New York State of Mind

Derek Jeter resigns with the Yankees! Big surprise. What was a surprise however, were the comments by Jeter in the aftermath. He blasted the Yankees for their open discretion of information to the public about money and contract terms. He said it made him look greedy and selfish when that was hardly what he was thinking. Whatever, let's put it in the rear view mirror because none of this will matter come April 1. The Yankees are seeking their 28th title and we'll need him to be el capitan in order to get it done, so good work both sides making this charade end early.

Now the questions can begin about when the Yankees will get Cliff Lee. According to sources, the Yankees are unwilling to give a 7th year on the deal and Cliff wants job security. Other places like Washington and Texas are offering that extra year but doubtfully the same amount of money. NYY is looking in the ballpark of 140-150 million for 6 years. Nearly 25 million a year! That's more than CC and that looks to be the highest for any pitcher in baseball. Aside from the Cliff Lee talks, nothing else is really taking place in the baseball world.

Football however, things are heating up. The Giants are coming off two straight wins, over the Jags and most recently over the lifeless Washington Redskins. Good to see the Giants rebounding from bad losses and bad injuries to maintain their place in the NFC east race and the wildcard hunt. The Giants look to be getting healthy at the right time too. Steve Smith practiced today and is questionable for Sunday, Nicks took limited reps and is also questionable. I expect Smith to play 75% of the snaps and Nicks to play half, maybe not play at all. This game while of vital importance is nowhere near as important as next week vs Philly. So getting healthy is a priority. As for the offensive line, Dave Diehl practiced and should be good to go, Shaun O'hara took some reps and is questionable for Sunday. Shawn Andrews looks better but is still likely to miss another game.

This week the Giants go to Minnesota and face a Vikings team that likely will be the first team in fifteen years to have Brett Favre on the roster and have him NOT starting. He hurt his finger, shoulder, and ankle this year and last week took only one snap. Tavaris Jackson is the replacement QB who can make plays with his legs and has a good arm, but makes very poor decisions. Should be a field day for Tuck and the D line, I expect a few sacks, fumbles, and picks. The Giants will also have to use a heavy dose of the run. Although Minnesota sports the 4th best run D in the NFL and has the Williams Wall, Eli Manning has a history of making poor throws and having poor games vs Minn late in the year. I would like to see the same combination of Jacobs and Bradshaw that worked so well the last two weeks continue to shine this week.

With 4 games left on the radar things boil down as follows, The Bears and Packers are 9-3 and 8-4 respectively. The Falcons are 10-2 and the Saints are 9-3 and Tampa is 7-5. The Giants and Eagles are both 8-4. The NFC West is a complete joke and one of those four teams will be in the playoffs by default, the other three will watch from their couches. Of the 7 teams mentioned before, 5 will make the playoffs. 3 division leaders and 2 wild card teams. That leaves 2/7 out. I assume the Buccaneers to be eliminated but you can't guarantee anything. I really look at it as this, Atlanta vs NO, Chicago vs GB, Philly vs NYG. 3 of those teams will get the division to themselves, while the loser has to make the wild card. The giants still get games vs Philly and GB so they have opportunities to put themselves in good position. Unfortunately the GB is on the road in Lambeau and the Eagles have the Giants number. If they drop both of those games, they assure themselves needing help, even if they win vs Minn and beat Wash and go 10-6.

The remaining schedules for all NFC contending teams are as follows:

week 14

St Louis at NO

GB at Detroit

NE at Chicago

Philly at Dallas

Atlanta at Carolina

NYG at Minn

NO should roll St louis at home at improve to 10-3. Detroit is improving and at home, but the Packers are hot and good, they win that one improving to 9-4. Chicago is good at home and NE is on a short week after a big division game, I like Chicago to play it tough and keep it close, this is a toss up but I still think NE despite the home field. Chicago moves to 9-4 as well. Dallas is improving and I think they get Philly in Texas Stadium. Philly to 8-5. Atlanta should crush Carolina, no matter where that game is, 11-2 Atlanta looking strong. Giants should win a tough game in Minny, 9-4 with the division lead (for now).

week 15

NO at Baltimore

Atlanta at Seattle

GB at NE

Chicago at Minn

Philly at NYG

NO should be tested here and cannot be expected to win in Baltimore, give them 10-4. Atlanta should handle Seattle even with the 12th man, 12-2 (bye week locked up). GB should play NE tough but its hard to beat Brady in Foxborough, GB to 9-5. Chicago is iffy on the road and the Vikings are a division foe and this is what their season is about, spoiler. Tough game, I think Minn gets it done, 9-5. This is for all the marbles, Giants win---division almost assuredly. If the Giants lose, they will still be in contention for the division but need to win out or get Philly to collapse. Assuming they lose (because if they win no point in planning out wild card games) they will be 9-5 and Philly 9-5.

week 16

Jets at Chicago

Minnesota at Philly
Giants at GB

Atlanta at NO

This week will decide a lot. All of these are premier matchups and will determine alot. I think Chicago bests the Jets at home to go to 10-5. Philly wins at home and also gets to 10-5. GB takes care of biz at home and gets to 10-5, giants to 9-6. No wins at home 11-4, Atlanta 12-3.

week 17

Chicago at GB

Carolina at Atl

Dallas at Philly

NYG at Wash

Tampa at NO

GB should beat Chicago at home and get the division, leaving Chicago at 10-6. Atlanta should roll for their #1 overall status. Philly beats Dallas, gets division. Giants beat Washington and New Orleans beats Tampa. Standings look as follows

Philly 11-5

Giants 10-6

Atlanta 13-3

New Orleans 12-4

GB 11-5

Chicago 10-6

If this were the case, the Giants get in over Chicago because they own the tiebreaker by beating them head to head. However Chicago could easily beat New England this week or beat GB to finish the season getting them to 11+ wins. If GB has 10 but still beats the Giants in week 16 in Lambeau, Giants are toast. So of course SOOOOOO much of what I just said is chance, you cannot predict a week in the NFL let alone 4. But this is an idea of how winning 10 games is no lock. Going 2-2 doesn't mean we get in (especially if those 2 wins are Wash and Minn). I personally believe to feel safe we will have to beat either GB or Philly to help our chances. One of those two must be won. Should be fun down the stretch though.

