The YCD (Yankees Chick Dad, obv [who incidentally happens to be Boomer's doppleganger in both appearance and afflictions!]) has been out on Mussina for years now, dubbing him "Pussina" and predicting a loss each and every time his turn in the rotation comes about, and after this past month I think we can all concur that the Moose has officially moved into the dunzo category. During his last 3 starts he gave up 19 earned runs in a laughable 9 2/3 innings, getting himself yanked in the 2nd inning last week and the 3rd on Sunday - an impressive feat in its own right - and now Torre and the Cash Man have finally decided to stop the bleeding with a good old fashioned call-up tourniquet. Moose's next start will be handed over to last year's first round draft pick Ian Kennedy, a 22-year-old USC alumnus who has blazed his way through the Yanks farm Chamberlain-style. He's been tearing up the minors, holding opposing batters to a ridiculous .182 average in 146 1/3 cummulative minor league innings, rockin a 1.29 ERA in 11 games with Class A Tampa, 2.59 in 9 starts with AA Trenton, and 2.08 in 6 starts down in Scranton.

With just 30 games to go and a trickier schedule to navigate than that of the Sawx (luckily, the Mariners will be having a similarly rough September playing the Angels and Tigers), I'm glad Torre and the Cash Man are realizing that forfeiting one of every five games by letting Moose play could very well be the difference between an October of baseball or one of golf. The option for Moose to pitch again after this start is skipped is still open as he remains on the active roster and Torre has not said definitively one way or the other, but I would imagine that decision would be based on Kennedy's performance on Saturday. As a newly faithful convert to the YCD's "Pussina" theory and a fan of the farm, I'm crossing my fingers that his debut will be akin to King Joba's or Price Philip's... and nothing like poor Chase Wright's.