Footsteps anyone?

Greetings, and my how much a month can change things. For starters - the Yankees. No one, but no one, saw this one coming. And what explains their remarkable turnaround, which has placed them within 3 games of the Rays (not Devil Rays), and two behind Boston? Pitching. The strung-together starting line up of Mussina, Pettite, Joba, Ponson/Rasner has held together, and the bullpen has been lights out lately. Apparently Farnsworth remembered how to pitch. The only consistent pitching has been from Rivera, who has been perfect all season. It sure hasn't been their hitting, if you look at the box scores (the one exception during the recent 8 game winning streak being the 10-3 win over Boston). As for their loss last night - that's easily explained by Ponson being the perfect fast ball server to a fast ball hitting team.

The question - can they maintain this momentum? Tough to say, because the As and Twins are not division leaders, and while they did do well in Boston - the Red Sox are having issues (Manny anyone - more on that to follow). A true test will be this weekend, when the red hot Angels come to the Bronx. Although, it wouldn't be like the Yankees to blow an easy 3 game series against a struggling Baltimore squad. The answer is that if the pitching can hold up, with reinforcements coming in the form of Hughes and possibly Washburn, and their hitting comes around, then Yes, they can win the division and a lot more. However, the hitting is a big question, because Posada and Matsui are effectively done for the season. Still, the fact that they put together this win streak without Posada or Matsui is remarkable, and explains why George and Sons opened up the wallet to sign Nady and Martle, and possibly Washburn. This team can win it al, but they need to be firing on all cylinders consistently, which hasn't been the case so far.

And yes, the recent moves almost excuse Cashman from the Igawa and Pavano disasters.

Moving on to that other New York team - the lovable Mets. Suddenly, the team is hitting, and hustling under the, er, dynamic(?) leadership of Jerry Manuel. Big surprise. The Mets had the pieces all along on paper to go to the World Series. They simply stopped playing under Willie Randolph because of the collapse last year. Delgado and Beltran should be ashamed of themselves, because they were clearly dogging it under Willie. Of course they will never prove it, but it wouldn't be like Omar to have worked out a deal to have them play down until Willie was fired. OK - that might be a bit extreme. The simple fact is the Mets players are spoiled, and have always acted that way - going back to the Bobby Valentine days. Perfect example - Jose Reyes, who acts like he is on crack half the time while on the field, and blames it on his maturity. News Flash Jose - you've been in the majors for 5 seasons now, I think the maturity issues is now a non-factor.

Continuing on, the Red Sox have issues of their own, most notably Manny Ramirez, who is so desperate to leave Boston, he'll go play in Iraq. Manny never was the brightest. His problem - he wants more money, sure, but as he pointed out in an interview, there is a "strangle atmosphere" on the team now. The Red Sox are panicking, and with good reason. The Yankees closed a huge deficit in the standings, and went out and acquired Nady and Martle, and look on track to get Washburn. Those moves negate Posada and Matsui being done for the season, which made the Red Sox complacent in their play. Will Manny leave? Not likely. There are only three teams who can absorb his ridiculous contract - the Yankees (who the Red Sox will never consider for obvious reasons), the Dodgers, and the Mets. The Dodgers and Mets won't pay him $20 million he is owed, and negotiate a new deal, because of who he is - Manny. He clearly hasn't helped himself out.

And of course there is the leader - Veritek, who believes he is entitled to a Posada-like 4 year deal, but during the final year of his contract is hitting a fantastic .218. That might explain why Theo Epstein is dodging the questions about resigning him.

As for other news - well we happen to be in the middle of summer. The Giants releasing Shockey - not shocking, given his antics and the fact that Boss is just as good as Shockey, and younger.

Renoldo is still being a prick - and refusing to commit to Manchester United. He should accept the fact he isn't going anywhere, and he still has a lot to prove, as he only just came into form the last two seasons. Perhaps he should have weighed that before signing a 5 year contract last season. Ooops.

The Rangers completed their dismantling of the team that should have gone further in the playoffs. Not only did they let Jagr go, they watched Avery leave as well, in addition to Shenneham. The team wanted to go younger, so the replaced 36 year old Jagr with the 35 year old Naslund. Did anyone notice that Straka left too? Fantastic. The real reason - Dolan is rightfully fed up with having the highest payroll in hockey and not getting anywhere in the post season. Perhaps the Rangers can learn to win with less. The organization needs a complete overhaul, beginning with GM Glen Sather, and the entire front office.

How do you spell public relations nightmare? Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers. The NFL must be panicking. The Packers should release Favre, because no team is going to trade talent for a 38 year old QB who could retire at any time. Of course if he comes to the Jets, I will be the first one wearing a Favre jersey.