Speaking of fun, the New York Knicks have been fun to watch. Wait, did I just say that? Yes, it's true! The Knicks have won 10 of their last 11 games since I made my last post trashing them haha. They went from 3-8 to 13-9 and all behind the addition of the pick and roll, more hustle and energy, and finding the right rotation and chemistry. The real catalysts have been Felton and Amar'e. That duo has led to countless pick and roll buckets many of them dunks.

The Knicks have also gotten great play out of their rookie, Landry Fields. Fields is probably the second best rookie in the league (John Wall number 1), third if you count Blake Griffin. He's had 6 double-doubles during the Knick winning streak, and is averaging more rebounds than ANY other guard in the NBA. He's been providing a lot of energy and is doing it on both ends.

The Knicks have also been winning on the road during this improbable streak. It all started on a 4 game west coast swing, where they beat Sac, GS, and LAC and then followed that up beating Charlotte at home and on the road in back to back days. Their only loss in the last two weeks was Atlanta at home. The next few games aren't too bad, Toronto and Washington this week but then things will get tough. It will truly test if the Knicks are as good as their record is starting to imply. Miami, Boston, Denver, Phoenix, these teams will not be so kind to the Knicks. Either way the Knicks have been quite a great team to watch and when the winning streak ends it won't matter as long as they maintain this energy and excitement. We knew they had star potential and we knew if they could get used to playing together and understand the D'Antoni system, they would be good. But 10 in 11 and 7 in a row on the road is beyond impressive. Keep it up Knicks, pummel Toronto tonight!

Status of the NYK

Oh the New York Knicks. Every year I tell myself that this year will be different than the previous year of failure. Every year I have new hope in the form of new GMs, players, coaches, new draft picks, whatever it is, there is always a reason to see that the glass is half full. Every year ends the same way, me saying, "what was i thinking?" The Knicks will never ever be a good team while I am a fan, I guess I have to get used to that. the truth is that this year the expectations to be better were way beyond my delusions. The preseason power rankings on CBS and ESPN had the Knicks in the top 20 teams in the NBA (out of 30) rather than in the bottom 5 as in previous years. Some analysts projected the Knicks to be a playoff team, as high as a 7 seed. I had the Knicks in the playoffs, I had them winning 43 games, and I had them being at the least a fun team to watch. Well everyone was wrong on this one so far, at least through 12 games.

The Knicks sit at 4-8 and after starting 3-2 have lost 6/7 including home games against Philadelphia and Golden State, and losses on the road to Minnesota and Milwaukee. In the offseason the Knicks made some serious moves, bringing in All-Star PF Amar'e Stoudemire for 5 years and $100 million. The also got PG Raymond Felton, former NCAA Champion MVP from the UNC Tar Heels. They also drafted SG Landry Fields from Stanford and combined with the aging of Danillo Galinari, Wilson Chandler, and Toney Douglas, things were looking up. It was the third year for head coach Mike D'antoni and the players were beginning to learn his system. All signs were pointing to a rebound year for the Knicks. D'antoni has always been known as a run and gun offensive guru and defense is of secondary importance. No matter what, this team would score and be competitive...umm not so much.

The Knicks are extremely disappointing and it is because of these primary 5 factors:

