My wife and I will inevitably have this exchange today

At one point today I will say “The Red Sox and the Yankees are starting soon.”

To which my wife will say “I thought they played yesterday.”

And I will say “They did. And they are playing again today.”

And she will ask “Why are they playing again?”

And I will answer “Because they play 3 games series with each other.”

And she will shake her head and say “They should just play one game. It’s too confusing.”

This exchange has happened every single time the Red Sox and Yankees have played during our nearly 7 years of marriage.

And we’ll have the same conversation TOMORROW when the Sox and Yankees play again.

You would think she would have detected a pattern by now.

(Actually it is a FOUR game series this time… I have a feeling Monday will spark an even more confusion.)

The Birds should have hired Showalter back in April

The Orioles were supposed to be that welcoming sight on the schedule. Camden Yards was a spa where all woes of a losing streak could go away.

In other words, the Orioles have sucked for so long that beating them in a series was always a foregone conclusion and down right awful when they would sneak a game or two.

Or at least that is what the Desperate to get their act together Angels and trying to put distance between them and their closest team White Sox are probably thinking.

But the O’s swept the Angels, ending any realistic playoff hopes and now the White Sox lost in extra innings.

Is this REALLY what Buck Showalter can do for a team?

They can go from joke to unbeatable after one week?

Back in June when Dave Trembley was fired and replaced by Juan Samuel on an interim basis, I said they could bring back John McGraw and this team would still lose 100 games.

Maybe that is the goal. Have this team avoid 100 losses.

After tonight, they will have to go 27-26 over their last 53 games in order to stay at 99 losses.

Granted, that’s not exactly the most inspirational goal for a team, but this team needs to take baby steps.

And so far so good in the Showalter era.

Adam Wainwright… Cy Young front runner?

It seems like Ubaldo Jimenez has been the front runner for the Cy Young Award for so long that it almost seemed silly to look at other candidates.

And then suddenly we all looked up and Josh Johnson somehow passed him on the radar.

Well now it is looking more and more like Wainwright is the one to vote for.

Last night he threw another complete game shutout (he is second in the league for both complete games and shutouts to Roy Halladay)… which gives him 16 wins (second to Jimenez’s 17 wins) an ERA of 2.07 (second to Josh Johnson’s 1.96) a WHIP of 1.00 (second to Mat Latos’s 0.99) in 169 innings pitched (second to Roy Halladay’s 178).

(His 154 strikeouts puts him in third in the NL… it was almost so perfectly lined up.)

Being #2 in so many categories should put him #1 in the Cy Young vote… at least at this juncture.

Now a dominating August and September could put Jimenez back on top… or Johnson… or even Halladay.

Wainwright already has the ultimate team highlight… clinching the 2006 World Series. Now to snag the top individual achievement.

He’s in second place so many times that he might have to be in first.