The following chat, about this story, occurred today between 12:57 and 1:03 p.m., several hours prior to this story.

Blog of Team: Yankees leaking A*Rod dirt. They want out of the personal service contract?
JAKE: I know. Think they can pull it off?
Blog of Team: Get a copy of the contract. See what it says about what behavior isn’t tolerated. Just a conspiracy theory, really, but somebody handed the New Times a big story
JAKE: Is the wording of the contracts public record?
Blog of Team: No, definitely not
JAKE: Well my guess is you’re right. This at least opens the door for the Yanks to void the worst contract in the history of sports
Blog of Team: Or try to
JAKE: If Selig suspends him, that would be additional “evidence” for the team to use depending on the wording of the contract
Blog of Team: You have to wonder whether Alex has any shame at all. Most people would just retire
JAKE: He wants the HR record. It’s already held by a juicer. What does he care? It’s still the record. It’s a shame the ’09 title is now “tainted” given that he carried the team that postseason. But it’s hardly a shock that he was juicing
Blog of Team: I wonder what Vegas would say about the odds of him hitting another 115 dongs?
JAKE: 20-1?
Blog of Team: It could happen

Chat with JAKE was almost kinda sorta semi-jokey, until it became not a joke! Incidentally here is Blog’s favorite line from the Miami New Times story:

The nine athletes and one coach named in this article didn’t respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment, but when New Times began asking questions last week, sources leaked information to the New York Daily News and ESPN to soften the blow.

Sh*t just got real for a bunch of guys.

Heart of Oriole order, in five games vs. Yankees:

J.J. Hardy
3 for 22

Adam Jones
2 for 23

Chris Davis
3 for 20

Matt Wieters
3 for 20

Mark Reynolds, the standout, at
3 for 19

So reports you may have read about Team not being able to get key hit are accurate.

Nevertheless, they were one bloop, one well-aimed grounder, one swinging bunt or one similar such outcome away from ALCS last night versus Mercenary Former All-Stars in Bronx.

So Congratulations to you, 2012 Baltimore Orioles. And thanks for everything.

Let’s not get into too much detail about what happened on field last night in Cave of Doom.

Ye Who Enter Here

Should Jim Johnson be doing better? Eh. That’s a short porch out there in right field. Ryan Flaherty found it too. Should Derek Jeter have been punched prior to RBI triple? Maybe. Should Adam Jones have taken better route? Yeahp.

Pre-game huddle

But overall — valueless hyper-critical criticisms notwithstanding — Team played great. And Team came away with unlucky loss. It’s not over and, knowing this delightful vintage, they will be back tonight with best effort.

This guy!

Overall there was little or no tension in Stadium between Fans of Team and fans of free agent mercenary former All-Stars. At times, as Miguel Gonzalez worked through Yankee lineup like a half-rack of ribs, stadium was very quiet.

“It’s a library in here,” guy in front of Blog of Team metaphor’d at one point.

There were more than a few Orioles fans about — including this fella in right field,* Cal Ripken Jr. jersey flaps akimbo, incurring ire of hundreds of upper-deckers with anti-Yankee taunts and ultimately winning free police escort to train station.

But, those Yankee fans who were not provoked were very cool and polite, and there’s a ton of security in new digs.

So come on up for your punch in the guts!

*last night Blog erroneously said on Twitter it was left field so. So correction!

Look at this guy!

Image via MLB.com

Who wears eye-black like that? Does he think he’s Ace Frehley? What world is Nick Swisher living in?

Nevermind. This is same guy who cheated Friday night, flopping on pitch, disrespecting game, taking fraudulent base and then acting like it was all big Clown Show. After his previous at-bat that night, a line drive out to Manny Machado, Team announcer Mike Bordick predicted as much, saying Swisher had been “grimacing” as if to say “when is he going to get a break here?”

“I don’t know what foot it hit,” said Bordick after Swisher cheated, faking like an Italian footballer to get on base instead of hitting ball like a man. “But he’s hopping around like he [Wei-Yin Chen, then Team's pitcher]  hit something.”

Image via MLB.com

In shot above, Mark Reynolds is laughing with at Swisher. Chen, unfortunately, didn’t think it was all that funny. Chen is not used to Yankee cheats.

Anyway Swisher is a cheating chisler.

And, after that, Yankees had nerve to complain on Saturday night about bad call at first base? Laughable! Contemptible! Even more hideous given Swisher’s transgression from night before.

But we, fans of Team, have bigger fish to fry. Because when Yankees weren’t cheating via Swisher (who learned his flopping ways from Derek Jeter –you can easily look that up) they were having their overpaid “ace,” otherwise known as C.C. Sabathia, throw purpose pitches to injure one of Team’s top players.

Image via MLB.com

This was so clearly a desperate porpoise purpose pitch! Never mind. Let’s all discuss how play went against Mark Teixeira, and how that was travesty or something.

Anyone who knows Team knows trouble Team is in without services of Captain Nicky. He plays regular, he gets on base, he hits for a little power and he never talks shit. Well except for about once a year. Also he plays good to great defense. In short, he plays game right. All one must do is look at Team’s win/loss record with- and without Nicky to know how important he is.

Is this why Buck Sh_walter was so saddened by extent of injury?

Image via MLB.com

Such a shocker, then, that Team was roughly handled Sunday. Never mind. We’re “playing with house money” right? Either way Team won 4 and lost 3 over last two recent series.

Perhaps Yankee collapse will continue. With such lack of character from Ace Frehley (above), not to mention rest of allegedly starry cast, it would serve them right.