Saturday Samplings

Four words I’ve heard over and over the last 2 days and I still can’t wrap my mind around ‘em – The Last Place Yankees.

After their 7th straight loss on Friday, the Bombers fell to 8-13. To put that in the proper jaw-dropping perspective it deserves, that’s a worse record than perennial cellar dwellers Tampa Bay (10-13), Colorado (9-14) and even my beloved Cubbies (9-13). Even the lowly Nationals have 8 wins this year!

The cries of “It’s only April” are starting to stink of worry in the Boogie Down and it’s becoming abundantly and eerily clear – trouble is brewing in the Bronx.

The Yankees have the leagues 4th-worst team ERA (5.14) behind only Texas, Florida and Tampa Bay. Yuk. And can someone please tell me what in the name of Kyle Farnsworth has happened to Mariano Rivera? After 21 games, take a wild guess how many saves arguably the greatest closer of all-time has?

I’ll give you a second to think….

Ready?

ZERO. Not one. Nada. Nothing. Zilch.

As of Saturday, 48 different guys have recorded a save in 2007 – and Rivera isn’t one of them. If that’s not bad enough, Mo is sporting a paltry 12.15 ERA. Um, wow. This is a guy whose ERA hasn’t been over 2.00 since 2002!

But first and foremost, the Yanks problem lies in their starting rotation. Kei Igawa stinks. Andy Pettitte has been average at best. Carl Pavano is, what else, hurt. And aside from phenom Phil Hughes, I’m not sure even Yankee fans could rattle off the kids who have taken the hill in the last 2 weeks. But help could be on the way. Mike Mussina is set to return next week from the DL and Chien-Meng Wang is finally healthy and starting.

But let’s be honest here… when it’s all said and done, no one thinks the Yankees will finish behind the D-Rays, Blue Jays and Orioles. But with Boston playing lights out baseball, if the Yanks don’t right the ship soon, there hopes for the playoffs may set sail without them.

Roger Clemens, Brian Cashman calling on Line 1…

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By the way, the other day I said I couldn’t wait to see who would be the NFL Draft’s uncomfortable-sitting-in-the-green-room-way-too-long guy… looks like Brady Quinn is our winner. The entire Miami war room should be fired after passing on him at 7. And with the next 6 –7 teams on the board all solid at QB, Brady might want to make himself comfortable. If Buffalo doesn’t take him at 12, barring a trade, he could still be there when Kansas City picks at 23 and would be a blessing for the Chiefs.

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Switching gears to the NBA for a second. Box scores can often be misleading. A 5 or 6 point victory on paper can sometimes be a completely one-sided affair as you’re watching the game. On the flipside, a 14 point win could’ve been a real nail biter in reality with a plethora of free throws increasing the margin at the end. In both cases, perception and reality can often be two entirely different things.

Then there’s Friday night’s game between the Warriors and the Mavericks. If you didn’t watch the game and you wake up to see a 18 point win for Golden State, perhaps you think it was a fluky win where the shots just weren’t falling for Dallas? Maybe the Warriors were unconscious from the floor? Not exactly.

Yes the Mavs struggled from the floor (they shot 38% from the field as a team), but the Warriors were only 6 – 23 from beyond the arc and in all reality, if you watched the game, it had the feeling of a 25-30 point blowout from start to finish.

The Boys from the Bay had their way with the Mavs on both ends of the court and Dallas had no answer for Baron Davis and Jason Richardson.

In my NBA West preview, I said the size of the GS backcourt would give Dallas problems. But I didn’t think it would matter as I predicted Dallas in 5. Um, can I get a do-over? If Golden State goes up 3-1 on Sunday, stick a fork in the Mavs. And after watching the first three games of this series, it’s anything but a stretch to think it will happen. But this is the same Mavericks team that hung 67 wins on the league in the regular season, so it’s too early to count them out. In fact, I think they win game 4 and even the series. What happens from there is anyone’s guess.