Yankees vs. Orioles 6/26 Game Preview

It's a matchup of two of the best pitchers in the American League. Andy Pettitte and Jeremy Guthrie? Guthrie has allowed two or fewer runs in 9 of his 10 starts and should make the All Star team he has been so good. Meanwhile, Pettitte is coming off of a performance where, in his words, he "quit pitching" and just tried to throw the ball past hitters after he lost his confidence after a Matt Holliday 442 foot bomb of a home run. To me, that's kind of strange coming from a veteran pitcher with 190 career victories.

Fun fact for this game: Yankees have 573 career wins going for them in Pettitte (190), Clemens (349), and Wang (a mere 34). Baltimore has 75 wins between Guthrie (6), Bedard (32), and Cabrera (37). Gap would be even larger if Mike Mussina pitched in this series for the Yankees. Obviously though, I'd rather Wang be out there.

Lineups when they become available. Since the Yankees were off on a travel day yesterday, I would still assume that they would play their full lineup. We will see.

ESPN: Joe Girardi Declines Orioles Job

Whew, everyone outside of the Baltimore Orioles catches a break here. ESPN has reported that Girardi's agent has informed them that he will not be accepted the Orioles job that was offered to him, despite what Chief Operating Officer Andy McPhail would have you believe. This is the best play for Joe Girardi, and may be beneficial for the Yankees down the road, as soon as next season. It's a dead end job. He would have been fired in two years of no fault of his own. Apparently the Orioles do not allow their new manager(s) to pick their own coaching staff, a fate that doomed Lee Mazzilli (or perhaps with that team he was doomed from the start anyway). Girardi, already known as a micromanager of his teams (that seems to be the reason he was boot prematurely out of Florida) would not have any of this. Either that, or he knew it was a dead end job. Doesn't take a genius to figure that out.

Now to why this may be huge for the Yankees. It's simple enough. It looks as if Joe Torre will ride out his contract this season and leave the team, to retire or to pursue other endeavors. So the Yankees will need a new manager. While the popular opinion is that Don Mattingly is a lock for the next Yankee manager, I'm not so sure. If Joe Girardi comes in and blows everyone away with his interview like I know he can, and Mattingly disappoints which is a distinct possibility, who knows? Steinbrenner can change his opinion on a whim, and it can very well happen here. Here's to hoping.