A-Rod's A-Bomb, and A.J.'s black eye

Friday night was a very frustrating game for eight innings, with the Yankee bats continuing their disappearing act. But I had a very good feeling in the ninth, especially after Jorge Posada's epic at-bat. So when Alex Rodriguez came up with two men on and two outs, I called Squawker Jon and called him to put on the game. He must have had a good -- or in his case, bad! -- feeling about what would happen, as he refused to do so. A little while later, with the possibility of an Orioles' win just one strike away, A-Rod hit his 25th homer of the year, and the Yankees went ahead, 4-3.

I was very excited about the win, watching the A-Rod homer clip several times. Then in the postgame, after a Facebook friend alerted me to A.J. Burnett's eye, I looked at the TV screen and did a double-take when I saw him! Of course, when I called Squawker Jon and told him to switch on the YES Network to see the black eye, he was all too pleased to do so.

It's always something. Finally, A.J. Burnett pitches well, and now his eye is all messed up. My first reaction to what happened to him was that he did it to himself in a fit of anger, instead of slamming his hands against a clubhouse cabinet!

I had a black eye myself once, and no, it wasn't from a fight. I went to see a Circle Jerks punk concert when I was in college. Some slam-dancing guy's whirling foot somehow went askew and hit me in the eye. It hurt, but not terribly, and I didn't know I had gotten a black eye until I woke up the next morning (it takes a while for the bruises to develop.)

I'm watching the Yankee replay now, and doing a little CSI/Forensics Style analysis. You can see some redness by his right eye in early innings, but nothing as awful as he looked in the postgame. So my guess is that something happened to him sometime Friday afternoon.

Burnett said the injury, which he wouldn't explain, was not baseball-related, but does that mean he didn't hurt himself on the field, or that he didn't get  into a fight with a teammate? I do think it's curious that he wouldn't explain how he got it, especially since in his previous start, he had bruises by his ear. It's just another enigmatic moment in the baffling career of A.J. Burnett.

* * *

Squawker Jon did point out to me the very real possibility that A-Rod could still get his usual 30+ homers this year, something that didn't seem  like it would happen just a few months ago. He has 25 homers now, so he's five away from 30 with 15 games to go. I think it's very possible that  he could get his 30 homers yet again.

What do you think? Tell us about it!