www.pinstripedbible.com

Lost amidst the Curtis Granderson three-homer fireworks and the media aftermath last night was the fact that Phil Hughes actually won a ball game. It didn't look pretty on paper. The Yankees won 7-6 and needed the Holy Trio - Rafael Soriano, David Robertson and Mariano Rivera - to preserve the win and prevent what could have been a near-shocking humiliation: losing 3 of 4 at home to the Minnesota Twins.

So, I guess, Phil Hughes is something of a hero. The line wasn't great - 5.1 innings, 6 hits, 6 runs, 2 walks, and 4 Ks - but it wasn't terrible, especially since only two of the runs were earned. The problem is that it took him 104 pitches to deliver 16 outs. Still, compared to Hughes' 0-2, 9.00 ERA going into his third outing, it was nearly Clemens-esque.

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www.noahunt.org

In case you're wondering why the U.S. Government is still pressing a case against Roger Clemens, think about it this way: years of work and millions upon millions of dollars have gone into investigations that have so far resulted in Barry Bonds being confined to his home for six months - and even that sentence is on appeal - and Lance Armstrong's case being discontinued (when that happens, the only explanation is that the prosecution knows it has nothing).

What it comes down to is Roger Clemens being the Feds' last chance to justify all the time -- and taxpayers' money -- that has gone into this ridiculous investigation. As Alan Dershowitz put it two nights ago on CNN, "Having gone this far after all that has happened, the government has to win the Clemens case. But they have to win fairly." Which means no more dirty tricks like the one they tried last summer when prosecutors played a tape, in which Democratic Maryland Representative Elijah Cummings made comments about Andy Pettitte's credibility, and reading an affidavit from Pettitte's wife, Laura, in which she said that her husband had told her that Clemens had confided in him about his use of human growth hormone.

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www.espn.com

Hiroki Kuroda

Any Yankees victory over the Los Angeles Angels is sweet, but this afternoon's 5-0 win was particularly sweet. No sooner did Albert Pujols say, in effect, that Opening Day at Yankee Stadium was "no big deal," Hiroki Kuroda went out and made a big deal out of it: 8 innings, 5 hits, 6 Ks, ZERO runs.

Kuroda -- age 27 and the latest National Leaguer to join the Yankees staff -- was regarded by many as the wild card in the rotation. Now, with C.C. Sabathia battling his weight, Michael Pineda out with inflammation of a shoulder tendon, Andy Pettitte warming up in the minors, and Phil Hughes wondering if his bright future is behind him, Kuroda looks like a treasure. And if he can pitch consistently close to the standard he set this afternoon, he'll be much more than a wild card: he'll be one of the aces.

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Check any sports page or web site today and you're bound to find some story to the tune of "The Biggest Question Marks For The Yankees." Sample: "Can Mariano continue to defy age?" and "How long can Derek Jeter continue to play shortstop?" and "Can A-Rod avoid injury and get back on track?" and "Can Mark Teixeira raise his batting average from the left side of the play (.224)?"

There's one question I don't see being asked that I think is at least if not more important: Is David Robertson for real?

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Though it didn't make anyone's sports headlines in a week of Bobby Valentine's smart-offs and the return of Jeremy Lin, what might turn out to be the biggest sports news of all is the exciting progress (measured in the increasing velocity of that once-fearsome slider, now up to 94-95 mph) of Joba Chamberlain down in Tampa.

After the 2007 hysteria when Joba burst into the majors, he was the toast of New York and the heir apparent to either Roger Clemens or Mariano Rivera, depending on the route the front office chose for him. (The office could never quite decide). And does anyone remember now that back then, we were bombarded with Native American puns and jokes about him (Joba is part Winnebago Indian) -- just like the fortune cookie crap we've seen about Lin over the past few weeks?

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I was going to say something about the Ryan Braun mess, but Murray Chass already said it for me. Chass, as you should know, was with the New York Times for 39 years before taking a buyout in 2008. He has now been blogging for over three years, though I would not call it that. Chass has simply continued to write his old column, which is so far above the level of what is generally called blogging as to be a higher category altogether. In fact, it's generally higher caliber than Chass wrote at the Times, if only because he no longer seems to be held back by the paper's corporate policy.

In his column, Chass has provided a superb summation of the press's near hysterical reaction over an arbitrator's decision to throw out Matt Braun's 50-game suspension for a positive drug test. Chass takes the Daily News, the Post and the Times to task, writing:

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commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Olsin.se

Why was there so little support for Jorge Posada as a Hall of Fame player in this week's sports press? The most common phrase was "borderline HOFer," which, as I recall, I've even used in this space over the years. But let's say it: Posada is a Hall of Famer, though perhaps he won't make it on the first ballot. But he'll make it.

Because he deserves it. Georgie was the second best catcher in baseball for most of his career, only behind Pudge Rodriguez -- if you factor in overall value, probably behind both Pudge and Mike Piazza for several years. But what's wrong with being the third best player at your position, especially when your position is the hardest to play and the hardest to find a good player for?

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America is great, indeed! Remember how terrible we all felt when Christian Lopez, the lucky guy who caught the ball knocked out of the park in Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit, was maybe going to have to pay a bunch of money -- $5,000 to $14,000 -- to the IRS, just because he was coordinated enough to catch said ball, and kind enough to return it? (And was then, in return, given memorabilia, luxury box tickets, and other Yankee goodness by the team?) Taxes ruin everything! Except that Miller High Life has seen fit to "do the right thing" in this instance and will pay Lopez's taxes for him.

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Outgoing New York Governor David Paterson, who leaves office on December 31, has been fined $62,125 by the state ethics commission for the complimentary 2009 Yankees World Series tickets he "solicited, accepted, and received." (He used the tickets for himself, two aides, his teenage son, and his son's friend). The five tickets each had a face value of $425 -- which means Paterson will be out $60,000 for this "conflict of interest." Paterson claimed he always meant to pay for the tickets, but his staff said differently. [via NYT]

Today, in sports news, New England tries to fire up their rivalries with our city. Tom Brady's least-favorite HBO show is apparently not Hung and Johnny Damon may end up resuming a legacy as something New York City doesn't have to have nuanced feelings for and yet again allows us to view him as something we can simply be annoyed with and pity Boston fans for.

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