One is the loneliest number...

After last night's Yankee-Red Sox game last night that surely took a few years off my life, the Yankees magic number to make the playoffs is 1. More importantly the Yankees pull within a half game of the Rays for 1st in AL East. A couple of points from last night:

• Joe Girardi desperately wanted to win this game. After initially saying Dustin Mosely would start so they could skip Phil Hughes in the rotation. Then yesterday afternoon it was announced that Hughes would take the ball to star the game. Then he brought Mariano Rivera in to pitch for more than one inning for only the fifth time this season.
  
• Speaking of Mariano, he's struggling. In September he's thrown 10.2 innings, giving up 12 hits, 6 earned runs, 3 blown saves and a loss. Hopefully this is just one of those phases that Mariano goes through from time to time, but it's disconcerting that its happening in September.
  
• I don't usually like to curse on here, but the only thing Jonathan Papelbon does better than blowing saves in big games is whining like a bitch.

  "It was tough considering the fact that I was not only pitching against their lineup, I was also pitching against the ump. When you do that against this lineup, you are never going to be successful."

  He's talking about the 1-2 pitch to Tex, who eventually singled. But you know what Papelboner? Bad calls happen. You still had one out, and the chance to get A-Rod and Cano out, but you didn't. I hope the Red Sox don't re-sign him just so I don't have to listen to him anymore.

Read more...

Breathing Room

The Yankees have risen to the challenge the past two nights, giving them a 2.5 game lead over the Rays in the AL East, and lowering the magic number for a playoff birth to 3 after the Red Sox loss tonight.

Hughes came out and pitched a strong 6.1 and then Javy and Joba worked well out of the bullpen. They also gave Mariano a night off, so that's a plus.

Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway) I feel much better about the State of the Yankees today than I did on Sunday night. But, this is a four-game series, so the Yanks need another win to take the series, and I for one am not going to say "No" to a sweep.

Read more...

O's deny CC chance at 20th win; have chance for sweep tomorrow

So CC Sabathia still hasn't won 20 games in a season, because the Orioles offense came out and scored 3 runs before CC even got an out. So after winning 8 straight games, the Yanks have come out pretty flat against the O's these past couple days, and have now lost 3 in a row.

The Red Sox actually did the Yanks a favor last night by beating the Rays, but common decency can only last so long in Boston and they got crushed tonight. So Tampa Bay is now only 1 game behind the Bombers in the loss column with 23 games remaining.

This is how the Yankees schedule breaks down the rest of the way:

• 7 games vs. Tampa Bay
• 6 games vs. Boston
• 4 games vs. Baltimore
  
• 3 games vs. Texas
• 3 games vs. Toronto
  

The Yanks last series of the year is a 3-game set at Fenway Park, while the Rays play 4 in Kansas City against the Royals.

If the Yankees want to win the East, they obviously need to play well against the Rays, but if they keep playing like crap against bad teams, it's not going to help at all.

Read more...

Game 125: Yankees at Blue Jays

YANKEES (77-47)
Brett Gardner LF
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Eduardo Nunez SS
Ramiro Pena 3B
Francisco Cervelli C

RHP Ivan Nova (0-0, 0.00)

BLUE JAYS (64-59)
Fred Lewis LF
Yunel Escobar SS
Jose Bautista RF
Vernon Wells CF
Adam Lind DH
Aaron Hill 2B
Lyle Overbay 1B
Edwin Encarnacion 3B
Jose Molina C

RHP Brandon Morrow (9-6, 4.45)

Notes:

• Former Yankee (and Red Sox) was claimed off waivers by the Boston Red Sox today. The Tigers and Sox have 48 hours to work out a deal, and Damon also has a no-trade clause.
• Ivan Nova gets his first MLB start. He's pitched 3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen so far this year, but let's see what he's got against a good Blue Jays lineup.
• Let's hope things go better this time in Toronto.
  

Read more...

Hey Yankees, WAKE UP!

On the morning of August 1st, the Yankees were 66-37, and 2 games up and the Rays. Since then, the Yanks have gone 6-9, and are now tied with the Rays for first in the AL East.

