needs must when the devil drives

jorge posada: he broke his left hand. that's a question for him to answer, eh? ask me about the game.
sweeney murti: his not being available could effect this team for a long time, is that --
jorge posada: ask me about the game.

Brown vowed that he would make his next start against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Wednesday at the Stadium. He will wear a protective device under the glove on his left hand and will continue to try to put a shine on a season that has annoyed him. [ ny times]

against tampa bay, huh? heaven forfend you miss a start against the only team you've been able to consistently shut down. jackass. anyway. they've come this far largely without him, and they'll move ahead without him if they have to.

as torre said, there is more to this game than just one person. my mom sagely reminded me that as fans we've been really spoiled (not just with the winning, which actually hasn't spoiled SOME of us, which we also had a nice conversation about, but that's another entry) with the professional quality of people that have come through the yankee clubhouse in recent years: "i remember when david justice came i had doubts about how he'd do here. he seemed like such a jerk with the braves. but he changed. most of them do. kevin brown didn't change. we're not used to that."