Bill with Jessi Ewer. She looks very relaxed and comfortable holding on to that big pinkie finger!

Hello,

This week we are catching up on how my favorite teams are doing. Second priority are the New York Yankees.

The Yankees will open up their 2008 season on Monday when they host the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees have a new manager, Joe Girardi. They have two new pitchers in their starting rotation, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. They will be joining Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina.

The bullpen looks strong, led by closer Mariano Riveria and young pitching sensation, Joba Chamberlain. The rest of the bullpen has the potential to be one of the strongest in the major leagues. The every day lineup, led by Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Bobby Abreu should have good results again this year.

The success of the Yankees will once again depend upon a solid balance of good pitching, good defense and timely hitting.

Summed up, if the pitchers and offense have a good day, the Yankees will win on that day. If they both have bad days, the Yankees will lose that day. If the pitching is bad on a particular day, the Yankee bats, as they've done in the past, can out slug it's opponents and win. The big difference this year with the Yankees will occur when they have good pitching and the hitting is off. The new manager should have his offense being able to manufacture some runs through timely hits, base running, bunting and small ball strategy.

All in all, it should be another seven months of exciting Yankee baseball. I am really looking forward to watching this team this summer.

Have a fun day,

Bill