Bon (a) Pettitte!

If this is the Andy Pettitte we're going to get this season, then who can doubt that the lanky left-hander will start the first Opening Day in the new Yankee Stadium, about this time next year?

He'll never be perfect, not at his age and with his recent health history, but last night in Kansas City, under difficult circumstances, Pettitte was as good as we have a right to expect him to be this time of year, and his performance has to whet the appetite of Yankee fans for the upcoming five and a half months.

With starting catcher Jorge Posada still off the battery with a dead arm (that's a deliciously graphic adjective the Yankees trainers use to describe Posada's condition, but if his arm were really dead, wouldn't he be swinging the bat one-handed?), with the Kansas City forecast mailed in from the rain forest, and with a patchwork offensive lineup that lacked Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, and (thankfully) Jason Giambi, and featured Melky Cabrera batting in the two-hole, Pettitte held down the hot-hitting Royals (20-for-53, .377 BA the first two games of the series) and allowed the Yankees to sneak off to Boston without the indignity of being swept out of town.

We may never again see the Pettitte of the late-1990s, but with all the offensive troubles of the last ten days, we'll take the Pettitte we got last night, and then some.

A-Rod's milestones march

I caught some of Mike and the Mad Dog earlier this week, and one caller asked if A-Rod was approaching "in the conversation" status, as in, he has to be in the conversation whenever the greatest players of all time are discussed. Mike didn't think so, at least not yet (I disagree), and his reasoning was the lack of a World Series ring (which is a fair argument). But can we agree that A-Rod is already in the conversation for greatest infielders of all time?

Let's start with the glove. He was already the class of the shortstops in the majors when he moved over to the hot corner to cover third base in the Bronx. And by this point in time, can another current third-sacker even enter the conversation with A-Rod for best active third baseman? If there is one, I'd like to know who he is and which manager would prefer him to A-Rod, who may be iffy on those mile-high pop-ups, but that's hardly relevant when he has initiated enough double plays, and made enough first-rate throws to first base this season to effectively end the debate over who's number one right now.

And now, for his real legacy. A-Rod passed Mickey Mantle for a spot on the all-time, major league RBI list last night. A-Rod now has 1,510 runs batted in, that's one more than the Mick and good for 45th place in baseball history. With a modest (for A-Rod) 120 RBI this season, A-Rod will pass several other all-time greats, and here is just a short list: Willie Stargell, Mike Schmidt, Al Kaline, Harmon Killebrew, Tris Speaker, Rogers Hornsby, Willie McCovey, George Brett, and none other than Joltin' Joe DiMaggio. As Ken Singleton said on an earlier YES broadcast, A-Rod's to the point where every name he passes makes you say, "Wow!"

And as for home runs, last night's was his 175th as a Yankee, tying him with Bobby Murcer for 19th on the Yankee career list. By the end of the season, he will have passed another Yankee legend -- Roger Maris - and will be closing in on a second -- Don Mattingly. Also in A-Rod's wake will be Bill Dickey, Dave Winfield, Tino Martinez, and Paul O'Neill.

Maybe the best-ever debate still doesn't include Alex Rodriguez, but how long before that changes?

Holy Jose Molina!

Brian Cashman has made a number of indisputably horrible pitching signings (I'd be too depressed if I typed out the list; you all know who I mean...), but on the other end of the battery, he made maybe the best call of the last few seasons.

Signing Jose Molina may have been a Who? What? Why?!! moment when it was announced, but where would the Yankees be without Molina's brilliant fill-in performance for the dead-limbed Jorge Posada? The River Avenue Blues guys are speculating on some magical break-out year for Molina, and that may happen. But for now, let's revel in the real and feel fortunate for what the best back-up catcher in baseball has meant to our team.

Hip hip, Jose!

Keeping it real

We're all about being positive after a solid win last night, but here's a stat for your ass, just to keep us grounded... the Yankees are still only 13-for-74 (.176) this season with runners in scoring position.

One-effing-seventy-six? How's that gonna fly in Beantown?