Joe's back

The weekend's here, Dear Roxy, and I couldn't be happier.
And although we had a short week at work, a two-day weekend seems like the better alternative.

Joe Torre returned to New York, Rox. It wasn't the return he expected, but the welcome he deserved. He received a standing ovation from the Met fans. How nice of them.

The Yankees avoided a sweep in Baltimore. I feel like I mention this everytime I write on this blog. The Yankees need to do some serious work if they want to climb up the standings!

And now the Yankees lost Kennedy! It seems to me Joba is going to be a starter sooner rather than later.

And although I don't follow hockey, I was very sad to hear 21-year old Luc Bourdon was killed in a motorcyle accident. My thoughts and prayers to his family.

Have a safe and dry weekend.

-Criss

PS: I ate three brownies!!! I better fit in that dress tomorrow!

Photo: Kathy Willens, AP

Pink Frosting, Purple Frosting, Blue Frosting

So you're the only one that totally wipes off the frosting from their cupcake. I don't like too much frosting, but I don't wipe it all off, Dear Criss.


I wouldn't be giving the Red Sox cupcakes anytime soon. They need to start winning again. I mean, take a little road trip out west, and it's the end of the world - like they've never gone on a road trip. Oh wait! I didn't realize we won last night. Since when do we get swept by Oakland?


And the Celtics? Well, they just crumbled last night. Aren't these the playoffs? Shouldn't the score be a little closer? But I shouldn't complain, because I haven't been following them closely, but it would be cool for them to win. I'm bored of Detroit, Lakers, Spurs & Co. The Celtics haven't won since forever.

And haven't the Stanley Cup playoffs been going on for like three months now? It seems like a while.

Okay, time to call it a night.

You promised to eat at least three cupcakes before giving them away. How are you doing?

Roxy


Photo: Kylie Lambert, Le Cupcake Australia, Flickr

A-Rod's back...

... and he's en fuego, Dear Roxy! 2 homeruns (3 if the umps would've made the right call last night) in 2 days! Good to see him back.

As we got A-Rod back, we almost lost Jeter to a bruised hand. Come on, people, those hands are worth millions. Watch it! After watching the replay, I thought he was done for good. Oh, but that Jeter guy's a trooper... He came back to play the next day!

It seems the Yankees are working on getting Joba into the starting rotation. The question now is who will be pitching the 8th?

And how about Albert Pujols sending two teammates of the opposite team home early... I think they both went to the hospital. At least one did with a broken nose! Pretty scary to watch.

The Marlins are back in a groove. Good to see them play good baseball.

Congrats to Jason for getting second place in DWTS. And congrats to Kristy for first place! She can place that mirror-ball trophy next to her Olympic gold medals.

So what's Jason gonna do now? He's not attending the Dolphins' training camp. Come on, Jason, one more year!

Still not watching the NBA postseason.

-Criss

Photo: Kathy Willens, AP

Big Blog Hog

Explain Giambi's, Jeter's and Damon's shared golden thong, Dear Criss. You can't. Ew.

I'm sticking with the Sox.

Roxy

Blog Hog: Add "No-Hitter" to Your Résumé

Lester has a no-hitter. Woo Hoo! These 17-year-old pitchers are something else. This makes two no-hitters between him and Bucky in, what, like almost eight months? That’s what happens when you listen to Varitek, Dear Criss. (I guess talent as a pitcher doesn’t hurt, too.) Unfortunately Schilling learned the hard way, but we still love him. Oh yes, AND Varitek hit a home run.

GO LESTER!

Roxy

Photo: Charles Krupa, AP

Best of Manny Being Manny

First of all, I laughed heartily at your post title, Dear Criss. Hee, hee.

And can you believe I missed the Manny high five? My sister was telling me about it, and I looked it up on YouTube. Love it. The fan didn't even give him a decent high five. He looked like he didn't want to ruin the play. In the process, I found a Baseball Tonight Manny Being Manny special highlight reel. Check it out so I can make you puke. He's just too much. What can I say?

I went to the Miami International Agriculture & Cattle Show at Tropical Park this weekend. I thoroughly loved petting the goats and talking to sheep - oh yes - and talking to cows. They were cute and some had their babies with them. I feel like a real cowgirl now.

