Arggggghhhhhh!!!!!!! Man this is sometimes hard to watch.

This bad defense thing has got to stop. Bedard will no doubt say the right things after the game but I can’t imagine what’s going through his head after 3 errors by his stellar infield defense in the first two innings of the ballgame. He’s pitching well, but does it really matter? No hits, no gloves (except for Richie, explain that one!) and who knows what the bullpen has got planned for us later. Sorry to be so down on things, but jeez already! What the heck is going on out there?

The thing about most of the infield errors we have seen is that they have been just plain dumb, not tough plays, just plays where with Betancourt in particular, they look like their heads just aren’t in the game. I wondered for the first time today that if perhaps Betancourt and Lopez to a lesser degree are missing Carlos Garcia. This is not a knock on the job that Sam Perlozzo is doing as infield coach, but Garcia had developed a close relationship with Lopez and Betancourt. He was like a big brother, a big brother who got on these guys quite a bit. Maybe Betancourt needs some more pushing. He is looking nothing like the future gold glover, challenger to Omar Vizquel, that many thought he would be when he first came up.

Oh, and now Burke has an error. In fairness, there is a huge expanse of real estate behind home plate and the wind is swirling pretty bad, but make that 4 errors now. I am getting the distinct feeling that this is going to be a long night for us and that when it is finally over, we will probably be held up by some sort of long and hopefully loud team meeting that features just one speaker, Mac. I think it’s time.

Other stuff. It is cold, damp and windy here. Kind of like Safeco. Come to think of it, we can’t seem to escape April Safeco weather anywhere we go. I can’t tell you how many times we have heard “It was 80 degrees here last week”. I gave Mac a hard time today about comments he made on the last day in Arizona. He went on and on about how he was ready to see some clouds and chillier temperatures after spending the past 5 months in Arizona. I remember cutting up the sound and sending it back to Seattle titled “Mac Loses His Mind”. Safe to say he has learned not to get too cocky with the weather gods.

Took the D train in today. Not a big deal. I spent some time here in college so I feel pretty good with the subway system. It was quite a sight to see the new Yankee Stadium when I came out of the tunnel. So much work has been done since we last were here. It is huge, 60% bigger than the current stadium yet the field dimensions are exactly the same. There will be a huge retail and dining section in the building and some are concerned that it will resemble a mall more than a ballpark. The outside architecture pays homage to the original stadium before the remodel. The four main gates feature stone columns and medallions and to me, kind of resemble a bank which in some ways I guess is appropriate. The Monuments and Frieze will make the move across the street and a Yankee Museum will be housed there as well. Pretty impressive, but darned expensive.

Got into the clubhouse and the first thing I saw was Jeff Clement and Kenji Johjima crouched in Joh’s locker. Joh was showing Jeff how he caught someone. It was good to see because I was not sure how Joh would handle the mentor role with Jeff. So far so good.

Later I saw Joh sitting at his locker kind of staring off into space. “Are you thinking?” I asked him. “I am thinking of fishing.” He replied. “You told me to think about fishing.” I had to laugh. Two nights ago in Cleveland we spoke to Joh just after he had been told he would sit for two days. He was not happy about sitting and very not happy about being just 3 for his previous 23. Joh, who is one of the top sport fishermen in Japan equated it to going out fishing all day and coming home with just one fish. When he was finished talking to us I looked at him and said that he needed to go fishing. It was nice to see that he remembered that I said that.

After talking to Joh I crossed the room to wish Jamie Burke well on his first start at Yankee Stadium. He had never played in a game here and was pretty fired up to do so.

Did I mention that it is cold here?

Last but not least, there is a plan to try and get JJ back on track. JJ is struggling mightily to locate his fastball since coming back from the injury. Rather than pitch him in non save situations to get him more work he is going to throw a 5 minute bullpen, fastballs only, every day. This should not interfere with him being able to come in as the closer if needed.

Off to find my gloves!