twilightdawning

A writer's thoughts – mainly about music, sport and theatre. Shakespeare, Bob Dylan, live shows, New York Yankees

About twilightdawning

Amongst other things, I write professionally. I've been published everywhere from the small (Barnsley Chronicle), to the large (London Sunday Times colour supplement). I primarily write about music, theatre and sport. Most of the articles here have been previously published. No copyright infringement intended I also work in the music world. I've worked as a producer, promoter and general ideas man and conceptualizer. At the moment I'm working with Sad Cafe among others. I'm building a theatre. It's almost done after three years of planning and trying to be kind to my architect and my builders. We open in October 2012. I run a theatrical production company called "The Shakespearience". We perform an introduction to William Shakespeare for young people. Most of all I work in the charitable and faith sphere. I'm senior pastor of an unusual church in central London. I'm a busy man.

End of the Innocence – The End of August – Part 2

Posted on September 7, 2008 by twilightdawning

And so to the pitchers:

New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – August

Name IP H RA ER BB SO W L Sv ERA OBA

Aceves, Alfredo        2.0  0  0  0  0  3 0 0 0   0.00 .000

Rivera, Mariano       14.1  9  3  3  2 13 1 2 6   1.88 .173

Giese, Dan             9.0  5  2  2  5  8 0 0 0   2.00 .156

Mussina, Mike         40.0 38 14 13  6 30 3 0 0   2.93 .262

Pavano, Carl          11.0 10  4  4  2  6 2 0 0   3.27 .256

Bruney, Brian         13.0  8  5  5  8  9 0 0 0   3.46 .178

Ponson, Sidney        34.0 37 20 20 14 12 1 3 0   5.29 .291

Britton, Chris         5.0  7  3  3  1  6 0 0 0   5.40 .304

Rasner, Darrell       29.1 33 22 18  8 15 0 1 0   5.52 .273

Veras, Jose           13.0 13  8  8  8 16 2 1 0   5.54 .260

Pettitte, Andy        37.0 47 24 24 13 26 1 3 0   5.84 .320

Ramirez, Edwar        11.2 15 10  9  4 13 2 1 1   6.94 .300

Marte, Damaso          9.1  6  8  8  6 13 0 3 0   7.71 .182

Robertson, David      11.0 15 10 10  5 12 1 0 0   8.18 .349

Chamberlain, Joba      4.2  8  5  5  2  5 0 0 0   9.64 .381

Traber, Billy          4.2 10  5  5  1  3 0 0 0   9.64 .417

Kennedy, Ian           2.0  9  5  5  1  1 0 1 0  22.50 .600

Pluses

Alfredo Aceves. Late August call-up who now looks like a September addition to the starting rotation. Fine August debut

Mariano Rivera. A slight improvement in his season ERA (and why not?) will give him the best ERA of his career. August hasn’t been his best month but it has been better than most everybody else in the Bronx!

Mike Mussina. Three more wins in August and a twenty win season is still a possibility. His performances have had bags of grit and determination and just the right level of remaining skill.

Minuses

Joba Chamberlain. Let’s recap the story. Chamberlain was an outstanding reliever until ownership decided to interfere and told the management that he must be a starter almost overnight. Fast tracked he first became a so-so starter and then an arm-damaged member of the disabled list. Now back to "fitness", he is sub-par as a reliever which is where he will apparently stay in 2009.

David Robertson. Promoted from AA to the majors, he has liked so many young pitchers this season failed to maintain his own standards and then been returned to a lower level. His 8.18 ERA in August demanded his demotion to Scranton.

Billy Traber. We are now discovering with the promotion of Phil Coke that we have had some decent left-handed pitchers all along. Traber was not one of them.

Surprises

Carl Pavano. Two wins for him after a disastrous stint in pinstripes. The winning run has been a bit lucky and won’t be maintained but at least he finally came up with something.

Dan Giese. Back in the majors. Back in the bullpen. Back to fitness. And still he does well. He has done whatever we have asked of him and he deserves a long future in New York as his reward.

Phil Hughes. No, he’s not on the above table and perhaps, there lies the surprise. He is now pitching with a horrible inflated ERA at Scranton. Hughes and Ian Kennedy were meant to be the future of the rotation. Now there’s a legitimate question about what there future holds. One to observe from a distance in Spring training.

