The Futility Infielder

The new Prospectus Hit List is up, a day late due to my travel over the Labor Day weekend. Andra and I took a trip to Milwaukee to surprise her parents on the occasion of their 40th wedding anniversary. She and her two brothers planned a weekend that included the whole family going to the Wisconsin Badger football game on Saturday (the Badgers beat Bowling Green 56-42 in a wild and woolly affair that marked the reopening of the renovated Camp Randall Stadium) and then the Brewers game against the Padres at Miller Park on Sunday.

Sunday's game had a twist. Thanks to a connection in the Brewers front office, I was able to participate in that most hallowed of Milwaukee events: the Sausage Race which takes place at the end of the sixth inning. I donned the Hot Dog costume, and while I didn't win, the thrill of participating was more than enough. Plus, I've got some great photos and video, not to mention enough material for a fun article which I'll finish in due time.

For now, here are a few pictures in lieu of a few thousand words:







More to come...

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As for the Hit LIst, once again, the Cardinals hold the top spot, with the A's edging out the Red Sox for #2 by .0003 (keep in mind this is through Sunday play despite the article's later publication date; another day and the A's would have fallen). The Yankees are #6, having dropped one notch. The Dodgers remain mired in 24th -- in fact the entire bottom 10 remained unchanged from last week.

The Yanks lost again to the Devil Rays last night, enabling the Tampa team to clinch the season series though there are still five games to go between the two teams. This is the first time the Rays have taken a season series from the Yanks; they're now 41-88 against them lifetime. In all likelihood, it's the Yankees' failure to beat the Rays which will cost them the division title; they're 4-10, while Boston is 12-4 against them, a seven-game swing in the standings -- though the Sox only lead by four overall.

And it's not like the Rays beat up on the dregs of the pitching staff. Randy Johnson, who pitched last night, has failed to beat them in four starts this year; his ERA against them stands at 6.47 in 24.2 innings. Mariano Rivera, who took the loss, blew a save against them a few weeks ago, leading to another loss -- in a Johnson start no less.

The Yanks received yet another blow to their pitching staff in the past week. Mike Mussina, the rock of the rotation, has been advised to shut it down for the year:

Earlier in the day, Mussina traveled to the Los Angeles area to have noted orthopedic surgeon Lewis Yocum examine his injured right elbow, and the news wasn't good. After having Mussina undergo an MRI and X-rays, Yocum strongly advised him to shut it down completely for as long as it takes to make the tendinitis go away.

Mussina does not know how long it will take to get healthy, and he said it's a "possibility" his season is over. The regular season ends four weeks from Sunday, and he said he will need a week to 10 days of side sessions before his next start.

Mussina said Yocum said, "Don't do anything that forces you to change how you pitch because I don't want to see you back in my office with something more serious." Mussina added, "I'll do what he says."

My sources tell me that it's possible there's a bone chip causing the inflammation, a scenario which would likely lead to offseason surgery. Ugh.

Fortunately, Aaron Small, once the forgotten man in the Yankee rotation, stepped up and shut out the A's the night after Al Leiter failed to make it out of the first inning. Joe Torre's removal of Small from the rotation when Jaret Wright returned from the DL had me tearing my hair out a couple of weeks back. The journeyman came into 2005 with a 5.49 ERA in 218 major-league innings, all but 16.2 of them prior to 1999. But since coming up from Columbus he's been stellar; currently he's 6-0 with a 2.42 ERA in 44.2 innings.

Leiter, on the other hand, has plodded along since his spectacular debut, just 4-4 witha 5.33 ERA in 49 innings, less than five per start. The real cost can be felt not only in the Won/Loss column but in the ripple effect of needing more bullpen support every time he pitches. It's just another example of Torrre's blind faith in those veteran herbs and spices, and the effects on the Yankee staff are just one more reason I don't give them much hope to take the division, the Red Sox's struggles with their own staff be damned.

In any event, it looks as though Leiter will be dropped from the rotation following his most recent debacle, and Chien-Ming Wang, who's missed the past two months with a tear in his rotator cuff that he has yet to get surgically repaired, will get the start on Thursday. If he can survive -- and by survive I mean pitch effectively AND make his next start -- it would be a huge boost that could mean the diffference between golf and baseball in October for the Yanks.