Rumours of the Yankees impending demise, however fondly wished for, have possibly been exaggerated. Probably because they were so fondly wished for. Alex Rodriguez is having a fabulous season. Chien-Ming Wang is looking like a good rookie-of-the-year candidate. The Bombers still have some big problems (team defense, inconsistent starters, getting the ball to Rivera), but they still have some pretty big strengths to play with as well. For example, which leadoff hitter is leading the AL in runs scored? Is it all-star Johnny Damon? Is it all-star Scott Podsednik? No, it's Derek Jeter. Who, apparently, isn't an all-star this year. Despite being, arguably, a better leadoff hitter than either of them. (His comment: "Every year, there are people on other teams who are pretty deserving. I've been on when others have deserved it.")

PLAYER	        TEAM   AB  R  H   2B 3B  HR  RBI  SB  CS  BB  BAV  OBP  SLG  OPS
Derek Jeter      NYY  332 68 103  12  2  11   37  10   4  40 .310 .395 .458 .853
Johnny Damon     Bos  338 65 116  23  5   4   42   9   1  26 .343 .387 .476 .863
Scott Podsednik  CWS  273 48  80  13  0   0   17  43   9  33 .293 .368 .341 .708

Jeter and Damon are very close indeed. Park effects? Jeter and Damon are both hitting a hundred points better at home than on the road. And Fenway is still one of the league's best hitter's parks, and the Stadium is still one of the league's better pitcher's parks. The best lead-off hitter in the majors has actually been Brian Roberts, of course.

The Braves, the Braves, the Braves... there are simply things that surpasseth the limits of human understanding. Last night they became the third team in the NL and fifth in the majors to win 50 games. Danny Kolb got the win in relief, with his fourth straight scoreless appearance. That's the first time Kolb has put together that many good outings since early May.

From the beginning of his managerial career, Bobby Cox has always loved to play the kids - he doesn't want them on the bench, he wants them on the field. Winning. Last night Andy Marte (21 years old) was at 3B, Jeff Francouer (21) in RF, and Kelly Johnson (23) in LF; Ryan Langerhans (25) drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 9th. Johnny Estrada is 29, which made him the oldest player in the lineup last night - he's older than Andruw, Giles, Furcal, everyone except for the immortal Julio. (Franco doesn't count. He's special!) The Braves future is here, now. Other teams rebuild, and do some losing while they're at it. Not these guys.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, are busy discovering how many players can go down at once and just how many strange and interesting ways it can happen. The latest injury, of course, occurred when LH Kelly Wunsch came in to face Todd Helton with two men on base in a tie game. Alas, Wunsch sprained his ankle while warming up. RH Franquelis Osoria had to come in and promptly gave up the game-winning homer. Wunsch will have surgery and his season is over.

Meanwhile, in San Diego, Mark Loretta of the Padres is beginning a rehab assignment: Loretta and Adam Eaton should both be back in a couple of weeks. It's over, I tell you!

Other news: both Jon Garland and Dontrelle Willis were denied their 14th win yesterday: both fall to 13-4. Oakland beat the White Sox in the series-opener in Chicago after taking two of three from them in Oakland last weekend.

On the first of May, Barry Zito was 0-4, 6.60 - at that point, he decided he needed another pitch and started throwing the slider he had abandoned early on in his minor league days. In May he went 1-2, 3.49; in June he went 3-2, 3.05; and so far in July he's 1-0, 2.25. Since May 1, he's 5-4, 3.18 in 85 IP; he's struck out 60 and allowed 66 hits and 34 BB. He's still younger than Mulder and Hudson; he's still never missed a start in his career.

Finally, Jamie Moyer won the 200th game of his career last night, and congratulations are in order. Needless to say, no one regarded this as even a remote possibility for the longest time. From his page at baseball-reference.com

November 13, 1990: Released by the Texas Rangers.
October 14, 1991: Released by the St. Louis Cardinals.
March 30, 1992: Released by the Chicago Cubs.

Moyer's won 166 games since turning 30, and he becomes the fourth active LH with 200 wins. Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson, and David Wells are the others.

Today's schedule:

AL
Boston (Miller 2-2, 4.94) at Baltimore (Chen 6-5, 4.06) 1:15
Cleveland (Elarton 5-3, 4.79) at New York (Sturtze 2-1, 3.94) 4:05
Detroit (Johnson 5-7, 3.87) at Tampa Bay (Nomo 5-7, 6.80) 6:15
Oakland (Zito 5-8, 4.07) at Chicago (Buehrle 10-2, 2.58) 7:05
Minnesota (Mays 5-3, 3.84) at Kansas City (Howell 1-3, 7.77) 7:10
Toronto (Downs 0-0, 5.40) at Texas (Rogers 9-4, 2.45) 8:05
Seattle (Franklin 4-10, 4.44) at Los Angeles (Lackey 6-3, 4.07) 10:05

NL
Los Angeles (Weaver 7-7, 4.43) at Houston (Oswalt 11-7, 2.44) 1:15
Washington (Patterson 3-2, 3.16) at Philadelphia (Lidle 8-6, 3.92) 1:15
St.Louis (Morris 10-1, 3.17) at San Francisco (Rueter 2-7, 5.48) 4:05
Chicago (Wood 1-2, 5.30) at Florida (Olsen 1-0, 3.55) 6:05
Milwaukee (Sheets 4-6, 3.49) at Atlanta (Davies 4-2, 4.05) 7:05
New York (Ishii 2-7, 5.50) at Pittsburgh (Williams 6-6, 4.37) 7:05
San Diego (Lawrence 5-7, 4.34) at Colorado (Jennings 4-8, 5.59) 8:05
Cincinnati (Claussen 4-6, 3.64) at Arizona (Webb 8-5, 3.36) 9:40