Defeat the Empire

..and falling fast.

That's Yankee fan Scott Harper, who was dumb enough to jump from the upper deck at Yankee Stadium last night. In the eighth inning, during a Derek Jeter sac bunt, Harper proclaimed to his friends something along the lines of "you think the net will hold me"? Luckily for him (and the people below him,) it did, but not he faces charges of reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, criminal trespass, and disorderly conduct.

The fall was entertaining in itself, but the game was even better. Chicago knocked off the Yankees, 2-1, behind former Yankee Jose Contreras and his stellar outing. With the score 1-0 in the top of the ninth, Joe Torre let lefthander Alan Embree face righthanded power hitter Paul Konerko. The result, in the words of Michael Kay...

"Hit DEEP to left-center field...giving chase Womack...he's on the run...SEE YA!"

Classic, just like Georgie Steinbrenner's reaction to the managerial decision was...

"I'm not very pleased with the manager. I don't know why the left the lefthander in there..."

Oh, but I do! Konerko entered that at-bat hitting all of .209 against lefthanded pitching in 2005! And he was only a career 1-for-five against Embree, who had been throwing the ball very well in his past three appearances.

A word of advice, George: shut the hell up. "Don't criticize what you can't understand."

Boston Marathon

When Boston and Texas hook up at Fenway, you expect a shootout, and that's what we got last night. After taking a 7-2 lead, the combination of Mike Remlinger, who gave up four runs in his Red Sox debut, and Chad Bradford, coughed up the lead in the seventh. After burning the entire bullpen except for Jeremi Gonzalez and Manny Declarmen, Boston was able to win the game in the tenth on an Edgar Renteria single. That's great for Edgar, who made two errors in the game and has been a major disappointment in the field in 2005.

Why call it a Boston Marathon? The game lasted an unruly 4:13.

The Sox made some transactions before the game. They shipped OF Jose Cruz Jr. to Los Angeles for a player to be named. Wade Miller also went on the 15-day DL with a sore right shoulder.

Today's Schedule

White Sox (Garcia, 11-5, 3.83) @ Yankees (Small, 3-0, 3.15), 1:05 PM

Rangers (Rogers, 11-4, 2.77) @ Red Sox (Arroyo, 9-7, 4.24), 7:05 PM

Mets (Benson, 7-4, 3.72) @ Padres (Lawrence, 6-11, 4.43), 10:05 PM

Other Notes

-An arbitrator ruled Kenny Rogers' 20-game suspension unjust and he ended his suspension 13 games in. My question is, who the hell are all these arbitrators, and how are they more powerful than Bud Selig? I'd make a good arbitrator someday.

-The Mets lost on the road last night. Big suprise. Even Pedro Martinez isn't immune to the road woes. The loss drops the Mets to 21-32 on the road.

-Herm Edwards announced Chad Pennington (shoulder) and Ty Law won't play in the Jets fisr preseason game on August 13th. Pennington's rehabilitation is still on schedule and he's expected to be ready for the season opener in Kansas City.

-Seattle phenom SP Felix Hernandez pitched 8 shutout innings last night at Safeco, as the M's beat the Twins. But I still like Zach Duke better.