NEW YORK -- They could have tossed aside their mittens and shunned their wool coats, that's how blistering hot the cozy confines of the new Yankee Stadium felt now that CC Sabathia had everything under control. It's been quite awhile since this corner of the Bronx has rocked with so much confidence and rolled with such delightful expectations, but that's what happens when the ace doesn't sweat.
Up on their feet, banging whatever or whoever stood near, tens of thousands of Yankee fans rose as one and emptied their lungs in rapturous unison: CC! CC! CC! It wasn't just that Sabathia was blowing through Angel hitters with shocking ease; no, it was so much more. It was the eighth inning and he was still throwing ridiculous heat, his fastball kissing the inside corner of the plate, his slider hypnotizing the batters from Southern California until it looked as if they were swinging at the big lefty's stuff with greased-up surfboards.
But besides his fine season -- 89 runs scored, 96 RBI, .823 OPS -- Abreu seems to have passed on his patience at the plate to the rest of his Angels teammates.
"He's got the younger players understanding patience isn't a bad thing," Chone Figgins told FanHouse. "It's not about not being aggressive, but being patient, getting a pitch to hit. There's nothing wrong with being 1-1 and hitting, or 1-2, or 2-2.
"It's not something simple to do, but I think we did a good job of it in spring training and have tried to bring it into the season and have so far done a good job."
BOSTON -- Mike Scioscia was perfectly happy to rip the men in blue for the Angels' loss to the Red Sox on Wednesday (and he had good reason to do so).
Torii Hunter preferred to question the men in red. Angels red.
"You don't change nothing because it's the Red Sox, or the Yankees, or whoever it may be," Hunter said after a 9-8 loss on two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning at Fenway Park. "You play nervous, you're going to make mistakes.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Andruw Jones had two shots at accomplishing baseball's hardest feat.
The four-homer night is rarer than hitting for the cycle or throwing a perfect game. It has happened just 15 times, most recently by Shawn Green in 2002. (There have been 17 perfect games.)
In the Rangers' 8-1 pounding of the Angels that put them back alone in first place in the AL West, Jones homered in his first three at-bats. But he popped up in the sixth and struck out in the ninth.
"I was thinking about it. I tried. I just didn't get it done," Jones said. "I'm just happy we won."
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That on the right night the minor leagues can be awfully interesting, even for someone who doesn't care at all about minor league baseball. Manny Ramirez batted leadoff Tuesday night for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, playing four innings and going 0-for-2 in his first rehab game since being suspended 50 games for a violation of Major League Baseball's drug policy.
Ramirez faced former Brewers starting pitcher Manny Parra in both at-bats. Parra, now pitching for the Nashville Sounds, is trying to work his way back to the majors as well after a woeful couple of months in the Milwaukee rotation. He went 3-8 with a 7.52 ERA in 13 starts there before getting demoted, but he was the hard-luck loser against Albuquerque, tossing seven innings of one-run ball. The Brewers could use another effective starter, that much is certain.
MLB Power Rankings:Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
So, quick apology on my part: the Power Rankings were supposed to go live Wednesday, but things happened, I'm a jerkstore, excuses, etc., and here we are. It's not Wednesday! So please note that the records reflect Wednesday -- not Thursday, not Friday, not Saturday. Don't freak out in the comments and call me names. Please. I can't take that in my fragile emotional state right now. I might turn into Raul Ibanez, at which point I would yell at you and then strain my groin. And that wouldn't be good for anyone.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Angels center fielder Torii Hunter, an early MVP candidate, was injured Monday night crashing into the center field fence at AT&T Park on an attempted catch.
X-rays of his right rib cage were normal. Hunter suffered a contusion to his ribs. He'll be re-evaluated on Tuesday.
"I'm a little sore," Hunter said. "That's the hardest I've hit the wall in a long time. ... I'll be all right. I'm not going on the DL. I don't think I'll play [Tuesday]. But I'll be back by Friday."
If Hunter is out for any length of time, the Angels would be without their best offensive player. Hunter was hitting .319 with 16 homers and 51 RBI, the latter two both team highs.
From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.
I think we can all agree that it's far too early to start voting upon who the best 2009 players are when it's only the middle of May. That being said, there are certainly some shining stars at this point who deserve some props. Plus, Major League Baseball recently released their All-Star ballots for our voting pleasure -- we vote on who will start the All-Star Game. If that's not important, I don't know what is. Let's take a gander.
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
If we define MVP (and let's face it, the definition is always subjective) as the player who came through when his team needed him most, then the AL MVP for April was Torii Hunter.
With cleanup hitter Vladimir Guerrero out with a strained pectoral muscle, Hunter moved up from fifth in the order to fourth – and hit eight homers in the month, 40 percent of the team's total and one shy of the franchise record for April.
Categorically Speaking is designed specifically for Rotisserie GM's. The information is great for all fantasy baseball formats, but for those of you who could use some help bolstering a specific roto category, this is for you. We're going to pay close attention to players who might be readily available on your waiver wire or who you might target in non-blockbuster trade talks.
So, your fantasy baseball team isn't doing so well, huh? We've all been there. Either your hitters are all cold at the same time or your pitchers are getting shelled. Nothing seems to be going right.
Look at the bright side. It's only the end of April. There are five good, solid months left for your team to recover. And, one of the ways to try and make that recovery is to focus on rotisserie categories that you may be deficient in.
If you know that you're getting killed in runs scored but doing well in the other categories, then it may be time to find some run scorers without hurting your other stat categories. The same can be said for each of the stat categories your league uses.
NEW YORK -- They could have tossed aside their mittens and shunned their wool coats, that's how blistering hot the cozy confines of the new Yankee Stadium felt now that CC Sabathia had everything under control. It's been quite awhile since this corner of the Bronx has rocked with so much confidence and rolled with such delightful expectations, but that's what happens when the ace doesn't sweat. 
Every Sunday, 
BOSTON -- 
Starting Five
MLB Power Rankings
SAN FRANCISCO -- Angels center fielder 
