By Punch N. Judy
BaseballBigMouth.com baseball news

A payroll exceeding $200 million dollars won’t guarantee a world championship, but after years of rooting against those Damn Yankees, I am ready to concede that it does at least guarantee a ticket to the playoffs.

The war of attrition that is the eight month – including spring training – 162 game season is ultimately won by the eight teams with the most rounds of ammunition. With almost their entire starting lineup making in excess of $10 million a year, it’s not hard to see why New York is closing in on their 13th consecutive post-season berth.

After frittering away the first half of the season, NY gradually picked up the pace after the All-Star break, when luckily for them the schedule served up a 20 game glut of cream puffs. Nonetheless, they emerged from that stretch with nary a stain on their lapel, and a renewed sense of both confidence and momentum.

That former ace Mike Mussina has morphed into Steve Carlton in a Twins uniform doesn’t seem to matter. Or that Mr. Yankee himself Roger Clemens has been the six inning bust that most people thought he would be. No, when you can put up runs like a softball team in the dog days of August and September, it’s but a matter of time before the standings start taking shape.

Which brings us to the dilemma facing our beloved Detroit Tigers. While at the moment the Wild Card appears to be the road with the least resistance, I’m thinking the only true chance at the post season rests in stealing the division from the Tribe. With one more shot – albeit at the Jake – at some head to head battles, Detroit can control their destiny more in their own division than by hoping against hope that the Yanks falter.

The revelation that feel-good story of the year Rick Ankiel may be the latest player caught in the act of ordering performance enhancing drugs out of a Florida pharmacy doesn’t shock me. It does however rate pretty high on the disappointment meter. According to experts in the medical field, HGH isn’t prescribed for those recovering from Tommy John surgery.  You’re kidding me!

The time to write “say it ain’t so,” has long passed on this issue. How MLB plans to deal with it is the question. For now I’m just hoping the dopers continue to get caught and one day punished accordingly.

Which brings us to our  . . .

Clown of the Week – Tony La Russa – MLB’s town drunk has come under fire recently in the St. Louis media for his hands off approach in dealing with players who may share the same fondness for the bottle that he has. By citing the incident this spring where La Russa was found napping at a stop light, drunk, the writers are now questioning whether Old Red Nose would have any credibility with a player who may need an intervention. La Russa’s response? He now may want out of St. Louis, only to continue managing in another city that appreciates his genius. Here’s hoping its New York. Getting back to Ankiel though, La Russa thinks it’s a shame that the media is reporting the HGH story when they don’t have all the facts in.  He thinks it’s OK to accept any drug prescribed by a doctor if it speeds up the healing process. I wonder if it was that type of convoluted thinking that led him to turn a blind eye when his Bash Brothers were tormenting the American League.

Quote of the Week – “I don’t know, I never smoked it.” Tug McGraw the difference between natural grass and artificial turf.

Editor’s note - Baseball and Eggs will appear every Thursday, and serves as a form of self–therapy for this clinically insane baseball fan. The baseball part is self–explanatory. The eggs however, could pertain to just about anything on Punch’s mind from Thursday to Thursday.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 13th, 2007 at 9:57 am and is filed under Baseball and Eggs, Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.