…some of which may be expanded upon in the near future:

1. Homer Bush, the futility infielder with quite probably the best name in baseball history, is back wearing Pinstripes. I’m so irrationally happy that I could go turn over a car, March Madness style. The good news comes at the expense of Travis Lee, who is likely headed for shoulder surgery.

Noted elsewhere in the above-linked Newsday piece is that reliever Steve Karsay is once again cooked: “Torre said he doesn’t expect Steve Karsay to pitch this year. Karsay suffered a setback a few weeks ago while rehabbing his surgically repaired right shoulder.” Delicate flower, that Karsay, who may be adding the second two-year gap to his resume (assuming he ever pitches again, which, come to think of it, I’ll take the under…).

2. The New York Times has a must-read four-part article on George Steinbrenner. As somebody who grew up rooting for the Dodgers and hating the Yanks, I always viewed Steinbrenner from afar as an embarrassing boor, as obnoxiously nutso as Charlie Finley, Ted Turner, or Ray Kroc were at the time (late ’70s into early ’80s), but with a better ballclub. Growing into a New York City resident who roots for the Yanks while Steinbrenner still owns the team has been one of the more interesting facets of this whole sick and twisted tale. Seeing things from the inside — a ballclub representing our fair city — I admire Steinbrenner’s desire to provide a team that can kick your city team’s ass, and to some extent his ability to spare no expense in doing so.

The difference at this point is that compared to the horror stories of my youth, George mostly manages to stay out of harm’s way while trying to manipulate the team via his idiosyncratic view. Think about it: apart from the obvious concerns about running a ballclub, what is the Yankee braintrust for besides a collective insulation from The Boss’s worst impulses? The last time Steinbrenner fired a GM was 1990, the last manager to go went in 1995. You’d think he might have outgrown his trigger-happy reputation somewhere along the line, but this is New York, right?

Eh, my views on the topic are much more nuanced than this late-night ramble can convey, so hopefully sometime this week I’ll put something together on King George and his madness…