- The AL may be better than the NL in all offensive categories, but man do they need to practice some bunting. Girardi would have been better off sending a pitcher up there to sacrifice instead of Swisher. I know real men don’t bunt, but you might want to start practicing in the Bronx, especially if you plan on playing in the World Series.

- Listen, I know you guys don’t want to hear about Joba. Believe me, I am having fun watching the Yankees and hope for a nice playoff run. It’s good for business and everyone involved. All I have is a question that maybe the audience can help me with: Do you honestly believe the Yankees handling of Joba is working? Forget his mentality, mechanics, and whether he will be a top line starter. Just tell me what you’re thinking after his 4 inning, 7 run performance. There were some bleeders, but the ball/strike ratio wasn’t very good again. I am curious on your thoughts because you already know mine.

- Damaso Marte looked good last night, didn’t he? Maybe that second lefty won’t be as big a concern.

- I read somewhere (can’t remember which forum), that Mike Hampton offensively is a 0.5 WAR. What the hell does that mean and how can I comprehend it? Does that mean if they just had him hit the rest of the season he would be better off the bench than “your average replacement player”. Forgive me, not trying to be nasty, I just don’t know if I can incorporate WAR into the arsenal. If UZR improves, maybe, but I am still working on WAR.

- Great column yesterday by Ken Davidoff. As I pointed out in a post earlier today, the Mets have financial issues. Obviously the Madoff situation has hurt the organization to the point where we all should be concerned. I have my theories on Madoff, but this is not the forum to share my thoughts on the situation. In any event, Davidoff is right, be honest with the fans for once.

- Great job by Mark Teixeira on the Late Show. Letterman did his usual cream puff interview, but Tex gave you some good lines. Check out some of the transcript over at Neil Best Watchdog.

- I said earlier that we probably will hear some dirt from Billy Wagner in the future. I think September 25th at Yankee Stadium sounds about right. Amazin Avenue put together quotes from Billy’s time with the team. Last night, Gary Cohen said that Jonathan Papelbon, very much like Billy, talks too much. That may be true, but some of young minor leaguers that I talked to in extended spring said they loved Billy and how he took time and let them pick his brain on baseball. If you think all veterans are like that, think again. Critics of Billy are the same people that don’t want to hear the truth. That type of mentality is never in short supply in our modern society. I would think baseball is no different.

- I still am not a fan of the borough of Staten Island. That doesn’t mean I am rooting against the kids. This column was sent to me in response to my question, like some others in the media, why every kid from SI has Jason Marquis as their favorite player. Listen, I am glad Marquis is helping out the kids, all I hope is that the LLWS experience expands their horizons, something, in my opinion, is in short supply around there. Spending 26 years in Brooklyn/SI I might know a thing or two about the borough. This is the United State of America, last time I looked, and I have a right to an opinion. Of course, I will defer to some of our “professional commenter’s” who are experts on just about every topic. I feel like the guy digging a ditch and the person sitting in the lawn chair watching tells me how wrong I am, or how bad things are. Kind of makes you laugh.

- Hey for those that are in the “everything is peachy at WFAN crew” read this quote from someone who called in to Francesa’s show yesterday: I started dialing WFAN’s number around 5:35 and was on the air within 15 minutes. Gone are the days of waiting on hold for 90 minutes. It’s really easy to call in to Francesa these days, and from what I hear from my buddies at Sirius, Russo complains frequently about not getting enough callers. Oh those glory years of M&MD.

- I didn’t hear this yesterday since I am still on strike against WFAN till September 3rd, but did Mike really call out Joe and Evan for criticizing his vacation schedule? Two things. First, Benigno calling out Francesa for his work ethic is like Gary Sheffield calling out Rickey Henderson for mouthing off. If not for Evan Roberts, who gets dumped on unfairly by the fans, Joe “three hours and golf”, would make Francesa look as prepared as Bill Belichick. With that said, Mike is now off till September 8th. I think there is a phantom clause in the contracts for stars of WFAN. On the topic of Roberts, he is the only member of that station to stand up to Mike last fall when he defended David Wright. He constantly is either watching games or will tivo those that he misses. He works on being prepared. You go Evan, show these lazy has been’s how it’s done.

- We talked Yankees baseball during the first half hour of the show last night. During the second half hour we had Lori, the administrator of melhalljr.com, talking about Hall’s trial and appeal process. A real law & order type story. Click here to download the replay.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

Mike Silva

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Tags: Billy Wagner, Boston Red Sox, Evan Roberts, Jason Marquis, Joe Benigno, Jonathan Papelbon, Mike Francesa, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Nick Swisher, Staten Island Little League World Series, WFAN