Someone may have forgotten to tell the Yanks, but teams in the playoff hunt are supposed to play better in August and September. They haven't won a series since taking 3 of 4 against Cleveland at the end of July. They lost a 3-game series to the Rays before splitting series against the Red Sox and Rangers.

If the Yankees are going to make the playoffs, and repeat as World Series Champions, they're going to need to turn this slump around, and fast.

Read more...

To the Bronx...

I just realized I haven't posted since July 26th. I've been pretty much drowning in french fries and burgers since then so it's nice to enjoy a day off at the Stadium.

John and I will doing the reverse Benny trip tonight to see AJ Burnett take on Josh Beckett in what is sure to be a four and a half hour game. With Bad AJ showing up most of the time, and Beckett with his 5 plus ERA, this has all the makings of a 10-9 decision.

This is Yankees-Red Sox, so it still has a certain buzz about it. But the team I'm worried about is the Rays. Remember waaaaaaay back at the beginning of the season when I picked the Orioles to finish ahead of the Rays? Yeah, I should have put money on that; it would have been like buying BP stock on April 19. The Yanks are 27 games over .500, have a .624 winning percentage, and the best record in baseball, but are still only 1.5 games up in the standings. That means one bad series and the Yanks are looking up at the Rays. So the sooner the Yanks can get there bullpen going and Andy Pettitte back on the mound, the better.

I know I'll be doing some tweeting during the game, and John might be as well. So follow @jgeant and @jphealy. We'll see how many Boston "fans" get thrown out of the bleachers tonight.


SEE YA!

Read more...

Time To Put The Sox Away

I don't know about you, but I'm sick of the Red Sox just lingering around waiting to jump back into the race for the AL East. The Yankees begin a four-game series tonight with Boston and this series is far more important for the Red Sox than it is the Yankees because, essentially, the Red Sox season is on the line. So if the Yankees can take 3 of 4 that would be huge and basically putting the Red Sox away and not have to worry about them the rest of the way.

Javier Vazquez takes the mound tonight against Clay Buchholz to start the series off. I'll be out this evening so I will be spared the flashbacks of Vazquez's postseason moment against the Red Sox. But Vazquez has been better lately and they can definitely win tonight.

Here's the lineups:


Yankees

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Lance Berkman DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Brett Gardner LF

Red Sox

tba

Read more...

Uh-Oh...

AL East Standings
NY Yankees
66-39 .629
Tampa Bay
66-39 .629
Boston
60-46 .566 6.5

After losing two of three to the Rays, A.J. Burnett melted down in the fifth inning and the Yankees lost 8-6 to the Toronto Blue Jays. Meanwhile, the red-hot Twins and the American Idle himself (Carl Pavano) couldn't take care of the Rays, and both teams are in a dead tie for first place. The Red Sox lost 6-5 to the Indians, but still loom just 6.5 games back.

For the first time all season, I'm a little nervous about the Yankees. Burnett cannot, and I mean CANNOT, keep pitching like this. A-Rod needs to hit his 600th home run so he can just move on and stop worrying about it, and the Yankees desperately need Andy Pettitte back from the DL. The Rays are hot right now, the Red Sox are getting healthy, and even if the Yankees fall back and land the wild card, do you want them to face Cliff Lee and the Rangers in a five game series?

Tomorrow is the beginning of the race for the AL East. There are 57 games remaining. Out of the Rays and Yankees, whoever finishes with the best record over the next 57 games, wins the AL East and avoids Cliff Lee. Every game will be under the microscope until a playoff birth is clinched. It's time for the Yankees to find their identity this season and show us who they really are.

Read more...

The sport with the most parity...is baseball?

Since it's impossible to even watch the Weather Channel without hearing about NBA free agency, I'm going to promote the MLB a little bit right now.

John and I were talking about the salary cap in the NBA and how impossible it is to understand. And when you think about it, does it really work? Isn't the point of the salary cap to give teams an equal chance to win? Let's take a look.

