Good morning, good afternoon or good evening to you my friends - whichever of the aforementioned three apply. Welcome to yet another installment of The Gospel According to "L". This week we have a few things to talk about - of course we're going to talk about the seven-game homestand, and a few other topics. All right, let's get on with it.

Let's begin with the seven game homestand - first the three against the two-time defending AL West champs - the Oakland A's. Now you know me - I'm not satisfied unless the Yankees have completely destroyed their competition. I don't believe in mercy; I do believe in mercy killing, but that's another story. Tuesday's game, as you know, was a stinker - just like the first game two weeks ago Thursday against Baltimore. Yeah the Yankees did lead 3-0 and 4-1, but once the fourth and fifth innings came that was it - Jon Lieber had nothing. Mark Mulder had never won a regular season game at Yankee Stadium (he won in the 2001 Division Series) and the Yanks had him down by three early. But Lieber pitched so horribly, and the Yankee bullpen once again got no rest, and that's why the A's were able to come in and lay the smackdown in game 1. Now on Wednesday night it was Esteban Loaiza's Yankee debut. It was as if Jose Contreras were still a Yankee. He gave up five runs in six innings - including two homers. To add insult to injury - the Yankee bullpen was overused again - Mariano Rivera pitched two innings and at one point - the only reliever was Tanyon Sturtze who pitched a few innings the night before. The good side was this game will be another one of those classics (I'm going to keep a few of the summaries after the season.) Gary Sheffield took Met-reject Octavio Dotel (for Mike Hampton who is now winning in Atlanta) nearly to Bridgeport to tie the game in the ninth, and then A-Rod took a kid named Justin Duchscherer (I complained about long Polish names last week - I think German or Dutch names have now taken over) into Monument Park (good thing, about time he saw it) for the victory in the eleventh. You have to enjoy these come-from-behind wins sometimes - they bring life back to a fan and team alike. Now Thursday afternoon was one of those enjoyable games. Kevin Brown pitched an eight-inning gem, and the Bombers scored five off Barry Zito to take two of three. This could easily have been two of three for the A's, had it not been for the Wednesday night comeback. With that in mind, I was merely satisfied with this series - unlike the regular season, in the playoffs there is no room for error. If the Bombers play like that against an AL opponent in the postseason, the only way they'll see a World Series is if they get good seats.

All right now let's talk about the four games against the last-place Blue Jays. Let me flash back to 1993 for a moment - ok - now let me say this with pride - last-place Toronto Blue Jays! That felt good! All right - with the exception of the final game, this was a series I enjoyed thoroughly! Let's see - Friday night 11-4, Saturday afternoon 6-0, Sunday afternoon 8-2, and Monday...well, Monday was disappointing. The first three days - the Bombers outscored their opponents twenty-five to six! Now that is an awful team, make no mistake about it; but then again that is what you are supposed to do to bad teams - beat the holy crap out of them! Now on Friday I didn't see Sean Douglass getting ejected - however I don't understand it. He wasn't trying to hit John Flaherty, and even if he was, it's his right! A pitcher should be allowed to throw inside at all times, otherwise his job will become meaningless. If Ty Cobb played in this era, I can assure you he'd have retired long ago. Nowadays ballplayers have been turned soft and gentle. This is not the baseball of the old days when men were as tough as iron. To hell with the hitters - the pitchers should be able to do their jobs too! If you're a hitter, and you lean too far over the plate, and you get hit in the head with a 95-MPH fastball, that's your own fault! The same goes for hitters who think they're going to own the opposing pitcher. The pitcher should have some say as well! There goes your entire bias theory of me. Another thing I wanted to mention - right after the Bombers finished their meal of fried Blue Jay on Sunday, Carlos Tosca was fired. Don't feel bad Carlos, I'm sure there are many gas stations up in the Toronto metro area who could use some help.

How about John Olerud? So far not so bad - 6-for-19 with six RBI's. They said his bat speed went down - the only thing that might mean is that he probably doesn't have much homerun power anymore. If the Bombers would have needed a homerun threat, then that would have presented a problem. However he can still get the ABC-type hits such as singles, doubles, etc. Jason Giambi should be back by September and he is getting his strength back - so that's a huge plus. The only question is what do you do with Olerud? Do you keep him and have him come off the bench, or do you let him go? Good thing I'm not managing the Yankees - that is one tough decision my friends. All right on to this week's topics.

