AL East

"Batting sixth and playing first base, No. 14, Bill Skowron, No. 14."

Skowron stepped into the batter's box against the ace left-hander on the Yankee Stadium mound in the second inning of a scoreless game. There was a runner on second with one. The fans watched with eager anticipation.

The pitcher peered in to get the signal from his catcher, nodded assent and delivered. The "Moose" lined a base hit  to center field as the crowd let out a groan.

No, I didn’t misspell Cole Hamels' name. Although, if you only looked at their numbers, it would be hard to tell them apart.

Hamels is 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP and 30 strikeouts in 26 1/3 innings. Baltimore’s Jason Hammel is 3-0 with a 1.73 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP and 25 Ks in 26 innings.

Not bad for a 29-year-old journeyman with a career ERA of 4.88 and a WHIP of 1.45.

In January of this year, the New York Times ran a story that said the Yankees are saving now for a potential free-agency splash next winter.

Before the start of the 2012 season, the New York Yankees traded catcher Jesus Montero to the Seattle Mariners for pitcher Michael Pineda. I expected the Yankees to make a significant push for Yu Darvish after he was posted, but that didn't happen.

Pineda struggled to find his velocity in spring training and showed up overweight. Now he's been shut down for a while.

With the Boston Red Sox's bullpen basically still in shambles, moves need to start being made. The Boston relievers are among the worst in the league statistically, and Daniel Bard's week in the bullpen might not be a permanent move.

So who should Boston pursue for more help? Mike Gonzalez.

To the delight of many Red Sox fans across Red Sox Nation, we heard an announcement in the eighth inning of last night’s meeting against the Minnesota Twins: Daniel Bard was warming up in the bullpen.

Mickey Mantle won the Triple Crown in 1956, batting .353 with 52 home runs and 130 RBIs. My brother and I often heard some of our friends that didn't exactly root for Mantle or the New York Yankees claim that Mantle usually hit home runs when the Yankees were well ahead or far behind.

If you're a fan of the New York Yankees, the best way to show your allegiance is to wear a Yankees cap.

If you must, you can also boast about the team's 27 world championships. Just don't be surprised when your audience responds by rolling his/her/their eyes.

Maybe these things aren't enough for you. Maybe you don't want people to just see that you're a Yankees fan. Maybe you want people to be able to smell your Yankees fanhood.

Wait, what?

The Toronto Blue Jays have just about wrapped up the first month of the baseball season. There have already been ups and downs for several players, however if there was one thing they showed, it is that the game is never over.

May is a pretty big month for the Blue Jays. Teams are just starting to get settled in and this is their chance to live up to the hype and prove that they are a playoff team.

One of the opening weekend highlights of the ongoing TriBeCa Film Festival in New York was Saturday's outdoor screening of the new documentary Knuckleball!, which tells the stories of (to date) the last two professional pitchers to use the dancing, dazzling knuckleball as their primary weapon, Tim Wakefield and R.A. Dickey.