Farnsworth needs to disappear

What was Joe Torre thinking when he brought Kyle Farnsworth (pictured) into a 1-1 game in the eighth?

Farnsworth has proven time after time that he can't be trusted to make a sandwich, let alone keep a game tied.

Tonight was no different. When the scoreboard said, "Now warming in the Yankees' bullpen: Kyle Farnsworth," trouble was on the horizon.

Frank Thomas led off with a single. Farnsworth blows a pickoff attempt, advancing Howie Clark (running for Thomas) to second. After a hard-hit ball was caught by Andy Phillips on a line drive at first, Aaron Hill doubles in Clark. Three batters in, one run, a ton of boos.

If not for Melky Cabrera's heroics in the ninth and Robinson Cano's clutch single in the 10th, this loss would've been pinned on Farnsworth and Torre. Instead, the Yankees won 3-2 in 10 innings and gained a game on the Red Sox.

I hope this is one of Torre's "cry for help" moves, showing Brian Cashman that he needs to make a move (one that isn't Dan Johnson for Scott Proctor). If it wasn't, there is no excuse to use Farnsworth in this situation.

AP Photo/Kathy Willens

The "hah" incident

By now, I'm sure you've seen and heard about Alex Rodriguez's incident at third base last night against the Blue Jays.

If you haven't, here's a quick recap: Jorge Posada popped a ball up to third base with two outs. As Rodriguez was passing by Howie Clark, he seemed to say something (video clearly shows Rodriguez opening his mouth). The Jays claim he said, "Mine," while Rodriguez claims he said, "Ha." Nevertheless, the ball dropped in and allowed a run to score. Cameras cut to the Blue Jays dugout where they were all staring at Rodriguez.

Critics have undoubtedly compared this to the "glove slap" and the "slide." However, this was probably the most harmless of the three, as no contact was made.

Some quotes:

"I just said, 'Hah!' That's it," Rodriguez said. "Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I don't know what my intention was. I didn't say, 'I got it' or anything like that."

"I heard a 'Mine' call and so I let it go," Clark said. "What do you do? It makes you mad."

"The thing about the Yankees, one of the reasons they're so respected, is they do things right. Always have," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "They've got a lot of pride and a lot of class. They play the game hard. That's not Yankee pride right there. That's not the way they play. I thought it was bush league."

My feelings are that if this was anyone except Rodriguez, no one would care or they would say that he is just doing his part to help his team win. I feel that this play wasn't that dirty, but others will feel differently and the haters now have more fodder to call Rodriguez a "dirty player."

I have a feeling people will come around to liking A-Rod when he is approaching Barry Bonds' all-time home run record. Hopefully he will still be a Yankee at that point.

With the Michael Vick dog fighting saga (among other things), Tank Johnson going to jail, players getting pulled over for drunk driving and possession of controlled substances, etc., all of the criticism Rodriguez gets is unwarranted. He has never been caught doing anything illegal and he is a great baseball player. He does not deserve the treatment he gets.

Source: Associated Press via Yahoo! Sports