Yanks v. Twins - July 27

Applause all around after a great night out at the big ballyard in the Bronx with Katie, AnnieG and Mrs. Glowski. Thanks go out to AG for sharing her birthday present with me, and Mrs. G, who withstood my obnoxious Twins support with aplomb. But bow-down respect and gratitude go to Thomas Moore Geffert, who somehow got his hands on the best tickets I've ever had. I've been to a lot of baseball games. A lot. These were the coolest seats I've ever been lucky enough to have. I gave Mrs. G a lot of grief about the Yankees $210M payroll, but I tell you, it sure is cool to see the product of that spending up close. Some observations:

-> Johan Santana is unbelieveable. How anyone can get a hit off him is a mystery to me. To see him pull the string on a change-up, and badly fool guys like Jeter and Matsui and A-Rod, is even more impressive in person.

-> Robinson Cano is the real deal. If I were to wager, I'd bet that Robinson Cano has a pretty bright future in big league baseball. Calm and focused at the plate, he hits with some power to all fields and runs the bases well. But more than that, or his fielding ability, is his demeanor. He just looks like a ballplayer.

-> Bret Boone should retire. He seemscompletely lost at the plate. And his pathetic attempt to knock the ball away from Posada in a crash-bang play at the plate was one of the lamest things I've ever seen.

How do you make an already excellent night excellent-er? Give away free bronze Thurman Munson statues to the first 18,000 fans. Sweet!

Katie and Annie G, just before they jumped onto the field to sing "YMCA" with the grounds crew.

Al Leiter had a miserable night. By the time he plunked Shannon Stewart in the second inning he had already thrown about 120 pitches.

Michael Cuddyer drives a weak Leiter fastball for a double in the second inning.

Watching Jeter with our pal Ruben Sierra.



We saw a lot of Tino because he was busy holding runners on first all night.

Yankee coaches Don Mattingly, Joe Girardi, Joe Torre, and Roy White during the seventh inning stretch.