CC Sabathia

The Yankees finally go back to playing night games as they try to end their two-game losing streak tonight against the Orioles with CC Sabathia on the mound. Sabathia is going for his 20th win of the season.

Here are some notes:

The dog days of summer are waning, and the cooler drier air of fall is not far away.

With fewer than 26 games remaining for the playoff contending teams of the American League, there are still a couple of questions that need to be answered.

Who will win the American League East?

Can the Chicago White Sox catch the Minnesota Twins?

With MVP candidate Josh Hamilton out of the line up and Cliff Lee missing a start, are the Texas Rangers in a free fall?

Yesterday, Josh Hamilton ran into a wall chasing down a fly ball.  Today, it was confirmed that he would be out indefinitely. So what does that mean for the other MVP hopefuls like Robinson Cano, Miguel Cabrera, and possibly even CC Sabathia?

The year 2010 has been the year of the pitcher in Major League Baseball. It is filled with no-hitters and perfect games, from very different pitchers all throughout the league. 

Last year, Zack Greinke surprised us all by having a 3 under ERA, and earning 15 wins even with low run support. 

This year, only two pitching candidates are veterans, and one is only 24 years old (guess who it is)!

This has certainly been a surprising and exciting season thus far, and this discussion gives us another reason to love baseball.

As the title says, my question is, is it possible for Yankee fans to hate CC Sabathia?

One of the more annoying aspects of 21st century baseball fandom has come by way of the dreaded stat geek.

You probably think I'm going down the route of "The RBI is the only stat that matters", "VORP is only for loners and dudes who really hate the Discovery Channel", or some other get-off-my-lawn type rant, but you'd be mistaken.

It may be all over except for the crying.

With eight innings of one-hit ball on Thursday afternoon against the Oakland Athletics, C.C. Sabathia has become the front-runner for the AL Cy Young Award, and he may have even clinched it.

Why?

Well, I'll tell ya.  C.C. Sabathia will be the 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner because . . . 

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In baseball, as in life, predicting the future is exceedingly difficult. Six years ago, when Cubs right-hander Greg Maddux took his long-reserved place in baseball's venerated 300-win club, pundits across the sports talk universe wondered aloud whether another man would ever reach that milestone.

Two years and 363 days later, however, Maddux's longtime teammate Tom Glavine reached the plateau as well. The rumblings grew louder: Tim Kurkjian and Peter Gammons, then the dynamic duo of ESPN baseball coverage, declared the club all but closed for the remainder of baseball eternity.

NOTE: team and player statistics updated through Monday morning, August 23 11:00 AM CT
 
1. New York Yankees (77-47)
As every week goes by, I’m believing more and more that the Yankees are going to be the ones to take the AL East once again. And with C.C. Sabathia holding a strong 17-5 record with a 3.02 ERA and 151 strikeouts to this point, I say we have a new favorite for the AL Cy Young Award.

2. Tampa Bay Rays (76-48)

A story in today's New York Post quotes CC Sabathia after his 17th win yesterday, "I'm here," Sabathia said. "Hundred percent."

Sabathia is referring to the clause in his contract to opt-out after next season. CC was not sure he or his family would like the hustle of New York, and being Californians, wanted the option to go back to the west coast.