Happy Fourth of July

I know this is a day late on the title but such is the life of a dad with a nine week old.....congrats to the best closer EVER Mariano Rivera on save # 500 last Sunday night (ironic proof of his greatness when another pretender to his throne, K-Joke, walked him with the bases loaded.....hillarious) here is the link to a great article on SI.com talking about Rivera....I did not know he had Tommy John surgery in 92....I do remember watching both him and Andy Pettitte make their debuts in Anaheim in 1995...thank goodness John Wettlend took the money from Texas during the winter of 96.....how did that work out for both sides???? Nice work by Rodger Federer this am....Andy Roddick put up a good fight but I have to admit the 5th set got boring until Federer got to 15-30 and some drama came in....credit to both players with some big shots....Federer at one point down 15-30 on his serve in the fifth set and fired three striaght aces.....SI might want to recosider this article from the middle of May talking about how Nadal had passed Federer.....you might want to make sure the number one is truly done before you bury him.....glad to see the Islanders took the young scorer with thier first pick....not sure about the rest of the draft though....sounds like they traded up to get a defensemen who was not as good as some that went after him.....drafting two goalies and the signing of Dwayne Roloson leads one to wonder about the future of Rick DiPietro....as for the local nine the D-backs have committed some brutal errors in the last week (though the Mets pitcher trying to kick save an errant throw to home plate last night against the Phillies was pretty funny) but the manager suggesting dropped balls were the effect of "trying too hard" was insulting.....I know one does not want to call out his players in the media but to insult the fans by saying they were not errors by lack of effort is dishonest and pretentious.....just do not comment if you cannot tell the truth....and as for Justin Upton, the right fielder, faking a ball toss to the fans because he was mad at being booed, try using two hands when you catch the ball and you might not get booed....now their infielder Mark Reylods laid into the team Friday night and I applaud him for telling the truth, that too many guys were not trying....and not into the game mentally....however I would not have said, if I were him, that he was out their busting everyday when he made one of the glaring errors last Sunday, but at least he was honest at calling out some effort......too bad for Tyler Hnasborough that he had to go to Indiana....I was hoping he would fall far enough to get to a good team....thanks to the Red Sox for giving away the 8-0 advantage they have over the Yankees this season.....and to Seattle for not rolling over this weekend at Fewway.....as for the Yankees as from the mid-90's teams the pitching is leading the way...kudos to Burnett for turning it around after he got blown out of Fenway.....Joba needs to go back to the pen....Andy Pettitte leading the team in wins....Derek Jeter the MVP he has always been.....a couple fo gripes with Girardi....how has Robison cano continued to bat 5th with both Posada AND Matsui in the line-up astounds me.....yesterday he batted six times with a runner on bas and made out all six times....including a bunt !?!?!?!! on 3-0 with the winning run on second in the 12th inning with NO ONE out (the look on Mark Texeria's face as he is thrown out at third is priceless)....why if Cano is in the line-up is he not batting 8th or 9th is beyond me....get his head on straight before he moves back up the lineup......as for Phil Hughes....LEAVE him the game....I can understand taking hime out for Mariano in the 9th but if he mowing people down in the 7th let him pitch the eigth too...gee whiz is it that hard to figure out it is about getting outs.....hard to quibble with them over all over the last week and a half.....is Ron Artest to the Lakers a repeat of Dennis Rodman to the Bulls....the question is will Kobe use Artest the way Jornan used Rodman.....Gillette has to be thrilled today, Federer sets the grand slam record, Jeter hits the game winning home run and Tiger on his way to a tournament win.....will their body care products sell and more????.....any comments are welcome....