Oh my GOD!!!

If we get that far, I will never survive the playoffs.

Not with Borowski pitching the ninth and Betancourt taking his sweet old time getting, masterfully, through the eighth. Making me sweat while he wipes his brow (about 17 times with each pitch). I'm not a young man any more. Can't take the buildup of tension.

I was sitting watching the Tribe tonight and in the eighth inning I was thinking about just how wonderful a night it is turning out to be (despite my prestigious 357 series at bowling tonight - that's 119/game for those of you who need fingers and toes to figure out stuff like that).

Anyway, the Yankees got blasted by Tampa, and one of the guys they really need - Mike Mussina - got bombed.

The Tigers got pounded by the Royals (you gotta love Billy Butler), and Kenny Rogers got lit up.

The Yank - O -Meter took one more step in the right direction and it was looking a lot like the Tribe would pick up a full game on the Tigers. Plus the White Sox got beat and even though they're no threat this year its nice to see them get beat anytime.

Then came the ninth inning of the Tribe game. Two actual errors, a rotten throw by Casey Blake on what should have been a game ending double play and some typical Borowski thrown in and you have the recipe for a heart attack.

Obviously, I survived. Why is it some teams have Gossages, Wettelands and Riveras who come in and turn out the lights, while we get the Doug Joneses, Bob Wickmans and Joe Borowskis to finish off our games - and take years off our lives?

Well anyway, we won! In the end that's what counts.

Some other thoughts and a question.

I got the Ranger feed on my dish, so little was mentioned about Rouse starting for Peralta. Does anyone know if it was just a night off for Jhonny, or is there an injury problem there?

If Rouse is going to boot baseballs he has no purpose on this team. He almost makes you long for Hector Luna. Last year Luna covered less ground than the Tom Johnson statue in Public Square. But at least he hit once in a while. I'm all for defensive utility infielders, as long as they actually play good defense.

Nothing to be said about Fausto except - WOW!

So much for the Kenny Lofton trade. He's listed as day-to-day, but it sure looked like he smashed his foot on that foul ball. I would not be too surprised if his prognosis changes some by game-time tomorrow.

The Yankees have a doubleheader tomorrow with Kei Igawa and Matt DeSalvo going for them. Maybe we can give that Yank - O - Meter another nice nudge in right direction.

For those of you who remember Dave Duncan as a player on the Tribe and the A's, his son Shelley made his MLB debut tonight with the Yanks, getting his first career hit and RBI as the DH.

Jose Contreras keeps getting mentioned in trade talks, though I don't understood why. After tonight's 10-run outing maybe that talk will cease.

I guess that's enough rambling from me, though I'm still too wound up to go to bed.