CHEESE & WHINE: A Banner Effort

RAYS: 15

YANKS: 5

CHEESE:

• BJ Upton. Bossman made his presence felt almost immediately, drawing a lead-off walk in the bottom of the first then promptly stealing second and third. Upton then followed his offensive production with by flashing the leather, making an amazing over-the-shoulder grab at the wall, and making it look easy. Upton finished the day 1 for 3 with 3 walks.


• Carlos Pena. El Gato started the day with a three-run double in the 1st then proceeded to one-up himself by hitting a grand slam in the second. He also played a nice defensive game (see link above). Pena finished the day with 6 RBI.


• Scott Kazmir. Kaz was finally able to limit his pitch-count. Finally. Kaz looked really, really good last night, giving up 3 earned runs on 6 hits while striking out 6 and more impressively walking, wait for it... none! Kazmir has the look of a pitcher who will spend the whole season flirting with the no-no.


• Championship Banners. The way I see it, the drawn out ceremony may have seemed over-done to the casual fan, but the music coupled with the audio highlights in the background really made the ceremony special to me. I got the chills/goose-pimples no less than 3 times. How sweet to see those banners raised after so many years of complete garbage. Awesome. My only complaint was that it was the Yankees who were forced to watch it and not the Red Sox (although they'd have been my second choice).

WHINE:

• Gabe Kapler. What the heck are you doing getting struck out by an infielder? Embarrassing. And unacceptable.

CRACKERS:

• Evan Longoria (AKA Dirtbag) was named AL Player of the Week. And rightfully so.
• Condolences to the Kalas family on their tremendous loss.