Hardball Heaven

... why, fire the trainer, of course. All the pulls, strains, and aches that have befallen the Yankees so far this season came to a head yesterday when the team summarily dismissed the dude who leads the pre-game stretching routine. Classic George. To be fair, the rash of injuries has been pretty unbelievable. Then, of course, you've got your daily Carl Pavano health issue. What a colossal waste of money - I love it. Think George wishes he owned an NFL team, where there's no such thing as a guaranteed contract?

Anyway, back to our team. The Sox got back to their winning ways last night with a 6-4 victory over Oakland. Josh Beckett wasn't electric, but he was still pretty damn good. Beckett is now 6-0 on the young season, and is the first Sox pitcher to win six straight since Roger Clemens did it in 1991. Every hitter in the lineup had at least one hit and what stood out for me is key contributions - both at the plate and in the field - from Coco Crisp and the ever-steady Alex Cora. After an unlucky season last year, Coco is finally flashing some of the tools that caught Theo's eye.
The Mariners are in town tonight for a makeup game, which means we get to see Ichiro go against Dice-K again. After that, the gang is off to Minnesota to play the Twins this weekend.