John's Takeaway Points from Last Night's Big* Yankee Win

1. Bartolo Colon is an absolute Master of the Mound! A craftsman, an artist, bon vivant, skilled technician, a specialist. And, most importantly, a good guy.

2. It's good to have Rafael Soriano in the pen, so Mariano can get a night off. We have to remember that Mariano is human -- like you and me -- human, and he needs a night off now and then.

3. This was a big* win, because the Yankees didn't want to be swept in Toronto. You never want to be swept anywhere, but certainly not in Toronto, and this early in the season. A big* win.

4. It's way too early in the season to draw conclusions -- even late in the season, you can't draw conclusions; in fact, nobody can ever draw any conclusions, and -- really -- what do I know? if pitching were easy, everybody could do it, but it's not -- but you have to give Brian Cashman credit for finding Bartolo and Freddy Garcia. The job they have done is picking up this Yankee team has been nothing short of incredible. NOTHING SHORT OF INCREDIBLE.

5. The media spends way too much time agonizing over slumps; of course, that's what the media does, it's not that the media is wrong to do so, it's just that it ends up so that every Yankee is completely over-analyzed, even in April, and even by me, and that's just the way it is in New York, because the fans are passionate, but it's not a good thing, and somebody has to figure out how to let Brett Gardner relax at the plate, because the hits will come. A good hitter just doesn't lose it over night, although that's baseball, isn't it? You never know what to expect. But the media has to lighten up, even though that won't happen. But hopefully, it will. For Brett's sake.

6. Bartolo Colon! It is like watching an artist turn an empty canvas into a masterpiece of stroke and color. And it is good to see his boisterous smile in the clubhouse. 


*Every Yankee win is a big Yankee win.