End of the Innocence – The End of August – Part 1

Posted on September 7, 2008 by twilightdawning

So the likelihood of the New York Yankees reaching the post-season gets slimmer and slimmer. August wasn’t the month of finally finding their way that Mr. Girardi had hoped for but it was a month with some bright spots and some hope for the future

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – August



Name                   AB  R  H  RBI 2B  3B HR BB SO SH SF SB  BA   SLG

Ransom, Cody            5  3  3   5   1  0  2  1  1  0  0  0  .600 2.000

Jeter, Derek          113 12 39  11   1  0  2  7 21  2  2  3  .345 .407

Abreu, Bobby          114 16 39  10   6  0  1 12 19  0  0  2  .342 .421

Gardner, Brett         15  1  5   2   1  1  0  1  2  0  0  2  .333 .533

Nady, Xavier          107  9 33  19   5  0  6  5 28  0  0  0  .308 .523

Damon, Johnny         115 22 35  11   2  1  4 14 22  0  0  9  .304 .443

Betemit, Wilson        34  4 10   5   1  0  1  1  9  0  0  0  .294 .412

Cano, Robinson        100 14 29  10   3  2  4  7 18  0  0  0  .290 .480

Rodriguez, Alex       103 23 25  16   8  0  6 13 30  0  1  1  .243 .495

Giambi, Jason          82  9 19  22   0  0  8 10 25  0  3  0  .232 .524

Molina, Jose           45  8 10   4   2  0  2  1  7  1  0  0  .222 .400

Christian, Justin      15  2  3   1   1  0  0  0  3  0  0  2  .200 .267

Rodriguez, Ivan        56  6  11  2   1  0  2  3  9  0  0  1  .196 .321

Matsui, Hideki         43  4  8   6   2  0  2  5  6  0  0  0  .186 .372

Sexson, Richie         13  1  2   4   1  0  1  2  5  0  0  0  .154 .462

Cabrera, Melky         26  1  3   1   0  0  0  0  3  0  0  1  .115 .115

Pluses

Bobby Abreu. Abreu has been our most consistent hitter and outfielder and that continued in August. Hitting .342 on the month, he is not hitting for power but he is a singles-and-doubles hitter par excellence and is lively on the bases.

Derek Jeter. Jeter had to have a good month at some point and August seems to have been it. He has never been awful but has never lived up to his performance of previous years. Again, the power wasn’t there but .345 on the month is more like it.

Xavier Nady. Nady hasn’t slowed since he came to the Bronx and this month he hit .308 and was second in homers. He looks a key part of the outfield for 2009.

Minuses

Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod has been consistently good if not great so far this year but the second half of August was a real let-down. Again and again, he would be in a clutch hitting spot with runners on base and again and again, particularly in late innings, he would come up with nothing. This meant hearty booing from the bleachers which livened up some dreary defeats but, like A-Rod, really achieved nothing.

Melky Cabrera. And the cupboard was bare….. Melky is back in the Bronx in September but doesn’t look likely to feature much. It has been an awful year for this guy.

Ivan Rodriguez. Sharing the catching equally with Jose Molina (and hitting less than him) and batting .196 on the month with no power to speak of, it has been a bad trade which saw Farnsworth go to Detroit for this guy whose glory days are behind him.

Surprises

Brett Gardner. Gardner has finally begun to hit for average as well as being a base-running threat. Best month of a limited season.

Cody Ransom. We all smiled when Ransom had two-at-bats and two home runs. It had to end but he has acquitted himself very well in his very limited role.

Wilson Betemit. Betemit has continued to impress me with his commitment and hitting / fielding off the bench. He has become a very serviceable player in the second half of the season.

The continuing adventures of Sarah Jane

Posted on August 31, 2008 by twilightdawning

Far be it from me to take on the Doctor Who experts on LiveJournal but I noticed that the BBC are repeating the first series of the Sarah Jane Adventures on Sunday afternoons beginning today. Complete stories (double episodes) are being shown each Sunday in the run-up to the beginning of the second series in the Autumn. For my money this is the most enjoyable of the Doctor Who spin-offs and sees Elisabeth Sladen continue her excellent reprisal of her Sarah Jane role which began in the company of Jon Pertwee (the third Doctor, I believe) in the Seventies. Well worth watching.

240

Yankees and pitching and August…… so far

Posted on August 22, 2008 by twilightdawning

Well, after last night’s debacle it is not a good time to be commenting on the pitching but it’s got to be done…..

