so few minutes that we have to communicate via telepathic beeps and squeaks, the way they did in one of the "Planet of the Apes" sequels. But Jon did manage to get me a message that he was at the Yankees-Blue Jays game last night, as he's in Toronto right now.

Jon got to the game just in time to see the Yankees' three-homer barrage in the fourth inning. Needless to say, he wasn't too pleased to witness this.

And no, Jon did not dress as a fake umpire, as some Toronto fans have been known to do!

Anyhow, I was happy that the Yankees' offense did so much last night. I was also happy to hear that Johnny Damon will not be going to Boston after all. But the best part of last night was knowing that Jon had to sit through watching the Yankees beat up Toronto! Tee-hee!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

WWJD: What Will Johnny Do? Could Damon be a (gulp) Red Sox again?

What a nightmare. I was driving in the car yesterday when I heard that the Boston Red Sox had claimed Johnny Damon on waivers. I went all, "Nooooooo!" and nearly drove off the road when I heard the terrible news!

Anyhow, since Damon has a no-trade clause involving the Sox, he has the right to reject going back to Beantown. And so far, he has said he's "leaning toward" staying with Detroit, also saying, "My gut and everything else tells me Detroit’s the place for me."

Now, did the Red Sox really want Damon back, or did they want to prevent him from being dealt to Tampa Bay? Peter Gammons is reporting this on Twitter:

"Tigers explained to Damon Boston didn't claim to block, they want him. Tampa didn't even claimed him"

Very interesting! Unfortunately, while I hope Damon does the right thing and spurns Boston, I'm afraid he is going to go back there. I wrote on Facebook yesterday that a competitive player like him would want to be in a pennant race. A Sox fan friend was surprised to hear me think that the Sox were still in the pennant race. I said that they were like the villain in a horror movie -- you could never count them out!

Anyhow, I'm not going to be happy to see Damon wearing Boston red again, but I'm not going to boo him the way Sox fans did when he went to the Yankees. If only Brian Cashman had done the right thing in the first place and re-signed Damon this winter, none of this would be an issue.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Will Roger Clemens end up in the pokey? What are the odds?

In case you were wondering what the chances are that Roger Clemens will spend time wearing prison stripes instead of the pinstripes he used to wear, here are the odds of that happening, according to Bodog.com:

Will Roger Clemens do any jail time for allegedly lying during a Congressional hearing in 2008?       

Yes                  -115

No                    -115

(Must spend at least one day in jail as a result of his upcoming trial for Yes to be graded the winner.)

Will Roger Clemens admit to using performance enhancing drugs in 2010?

Yes                  +700

No                    -1400

(Must publically admit to using performance enhancing drugs by December 31st 2010 or a plea-bargain is reached during his court case by December 31st 2010 for Yes will be graded the winner.)

Also, I wrote an article about Clemens' love of Twitter -- and how it's already gotten him into trouble -- for The Faster Times. Check it out here.

A-Rod, Roger Clemens, Javy Vazquez, and the latest in Yankeeland

Now that the Yankees have gone 13-0 without Alex Rodriguez this year, are we going to hear about how the Yankees really don't need him on the team? Just wondering.

Two summers ago, I had a similar calf injury to A-Rod's, so I know what he's feeling. Not fun!

I've been busy over the past few days with real-life obligations, so I haven't had much time to squawk. But I did watch some of the games this weekend. I feel sorry for Javier Vazquez -- he's been upfront about his velocity being down, but nobody in Yankeeland seems to be paying attention. Maybe now that Ivan Nova's up in the majors, the Yanks can skip a Javy start, and see what the heck is wrong with him.

Oh, and there's the whole Roger Clemens indictment. I know I probably shouldn't revel in other's misfortunes, but I can't help but snicker over him. He thought he was so clever in demanding to squawk before Congress and spin his phony tale. So much for that! The only thing that would have made his indictment more entertaining is if Suzyn Waldman had announced the charges against him!

Speaking of reveling in other's misfortunes, how about that whole Jay Mariotti story?

Anyhow, hopefully this week I'll get to write more. And maybe Squawker Jon will recover soon from the loss of Rod Barajas. But what do our readers think of what's been going on in Yankeeland?