Good morning, good afternoon and good evening to you my friends. Welcome to the final July 2004 edition of The Gospel According to "L". We had three different teams face the Bombers this week - and we will discuss those series, and we will also discuss two other topics of some importance. Without further ado, let's begin.

We begin with the two games in St. Pete. I would like to reiterate - I hate Monday night games simply because they make me rush this Gospel. Thankfully next week I'll be able to get an extra day if needed. Getting to that Monday night - it proved one thing - Alex Graman might be a Crash Davis - i.e. a career minor leaguer. He didn't even last the first inning! He even got roughed up in his first start back in Columbus, which is more proof that he may never be Big League material. Jamie Moyer and Jimmy Key made it in the Big Leagues because they know how to throw their pitches - Graman and Brad Halsey do not, although Halsey, like Brandon Claussen, has some potential. This wasn't the Red Sox, Mets or Dodgers - this was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays! I don't care what they've done this season or who their manager is - they're an awful team! Now Tuesday's game was one of those you knew the Yankees were going to win no matter what. When Gary Sheffield took Victor Zambrano (are you as sick of him as I am?) into the left field hinterlands, you knew that was coming. That was a gorgeous swing - even on replay. So a split down on the Gulf - not thrilling, but better than a sweep.

Now back home and the first series this season against the Blue Jays - if you can believe it. Sometimes you have to wonder - is God punishing Pat Hentgen for winning the 1996 AL Cy Young Award? Andy Pettitte deserved it that season, yet Hentgen won it. Well he got the holy hell beaten out of him Wednesday night - eight runs in less than three innings. A few days later he announced his retirement. Yep, that's what happens when you face the Yankees and get slapped around by them - you just never want to see them again. I'm going to talk about Carlos "el comunista" Delgado a little bit later on. Now as for Thursday's game - I have to laugh sometimes. Ted Lilly has to be having flashbacks about his days with the Yankees, because that is exactly what that game was. When he was a Yankee, up until mid-2002, he would pitch a beauty but get zero run support. Well thanks to El Duque - it happened again. Orlando Hernandez has to be thinking to himself - "terminé en el infierno, pero he regresado a la gloria." Translation - I ended up in hell, but I've returned to heaven. Did you forget that he was an Expo? Well it's ok since he never started one single game for them. Yet since he's been back with the Yankees - he's been awesome! I don't think he's going to be the answer - but at least he can bring some great help. Thanks to him the Bombers had the chance to win it in the ninth - and then came El Indio Ruben Sierra. I finally realized why they call him El Indio - even though he is of African descent, he does have an indigenous look. Sheffield and A-Rod strike out against a guy named Vinny Chulk - yet Sierra comes up and hits it into the bleachers and the game's over just like that. That was probably the best game I've seen all season, other than the July 1 game against Boston.

Speaking of Boston - if you're a Republican Red Sox fan living in the 617, it's not a good weekend for you - both the Yankees and the Democrats are in town. I don't like either Bush or Kerry, but I am leaning towards Kerry, not because I am a registered Democrat (I am seriously thinking of switching to independent,) but because he is anti-outsourcing and he favors policies to make America energy independent. Sometimes I think about what a Red Sox fan in the White House would mean. Imagine if the Yankees win the World Series and have to visit a Red Sox fan? Just a little thought food.

Now let's talk about the three games up at the Fenz. To beat the Sox when Curt Schilling was starting on Friday night meant a whole lot. I didn't get to see the game since I was at a friend's house for his birthday. I tuned in just in time to hear Kevin Millar hit his third homerun, and the Yankees taking the lead in the ninth. Stupid me - I thought this was going to give the Yankees a license to sweep the Sox. As I enjoy saying - like hell that was going to happen. Now on to Saturday - another game on FOX and another fight. Let me ask you something - why is it ok for a Yankee opponent to hit their stars, yet it's wrong when a Yankee pitcher hits or intimidates opposing stars? And how is it that this fight gives the Red Sox more energy instead of the Yankees? This reminded me of the ALCS when Don Zimmer ended up giving a sickening apology, when he was the one who was owed an apology by that criminal Pedro! Another question I have is what the hell was Tanyon Sturtze doing out there? He's the damn starting pitcher, and instead of getting them back in the bottom of the inning, he goes out there to join the party? Then he gets busted open and an injured hand. Friends do me a favor - imagine the A-Rod is in a Red Sox uniform, and Bronson Arroyo is in a Yankee uniform - can you imagine how the press would have defended A-Rod? But that's the status of baseball - the Yankees on the field are second class citizens. But back to the game - the Yankee bullpen is a huge mess, and we will talk more about that later on. If you have to rely on guys like Juan Padilla and Scott Proctor (who pitched beautifully), and you have to overuse guys like Paul Quantrill and Flash Gordon - you know something is horribly wrong. To score six runs in the sixth to take a 9-4 lead, and then to see it cut to 9-8 in the bottom of the inning? Not only that, Sierra hit another one out to make it 10-8! Mariano Comes in to pitch the bottom of the ninth - by then it was almost 8PM. Well, Mo comes in - Nomar doubles, then Trot Nixon flies out. All right, one out. Then Kevin Millar singles in Nomah to make it 10-9 with a man on. All right, Bill Mueller is now up - all we need is a double play. What do we get instead? A flyball hit over the bullpen in right! Somebody tell me I'm dreaming! The bullpen was overused for this! Well that was small potatoes compared to Sunday. On Sunday, with John Kerry, Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric in attendance, Jose Contreras gets his backside handed to him! No matter what he cannot beat the Red Sox. I don't know what it is - since his family sought refuge in the U.S., he's pitched very well, yet he never pitches well against the BoSox. Now one lesson this series should have taught us yet again - the Red Sox can hit and pitch, but they cannot field to save their own lives. Five errors in the final two games! Just imagine if they had no offense at all - they'd be in last place! If Kevin Millar didn't hit like he did in this series, this could have been at least two out of three for the Bombers, at the worst! If defense is going to be the factor in their road to the World Series - the Sox will be crash earlier than expected - mark my words. A 4-3 week - it could have been better. All right, let's move on to the topics of importance.