NBA Championships since the 1999-2000 season

1. LA Lakers- 5 (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010)
2. San Antonio Spurs- 3 (2003, 2005, 2007)
3. 3 Teams tied with 1- Detroit Pistons (2004), Miami Heat (2006), Boston Celtics (2008)
   

Now take a look at the World Series Champs since 2000

1. 2 teams tied with 2- NY Yankees (2000, 2009), Boston Red Sox (2004, 2007)
2. 6 teams tied with 1- Arizona Diamondbacks (2001), Anaheim Angels (2002), Florida Marlins (2003), Chicago White Sox (2005), St. Louis Cardinals (2006), Philadelphia Phillies (2008)

So whenever the Yankees "buy a World Series" everyone complains that the MLB needs a salary cap. But is it worth overhauling the entire system if it's not even working in other sports?

Read more...

Game 39....maybe?

It doesn't look good right now as it's been raining all day and looks to continue to rain off and on the rest of the night. But if they do play, here's the lineups.

Yankees
Derek Jeter SS
Brett Gardner LF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Francisco Cervelli C
Marcus Thames RF
Juan Miranda DH
Randy Winn LF

LHP CC Sabathia

Red Sox
Scutaro SS
Pedroia 2B
Drew RF
Youkilis 1B
Martinez C
Ortiz DH
Beltre 3B
Hall LF
McDonald CF

RHP Beckett

That's Why It's the Greatest Rivalry: So yesterday I made a post about how I wasn't as excited for this Yankees-Red Sox matchup and that I thought it was losing its luster. Well that didn't take long to prove me wrong. Yesterday's game is one example of why these two teams are the greatest rivalry in sports. It doesn't matter where they are in the standings, these two teams desperately want to beat each other no matter how they do it and yesterday's game was the exact definition of a Yankees-Red Sox game. You just don't know what you're going to get when they face each other.
Battle of Aces?: CC Sabathia has done a very good job at continuing to be the Yankees ace this season. Josh Beckett for the Red Sox....not so much. Beckett has struggled this season with a 1-1 record and 7.46 ERA.
Make Joe West Proud: With rain in the forecast, the Yankees and Red Sox should make Joe West proud and get this game in as quick as possible (if there's a window to play) so they don't have to make it up later in the season.


UPDATE 7:42: Jim here. the tarp is apparently off the field and first pitch is scheduled for 8 PM. Outfielder Greg Golsen was optioned to AAA and Mark Melancon was recalled to help the depleted bullpen.

As usual, we'll be on the Twitter accounts: @jgeant and @jphealy.

Read more...

Papelbon Serves Up a Pie for Yanks

Red Sox 9 13 0
Yankees 11 13 0

WP: Vazquez (2-4)
LP: Papelbon (1-3)

Player of the Game: Gotta give it to Marcus Thames. He went 2-4 with 4 RBI's. Oh yeah, and he hit the game-winning home run off of Papelbon.

Play of the Game: Thames ending the game, and earning the first pie of the season with his bomb to left. So much for only being able to hit righties huh?

Turning Point of the Game: A-Rod's game-tying homer in the 9th. When I was talking to John before the inning I said, "Down two runs, we just need a bloop and a blast." Well Gardner got the bloop, and A-Rod supplied the blast. Luckily the ceilings in my basement are relatively high, or I might have hit my head when I jumped off the couch.

Notes:

• Hughes was probably due for a sub-par start. 5 runs on 6 hits in five innings is not what we've come to expect from him, especially after getting spotted 5 runs in the first inning. Facing the Red Sox for the second time in 10 days might have also factored in. But the Yankees offense stepped up and bailed him out.
• Vazquez came in to get one BIG out. He struck out Youkilis with first and third and got the win. He will also be available to start on Friday against the Mets, according to Joe Girardi's post-game presser.
  
• I'm sure Brian Cashman has been getting a lot of crap about his three big off-season acquisitions (Curtis Granderson, Nick Johnson, and Javy Vazquez) but he put together a great bench. Jorge Posada can't play tonight? You plug Francisco Cervelli in there and he picks up 2 hits, 3 runs, and an RBI. Nick Swisher can't swing the bat? Marcus Thames steps in, picks up 4 RBI's and becomes the hero of the game. Randy Winn and Ramiro Pena also picked up hits today.
• This was obviously a slugfest, but the bullpen is a little scary right now. Actually it's a lot scary. Chan Ho Park comes off the DL to give up 3 runs and Boone Logan didn't do much better. Marte was able to go 1.2 innings with only a hit and a walk, but left Vazquez with a first and third situation to get out of. Vazquez was in the bullpen tonight to be the long man, but he may not be out there again.
• Picture by Reuters.
  