So my boys are getting back in shape and kicked some Brewer butt this weekend. Papi is coming along with two homeruns today. Varitek was even hitting. It was good. This week I have Friday off (and next Monday). It's an extra long Memorial Day weekend. Rockin'. I think the Mets kicked your butt.

Wait, since when do we care enough about Chipper Jones to blog about him?

You want game 7? Celtics win. Jazz are completely out.

Roxy

AP photo, Nick Wass

Howe Uggla

I'm still not watching the NBA playoffs, Dear Roxy. I think I'm holding out til game 7 of the NBA Finals. Til then, I'll just keep reading about your Jazzy Jazz.

The Yankees are officially in last place. Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!
Scary. Can they regroup, please? I mean, it's great that the Rays are doing as great as they are, but the Yankees in last place... in May? Come on!@#%

Hopefully things will get better this weekend. It's the Subway Series! What every New Yorker looks forward to... or not.

The Marlins have lost 3 in a row after winning 7 in a row. They need to get their act together as well.

How about Chipper Jones batting over .400? Good for him. I never really liked the guy but batting .400 is a big deal. I know it's only May but good acomplishment thus far.

And I hate Manny being Manny but I have to admit the catch and high-five he made the other day was pretty funny.

But funnier than that is Ken Griffey Jr. paying his teammate Fogg back $1,500... in pennies!

Have a great weekend. I'm off to Tampa!

-Criss

(Win in LA Then) Bring it Back to Salt Lake!

Robin Roberts?! So she's on your side, Dear Criss.

Okay, so obviously I don't follow the Marlins and thought for a bit that Dan Uggla was the catcher (oops, shh). And why didn't you correct me yesterday? I mention this because I've been wondering if there's anyone good enough to follow once Varitek retires. And for the love of everything good, just bring back Mirabelli. My guys have decided to go on their annual summer funk a bit early. The pitchers (practically) aren't even showing up. Papelbon's staying up late (probably) playing video games. Lowell is half asleep at third. Winning again would be great. WAKE UP, SUCKERS!

Moving on to football. I am really sick of Video/Spygate up in New England. I am embarrassed. Ashamed. I hate to think that my team is involved with this nonsense. This should've been one of your teams. It would've made more sense. And even if Belichik is sketchy, I put up with him, but don't give my guys - Bruschi, Vrabel (my faves) - a bad name.

Okay, so I have been watching a little basketball. Some Jazzy Jazz. Less of the Celtics. Game 5 tomorrow night. I'm excited. PLEASE beat the Lakers. Oh my gosh, it's almost (almost) like watching the Jazz-Bulls games of the '90s. The sweet Jazz against the villain Lakers. Go Boozer, go Williams. These guys are good, but don't get much attention. I need them to stay with it.

DO IT FOR JOHN STOCKTON!

Roxy

Photo: Melissa Majchrzak, NBAE via Getty Images

Rhythm

We just can't get into a rhythm of winning games, Dear Roxy. We win 3 and lose 2. What's the matter?! I know we don't have Posada and A-Rod, among others, but we have to start winning some games, people!

Live update: The Yankees avoided a sweep by going deep four times against the Indians. That's what I'm talking about!

Speaking of the Yankees, as I was rushing out of my house this morning, I saw the GMA Robin Roberts' interview with Jeter and A-Rod regarding breast cancer. MLB will be using pink bats on Sunday to raise awareness for this disease. Great cause!

Congrats to Carlo Gomez from the Twins for hitting for the cycle.

And congrats to Alfredo Amezaga for being #1 on SportsCenter's 10 Ten Plays last night... he had an amazing catch in center field at last night's game!

Apparently, it's all about Jeter today. Enjoy the pics!

-Criss

Photos: ABC News; Kathy Willens, AP; Answer Man

Has Anybody Seen Pedroia's Hair? (It Looks Like This.)

Good God! Mother of pearl, I had no idea about that Yankee fan killing the Red Sox fan. That is the saddest story ever. Oh my gosh, I just can't even deal with how ridiculous that was. They donated his organs. People need to chill. Chill, chill, chill. No one should be dying over baseball. No one. There are some Web sites that think this was a good thing, that it was funny. Tell your people to chill.