Pluses

Brian Bruney. Bruney has come back from injury with few problems and he has resumed the role he had before his foot gave way. This has been especially timely following Farnsworth’s departure. He has a 2.33 ERA but more significantly a team leading OBA of 1.76.

Jose Veras. 4th on the bullpen with 43 appearances and one of those ahead of him has headed off to Detroit. Veras has a 2.84 ERA for the season. With the occasional wobble, he remains mostly solid and dependable.

Mike Mussina. 16 wins, 7 losses, 3 no decisions. I would have bet heavily against that performance from Mussina coming into the season (if I was a gambling man!)

Minuses

Damaso Marte. If we leave out his figures from the time before he came back to New York (yes, he was here before, you could look it up!), he has accumulated a 11.05 ERA. He was going to be the sole left-handed reliever. He has already disappointed enough to make Traber’s recall necessary – which hasn’t been pretty.

David Robertson. Arriving from Double-A with a minimum of fanfare, Robertson settled into his role with a minimum of difficulty. Like with so many players this year, the difficulties began in the Bronx and Girardi’s coaching staff have been unable to iron them out. This has led to some lacklustre performances and a 5.96 ERA which the 3-0 record cannot hide.

Chris Britton. For the onlooking fan it was difficult to see earlier in the year why they weren’t giving Britton a more extended stay at the major league level. Now he has achieved that, it has become obvious. His ERA has drifted out to 4.61 and he has only 6 strikeouts in 13.2 innings of play.

Surprises

Billy Traber. He’s still on the major league roster in the second half of August. This is enough of a surprise for me. Earlier in the year when they would send him in for a 1/3 of an innings to get out the left-handed hitter, he didn’t look so bad. Now he and his 7.02 ERA need to go back to Scranton.

Sidney Ponson. He’s still on NYY’s major league roster in the second half of August. He’s managed to control and behave himself in the clubhouse by all accounts and his pitching has been way better than it was last time around. It’s almost been a positive surprise. But then came last night………

Ian Kennedy. Still don’t figure this one. He returned to the roster earlier in the month. Pitched two innings as a starter. Gave up 5 runs on 9 hits. In interview after the game it didn’t seem to matter to him. He was demoted. This weekend there’s a gaping hole in the rotation a mile wide and we’d rather go with Pavano. That’s how bad it’s got for Kennedy. What happened to the pitcher we saw last season?

Yankees and hitting and August…. so far

Posted on August 21, 2008 by twilightdawning

Well, I’ve been going through an unusually quiet time. Nothing much to say about anything else but a few words on what’s happening with the Yankees through the first half of August:

Pluses

Alex Rodriguez – A-Rod has been a positive influence in the first half of the month and through the season as a whole. 2nd in RBIs (77) and 1st in Homers (28). He’s spoken up over the last few days demanding the team press and put together a winning streak before it’s too late.

Bobby Abreu – Abreu leads the squad in RBIs (81) but also in strikeouts (89). It’s been a mixed year but the positives have outweighed the negatives for Abreu.

Xavier Nady – Nady has hit .309 since joining the Yankees. He has plugged holes in the outfield where most of the players who have been used have performed when they have been fit – but Damon and Matsui have had difficult years in terms of fitness. Nady has proved to be all that a quickly obtained outfielder could have been.

Minuses

Ivan Rodriguez – Where Nady has continued the solid season he was having before joining the Yankees, the same cannot be said for Pudge Rodriguez. There weren’t many home runs before he left Detroit but now the batting average has dried up as well. .229 since moving to New York which when combined with Molina’s .227 doesn’t amount to much.

Melky Cabrera – .242 in 117 games and demoted to Scranton (AAA). Cabrera couldn’t have envisioned this season and neither could the fans or the management. Gardner and Christian don’t have much more to offer in batting average and the fact that they chose to re-assign Melky shows how deep the malaise has become.

Richie Sexson – The signing and eventual release of power-hitting Richie was one big mistake. During 22 games and 28 at-bats he came up with one home run.

Surprises

Hideki Matsui – The very fact that Matsui is in the line-up again in 2008 is enough of a surprise to qualify as a major surprise. Not sure it will produce much but its time to play our last cards and Matsui is just that.

Wilson Betemit – Betemit has had enough discouragements this year. Slumps, injuries, eyesight problems and being overlooked when major roles were available. That he has raised his average to .261 and has a higher slugging percentage than Jeter under those circumstances is quite an achievement.

Cody Ransom – Didn’t expect Ransom to make the majors this year. 1 at-bat, 1 home run. It’s a nice story.