TOMORROW:
Sabathia vs. Beckett
7:05 PM


SEE YA!

Read more...

Game 38: Yankees vs. Red Sox

Yankees (24-13)

Derek Jeter SS
Brett Gardner CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Francisco Cervelli C
Marcus Thames RF
Randy Winn LF
Ramiro Pena 3B

RHP Phil Hughes

Red Sox (19-19)
Marco Scutaro SS
Dustin Pedroia 2B
J.D. Drew RF
Kevin Youkilis 1B
Victor Martinez C
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
Jeremy Hermida LF
Darnell McDonald CF
RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka

Ace on the Mound: Phil Hughes takes the mound tonight with a 5-0 record. The last person his age to start a season 5-0 for the Yankees was some guy Whitey Ford. If I remember correctly, that guy had a pretty solid career.

Tough Week: The Yankees welcome the Red Sox to the Stadium for two games, before having to face the Rays for two more. But at least then they get a break by getting to play the Mets. Take the survey to the right to voice your opinion about which series you're most pumped about.

We'll be on our Twitters: @jgeant and @jphealy.

Read more...

Which Upcoming Series is More Exciting?

First of all, let me go on the record saying two-game series are the dumbest thing I've ever seen. Now, tonight the Yankees host the Red Sox for the first time at the Stadium, but to me it seems like this rivalry is beginning to lose a bit of its luster. This is the seventh time in the first six weeks of the season that these two teams are facing each other and I'm not all that excited for it. It may be because they've faced each other too much in a short period of time, or because of the Yankees dominance over them this season, or the fact that the Red Sox are trying to dig themselves out of fourth place of the AL East.

Anyway, I'm not as pumped up about facing the Red Sox as I usually am. I know last time out there were some fireworks with some hit batsmen, but I just feel like tonight isn't as exciting as it should be. There's just something missing.


That being said, Wednesday and Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Rays is what I'm looking forward to most. I do have tickets for Wednesday night's game, but they are also battling for first place right now which makes those games more exciting.


So I ask you, what series are you more excited for?


The two-game series against the Red Sox?
The two-game series against the Rays?
Or, the three-game subway series against the Mets?


Feel free to comment on why you are more excited for the particular series.

Read more...

Yanks hated less than the Red Sox

A story in the Wall Street Journal this morning discussed a Nielsen report that uses some crazy math that I will never understand to figure out who the most hated team in baseball is. It measures positive and negative reaction on the internet. Here's the top 10 most hated teams.

1. Cleveland Indians
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Cincinnati Reds
4. Houston Astros
5. New York Yankees
6. Washington Nationals
7. Chicago White Sox
8. Baltimore Orioles
9. New York Mets
10. Los Angeles Dodgers

Now most of these teams have not been doing well lately, so their own fans are probably the ones bringing them down in these ranking. But the Red Sox and Yankees are the teams that you either love or hate.

I could look at this two ways. The first is that I could say that, since people hate the Red Sox more, this "Red Sox Nation" stuff is crap. But, I personally would have liked the "most-hated" title, because the reason people hate the Yankees is because they are so good. I'm conflicted, but the stats are what they are.

What do you think? Leave us a comment or send us an email (michaelkayssuccessors@yahoo.com).

Read more...

Jay-Z sues Big Papi

Jay-Z is suing the Red Sox's David Ortiz over the name of a nightclub Ortiz opened in the Dominican Republic.

Jay-Z has a chain of clubs called 40/40, after the accomplishment of hitting 40 homers and stealing 40 bases in a season. Apparently, Ortiz named his Dominican club Forty-Forty. I'm not sure what Jay-Z's deal is, those names are completely different.