• Falling in love with the tree point line- Mike D'antoni has preached many times that shooting 33% from 3 point land is the same as shooting 50% from 2 point field goals. While this may be true, it doesn't justify shooting 30 threes a game and shooting them early and often. I've always said when you are wide open, sure, shoot a three. I don't support bringing the ball down the court and launching a three with 21 seconds left on the shot clock with a hand in your face from 30 feet out. We can always find better shots than that. We should be shooting threes when we are open, late in the shot clock, or Danillo feels like it. That's it. That equates to 10 open threes, 3 late possession prayers, and 2 Danillo specials (a phenomenal shooter who has the range and ability to hit any shot any time and he feels like launching, go for it I say, nobody else has this right however). That makes for 15 threes a game, not 30. What shooting so many threes does is lead to fast breaks for the others team and takes the Knicks out of position. It also creates bad percentages when we shoot them too often and it makes offensive rebounding difficult, which leads to the next point.
• Terrible rebounding- The Knicks are terrible at rebounding on both sides of the ball. When on defense they fail to box out and give the other team far too many second chance points. When leading in Minnesota by 20, they allowed Kevin Love to get 31 rebounds, 15 offensive, and create 26 second chance points...in the 2nd half alone!!! That is inexcusable. It also takes away from the Knicks strength, their ability to push the ball in transition and get easy buckets. when you don't rebound you give the other team too many opportunities to beat you and you minimize our greatest asset. Knicks must box out! On offense, the Knicks camp out from the three point arch and sit around watching or waiting for a pass so they can launch threes. This makes it hard to get second chance points when no one is in the paint. More penetration, less threes, and more boards as a result.
• Ignoring the pick and roll- The Knicks bread and butter for the last ten years (and perhaps longer) has been the pick and roll. The point guard has the ball at the top of the arch and the big man sets a pick and immediately jumps out to the elbow or even into the paint. This leaves a chance for a wide open three if the big man's defender is late helping, or creates a double team on the PG and opens up a lane for the big man to catch and drive. The Knicks have used this to perfection to open up the lane and create mismatches and open looks. This year though, Amar'e Stoudemire has struggle to set legitimate picks and he rolls to the hoop too early, leaving his defender no reason to cheat. It hurts Raymond Felton and ruins the opportunity. It also creates stagnation and leads to the Knicks becoming and launcher spider type offense. More pick and rolls, more penetration, more hard screens, and more hustle and the offense will click.
• Lack of help defense- When a player beats you and scores a bucket, your team is as responsible as you personally. this isn't street ball where we look at our friend and say, "tighten up". This is the NBA where when a man blows by you, it's because the man is unbelievably quick and talented and it is on the team to rotate and make every shot increasingly difficult. The San Antonio Spurs have always been a great defensive team, and why not with Tim Duncan as your best player, but they also have maintained greatness because the team is always shifting and sliding into position to cut off the open man and NEVER allow an easy shot. The Knicks have preached great help D from day one and in the early going showed it was a priority, but in the last 8 games have failed to demonstrate that. When the opposing team's best player drives the lane, no one steps up and denies penetration, everyone rotates late and that is also why they are out of position and don't get defensive rebounds. A change here starts with the coaching staff continuing to push for help D. It also takes some interior presence, Amar'e Stoudemire has to become more of a leader inside and stop preaching greatness without showing it. His play must demonstrate who he is, not his vocalization.
• Clutch performance- I've read books where analysts have argued that clutch play is a myth and is not true. That players are likely to hit shots 44% of the time and that number remains the same throughout the game and there is nothing but coincidence for missing shots late in games or for making ones. I beg to differ, I understand the statistics speak highly, but there is something to be said for the effect of tighter defense, fatigue, and pressure. The Knicks are a well conditioned team and are good free throw shooters, which generally makes for a good team to close out ball games. The Knicks however, fail to win close games, EVER, and this is because they have an inferior mentality late in games. They look to not lose games instead of to win. They aren't battle tested and don't have the experience of winning close games to fall back on. At least this year they all want to shoot the big shots late, but late game turnovers are keeping them from getting opportunities. We have been in numerous 5 point or less ball games this year and lost to Portland, Denver, and Philly. 2/3 of those games are home, and the home court advantage does count for a lot late in games. These are games we need to learn how to win, because 40 wins gets you the playoffs in the east and if we win 35, we'll think back to 8-10 games where we lost in the last few minutes and wonder if half of those had gone our way if we might be a playoff team.

Fix these issues, and maybe we'll go somewhere. Until then they will remain a team that has potential and never lives up...surprise surprise. Knicks on Friday night, they don't win I'm gonna get in a fight. No David Lee for GS, this should be fun...

Closing the Baseball Season, Opening New Doors

So the Yankees lost to the Rangers. It's going to be 5 months until we see some more NYY Baseball. For most, this is an epic failure and defines frustration. I'm only frustrated because this marks the end of the season and it means a long lapse without baseball. As far as the success of the season, things could have been worse. We still had a season that included Arod hitting his 600th home run, a team that won 95 games, a potential MVP performance in Cano, and a potential CY Young season in CC Sabathia. This team struggled mightily down the stretch, going 29-30 in the final 59 games. The team was not the best in baseball when the playoffs began and got beat by a better and more playoff ready team in the Rangers. The Yankees starters were hurt and problematic all season and became the weak link in the playoffs. The offense which still led the league in runs scored, failed again on the big stage to get the big hits. Too many times we looked for the home run or the 5 hit rally instead of getting the runners in from 3rd with one out. Our bullpen, which was a strength in the finals months, struggled to keep us in the game by allowing too many runs and hits to the Rangers. All in all, we got beat and we move on. We will miss our Yankees but there are some New York teams still alive and thriving.

The New York Giants for example, come into tonight's game against the 1-4 Cowboys at 4-2, winning their last 3 games and looking quite good doing so. The Cowboys despite their talent on the field, have a 1-4 record due to their turnovers, penalties, poor management, and lack of leadership. The Giants need to get pressure on Romo from their front 4 so they can drop their safeties and linebackers into coverage. Forget Marion Barber, the Giants need to make sure they bottle up Felix Jones. Jones is the more explosive back and if he sheds a few tackles could turn the game in favor of the cowboys. The Giants receivers need to catch their passes and not allow Eli to get any picks on tipped passes (a theme all season). The Giants need to establish the run early with Bradshaw and Jacobs and make sure they Cowboys are tired on D late in the game. Mckenzie will have his hands full with DeMarcus Ware, but he needs to not let Eli get hit off the edge because Ware is a nightmare and doesn't just cause sacks, but forces fumbles as well. Hopefully the Cowboys continue to shoot themselves in the foot and the Giants can keep the sleeping Dragon from awakening. A 1-5 team no matter how good they are is likely to miss the playoffs and it especially helps when the Giants would be 5-2 and tops in the division. This is a must see Monday Night Football game, so tune in.

The Knicks season will begin in a few days, and there is a lot to discuss there, so i will do so in a separate post, as well as discuss the future for the Yankees faithful during the offseason. For now, go Giants (both NY and SF).

