Nattily Noted

Ho-Hum. Another game, another win. Winning really gets tiring, huh? :P

In a way, it sort of does, though. But, not with this team. In my past life as a Yankee fan, winning did sort of get boring, simply because you expected it every night. From ownership down to the fans, there was the belief that you had to win every single game that sort of reduced each game to a business meeting, instead of a game. Don't get me wrong; I still found joy in the wins, but it was tempered by the knowledge that that's the way things were supposed to happen.

Here, it's a complete joy -- simply because it's so unexpected. Just about everyone picked this team for dead last. Yet, we're in first. And, although last place is only one bad series away (just ask the Marlins), it's an amazing feeling -- one the clinic-like wins I've exeperienced over the last few years with that other team -- that I've missed.

Even if we don't end up on top, the ride they've given us thusfar has been incredible.

• Ryan Church was the easy winner of the Majority Whip for his third four-hit game of the year, this one just a double short of the cycle.
  
  In the 8th inning, needing just that double, the pitcher fell behind him 3-0. Church swung at the next pitch, just missing it, before eventually singling up the middle.
  
  I heard Church interviewed this morning, and he said that he was happy but upset that he missed a sign in that AB.
  
  Frank had given him the take sign.
  
  Up by 5. Three outs remaining. The kid needs just a double.
  
  And Frank gave him the take sign???
  
  That's horeshit.
  
  Don't give me the crap about 'playing the game the right way'. That'd be one thing if he hit an easy triple but decided to stay at second, or if he tried stretching a single into two.
  
  But, let the kid swing away. Give him his chance, Frank. If Earl Weaver had pulled a stunt like that with you, you probably would've pounded his ass.
  
  
• Esteban Loaiza finally got some run support, and gets the win he hasn't had since the last ice age. He's going to need to pick up the pace if he's going to be a three-time All-Star! :P
  
  
• Jim Bowden, fresh from the draft, has finally decided to bolster the team's middle infield, calling up supersub and career minor leaguer, Rick Short.
  
  Short has done nothing but beat the snot out of the ball in New Orleans this year. And, although no one will mistake him for Omar Vizquel with the glove, he can fill in around the infield.
  
  Short has been toiling in the minors, mostly with the Orioles, since 1994. This will be his first trip to the minors. His is a good story. And I'm glad that his success and perseverence are being rewarded. (As I'm sure our good friends at OMG will be)
  
  
• To make room for him, CJ Nitkowski was outrighted to the minor leagues. As a major league veteran, he does not have to report and can declare himself a free agent and sign with anyone.
  
  He's not sure what he's going to do yet. Whatever he does, he's another player who deserves respect for his perseverence.
  
  
• Dutch Zimmerman was introduced yesterday, and signed his $2.975 MM contract. Not a bad payday! Although Frank predictably was in curmudgeon mode: "He's going to pay more taxes on that contract than I got for a bonus," Robinson said. "Mine was $3,500."
  
  He'll head up to Pennsyltucky next week.