End of Week Link Roundup

This week's links are as unpredictable as the NBA draft lottery and as odd as the picture on the right from ESPN New York with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, rapping mogul Jay-Z, the unpredictable Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov. While most link roundups are Prokhorov-sized, this one is more like Mikey (sorry, I was away this week).

Thhheeee Yankees Win

• The New York Posts' Joel Sherman explained why the Yankees' skipped Javier Vazquez's start--and that seemed to have worked.
• ESPN's TMI blog looks into how rare Rivera's blown save against the Twins was and Joe from River Ave Blues describes Mo and Joba's tough day and Big League Stew has more details. LoHud's Chad Jennings said that it was a tough day for both past and present Yankee relievers. The New York Times' Tyler Kepner says that the bridge to Rivera is still under construction.
• The Yankees got their revenge the next night when Marcus Thames walked off against the Red Sox, bringing back old memories by ESPN New York's Andrew Marchand. ESPN's TMI blog has all the statistical nightmarish details from Jonathan Papelbon's night. ESPN New York's Mark Simon talks about how hard it is to win late at Yankee Stadium.
• Will from IIATMS talks about a trade that he thinks Brian Cashman would like to have back. Nick Johnson's surgery, as described by Chad Jennings, makes him one signing people may start feeling the same.
• Chris at TYU tries to value Gardner's speed, former Yankee Willie Banks says that returning to baseball saved his life according to Jeff Roberts of The Record, Allen Stern from CenterNetworks says to not bring your iPad to Yankee Stadium, and ESPN New York's has a shuttle astronaut with Yankees' pride (H/T Jay)

The Rest of Baseball

• ESPN's Rob Neyer says that the Mets are precariously down to two pitchers. FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal says that this is a big 10 days for Jerry Manuel's job.
• ESPN's Howard Bryant has some gory details on David Ortiz's battle with Father Time and Rob Neyer questions Papelbon's future with the Red Sox.
• Awesome news: Baseball-Reference now has WAR
• Some great Rob Neyer links: The Biz of Baseball says that an MLB Committee fought to keep blacks out of MLB. The New York Times says that no hitters and perfect games are becoming rarer. Real Clear Sports tries to figure out how well each team did drafting in the 90s.

Potpourri

• EW's Ausiello Files has a renewal scorecard for TV shows with some good and some bad news
• One show that's ending is LOST, but you can enjoy one more night of "Jackface"
• Ninja's rescued a mugging victim in Sydney according to The Times (H/T Jim)
• PopEater says that Stephen Colbert got snubbed by Colbert, Georgia
• Lastly, Above The Law is staging an Elena Kagan look-a-like contest