Let give Giraldi one more chance..let see 2011 bring home..Happy Holidays 2011

Hey Heather, Piling irony atop irony, what you might want to do is target a game at the Stadium that's likely to have a light turnout--say, a midweek series vs. Baltimore or Toronto, or even vs. teams like the Rays and Rangers--and check out Stubhub as the game date approaches. Many season ticketholders will put those seats up for sale fairly early in the season because they have no intention of going to them, but use the money to recoup some of what they spend on their plans/postseason tickets. I realize it's difficult and nerve-wracking to make plans at the relative last minute when you're traveling from so far, but a week or so before the games, the cost of tickets will slowly drop in price, often significantly below face value. At that point, the sellers either have to unload them or take the total loss, and most would rather sell. There's still the ripoff Stubhub service fee to consider--something between ten and thirteen dollars, I think -- but if you use e-ticketing it's a little cheaper. Last season I actually bought decent tix to Yanks-Phillies during interleague from Stubhub for a very reasonable price. Just something to think about. NYC hotel rates are the worst. I d scouted out hotels for couple of friends who were on a tight budget and couldn't believe what they were charging. BUT . . . hotels are cheaper in the boroughs and across the bridge in Jersey. To be fair, the whole blackout thing really falls on Major League Baseball, as MLB sets those restrictions. What also happens is that local teams start kicking and screaming when an out-of-market team is seen as infringing on their territory, which they guard as closely as countries do their national borders. The Nats/Orioles were feuding viciously over broadcast turf before reaching a compromise, and there's a chunk of Connecticut that's been a bone of contention between Yanks/Sox for years. Hope you get to make it to the Stadium this year.

Hey Heather, Happy Holidays to you too . . . all's well at this end. I hated the Melky trade at first blush, I think for the same reasons as you (and a lot of people). Hard not to be fond of Melky, and harder to forget Vazquez's relief performance against the Red Sox in '04. BUT . . . after taking a deep breath, I had to admit to myself that it made sense. Vazquez and Kevin Brown were originally brought into the Yanks to fill the shoes of Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens. Bad, bad move. Now he's the #4 starter, which is a huge difference. On most staffs, he's a #2 or #3. When you look at the Yank rotation down the stretch last year, you have to give Girardi (and the bullpen he largely fashioned) a ton of credit for winning it all with essentially three reliable starters. You also have to give those three--especially CC and Pettitte, but Burnette as well--major props for pitching the Yanks to a championship. That was not likely to happen again, and I think Vazquez presents an excellent solution. As for Melky--hey, my friend and I used to call one of the plans we split our "Melky Plan" because the seats were out in left, which he originally patrolled. So I'll miss him. But I think he'd maxed out in terms of his potential, and has tended to fizzle down the stretch, including in the postseason. I don't believe that void in left will go unfilled. My gut tells me Damon still returns, and that we see him in combination with Gardner and others. The Mark DeRosa signing by the Giants may force the Yanks to start looking at Damon again . . . the keys will be whether he can wean himself off the Boras juice, and whether the Yanks (i.e. Cashman) can get past their ill will toward Boras. Have a great New Year! JP