ALCS

Well the Yankees got man handled in Games 2 and 3, which has led to a 2-1 series lead for the Rangers. What looked like a promising start in the form of a comeback victory, disappeared and is now a rough spot for the Yankees. Their pitching is all over the place, CC and Hughes were abysmal, Pettitte sensational, and the pen good except for the 9th inning of tonight's game. The Yankee offense however, looks completely lost at the plate. Take away one 8th inning rally and the Yankees have 3 runs in 26 innings, and have not had hits, walks, or clutch play at all. Hopefully the Yankees turn it around in game 4 as they will face the worst starter for the Rangers in Tommy Hunter. This righty doesn't have the stuff of Lee or Wilson (who foiled the yankees for 1 run in 15 innings) but he if we don't step our play up he will be another Ranger pitcher to find success.

On the other hand, AJ goes for the Yankees and it will be quite a test for him to handle to pressure of game 4 down 2-1. A loss here would really cripple their playoff chances as they would have to win the final 3 games including a potential game 7 against Lee in Texas. The Yankees are praying to avoid that scenario and that means winning at home tomorrow with AJ, Wed with CC, and then the big road win behind Phil in game 6. Should be a good rest of the series as teams start to get more desperate and the fewer the games left, the more ridiculous the moves and decisions become. I don't see the Yankees losing the next two in NY, so this thing will likely head back to Texas, hopefully with a 3-2 Yankee lead, not a 3-2 Texas lead. let's try to forget tonight, tomorrow will be better...

Game 1, and what a game it was...

The Yankees showed a lot of grit tonight and reminded the world and especially the Texas Rangers, "uh...we're still here. We're still the defending champs". For the second straight series opener CC Sabathia didn't have it and the opposing team jumped on him early and often. And for the second straight series opener the Yankees found a way to comeback and claw away and win the game.

Tonight the Yankees were completely baffled by the starting pitching of CJ Wilson and it looked like it was gonna be a LOOOOOONG game. He was absolutely dominant in the first 6 innings, not allowing but 1 hit to a right handed batter, keeping the 1-4 hitters 0-12, and shutting the Yankees down with 0 runs through 6. With a 5-0 lead he took the mound in the 7th and Cano hit a solo shot. Not really making a huge dent in the scoreboard but psychologically it was huge for the Yankees. In the 8th, the Yankees went wild. Gardner let off with an infield hit, a tremendous effort to beat out a groundball and turning an out into an inning starter. He dove and just beat it out, despite getting his hand stepped on, which provided the spark for the Yankee O. Jeter followed with an RBI double, knocking out CJ. Swish and Tex followed with walks off Oliver. Bases loaded for Arod and finally the Centaur delivered, a clutch rocket single that ate Michael Young up and scored 2. Cano singled and Thames singled and before you knew it, the Yankees were up 6-5.

In the bottom of the 8th Kerry Wood came in and walked Kinsler on 4 pitches. An absolutely mammoth mistake by Kinsler to get picked off by Wood which changed the entire inning. Wood had thrown 6 balls in 7 pitches and had no command. Kinsler delivered him an out on a silver plate and allowed Wood to settle in and finish the inning without trouble. In the 9th, Mariano was Mariano and despite a leadoff single, navigated the Yankees to a game 1 victory and his 42 career postseason save.

When a team wins 6-5 and comes back from a 5-0 nothing defecit, there are always some huge plays to the game. My list of game changing plays:

• Nelson Cruz gets gunned down at home with 2 outs in the first inning. With the bases loaded and CC struggling mightily, a wild pitch took place and Cruz tried to score but got gunned out as CC applied a swipe tag. CC had thrown 37 pitches and 22 of them were balls. He allowed 6 base runners and 3 runs and had only recorded 2 outs, a pop out and a DEEP fly ball. His command was terrible and he literally could have lost the game at that moment. That play allowed him to get off the mound and somewhat settle down in order to give the Yankees 4 innings. Although CC didn't have a good game at all, it could have been far worse if Cruz was safe.
• Cano's solo HR. I know I mentioned it earlier, but it was a huge boost for the Yankees to know that a comeback was possible. Someone has to start the momentum train and Cano was the guy.
• Gardner's infield hit. Again, down 5-1 someone needed to give the Yankees that spark to comeback. Gardner showed some serious hustle and gave the Yankees the feeling of comeback. Aside from the grit, it was also just a tremendously skilled play, I've never seen a slide to first I thought was beneficial, this was absolutely a good thing. Also man does that dude have wheels.
• The entire 8th inning string of hits. Of course the Yankees don't win without Jeter, Swish, Tex, Arod, Cano, and Thames all getting on in the 8th, so kudos to those guys for being warriors.
• Wood picking off Kinsler. A huge play in allowing Wood to mentally get through that inning and once the 8th was over, a huge sigh from Yankee fans and a huge grunt from Ranger fans knowing Mariano was coming in for the 9th. The real question is, how do you allow yourself to get picked off there. A huge mistake for Ian and something that separates the good teams from the bad.
• Swish failing to bunt. I know the Yankees won and this will be forgotten, but not for me. 6-5 in the top of the 9th and you know Mariano is coming in, you don't need a 10 run inning, just one insurance run. After Jeter doubles the Yankees wanted to get that run in with a little small ball. I like the move but Swish you gotta get that ball down. All the same, Girardi should have gone to Golson anyways since he was going to pull Swish defensively anyways. Golson is used to bunting and adds the element of speed. Could have been very costly.

I think this game is one that will hurt the Rangers in the rest of this series. Their bull pen cannot match the Yankee hitters and if their starters cannot go complete then they will face a struggle deep in games. The Yankees have exerted that same dominance both physically and mentally against the Rangers as they did vs the Twins. No matter what the score or the situation, the Yankees will be there. The Rangers hit Sabathia and extremely well and still couldn't find a way to win, up 5!, at home! No excuse for a team that's trying to be the best. You don't squander games like this and I think this will loom large.