Sometimes…..

Posted on August 5, 2008 by twilightdawning

Earlier I said:

“Personally, I’d rest Rasner and give him a moment to catch his breath and allow Giese to take his next start.”

Then the Yankees said:

“The Yankees announced Monday that Dan Giese will take over as the team’s fifth starter, while Rasner will settle into a long relief role. Giese’s first start will come Friday in Anaheim after a string of successful relief performances earned him a promotion.”

Got that one right

Solzhenitsyn

Posted on August 4, 2008 by twilightdawning

It’s a sign of the times when the passing of one of the true literary greats has been accorded so little attention in the media in the UK. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn passed away, aged 89 years. His writings had gone from very high profile (“One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich”, “Cancer Ward”) to no profile (the volumes in his “The Red Wheel” series). The quality of his work never faltered but the press only paid attention whilst he was politically significant and criticising the Soviet bloc. When he turned his insights on the state of the West, he was quietly pushed to one side. I’m glad he was able to return to his beloved Russia in his last years although there is more than a little irony in the way that his body is going to be laid in State – after all the country did its best to act as though he did not exist for a large part of his life. For my money, the extended revised version of “August 1914” (not the shorter version published in the early 70s which is in reality almost a different book) is his masterpiece but I love all his writings and long for the day he will be recognised in the West as a writer beyond his political significance.

July review – New York Yankee pitchers

Posted on August 4, 2008 by twilightdawning

On the whole, July has been a good month for pitching for the Yankees with few exceptions. Even those who didn’t do so well managed the odd good outing:

New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – July

Name GP IP H RA ER BB SO W L Sv ERA OBA

Ramirez, Edwar 10 11.1 0 0 0 3 16 1 0 0 0.00 .000

Giese, Dan 6 10.1 8 2 2 2 5 0 0 0 1.74 .211

Farnsworth, Kyle 10 8.1 4 2 2 4 9 0 0 0 2.16 .133

Chamberlain, Joba 6 35.2 30 11 10 10 43 2 1 0 2.52 .227

Mussina, Mike 5 31.0 36 9 9 2 27 3 1 0 2.61 .300

Veras, Jose 11 10.1 8 3 3 5 13 0 1 0 2.61 .211

Rivera, Mariano 9 11.0 11 4 4 1 15 2 1 4 3.27 .262

Hawkins, LaTroy 6 6.2 6 3 3 1 5 0 0 0 4.05 .240

Pettitte, Andy 6 38.0 41 23 20 10 33 3 3 0 4.74 .281

Robertson, David 12 12.2 8 7 7 7 16 2 0 0 4.97 .174

Rasner, Darrell 4 21.2 29 16 15 11 11 1 2 0 6.23 .333

Britton, Chris 1 3.2 7 3 3 0 1 0 0 0 7.36 .438

Traber, Billy 2 2.1 2 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 7.71 .222

Marte, Damaso 3 2.1 4 2 2 1 4 0 0 0 7.71 .364

Ponson, Sidney 4 20.2 33 18 18 8 8 1 1 0 7.84 .379

Pluses

Edwar Ramirez. In 10 appearances in July, Ramirez didn’t give up a run and achieved 11 1/3 innings on the mound. He’s already experienced a wobble in August but in July he was as good as it gets

Joba Chamberlain. Joba is finally settling into this starting business. In July, he achieved two wins and was solid in every other statistical category.

Mike Mussina. Moose continues to enjoy his indian summer. With solid support from the offence and some canny pitching, he continues to succeed despite allowing two many runners.

Minuses

Sidney Ponson. Despite the occasional good start this has not been a good month for Sidney. 7.84 ERA and only 5 innings (on average) per start.

Darrell Rasner. Rasner and Ponson give us two games in every five where we’re lucky to be level when the starter leaves. Personally, I’d rest Rasner and give him a moment to catch his breath and allow Giese to take his next start.

David Robertson. After beginning well, he appears to be fading fast. His ERA was a whisker under 5 for the month.

Surprises

Kyle Farnsworth. Farnsworth was finally in his stride. An OBA of .133 on the month was positively miserly resulting in a 2.16 ERA for that period. It must have hurt Girardi to see him go.

Dan Giese. Giese continues to be successful. Soon I’m going to stop being surprised by this. Proportionally, he gave up a lot of hits but very few of those passed home plate.