I want to talk about the so-called AL East competition. Not counting the Red Sox, the East has been a cakewalk! It's been like playing taking candy from a baby! Everybody said the Orioles were going to have this great team with Rafael Palmiero, Javy Lopez, Miguel Tejada, etc. In addition - they had ex-Yankee first base coach Lee Mazzilli as their new manager. After all, Maz must have learned a thing or two from Joe Torre. What nobody realized is that they have no pitching! If you have no pitching you do not win - period! I was one of the only ones who told you this before the season started. The Devil Rays? Boy that fifteen minutes of fame felt more like 10 minutes. The only goal they will accomplish in 2004 is that they will not finish last. They go on some long winning streak and reach .500 - all of a sudden Rays fans think they're going to make the playoffs. I remember one idiot D-Ray fan e-mailing Max Kellerman (I, Max) telling him that he was going to be seeing his team in the playoffs. I loved Max's response - "yeah if it's the Yankees you will be!" Max Kellerman - you are a god among men! I'm just sorry I can't watch Fox Sports NY or MSG thanks to Cablevision forcing Time Warner to remove the channels! By the way, did you notice? Once the Rays came to the Stadium - they fell right back to earth. Once July 8 hit - the D-Rays realized they're nothing and they will be nothing! Well no, actually they will be something: they'll be garbage!

And finally we get to the good'ol Blue Birdies of Toronto. Excuse me a minute - I have to laugh. All right there, I'm done. Everybody said they'd be tough this season after they added guys like Ted Lilly to their rotation. Well Carlos Tosca's now out of a job, and the Jays season pretty much ended before the Maple Leafs' 2003-04 season did. Remember when the Tigers swept the living daylights out of them the first week of the season? The Tigers, there's another flop! It's not the money that wins you games - it's the chemistry my friends! The Yankees have the chemistry - some others do not! All right, let's finish off this week.

Now we're going to finish off with the news of a new stadium. As you know by now, George Steinbrenner will have himself a new ballpark in the not-so-distant future. The opening date could be 2009 or '10. This stadium will be modeled retro-style - after the original version of Yankee Stadium. It would be open air, so no retractable roof (thank God), and there would be some other ad-on's in the surrounding area such as hotels, a ferry landing, a Metro North stop (good news for those who ask me for subway directions), etc. Now it would be built right over Macombs Dam Park - which is historic ground. But then again, so is Yankee Stadium. Remember that the original Stadium was built, if I am not mistaken, on a landfill.

The only difference here is that Steinbrenner himself will pick up the cost of the Stadium - $700 million. Back in 2001 when the retractable roof stadium was proposed, I was against it mainly because I did not want taxpayer money going for this. However I do agree with this plan for two reasons. Number one - the city doesn't have to pitch any money - in fact if they did pitch in the cost would be very little. Number two - this new version of the Stadium will not have a retractable roof. I'm a bit old-fashioned, I like open-air stadiums. Don't get me wrong, I also like the new retractable-roof parks (Safeco Field is my favorite), but for some reason I also like rain delays. They're just as much a part of baseball as hot dogs. I have no problem at all with this new ballpark, especially with the renewal of that section of the Bronx. If you travel down to the River Avenue/Grand Concourse area, it is a dilapidated area. You don't see it from the Stadium, but there are some housing projects along the Concourse, homeless people wandering around (especially if they're going to scalp tickets.) It's not an area you want to be around after midnight unless you're mentally and physically tough. That and if you carry a gun for protection.

Now I was born in 1978, therefore I am too young to remember the old Stadium. I'm sure some of my older readers have fond memories of the old Stadium. Here is what I would do. I would keep the same distances along the left and right field foul lines - 318 to left and 314 to right. However I would move back the distances to the gaps and centerfield - about 390 to the gaps and 420 to centerfield - more or less. In other words, I'd bring back Death Valley. Now I would keep Monument Park instead of having the monuments in the outfield in play - this way fans can come in before every game to see the beautiful monuments, and maybe to watch pitchers warm up in the bullpen. As for the bullpens, I'd prefer them to remain beyond the outfield. The copper facade can go wherever they want it to go, it looks good anywhere. And I would bring back the old flagpole to centerfield. I would have it in play, a la Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park. Other than that it seems fine to me. One plus about a new stadium - now the Yankees can host the All-Star Game. If you notice, nowadays new fields get the All-Star Game - Comerica Park next year, Minute Maid Park this year, Safeco Field, Turner Field, Jacobs Field, etc. Some of you may disagree, and that's fine, I can understand. But I think this would truly be a great idea, and I personally look forward to seeing a new baseball cathedral in the Bronx. See you next week friends!