'Doc' Halladay In The House Tonight

This Roy Halladay character is a pretty good pitcher, I think we know that already.

Halladay, the Phillies' ace and arguably baseball's best starting pitcher (no, it's not Stephen Straburg -- yet) is tough on everybody. ESPN shows us, though, that Halladay has been historically tough on the Yankees throughout his career.

1. Let's start with the most basic piece of information: wins and losses. Halladay is 18-6 all-time against the Yankees, good for a .750 winning percentage against them. 

Only two pitchers who have more than 20 decisions against the Yankees have better win-loss records: You've heard of the all-time leader, Babe Ruth (17-5, .773). No. 2 is early 20th-century Hall of Famer Addie Joss (28-9, .757). 

2. Wins and losses rarely tell the whole story. Let's go one step further. Halladay's career ERA against the Yankees is 2.84. Let's look strictly at this time period -- the wild-card era (since 1994) -- before venturing further. 

Halladay's 2.84 is not just the best among the 19 pitchers who have thrown 100 innings. It's the best by an overwhelming margin. Here are the only pitchers among that group with ERAs under 4.00. 

Halladay, 2.84; Pedro Martinez, 3.20; David Wells, 3.47. The other 16 pitchers all have ERAs over 4. 

There is a lot more included in that analysis. Suffice it to say it all goes a long way toward explaining why the Phillies made the deal for Halladay in the first place.

Bob Klapisch writes that even though the Yankees are tied for first place in the AL East, they still have flaws. Gee, Bob, we didn't know that.

Speaking of flaws and things to worry about, age is one of those things that keeps coming up in discussions about the Yankees. Chad Jennings points out that the "old" Yankees are doing just fine, thank you for asking.

Brett Gardner will use a protective ring to ease the pain in his damaged left thumb for the rest of the season. Here is a suggestion for Gardner. Learn to slide feet first into second base on steal attempts rather than diving and leading with that left hand all the time. That would be the best medicine for your thumb.

It has been a whirlwind few days for new Yankee outfielder Chad Huffman. And he is enjoying every second of it.

Apparently, Yankees' fans are more loyal than Red Sox fans. The premise of this study is sort of ridiculous. The typically indignant Red Sox' fan reaction is hilarious.