Mariano Rivera. Rivera is struggling when he comes into a game level or behind and generally it is the first batter he faces who hurts him. Maybe this is psychological at the moment but it is a mar on an otherwise great season.

July review – New York Yankee hitters

Posted on August 3, 2008 by twilightdawning

Mmmmm…….. Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez for Kyle Farnsworth. Girardi described it as robbing Peter to pay Paul. Too true. The last two months are the first time that I’ve been glad to see Farnsworth on the Yankees roster sheet and now he is gone. Pudge is not the player he once was but he seems to have matured as a person. So I guess this one hangs in the balance and may do until late September. July was a very mixed month for the Bronx Bombers. Here is how it played out on the offensive side of the account (I’ve included the stats for actual Yankees appearances for the incoming players):

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – July

Name AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SH SF SB BA SLG

Mussina, Mike 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500

Christian, Justin 10 2 4 3 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 .400 .500

Rodriguez, Alex 95 20 32 21 6 0 7 9 20 0 1 4 .337 .621

Rodriguez, Ivan 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .333 .333

Sexson, Richie 15 1 5 2 0 0 0 4 5 0 1 0 .333 .333

Cano, Robinson 101 11 33 17 6 1 3 3 9 1 0 0 .327 .495

Damon, Johnny 54 11 17 11 4 0 1 7 6 0 0 2 .315 .444

Abreu, Bobby 97 21 29 20 11 0 4 14 15 0 0 2 .299 .536

Jeter, Derek 100 14 28 14 8 0 2 10 16 0 0 1 .280 .420

Nady, Xavier 18 6 5 4 2 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 .278 .722

Cabrera, Melky 92 11 25 3 3 1 1 2 13 1 0 2 .272 .359

Giambi, Jason 64 7 15 16 1 0 3 14 18 0 1 0 .234 .391

Molina, Jose 50 8 11 1 2 0 0 5 9 1 0 0 .220 .260

Betemit, Wilson 46 4 10 3 1 0 0 3 15 1 0 0 .217 .239

Posada, Jorge 42 5 9 2 2 0 0 8 14 0 0 0 .214 .262

Gardner, Brett 56 8 9 7 1 0 0 5 16 2 1 4 .161 .179

Moeller, Chad 12 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 .083 .083

Gonzalez, Alberto 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000

Pluses

Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod continues to be consistent and impress. Of the players who have been on the roster all month he leads in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging average, home runs, and is tied for lead in stolen bases.

Robinson Cano. Having begun to turn things around before the All-Star break, he was red-hot immediately after the restart. A swollen hand saw him dip again at the end of the month and then drop out of the lineup in early August.

Bobby Abreu. .299 in July with 11 doubles and 4 home runs. It’s the nearest he’s come to his previous from during this season.

Minuses

Alberto Gonzalez. Gonzalez looked a good prospect at the beginning of the season. He was only given 1 at bat in July, leaving him at .173 batting average and .212 slugging for the season. Not surprisingly, he was traded at the deadline for anything we could get.

Jason Giambi. 3 home runs and .234 batting average. Giambi is busy turning a comeback year into nothing special.

Chad Moeller. 1 hit in 12 at bats for Moeller and third string catcher gave us enough reasons to be sure that a Molina-Moeller tandem was never going to cover Posada’s absence. So Moeller is gone and Pudge is in but we have had to give up Farnsworth to achieve this.

Surprises

Wilson Betemit. Betemit was poor for the part of the season, massively improved for the second and hit the skids again shortly after. Defensively he’s been okay but poor offense has let him down – somehow we think Sexson is going to be an improvement.

Justin Christian. Christian was called up ahead of Brett Gardner. Gardner seemed to settle more quickly and the edge in speed on the bases. But Christian has persevered and whilst Gardner’s confidence seemed to fail as July progressed (resulting in him being sent back to Scranton), Justin produced 4 hits in 10 at bats. He’s going to see more bench time than playing time but he’s earned his spot

Richie Sexson. Five hits in his first fifteen at bats. No home runs. No extra base hits. Not sure what to make of this but it certainly wasn’t what was expected.

Ch-Ch-Changes

Posted on July 26, 2008 by twilightdawning

It’s been a grim few weeks. But there have been some glittering things in the dross.

First highlight was the Bob Dylan “Drawn Blank” exhibition at Halcyon Art Gallery near Green Park in London. A few years ago, Dylan was a writer and his “Chronicles” book was well-worth the investment. A few months ago, he was given a Pulitzer but I’m not exactly sure what for. This isn’t to imply he doesn’t deserve one. I’m just not sure why then. Now he’s an artist. And somehow he still manages to always be on tour and make the occasional album.

