Ok, so last night we weren't quite the Bombers. So instead of going through the misery of rehashing what was simply a blip on the radar, here is some more interesting Yankees news. ESPN.com has two different stories on how great the Yankees midseason pickups have been: 1) Bob Klapsich believes that Bobby Abreu is the best Yankees midseason acquisition since David Justice in 2000. I threw out this sentiment a little while back, including David Cone to close the trifecta of great trades over the past decade (although an argument can be made for Cecil Fielder, after the World Series he had in 1996). Klapsich talks about how well Abreu fits in with this team, and also adds this funny line:
More often than not, Abreu will lengthen at-bats for the sheer pleasure of making a pitcher work.
2) Phil Rodgers rates midseason trades in terms of the impact they've had on teams. To Rodgers, getting Abreu and Lidle was the second best move, after the Dodgers' trading for Greg Maddux. Finally, out of the files of the weird, we get this from Michael Schmidt in The New York Times: Torre Defends Racy Invitation for Foundation Fundraiser The basic story is that Torre, quite understandably, is a bit perplexed and uncomfortable that the invitations for a charity event later this month that his Safe at Home Foundation is throwing with Nivea, well, turned out like this:
The outside of the invitation says, "Rub and Be Rubbed, Grip and Be Gripped, Tickle and Be Tickled." Inside, it says, "Touch and Be Touched." Next to those words is a picture of a woman in black panties lying atop a man wearing jeans.
Now if Torre's foundation was not dedicated to eradicating domestic abuse, these images might not be, how should we say it, completely ridiculous. In any case, the skipper seems to be taking it all in stride.