Jinx?

The Yankees have been on national TV twice. Twice I have watched them. Twice they have gotten their butts kicked. I'm a little worried about watching Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

I'm not going to linger long on this disaster of a game, so just a few observations. Damaso Marte made a mistake throwing to third on Francisco's bunt, but I can live with that. He's trying to be aggressive and get the lead runner. What I cannot live with is Marte's lollipop throw to third. He might have gotten the out at third had he fired the ball over there, but he floated it, and Peralta beat it easily. Throw like a man.

It's been a pleasure hearing Bob Costas and Jim Kaat doing the game today. Costas is a legendary baseball broadcaster, and Kaat is a first-rate analyst. It was a privilege to have his insight on Yankee telecasts over the last 15 years or so. Harold Reynolds, however, is better off in the studio, and Hazel Mae is better off pretty much anywhere that's not behind a microphone. Could someone please tell her she doesn't have to refer to the pitcher's mound as the "bump" every time.

This will be the first season since I started watching baseball that I will not be able to watch the Yankees night in and night out. I'm not going to spendn $200 on the MLB package on DirecTV. I'm not saying it's an unfair price, but I just can't spare it right now. And I'm not about to watch the Red S*x every night, because that will just make me mad. Instead, I'm going to become a connoisseur of nationally televised games -- which will help me in my long-overdue return to the world of fantasy baseball. I also will follow the Yankees via newspaper accounts and box scores online. I believe this makes me a spiritual descendent of our baseball-loving forefathers, for whom the reading of newspaper box scores was enough to know what was going on around the sport.

So far, I'm enjoying this new paradigm. Then again, I don't fully immerse myself in baseball until after the Stanley Cup Finals, or certainly not until the Rangers are eliminated. Go ahead and snicker if you want. Those of you who do not appreciate the Stanley Cup playoffs have completely missed some of the best competition sports has to offer.

Speaking of the Rangers, that was surely an exciting win for them last night, but I'm not sure I should get used to it. The Rangers will score goals, because Washington's defense is slow-footed and Theodore is a shadow of his former self. Then again, maybe this 20-year-old Varlamov is the next rookie goalie to come out of nowhere and dominate. Tell me you can't see that happening.

But they can't allow another seven-power-play, Alex Ovechkin shooting gallery. Lundqvist was great last night, but to ask him to stand up to that kind of attack three more times is unrealistic for him or any other goalie.

The next one of these "the money you could be saving by switching to Geico" commercials to be even a little bit funny will be the first.

I guess I should be writing about the Stadium. But I'm not there. I'll hold off until I get my chance to check it out.

On to Game Two of the new Yankee Stadium. LET'S GO YANKEES!