“Drawn Blank” however is a little unusual even by Dylan’s standards. First published in book form in 1994, these drawings were hardly noticed. Then his critical rating was low and nobody cared what he was drawing. Now painted, the “Drawn Blank” exhibition comes at a time when his star is in the ascendancy. Consequently, it is all over the broadsheets (The London Times, no less) and is worthy of an art gallery exhibition on the continent and two here in the London and no doubt some others I’m missing. Then, no-one cared, now the £1250 signed prints are all sold out and the first book is selling for £400 a copy. Strange. Of course, with Dylan, we’ve encountered this before. When he went electric, he was a Judas, until we decided he was a genius. His “Jesus” shows were dire for many, but are now spoken of as amazing feats where an artist like Dylan chose to perform only new songs in a show of passion, energy and commitment. Then few could see past the evangelism and booed his accompanying girl vocalists. I’m waiting for the “Empire Burlesque” reassessment.

I purchased the 1994 book of “Drawn Blank”. I purchased the 2008 book of the same drawings painted. I thought they were okay. Some good, a few very good. However, seeing them extremely well presented at the Halcyon, moved them up a notch in my estimation. Well worth seeing.

Second highlight. John Foxx’s “Tiny Colour Movies” at the Apple Store, Regent Street, London. Musical artist again but this time not paintings but films. Now I’m not much for the world of contemporary commercial films and I hate most cinemas. I do mean hate. So that I have now gone to see “Tiny Colour Movies” three or four times must mean that this set of films has something more going on than simply being the work of one of my favourite musicians and the fact that I have to keep going beacuse despite my persistent requests Mr Foxx will not put it on DVD.

Tiny Colour Movies is a collection of 14 concept pieces assembled from the home movies of a bygone generation. It is moving, thought-provoking, vivid and imaginative. It has a tremendous ambient soundtrack which the artist accompanies his films with, standing alongside, like the pianist adding sound to a silent movie. It is quite, quite wonderful and if it comes to a town near you, I might just follow it there.

Finally, on this smorgasbord of updates, a little baseball. Surprise, surprise. As the trade deadline approaches the Bronx is seeing new faces. First in was Richie Sexson. Now in 2007, Sexson, then at Seattle, hit .205 BA with 21 home runs. Fortunately, he turned this all around by storming to .218 with 11 homers by the first week of July. Not surprisingly, the Mariners released Richmond Lockwood Sexson. I’m not quite so sure why the Yankees decided to sign him later in the month. Perhaps it had something to do with that florid name. At least they didn’t invest in Bonds. I’m not holding my breath for this acquisition to be a great success. Indeed, I’m praying that by the time of my return to the Bronx in September, he will have headed toward waivers. We’ll see.

More significant (hopefully) was the trade made yesterday which has brought Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte over from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Marte, who actually spent a little while in the Yankees system a few years ago but never made it to 161St. and River Avenue, is that crucial item a left-handed relief pitcher. Occasional promotions for Billy Traber and Kei Igawa have not added such a thing to the roster for very long. Marte with his 3.47 ERA, 4 Wins (no losses), and 5 saves seems a much better prospect.

Nady is a good addition at least because Matsui and Damon are not likely to see much time in the outfield for the remainder of the season. However, there may be more. His contract has another year beyond 2008 and he is 5 years younger than Damon. He is batting .330 with 13 home runs. There might be quite a lot in this for the Bombers.

A slight downside to this came in the final detail of the trade. The original detail suggested that the Yankees were giving up Ross Ohlendorf and three minors who were barely on my radar. Now Ohlendorf looked good earlier in the year but then his mechanics fell apart and he might not be a huge loss but I was a little more disappointed with today’s update. The news is that the Pirates final list for the trade sees Jeff Karstens heading over to Pittsburgh. Now I’m not sure quite where Karstens’ career was headed (he’s been rather injury prone) but I’ve followed his career since seeing his early appearances for the Staten Island Yankees some years ago. I’m disappointed that he will never be established in the Bronx. It was an interesting journey.

The final footnote to this was that the very disappointing LaTroy Hawkins was designated for assignment and that Kei Igawa was removed from the 40-man roster and outrighted to Scranton (AAA). The Yankees are paying him in excess of $5 million – and they finally seem to have given up on him. Now that’s an amazing story.