I want to first talk about Carlos Delgado. If you are not familiar with the story - whenever God Bless America is played in a ballpark (every home game at Yankee Stadium,) Delgado refuses to stand. His reasons are for protest - he is against the war in Iraq and he is against military bombings in Vieques. He is a typical anti-American. To be against the war is one thing - but to not stand and honor America? I was against the war in Iraq from the start, but not for the stupid reasons the Communist protesters were. I was against the war only because I believe that Iran and North Korea are far greater threats to U.S. security than Iraq. Iran is less than one year away from full developing nukes - and the psycho Mullahs and Ayatollahs have sworn by Allah that they will use them to kill Americans and Israelis. And if you think they're just talking to talk - you deserve whatever fate you get. Despite all that, I supported my country and its troops. American soldiers are the greatest people in the world - they're tough and brave, and they get killed because of their wonderful nature. Now about Vieques, I'm half Puerto Rican myself, yet you'd think I was Irish or Italian the way I talk and conduct myself. I'm not your typical Hispanic - I've adopted American culture 99.44%. The United States needs bases for its military! These people who complain about what's going on in Vieques, they should be thankful they haven't been nuked by the Muslims. Last I checked, the island of Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, guste or no le guste (like it or not!) I'm in favor of statehood simply because without the U.S., Puerto Rico would be another third world nation like the Dominican Republic or Cuba. If what I have said sounds prejudiced, it's not - I am simply speaking the truth. Carlos Delgado wants to see the U.S. just back down and lay down their arms. ¡Mala suerte Carlos! (Too bad) All right, on to this week's final topic.

Now I want to finish up by talking about the trade deadline - which is 144 hours away from the time this has been written. The Bombers need another starter, a lefty arm in the bullpen, and maybe a second baseman. We know that Randy Johnson will probably be available, but will he become a Yankee? Talk is the Yanks and Angels are the two favorites, but the Halos have said they don't want to give up their farm system to get the Big Unit. The Cardinals were also mentioned - however they may not have enough money. What I don't get is why the press isn't reporting this?

Kris Benson of the Pirates may also be available - however he's never really impressed me. His lifetime ERA is 4.24. But Jorge that's not too bad. A 4.24 ERA in the National League not too bad? You have to be smoking dope to believe that! 799 hits in 776 career innings - not impressive. There was also talk of Ben Sheets from Milwaukee - but he may not be available anymore. Then again, I could be wrong.

A lefty for then pen is a good question. Felix Heredia has been awful. Actually, I just insulted things that are awful because Heredia's been worse than awful! Gabe White couldn't do the job, and I don't really see anybody out there available worth mentioning. Maybe by next week we'll see somebody.

As for second base - Roberto Alomar could be available. However, would that be asking the Diamondbacks too much since we may also want the Big Unit? Sometimes I'd rather they just give us the third out in the ninth inning of game seven in 2001. But Alomar would be a good fit - he'd be back in the AL and he'd play on a great infield. Just picture this infield in October - Alex Rodriguez at third, Derek Jeter at short, Roberto Alomar at second and a hopefully healthy Jason Giambi at first. That's a fantasy baseball player's dream. But I doubt he'd be available to the Yanks, so we may just have to get used to Miguel Cairo and Enrique Wilson. How ironic - last year we had a great second baseman in Alfonso Soriano and needed a third baseman - so Steinbrenner and Cashman got Aaron Boone - this season we have a great third baseman in A-Rod, yet no second baseman. Now this is just my opinion - I think the starter and lefty reliever could be the bigger cogs than the second baseman that could get the Bombers a 27^th world championship. Hopefully by next week - the Big Unit will be pitching in the Bronx; not in Disneyland. Speaking of which, see you then friends.