Notes from a Yankee slaughterhouse

Man, that was as depressing of a game as we've had in a while. Some old elements like stranding numerous baserunners or leaving a starter in just one pitch too long crept back to the forefront last night. Not much to write about but here are some random thoughts
-It's ironic Ross Gload is the only one hitting with any consistency this series. The Fly(that's the name I've given to him as this man is right up there w/ Reche Caldwell at the top of the creepy bugeyes list) just wants to be noticed as he'd lost about 40 points off his average in the month since he's come of the DL while his team prospered and now has seven hits in a series where none of his battery mates are matching his efforts. Go figure.
-Sad day for Royals nation as Girls' night has finally arrived at the K, signaling the end of one of the most infectious silent promos in history. Yes, that's right, we will no longer see one of the happiest girls ever decked out in her pink Royals' attire with the monstrous grin lighting up the screen for an astounding 19 seconds. Surely they'll have to bring her back for backpack night or something after such a memorable performance. I've seen many smiles in my life but none as glowing or painfully staged as the one on this girl's face. A bright future awaits as she could definitely parlay this spot for a gig in a toothpaste commercial or at least a gleeful picture on a travel brochure. If she only had lines in this spot, i'm sure she could've given the Ovaltine kids a run for their money for sheer joy.
-Elarton was finally waived, putting him out of his misery for at least the rest of this season. Sad to see the whole thing happen because, despite being the worst pitcher in nearly seven years, Elarton sounded like a decent guy. The troubling thing was Buddy Bell said he talked to Scotty for nearly two hours. Two hours?? Wow. I'm not sure Vermeil put in that kind of time. That's pretty rarefied territory and borders on unhealthy when a coach/manager is that attached to a terrible player. Buddy is very loyal to his "guys" and I think it affects his judgment as Scotty made about six starts too many. LaRue and Gload have received similar treatment as our loyal manager is probably very close with them as well. No other way to explain their substantial playing time given their limited production.
-As much as I loathe Bob Davis and believe me I do, he clearly wants this team to win badly. When John Buck twice stranded two baserunners, he could barely get the calls out with his voice lowering considerably with each rally-killing out. Have to respect a TV announcer for risking his credibility to be that loyal. Maybe he's just beginning to suck up to the higher-ups so they'll allow him to keep his job next year as the coverage shifts to Fox Sports Midwest.
-I think Billy Butler may be a closet hot-head. Being seemingly composed for a 21-year old, the grind of a whole month in the big leagues may be taking its toll. Twice in three games, he's nearly been tossed by an umpire for arguing clear strikes. Saturday he had to be restrained for his behavior after grounding out then snapping at the home plate umpire about a called strike two pitches ago. That was strange enough but Tuesday he did it again for a called third strike in the middle of the plate. To cap off his week of mental frustration, he decided to go from first to third on a routine single to center and getting thrown out by five feet, nearly nullifying Grudz's run. Not a good week upstairs for our young clean-up man. Could be water under a bridge but I hope not, we could use one of these young guys to be a bit of a character. Gordon and Shealy seem like stiffs out there so seeing Mike Sweeney's fat kid brother going off for nearly no reason is somewhat comical.