The last Yankee 5 run comeback in the 7th or later?

You guess it, Texas 2 months ago. This game also looked eerily reminiscent of the August 11th Yankees vs Rangers game. Texas was up 6-1 with Lee looking dominant on the hill. another 5 run deficit with a great lefty pitching. Yankees hit the starter late and then hit the bullpen and got a 7-6 lead. In comes Mo and down goes Texas. The Yankees always find ways to win games and the playoffs are no exception. They have dealt with the pressure of October and Texas has not. The series should be rough for the Rangers, especially if they cannot finish games like this one.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, it's game 1 of the ALCS and it's not the final game of the World Series. More baseball to come and more vs Texas. But the Yankees had games like this vs the Angels and they will showed some serious grit this year and last. Hopefully they maintain their high level of postseason play and get a win tomorrow and go home up 2-0.

For tonight, let's celebrate! Go Yankees!!

ALCS

So the Yankees disposed of the Minnesota Twins in game 3 behind a dominant Phil Hughes and an offense that looks like it's being paid $100 million dollars...o wait, it is. Well good to see the Yankees making noise in the post season and putting the poor September behind them, but beating Minnesota in the first round is like the last few weeks of the regular season. It's like a tune up before the big dance. Texas beat the Rays in 5 games so the Yankees will face the Rangers in Arlington starting on Friday night, and this will not be a tune up. This will be a dog fight.

What Each Team Brings To The Table:

• Starting Pitching

1. The Rangers have a solid rotation spear headed by the ace of the staff, Cliff Lee. Cliff was absolutely sensational in both his starts this October and will no doubt give the Yankees headaches. The other starters Colby Lewis and CJ Wilson have both been great all season but they may not be ready to handle the pressure of October baseball against the Yankees. Tommy Hunter is the 4th starter and he defines the 4th starter. He is an acceptable pitcher who will give them innings but is certainly not a weapon for this team.
   
2. The Yankees will combat those starters with CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, Andy Pettitte, and AJ Burnett. CC struggled in his only postseason start but has been a workhorse all season and is a dominant starter. Andy and Phil looked great vs Minn, Andy shook off the rust and Phil rose to the occasion. However, the stakes are higher. I expect them to pitch well but not at the level they did in the first round. AJ is the wild card, he does not belong in the rotation considering how he's been pitching lately but in a seven game series the Yankees might not have a choice. Let's hope we see good AJ and the Yankees will manage just fine.
3. The Edge: Cliff Lee had to pitch in game 5 of the Rays series and won't be fresh until game 3. He also declared he does not want to pitch on 3 days rest. As a result the Yankees won't see him except 3 and 7. If this series goes 7 then we are in trouble, but we should be able to take 4/6 only seeing Cliff once. Wilson and Lewis don't know the postseason and don't know Yankee stadium rocking. Hughes, CC, Pettitte, and AJ all did this run last year and know what it's like to see the world's biggest stage. Let's also no forget CC is willing to do whatever it takes for the Yankees to win, he'll pitch in 1-4-7 on 3 or even 2 days rest. Just get him out there. Yankee rotation gets the edge.

• Bullpen

1. The Rangers bullpen was statistically great this season. Neftali Feliz was tremendous as their closer and their trio of O's, Ogandu, O'day, and Oliver all pitcher extremely well. However so far in the postseason this bunch has struggled, especially Feliz. They all power arms and great stuff, we'll see if they are back to their form against the Yankees.
2. The Yankee pen is monstrous. What was a weakness half way through the season has now become a huge strength. The addition of Kerry Wood, resurgence of Robertson and Joba, the finding of Logan, and of course Mariano has provided stability at the back end. We finally have a bridge from starter to Mo. This pen looked great in the first round and Mariano is the best in the biz at saving games in pressure situations.
3. The Edge: you best believe this one goes to the Yankees. They have Mariano (automatic edge) and the Rangers power arms don't worry the Yankees. Change ups and off speed pitches are harder for the Yankees then hard throwers. The Yankees patience at the plate will cause the rangers to walk hitters and have to come over the plate, which is not good for the Rangers pen. The Yankee relievers are up to the task and with the right combination of mixing and matching will successfully get the ball to Mo with a lead.

• Offense

1. The Rangers have an absolutely beast lineup. Kinsler, Young, Vlad, Hamilton, Cruz, Molina, Moreland, Murphy, Cantu, Andrus, Borbon. That is a lot of talent and depth, that scares me. Although their guys have struggled at the end of the regular season and playoffs, they can still explode at any time and always keeps them in the game. I expect we will see Hamilton heat up and don't be surprised if Michael Young plays a huge role, the man is the most underrated hitter in baseball in the last 10 years. Andrus and Kinsler have great speed and quickness and that should torment the Yankees as well. I think Vlad should be neutralized, but I think Cruz is the scariest hitter I've seen in the box since Edgar Martinez. He is a complete machine and worries me that every swing is headed for the bleachers.
2. How many superlatives can we use to describe this lineup? Cano, Jeter, Tex, Arod, Swish, Posada, Granderson, Gardner, Thames, Berkman...I mean WOW. The whole lineup looked great against the Twins and they know how to get it done when it matters. They take pitches, get clutch hits, and hit the ball very very far. This team is a force to be dealt with for any starter, even good ol Cliff. I expect the lineup to have it's moments where as a fan you are concerned (site exhibit a- Francisco Liriano's first 5 innings) but in the end this group will get it done.
3. The Edge: The Yankees by a nose. They have a little more talent and the know how to be successful in October. The Rangers have the 2nd best offense in the league but the Yankees have the best and have gotten used to the heroics and I don't see that ending this series.

