John's Takeaway Points from Today's Loss

The fans want to win every game. That's OK. But baseball insiders know the key to a successful season is winning the series. If you take two out of three games against every opponent, I'll tell you what: you'll win 100 games, and who wouldn't take that? The Yankees came into today's game having beaten Tampa two out of three, and it was automatic that they would win this series against Seattle, because they won the first two. This cannot be emphasized enough: The key is winning the series. You don't sweep everybody. If you can take two out of three, that's winning baseball.

That said, the Yankees need timely hitting. They had their chances today. They've got no "kick" about this game. They lost this game, and it's a game they could have won. They lost.

Still, you have to be happy about Andy. He looked great. He looked like Andy. He only made two mistakes, but who wouldn't make a couple bad pitches, considering the layoff? It's just too bad the Yankee order didn't produce more runs. But the key is winning the series. And the Yankees did just that. And Suzyn will have more in her Clubhouse Report, plus some comments from Joe, which would be coming up soon.