And Then the Sun Shone Brightly

Beautiful day in the neighborhood after last night's monsoon. The Yankees fucked over their fans again by not calling the game until around 7 p.m.. That's NOT how you treat your customers. The game will be made up sometime in June, possibly as part of a day-night, two stadium doubleheader when the teams have a series at Shea.

Darrell Rasner's turn will be skipped so it will be Andy Pettitte facing fellow lefty Johan Santana this afternoon. Sunday night will now have Oliver Perez against Chien-Ming Wang, which is unfortunate because a John Maine vs. Wang match up would be a lot more exciting. Throw in the fact that the Yankees aren't getting any production against left-handers and you would rather face Maine even though he's a lot better pitcher than Perez.

Jorge Posada, Bobby Abreu, and Mets catcher Brian Schneider were at Mickey Mantle's restaurant yesterday to promote their charity driven wine labels. Posada is making good progress, but will not rush himself back even though the Yankees are hurting as much as he was.

"I'm going to be smart about it. ... I want to be back and I want to be healthy for the long run," said Posada..."

"I'm getting there," he added. "I'm really eager to get back. I feel good. I'm progressing. Every day is a different thing and so far it's been good."

Posada also had no problem with Boss Jr.'s recent outburst.

"He's saying the truth," Posada said. "He wants to win. There's nothing wrong of your owner wanting to win. So it's a matter of us really coming through and performing the way we need to."

Abreu agreed.

"We just have to go out there and do it," said Abreu. "You always have pressure. You just have to go out, do your job and help the team win."

Though the fans still get pumped up for the series, the impact isn't quite the same, especially for the Yankees that have been around a while. Andy Pettitte is one such player.

"Am I excited about it anymore? Not really, no," Pettitte said. "It's exciting for the fans, you get great crowds and the fans are into it. But as far as for me, it's not that exciting anymore."

Pettitte's more concerned about his poor pitching of late.

"Obviously I'm not happy at all with the way I pitched in my last start," said Pettitte, who left that game trailing 5-0. "And I'm definitely not happy working only four innings. Really, for me, that's unacceptable."

Here's to turning things around starting today.

Pettitte and Derek Jeter were among the players who praised Willie Randolph and hoped he survives the recent firing rumors.

"Obviously, I know him well and I wish him nothing but the best, so you never want to hear somebody might lose their job," Pettitte said yesterday before the Subway Series opener was rained out. "I hope that nothing like that would happen to him or his family."

"It's always tough on the manager. He doesn't pitch. He doesn't hit," Posada said. "The same lineup is going to be put out there by the next manager and every five days it's the same starting pitcher. It's tough to do the job. People take him for granted."

Jeter who has been buds with Randolph for a long time was even more emphatic in his backing of Willie.

"I don't see how people make such a big deal out of teams 40 games into a season. That always baffles me," Jeter said. "It's always baffled me how people write how a team's underachieving and this and that and you have 120 games left in a season. I guess that's my reaction to it. Not just 'cause it's Willie. It's 'cause it's anybody."

Said Jeter, "Willie was fun to be around. He likes to work. He's easy to talk to. He's played here in New York. He's managed in New York. He's coached in New York. He's been in the front office in New York. So he's pretty much been doing everything, so in terms of experience, you really can't get any more experience, especially in New York City, than Willie."

Unfortunately, Randolph has gotten the ill-fated "Vote of Confidence" from GM Omar Minaya.