So Let's recap, The Yankees have better starting pitching, bullpen, and offense? Yes, they do. Will that lead to a victory in the playoffs despite being the wildcard and playing on the road. Yes it will. Yankees in 6, Friday night begins the quest for the World Series. Let's see CC bring it.

Yankees up 2-0, Heading Back to the Bronx

The Yankees for the second straight day disposed of the Minnesota Twins in typical New York fashion, good pitching and timely hitting. The Yankees, a team that limped into the playoffs, appeared as though they were going to have their hands full in the playoffs, but have cruised thus far. Minnesota in the past has not fared well against the Yankees during the playoffs or the regular season and looked to be the mentally inferior team the last two nights. In both games the Twins jumped out to an early lead and both times the Yankees got to the starters for Twins late and rallied.

Last night the Twins got to CC Sabathia and although Sabathia's final line looks ok, he was not on all game. He battled and fought but when all was said and done the Twins had to be pleased with how they hit him. However, they did not do enough. The Yankees couldn't hit Liriano for the first 5 innings until the 6th when they erupted, capped off by a Granderson 2-run triple, knocking Liriano out. The game was 4-4 going to the 7th inning, both starters struggling but still keeping their team's in it, until Tex stepped to the plate. With Swish on first, Teixeira hit a mammoth blast, that just stayed fair, that gave the Yankees the lead 6-4, a lead they would not relinquish. a little bull pen mixing and matching and 4 outs from Mariano Rivera and the Yankees had won the game.

Tonight they repeated that performance with Andy Eugene Pettitte on the hill. Pettite was lights out. He looked the willy vet the Yankees expected him to be. He shrugged off the rust and gave the Yankees 7 quality innings of 2 run ball. The Yankees were struggling early to hit Pavano, but just as they did last night, they got to him late. Berkman hit a towering opposite field home run in the 5th and then in the 6th the Yankees had a 4 hit rally, again powered by Berkman, and Pavano was no more. A 4-2 lead for the Yankees after 6 (an insurance run in the 9th) and another Mariano save (should we stop counting his postseason saves already) and the Yankees leave Minnesota with a 2-0 lead in the series.

So what does this mean? Here are a few things I've learned from this series thus far:

• Minnesota was destined to lose this series from the beginning. The whole time they have been playing while looking in the rear view mirror. They are counting on the Yankees to comeback and look scared and anxious instead of trying to be the aggressor and capitalize on a chance to advance on a weak and struggling Yankee team. You cannot give a NYY team any confidence or any chance to get hot or you are done. Minnesota is playing scared and it has been that way the entire decade.
• Homefield advantage is meaningless. I don't know if it's just the Yankees or it's all of baseball, but I feel like a good team won't be stopped when it plays well. Minnesota had the lead in both games and the crowd was wild and they Yankees had no problem maintaining their poise and climbed right back. When they did, the crowd was silent. even a 4-2 lead and the Minn faithful were nowhere to be found. Maybe Minnesota fans were as scared as the team, maybe they aren't good fans, maybe the Yankees are too ready for the playoffs and the road is no different. I dunno, but what I do know is the Yankees would have no problem winning in Minnesota if somehow this thing goes 5.
• Baseball needs instant replay, early and often. Plain and simple. The game can be decided by a few plays here and there and it's ludicrous that the naked eye is determining the result of a game. It's one thing when it's the 5th inning of the 3rd regular season game, but the last out of a playoff game, come on. Greg Golson clearly caught the final out of the first game when Delmon Young hit a liner off Mariano. Golson reached out and made a shoestring catch that would have ended the game, but the Umps conferred and said, no catch. The replay clearly shows it was a catch, and had Thome hit a HR on the next pitch the entire series would have changed. It takes two seconds Bud, put an umpire in the press box with a walkie talkie and he calls the crew chief after a controversial call and clears it up in 1 minute flat. I'm sick of a game being determined by people who aren't playing. Armando lost a perfect game, the Yankees may lose a game. Let's fix this please?

Here are some things I've liked so far in this series:

• The new Yankees. Curtis Granderson, Lance Berkman, and Kerry Wood are new to don the pinstripes, but are not finding it hard to fit in during the postseason. Granderson has 4 hits already, 2 extra base hits, and Berkman hit a HR and a 2B tonight. Wood on the other had, was untouchable tonight in his 1-2-3 8th inning that made Yankee nation take a collective deep breath. We finally have a reliable 8th inning guy to hand it off to Mo.
• The bullpen. I already mentioned Wood, obviously we know about Mariano, and yesterday we saw good outings from Robertson and Logan. That doesn't even include Joba who has come on strong lately. Altogether the Yankee pen has thrown 5 innings without allowing a run. That's how you make sure you win two road playoff games.
• Andy Pettitte in the postseason. The question marks around this guy coming into this postseason were staggering. He missed 2 months and only returned for three games down the stretch. He allowed 10 runs in 13 innings in those 3 games, not instilling a lot of confidence in Yankee fans for the October run. However Andy did what he's done 18 times before, pick up the baseball in October and win the game. He now has 19 playoff wins (the most ever) and continues to dominate on the World's biggest stage. He never ceases to impress me and I feel very confident knowing we have a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation for the next series.

Some stats I found interesting...

