How tired am I?

I was offered a Legends seat for tomorrow's game at the Interactive Yankeetainment Experienece, and I wasn't even going to have to pony up a month's salary to pay for it, because it would have been free. I said no. I've been running at 200% of capacity for two weeks and tomorrow was (and is still) to be the day when I slept it off. I have no regrets, unless tomorrow ends up being the day Burnett makes good on the no-no promise he showed last time around. It's a long season. Maybe a further offer will be extended from the same source.

Anyway, time to get back to work, basically. Zero hour approaches.

Burnett burns 'em

It was a gem, I'm told, but I was once more chained to my desk and blissfully unaware of how annoyed I would have been if I'd missed a no-hitter. Not as annoyed as I continue to be at having had tickets for, but having not attended, a boring Sunday matchup on May 17, 1998 against the Minnesota Twins, but annoyed.

Once again, Burnett shines...Swisher and Burnett, in fact, have been the two best pitching acquisitions of the offseason. If he stays healthy, I really like where this is headed. If Wang remembers how to pitch, we'll be unstoppable. It's really nice having a solid pitching staff for a change. 

Small-market fans (and the more hypocritical big-market fans...you know who you are) are, at this time, I'm sure, saying "please, you guys can buy whatever pitchers you want." And you're right. The problem is we...well...not "we," but the people who make "our" decisions, have wanted some really awful pitchers in recent years, and rushed out to get them, at the expense of the staff's overall strength. This time, while Burnett is injury prone (knock on wood that he stays sharp) and Sabathia's return to the AL, like any pitcher coming (back) to the AL, is a question mark, at least I can see what the Yankees were going for, and at least we're seeing some kind of results.

Nick Swisher: Great backup outfielder, or the greatest backup outfielder?

Nick Swisher has fun out there. He enjoys playing baseball. He smiles. In other words, Joe Girardi will probably hate him by the end of May. 

With 5 RBI today and a grin on his face usually reserved for some sort of creepy clown obstacle on a miniature golf course, Swisher was half of today's one-two punch of second-choice free agents. Burnett and Swisher were supposed to be consolation prizes for whoever didn't get Sabathia and Teixiera, but at this early juncture they look like the better pair. I'm sure that's subject to change after Burnett's first injury and once Teixiera settles in, but...yeah. 

It was a good showing all around...home runs are nice but I was much more interested in the prolonged rally in the 6th. Not every game will feature pitching as miserable as the Orioles had today, so the small-ball stuff is much more meaningful as far as I'm concerned...that's how you beat good pitchers as well as bad ones.

Still, because it's my nature to wrest anxiety from the jaws of a feel-good moment, I can't help but notice that this was yet another blowout win. The 2008 Yankees only knew how to win in a blowout, and always seemed to choke in the close games. Until I see some wins without absurd run differentials, I will remain skeptical. However, the energy level was definitely encouraging today, led in no small part by Swisher and Burnett, who looked, unlike most Yankee players in recent memory, like they wanted to be there. That's the kind of thing that carries you through those long, hot summers under the tabloid magnifying glass, and that's what I like to see.