The lawsuit is seeking $5 million in damages (which I think is too much, seeing how Ortiz is going to be out of a job after this season). It's pretty obvious that Jay-Z will win. What is Ortiz going to say? "I have the ability to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases." Yeah, at this point, it's more likely that I hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in a season than Ortiz does.

This will make some interesting camera shots the first time the Red Sox play at Yankee Stadium on May 17. Every time Ortiz comes to bat, YES cuts to Jay-Z in the stands staring angrily at Lil Pop-Up. It will be great.

Read more...

Hitler upset the Twins resign Mauer

For any of you who had hopes that the Yankees were going to sign Joe Mauer when he hit free

Image via Wikipedia

agency only to have them crushed when it was announced he signed an 8 year deal during spring training can relate to this baseball version of the Downfall/Hitler video meme. (I especially liked the part when Hitler says he will call in to Mike Francesa and call for Cashman's job.)

Also in the video meme category, you may have seen the little kid doing the speech from the movie Miracle. I didn't know this had happened until yesterday, but the Red Sox brought him out before the first game of the season to do a baseball version before the game on Opening Night.



A few observations:

• Thank God/Yahweh/Allah YouTube wasn't around when I was a kid, because I couldn't handle all the stupid stuff I did back then ending up on the internet.
• That first point leads me to my second. This kid's parents have now stuck this kid with the
  "Herb Brooks Speech kid" label for life. Not only does the YouTube video have almost 3 million hits, but he's been on talk shows and now in front of baseball stadiums and he's only 5. But you know, got to get your 15 minutes, right?
• What is Hideki Okajima laughing at? Does Okajima even speak English? How does he know what's going on?
• This isn't even one of the better internet memes out there. I personally think the Leeroy Jenkins and Numa Numa kid are funny, if for no other reason than that it proves that there are people out there who waste more time on the internet than I do.
  

Read more...

Really Joe West?

So, as John told you earlier, Cowboy Joe West called the Yankees and Red Sox games a "disgrace to baseball" because of how long they take. I just wanted to give you my take.

Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

Really Joe West? Are you kidding me?

So games between baseball's biggest rivals is a disgrace to the game? Well there's a couple million people who disagree with you, since that's how many people watched the game on Sunday night. So the Commissioner wants to speed up the games? Okay, I buy that. But, to go so far as call it a disgrace to baseball is ridiculous. A four-hour game between the Nationals and Pirates is a disgrace to baseball. (Actually, any game between the Nationals and Pirates could be considered a disgrace to baseball.)

Yesterday, the Yankees and Sawks play 10 innings, with the Yanks pulling out a 3-1 win. The game lasted an unmanageable (as Michael Kay used to say) three hours and 21 minutes. You know what I call that? A GREAT BASEBALL GAME!

Now, I am a huge baseball fan, so I could sit there and watch a five-hour game and be satisfied, so I'm not your average fan. Even if you agree with what he said, it was extremely hypocritical. How do you think Joe West would react if say Derek Jeter called the umpires embarrassing and pathetic? First of all, Jeter wouldn't do that, because he has class. But West, and the rest of the umpires, would go ballistic. The umpires would probably hold it against Jeter for the rest of his career. But West gets a free pass because he has all the power during a game. But he should be fined by Major League Baseball or who ever is in charge of fining umpires for saying stupid things.

Sorry I ranted a little bit. You can tell I don't like umpires too much, right? You're talking to a kid who almost got thrown out of a Little League game for arguing with an umpire.

Just a few more links on an off-day

• David Wright doing some GTL with The Situation for a Vitamin Water commercial.
• The Yankees Organization is worth $1.6 billion, according to Forbes. $1.6 BILLION! That's twice as much as the second-highest team, the Red Sox, and about the same as the Mets and the Red Sox combined. Those guys in the Front Office obviously know what they're doing.
  

That might be it for today, but the Yanks head to Tampa to take on David Price and the Rays tomorrow night.

SEE YA!

Read more...

Umpire Calls Yanks/Sox A "Disgrace"

Check out this interesting story I just saw on the LoHud Blog. Joe West, one of MLB's crew chief umpires, commented on the pace of the Yankees-Red Sox games saying it is, "embarassing and a disgrace to baseball." He continued by saying the Yankees and Red Sox are, "pathetic and embarassing. They take too long to play."