• The Yankee hitters are 7-21 with RISP, the Twins....0-10. You aren't gonna lose many games when the differential looks like that.
• Mariano Rivera now has 41 postseason saves and 32 of them have required him to pitch more than 1 inning. He is unbelievable. I have run out of superlatives for this guy. He has been around for 15 years throwing the same pitch and has been the best at it the game has ever seen. I would argue he is in the top 5 athletes of all time, think about it. How many people have dominated at their respective position for this long. Jordan? Woods? Federrer? Just something to mull over.
• That's the second straight game for the Yankees that everyone in the lineup reached base. Thames and Gardner had no hits the first night but did walk. Tonight only Posada did not get a hit, but he had the game's only walk. Good to see the Yankee lineup remains very cyclical with everyone able to contribute at all times.
  

Tomorrow the Yankees have off, but they return Saturday at 8 to face Minn in the Bronx. I expect Hughes to pitch well and the same Yankee power to be exerted over the Twins. Yankees in 3, bring on Texas...

ahhhh the playoffs...

Well big surprise, the Yankees made the playoffs. Bigger surprise, they made it as the wildcard?!?! Yes that is correct, the Yankees made the playoffs as the wild card despite winning 95 games and face Minnesota in the first round. Another first round matchup against Minnesota, a team that has struggled vs the Yankees in the Ron Gardenhire era. The Yankees sent CC to the mound in game 1 knowing full well they were gonna run him back in game 4 on 3 days rest. The Yankees have already announced just a 3 man rotation with CC-Andy-Phil. The Yankees also come in to this series struggling struggling mightily winning only 29 of their last 60 games and 7-14 in the last 21. They went from 36 over 500 at the best to finishing the season 28 over.

The Yankees made a few interesting calls with the playoff roster, they went with Greg Golson on the bench. A speedster who plays good defense and has a nice arm who will likely pinch run and play valuable 8th and 9th inning defensive replacement minutes. They also decided to leave Gaudin, Vazquez, and Nova off the roster and went with Burnett, Moseley, and Mitre as the long relievers in the pen. That comes in addition to the stud 5 in the pen--Mariano, Logan, Robertson, Wood, and Joba. The rest of the Yankee bench includes Ramiro Pena as the utility infielder, Lance Berkman, Marcus Thames, and Austin Kearns. I'm hoping Kearns won'y play vs Lefites and they just trust Granderson and Gardner to get it done, but we shall see. In the meantime the series looks to be interesting and I think the Yankees will need a big first game performance if they wanna take control of this series. It could really deflate Minnesota with a first game W, given their history against each other.

First pitch is 8:37, CC vs Liriano.

Yankees Look Lost

Well the talk of the town for the last few weeks has been the trade deadline and which teams appear to be winners and losers. The Yankees were seemingly one of the biggest winners, acquiring Austin Kearns, Kerry Wood, and Lance Berkman. This looked to sure up the Yankees bench with Berkman and Kearns and it helps the pen with Wood. Other than the bull pen and the bench the Yankees are set. The offense and starting pitching are the best in the game.

The Rays on the other hand made almost no deadline moves and looked like a team that couldn't get any deals completed. Their pitching is great but their offense is suspect and not making a move may cost them in the end, or so we think.

Since the trades have all gone through, the Yankees have not faired well. They lost 2/3 to the rays and have now dropped 2 straight at home to the Blue Jays. Alex Rodriguez's search for 600 home runs has left him batting a meager .190 in his 40+ abs between 599 and 600 and 0 for his last 17. Andy Pettitte's injury has proven to be a big loss because both Moseley and Mitre struggled in their replacement starts (6 ER and 5ER). Hughes and CC have been ok, AJ has been all over the place, and Javy is probably the most consistent starter. The pen has looked sharper of late, but that is the only bright spot.

With the Rays likely to win tonight, that will put them in sole possession of first place. The Rays have been hot and the Yankees...not. The Yankees funk is both with the bats and the starting pitching. The pitchers have not been able to get big outs when they need to and the hitters the same, few clutch hits. Tonight Ricky Romero retired 26 of the last 27 batters on his way to a dominant CG victory. It seems like no matter which starter the Yankees offense faces, the batters are jumping on the first few pitches and looking for bombs instead of singles and rallys.

The new acquisitions have hardly helped the Yankee lineup. Berkman has struggled early on offense and at 1B. Kearns has yet to get a hit and made an error in the field to top it off. Kerry Wood has been ok but gave up a homer in his first Yankee Stadium debut.

All things considered the Yankees better shake off this rust or whatever the fuck is going on and start playing better, plain and simple. Arod needs to just hit a god damn home run already and get the monkey off his back. Once he's back and he's Arod he'll give Tex more protection. Girardi needs to stop fiddling with the Yankee lineups and just run out Jeter-Swisher-Tex-Arod-Cano-Posada-Berkman-Granderson-Gardner every day and tell Austin Kearns, Cervelli, and Thames what we all know....you guys are bench players. You'll get in when ever the hell we need you and that won't be often. Let's stop rearranging the lineup and stop getting Kearns and Thames in vs Lefties and giving Berkman and Granderson days off. Posada needs to go back to good ol posada and get in 4/5 games instead of this 2 or 3 bull crap. CC needs to return to being our ace and throw us 8 innings and give the pen a day off. Hughes needs to go after hitters and get strike outs and stop letting 0-2 counts runs full. Javy needs to be Javy, the way he has been. Moseley needs to do what he did tonight, just give us a chance to win. AJ needs to find himself because it's the worst time with Andy hurt for him to be struggling.

If we can get the offense to wake up (starting with Alex) and get our starters who we know are good to just right themselves, all will be good in Yankee land. This team is still the best in the majors and is definitely playoff bound, but let's not squeak in as a wildcard, lets own the division and play to our capabilities. 4 losses in 5 days is not the worst thing in the world, but with Boston in town this weekend if we don't step our game up we might be looking way up in the division soon. Let's not dig ourselves a hole and let's start playing better baseball.

