Opinion

It is a good thing the Rays play the Yankees for a four-game series next week at Yankee Stadium.

After watching three exhilarating games between both teams at Tropicana Field this week, baseball can not have enough of both teams facing each other.

It may not be Yankees-Red Sox, but Yankees-Rays is anything but unwatchable. If anything, Yankees-Rays is better than watching that age-old rivalry.

This past week, Major League Baseball witnessed one of the best three-game, going-for-the-division slug fests in history.  Three one-run games.  Two extra inning games.  Cy Young caliber pitching.  Heavy hitting.  Seven lead changes.

The New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays clash featured playoff-caliber baseball, a preview of next week's four game set in New York, and a preview of the potential ALCS opponents. 

The New York Yankees need to turn around this horrid road trip.

The usually easy wins against the Baltimore Orioles are a thing of the past, as the Bombers visit the most-improved team at Camden Yard this weekend for three games.

New York Yankees starting pitcher AJ Burnett will take the mound. Burnett has been a mess this season.

Let's get one thing straight shall we fair readers?

New York Yankees star Derek Jeter’s on-field performance the other night against the Tampa Bay Rays has definitely caught the eye of the sports world.

In case you missed Jeter’s trickery, just click HERE to watch it.

Derek Jeter is loved by many and hated by more. No matter what he does, there are still going to be people who hate him and people who love him.

On Wednesday night, a Chad Qualls fastball ran inside on the Yankees captain, and Jeter spun around, acting as if he was hit by the pitch. However, the replay showed that the ball hit the bat and missed Jeter entirely.

APPRECIATING RAUL

Raul Javier Ibanez won't draw any NL MVP votes this year, and he may not even be in the top five of the Phillies' team MVP vote, but the Phils' left fielder should be commended for his 2010 season.

His numbers, at first glance, are not extraordinary. In fact, they're rather pedestrian. Okay, bad idea...on to the next story.

But wait—there's more.

He is, to me, the only likable Yankee—Curtis Granderson excluded.

There's no profundity in hating the New York Yankees, I realize that.

"It ain’t over ‘til it’s over." Who said that? Was it Yogi Berra?

There is so much truth in those six words.

Ask Mike Weaver who knocked out Heavyweight champion John Tate (may he rest in peace) with seconds to go in the fight after trailing badly on all score cards.

Ask the 1993 Houston Oilers who led the Buffalo Bills 35-3 early in the second half, only to lose 41-38 in overtime.

For Ozzie Guillen, it's deja vu all over again.

The White Sox skipper has had this nightmare before. He wakes up sweating, mumbling "Gardy, no," over and over. He gets up, showers, starts to feel better about himself, then grabs the morning paper and realizes it was no dream. Ron "Gardy" Gardenhire has once again done it to him.