It is true that they take very long to play. Most games are closer to 4 hours rather than the normal 3. In fact, the quickest game of the series was yesterday, which was 3 hours and 20 minutes and it took 10 innings.

But can you blame them? These teams have two of the most patient lineups in the majors. The games are always close, which causes many late-inning pitching changes during the course of the game. It's the nature of the game and neither teams are going to change their style of play because an umpire says they take too long. Sure, the MLB can enforce pitchers to take less time walking around the mound, get batters to the box quickly,etc. But how much time will that actually save?

Another problem I have with West's comments is the "embarassing and pathetic" part. There's nothing embarassing or pathetic about it all. They just take long. What's embarassing and pathetic is a professional MLB umpire complaining that these teams take too long to play.

So Joe West, the next time you criticize the team's you officiate in public, try not to look "pathetic" while doing it.

Read more...

Game 3: Yankees at Red Sox

Lineups via Chad Jennings

YANKEES
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Johnson DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Nick Swisher RF
Brett Gardner LF

LHP Andy Pettitte

RED SOX
Jacoby Ellsbury LF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Victor Martinez C
Kevin Youkilis 1B
David Ortiz DH
Adrian Beltre 3B
J.D. Drew RF
Mike Cameron CF
Marco Scutaro SS

RHP John Lackey

RUBBER MATCH: Tonight someone will walk out with a 2-1 lead in the season series, before the Yanks return to Boston May 7 for the second series.

ALL BECAUSE OF U2: Looking at the Yanks-Sox schedule this year, the teams play 6 straight times at Fenway to start the season. Then their next 9 match-ups are at Yankee Stadium, and then its back to Boston for the last 3 games of the season. Apparently it's Bono's fault. It's similar to the long road trip the Yanks took in 2008 because of the Pope giving Mass at the old Stadium. Just another reason the Yanks are better than the Sox, the Yankees don't move their schedule around for anyone less than the Pope.

SOME RELIEF FOR THE RELIEVERS: After throwing 30 pitches Sunday night, and then coming back with a brilliant performance last night, Joba is not likely to pitch tonight. Chan Ho Park is ready to go after sitting out last night with the flu. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? We'll find out tonight, I guess.

ROID RAGE?: David Ortiz lashed out at reporters after last night's game, dropping a plethora of expletives about his hitless beginning of the season compared to his slow start last year. If you, as a professional baseball player, are already cursing out reporters after the SECOND game of the season, they obviously hit a sore spot with the question they asked.

CASHMAN IN MIDSEASON FORM: The Yankees claimed Padres OF prospect Chad Huffman off waivers. Apparently Huffman is ranked the 21st best prospect in the Padres organization, and was optioned to AAA Scranton.

Read more...

Bullpen Bounces Back

Yankees 6 9 3

Image via Wikipedia

Red Sox 4 9 1

W: Aceves (1-0)
L: Okajima (1-1)
S: Rivera (1)

Player of the Game: The Bullpen. After a poor outing from the relievers on Sunday, the 'pen held the Sox to 2 hits, 0 walks, and 0 runs over 4 innings. Aceves picked up the win out of relief, Joba looked like the Joba of old, and Mo just did what he always does.

Play of the Game: Robinson Cano's home run to put the Yanks up 6-4 in the 9th inning.

Turning point of the Game: Nick Johnson's bases-loaded, go-ahead walk in the top of the 8th. Johnson doesn't have a hit yet this season, but has a .500 OBP.

• Joe Girardi might be over-managing again. He started the 8th inning with Robertson, and then decided to mix and match by bringing in Marte to face Ortiz.
• Cano was my 2nd choice for player of the game, but I wanted to give props to the bullpen after Sunday's debacle. Cano went 2-3 with a homer and 2 RBI. He's gonna have a good season in the five hole.
  
• It's the first win of the season, so there's a little bit to celebrate, but there's still work to be done. And now the Red Sox will be relatively quiet for a little while.
  

Tomorrow:
Yankees at Red Sox
Pettitte vs Lackey

SEE YA!

Read more...