Deep breath. And exhale.

So I'm watching Detroit-Red Sox (and Dancing with the Stars), Dear Criss, and I was thinking, What baseball needs are a few football rules, like "incomplete." How about if a person catches the ball, but it's shaky, and he doesn't have control of the ball when his knees touch the ground, then it's not considered caught? Just think about it. It's actually a little funny to think about. Uh, oh. Matsuzaka just went into the dugout - or really, the locker room, looking like he was gonna mess it up real badly like a rock star drunk in a hotel room with the band. Francona and Farrell walked behind him.

Wait! Pedroia totally shaved his head. Oh no. There will be none of that, a la 2003. Some people (Pedroia) just look way too funny (Pedroia). I don't approve (Pedroia). This picture was just from last night. What happened? Did he lose a bet?

My boys swept Tampa Bay, and Brandon Moss went off to have an emergency appendectomy. Why not? Hello?!

Okay, I just saw the softball video. I mean, that just tugs at your heart, now. But what do they all share? The video cuts off. TELL ME!

Roxy

Getty Images

Following up on the story about sportsmanship, Dear Roxy, here's the link to ESPN's story on it. I can't seem to get enough of it. I even got goose bumps watching it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?&brand=null&videoId=3380875&n8pe6c=2

In other baseball news, the Yankees swept the Mariners this weekend! And Derek Jeter passed Joe DiMaggio for fourth place on the Yankees’ career list in runs scored, with 1,391. The names ahead of him: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle. Unbelievable.

The Marlins won 2 out of 3 against the Padres, including yesterday afternoon, denying Greg Maddux his 350th win! Sorry, Greg.

Congrats to Kobe on his first MVP.

And I still haven't watched any of the playoff games... And forget about hockey's!

Did you hear the story about the Kentucky Derby's horse that got second place but had to be euthanized after breaking both his ankles? Heartbreaking.

Oh, and a Yankee fan ran over and killed a Sox fan after an argument at a bar! Crazy. I promise not to do anything of that nature.

-Criss

Sportsmanship at its best

The Yanks are on a bad roll, Dear Roxy. They got swept by the fomer Marlins, now known as the Detroit Tigers. It was their first sweep at the Stadium since 1966!

Adding insult to injury, I just found out Brian Bruney's also on the DL, and Hughes has a broken rib that will keep him sidelined til July! Ouch.

And the new Roger story is that he also had an affair with John Daly's ex-wife! The soap opera continues...

On a feel-good story, two of Central Washington's softball players carried an injured Western Oregon player around the bases after she injured herself. Talk about great sportsmanship :)

-Criss

Photo: Blake Wolf, AP

Manny's a Bad Man ... And Knows It

Okay, Dear Criss, all I've got to say about the Roger thing is leave Mindy alone. She's just starting to get back on track after a rough last few years and doesn't need all this now. She's my gal, and you bet I have her CD and can sing all her greatest hits for you. I am so, so, so over everything Roger.

Is it true Posada and Purple Lips are out long term? The security guard at work made it sound like Posada was done for the season, but he exaggerates a tad.

I know we lost tonight, but the last few nights have been pretty fun against Toronto. Lots of heroics, Manny throwing his hat down and walking like he's a bad man, Varitek saving the game - I mean, why can't they televise this? No, I get the Tampa Bay games. Ooooh! And listen, lately, watching the highlights, I don't know who's playing because I don't recognize half the 16-18 year olds Francona's putting out there. But I'll take the W.

Roxy

Photo: Winslow Townson, AP

He sure did, Dear Roxy, and he was very good at it! He's such a good dancer... and being handsome doesn't hurt.

In other news, the Yanks are hurting - literally! Posada, A-Rod and Hughes are on the DL. With that said, the Yanks ended the month of April under .500. Ok, so it's one game, but still. I guess I can only laugh at the fact that your guys got swept by the Rays.

The Marlins are still in first place! It's exciting to see them play good baseball. Hopefully they'll continue this trend.

And what's with the new Roger Clemens' story. Is there any truth to that? I can't keep up anymore!

In basketball news, who's still playing? Please update me on this.

-Criss