Category: Uncategorized

Forget healthcare. Pizza debates are far more entertaining and ultimately delicious. Kevin Youkilis and the South Siders are at The Stadium, sending Dylan Axelrod (best name for a metal drummer ever?) with Ivan Nova on the bump for the Bombers. Comment away.

Andy Pettitte's ankle is fractured.  *sigh*

Jeff Passan writes on Yahoo about baseball’s criminally stupid blackouts.

The Bomber travel to Hotlanta where Ivan Nova faces the Braves, who send Randall Delgado to the mound.  Fond memories of '96 and '99.  Comment away.

Yardwork, as in got stuck doing the lawn and forgot to do the gamer.  Yardwork, as in they need some off Tommy Milone.  He gave up three in a game to the Sox.  Maybe he'll be kind to the Yanks.. comment away.

Hits, please.

Ivan Nova and the Bombers head to Camden to play Jason Hammel and the Orioles.  Hammel and Nova each have 4-1 records and though Hammel's 983 whip is sporty to ponder, he is coming off a missed start due to a sore leg while Nova had his best start of the year against the Rays his last time out.

Comment away.

Texas comes to Beantown, with Colby Lewis to take the mound in Fenway while Jon Lester hopes for results in the W/L column that better reflect his excellent performance on the mound thus far.

Comment away.

Here is some information for MLB.tv/premium subscribers. If you have an account with MLB.com like I do (and have had for many years) and had a season pass last year, your plan is likely set up to auto-renew any day now. There are a few catches to this situation to be aware of heading up to that day.

1. They don’t tell you the exact date it will happen, but they do give an approximation.
2. It will be drawn from whatever card number they have on file for you set as your primary card on your “Payment Profile.”
3. If there aren’t sufficient funds available, their page advises you they will try the other cards they have on file, but they don’t tell you in which sequence and give you no control of the sequence.
4. You can’t delete any of your cards they have on file, online or over the phone.
5. They tell you that if you don’t like this, hard cheese. You shouldn’t have given it to them in the first place:
   

   If you do not wish for us to use this payment information in this manner, please do not save more than a single primary debit or credit card in your Payment Profile.

6. If you call them to complain about this, they tell you there isn’t anything that can be done, but someone who presumably also can’t do anything will call you back. And then they don’t, at least not in my case.

There is some good news for this year:

New for 2012: At Bat 12 is now included with purchase of an MLB.TV Premium Subscription – watch LIVE games on your iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and most Android phones and tablets.

So, if you are like me and set it up last year to come straight out of your checking via debit, be advised that there’s a $120 hit coming RealSoonNow.

The Red Sox are doing their damndest to make the season interesting. After falling to the Rays, Boston's lead in the loss column is a mere 5 games. That puts their chances to make the postseason to a rather low 95% or some such number in the 90's. Meanwhile, I'm no odds maker, but I've got to imagine another Sox loss pushes the Yanks' chances to something north of the 99.9% mark, which is to say that this game, the one currently twixt Angels and Yanks, is not interesting. Yeah, it's baseball so there is the possibility always of an interesting development or two, but usually that means an injury. So let's go the boring route. Beat the Angels or lose, who cares? Just don't get hurt! Make it boring.

C.C. Sabathia looks to bounce back from giving up five home runs in one game.  Don’t Tell A Soul but five dingers in one start is not all that rare thing in baseball: three other pitchers have done it this year.  Heck, Tim Wakefield once gave up six and won the game, so Let It Be.  More importantly, C.C. looks All Shook Down from 12 runs given up in his last 14 innings.

Brian Duensing is on the mound for the TCTs.  He opened his season against the Yankees, picking up a no-decision in the Twins victory.

ARod is in Minnesota but is not in the lineup tonight.  In completely unrelated news, Prince, Paul Westerberg, Grant Hart, Winona Ryder, and Garrison Keillor are among the North Star State luminaries attending a no limit deuce to seven draw Hootenanny at a private country club on the shores of Lake Minnetonka.

Purify yourself and comment away.

Wakefield. Again. Just to torture us.

Comment here.

Wake hits the bump tonight, the MASH unit gets ready for another body. Comment about the action here.

Did I mention Derek Sanderson Jeter?

Sorry about the sparse posting – between travel, July 4th, work, etc., it’s been tough to stay focused. But use this thread as your July 4th catch-all for game comments, etc. And enjoy the long weekend!