Liveblog at Walkoff Walk!

It's been a busy morning so far, so I'm going to go ahead and link to some great stories around the blogosphere instead of actually using my brain.

The SportsBubbler is pumped to have Trevor Hoffman back in action.

Very Small Talk is glad fans are now getting a "bargain" on tickets at the spankin' new Yankee Stadium.

Read about Jorge Cantu! believing in himself at his very own big league blog.

Cubs Hub details Big Z's near-cycle. Oh, what could have been.

Anyway, I get the joy of live-blogging Johan Santana and the New York Mets vs. Josh Johnson and the Florida Marlins, whose bandwagon I abandoned earlier this week, over at Walkoff Walk. If you've never been to this blog, I demand you go there immediately. It's my favorite. Seriously. Right. Now.

A Ballpark Stimulus Would Be Pretty Sweet

The many scores of outraged, frugal fans have spoken. And Bud Selig has answered. Sort of.

In these tough economic times, some of us ride our bikes to work and school. Others have cut down on going out to eat or sadly, even slowed down on the binge-drinking. One thing we shouldn't have to give up is a trip to the ballpark to watch our favorite teams play our favorite game.

Those empty seats in the shiny new palaces of New York have not gone unnoticed by commissioner Selig.

It's not that he's asked the Yankees and Mets to lower their ticket prices, but he may have hinted at it. Ultimately, it's up to them.

Well, Hello Sexy: My Affair With The New Yankee Stadium

(I know this looks long, but it's quick. Just like my ex boyfriend.)

After years of being a Yankees season ticket holder, I was finally priced out. In the new stadium, my seats would not have been as good and now that I've re-located, I can't go to the 40-50 games I used to. I certainly couldn't afford the prices on the secondary market and therefore had resigned myself to watching the first regular season game in the new Yankee Stadium on television.

Then, late Wednesday afternoon, I got an email from a contact I have at Pepsi (the new "official beverage of the New York Yankees") offering me a pair of tickets to the game. Of course I didn't even think twice about it. I'm very easily bought.

So being that I was out of town at the time, I jumped on a bus from DC at 6:45am and began the trek to the new Yankee Stadium. My heart belonged to the original one (my thoughts from the final game are here), and I was holding my judgment on the sexy new lover that had come to claim my affection. I got to the city and jumped on the familiar D train, the same train that carried me to my second home hundreds of times before.

That's a Dozen Cousin

Of course the last All-Star game ever to be played at the historic Yankee Stadium went into extra innings. Would we have it any other way? I'm sure a few of the folks in the sellout crowd of 55,632 who paid over $700 per lower club ticket appreciate the free baseball.

Among poor pitching and bench management on both counts (12 NL pitchers, 11 AL hurlers and 63 players in all) the longest All-Star game in history saw a record-setting night for both teams, who recorded 34 strikeouts and left 28 men on base.

That Dump In The Bronx To Get Last Hurrah

It is expected that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig will announce at a joint news conference that notorious shithole Yankee Stadium will be the home of the 2008 All-Star Game.

The new Yankee Stadium, which I am willing to bet will not be named Yankee Stadium, will open for the 2009 season, and apparently baseball officials decided that it would be a fitting farewell to force as many people into that landfill of a park as possible during what will probably be the hottest weekend of the summer. My goodness, what will the Bleacher Creatures do now?

Please submit suggestions for what YOU think the new Yankee Stadium will be named.

[ESPN.com]