I just got back from this game tonight. Add in that a young woman ran onto the field during the top of the 11th (i think...there were so many) inning and had to be taken off the field. Nothing like seeing someone get arrested to make the game that much more exciting.

Oh yeah, and a Shelley Duncan sighting, only to see Wilson Betemit not even take the bat off his shoulders to end the game.

BTW, looks like Rocket is scratched for today and Hughsie's going in his place, with Moose on Sunday, both on normal rest.

Posada shouldn't get a pass on that dumb running error either. Pop out foul and he runs, helping out the Blew Js.

The full dog in this was Bruney. He strikes out the side, yet gives up a home run to insure that the Yankees have no chance.

Betemit was a poor choice to put in, leave Duncan in. Give him an at bat, at least he would have struck out swinging instead of looking which really infuriates me.

I'd like to see Torre return next year. Especially because I suspect Mattingly, many's designated heir, has received enough seasoning just yet.

To be sure, Mattingly has the pedigree and the temperament, and the players appear to bear the same respect and affection they have for Joe. Yet I'd feel far more comfortable with Mattingly inheriting the mantle after he serves another two or three years as bench coach and learns from Joe how to (or perhaps, how not to) manage a pitching staff.

I know Girardi is a popular choice for some because he has managerial experience. And I concede he probably numbers among the two or three most intelligent men in baseball. Still, his personality unnerves me. Something about Girardi reeks of the rigid, controlling, pedantic martinet. Such an approach might work with a young Marlin team but on a team composed of veteran superstars, it augurs dissension, if not revolt. After watching Bronx is Burning and reading October Men, I'm reminded by how destructive an autocratic manager can be in a clubhouse with older, laurelled players.

But the managerial choice that awaits the Yankees' front-office concerns me far less than whether their player personnel decisions.

The loss of any of their three principal free-agents-- Rivera, Posada, A-Rod-- would be devastating.

The loss of either of their two option players-- Pettitte (player option) and Abreu (team option)-- would hurt them as well.

The loss of Joe would be regrettable but it's Cashman's decisions about his player personnel that will determine the Yankees' fate next season.