Yankees play a matinee to finish the series vs Toronto tomorrow, lets go Bronx Bombers!

Yankees romp, LeBron still most hated man in America

The Yankees continued their dominance of sub par teams last night with an 8-0 win over the Cleveland Indians. The win brought the Yankees to 64-36, the best record in baseball and 2 games better than the Rays in the AL East. The 28 games over .500 ties the high water mark for the season. The Yankees have managed to get to this point by taking advantage of the bad teams at home and on the road. In July the Yankees have taken 2/3 from Toronto 3/3 from Oakland, 3/4 from Seattle. 3/4 from KC, and now 2/3 so far from Cleveland.

Last night the Yankees got what they have been craving for almost 2 weeks, a quality start from their starter. The Yankees have been winning games despite short and poor outings from the entire staff. This Cleveland series, that has changed. Javy was stellar on Monday, CC was solid on Tuesday, and AJ was good AJ on Wednesday. The ability to give the bullpen a day off is esxpecially crucial with Andy Pettitte on the DL and replacement starter Dustin Moseley expected to start on Thursday. It is unlikely we will see 7 innings from Moseley and the best hope for Yankees fans is for him to keep us in the game. That will then lead to the bullpen playing an integral role in tonight's game.

The other news from last night was a fan at the game was ejected for wearing a LeBron james Heat jersey with the number 6 on it. Being in Cleveland and showing off the jersey proudly, there was no doubt he was going to get berraded. Fans all over the country and especially in Cleveland are not fond of LBJ right now. His move to leave home and play with studs Dwade and Bosh did not sit well with Cavs fans or fans of the NBA. This left me thinking, is there any difference between what LeBron did and what the Yankees do? Is it hypocritical of Yankee fans to be on LeBron for his actions when we ourselves are responsible for buying the best talent and creating situations like the LeBron debocle.

I think there are elements of hyprocracy here and it really comes down to the fact that because there is a salary cap in the NBA and not in baseball, no one expected this to happen. It's as if baseball for years has already allowed the sport to be run by the major city centers and it's just tradition. Whereas in the NBA there are rules from David Stern and a salary cap, which is all intended to maintain that equal playing field. Well the playing field is no longer equal and is LeBron to blame? Can we scream and yell at the guy for being the first person to want to win so badly he'd take a pay cut? Doesn't it seem odd that we respect the guy who stays in his home town but it's because he gets more money, where as leBron is more interested in winning than money and we are hating him for it? Maybe it's not that he wants to win so bad it's the mannor in which he is going about doing it. Jordan even said, he would never have played with Magic or Bird to win a title. He wanted to beat those guys not team up with them. So LeBron decided he'd rather win on Dwyane Wade's team than win being the man on his own team. Sounds like the guy doesn't have a huge ego like Jordan or Kobe, but can we fault him for that either?

When you get down to it, we are all whining about this because we know it makes the Heat a powerhouse and that's dissappointing to NBA fans. We don't want to see the league turn into a 3 team dominated league like Baseball. We have set up rules and regulations to make sure it doesn't happen, and yet it still is. That's why we are frustrated, but I think we have to spare LeBron the criticism because he was not the messiah of the game, he's just a 25 year old talented basketball player who chose to play with friends on the beach and win a title instead of fighting it out in Cleveland. So get over it Cleveland fans, I know things couldn't be worse in any of your major sports, but this is life, it's sport, move on.

Strange Day in Baseball

It's funny how I took 7 months off and then post twice in one day. However tonight required me to make a post. The Yankees won 9-1, YAY!, but the bigger story is still in the almost perfect game for Armando Gallaraga. Gallaraga deserved to have a perfect game but got robbed because Jim Joyce made a terrible call. The final out in the inning was called safe when the runner was clearly out. Perviously in the inning Austin Jackson made a terrific catch that was eerily reminiscent of Wise's catch last year in the 9th to save Mark B's perfect game. Jackson ran down a ball in dead center field and then Gallaraga got a ground ball to Santiago to get the 2nd out. With one out to go he induced a groundball to Miguel Cabrera off the bat of Duncan. Armando ran over and covered and the play was bang bang but called safer despite replay's showing it was clearly out. What a frustrating situation for the young right hander. It's hard to see such a terrible situation happen, what should have been the 21st perfect game and a big accomplishment for the guy instead becomes just a nice complete game shut out. It frustrates me to talk about this more so we will move on to the Yankees.

The Yankees won 9-1 tonight. The game was won by Phil Hughes and some phenomenal offensive statistics. Cano was 3-4 and had a homer, Granderson was 3-4 and was robbed on his only out. Arod was good, Swisher was better, and Posada looked good in his return (especially running down the line). Altogether things were good in Yankee land tonight. Gaudin came in to finish the game pitching te 8th and 9th after Hughes pitched a great 7 innings of 1 run ball, 6 hits, and 8 Ks. It was good to see the Yankees preying on the bottom feeders and not taking any pity. It was also nice to see the Yankees score early and get Bergessen out of the game before he could finish the 3rd inning.

Tomorrow they look to sweep the series and will look to CC to get back on track after his recent struggles. Game is 1:05 at the stadium.

Its Been A While

Well after a 7 month hiatus from the blogging world, I'm back. Now that school is out of the way it's time to again start writing about the Yankees. So let's get right back into the action,

52 game assessment of the Yankees

Starting Pitching- The Yankees might have the best rotation in baseball. Javier Vazquez (funny I'm beginning with him) is finally coming around and might finally make Yankee fans happy after his second stint in pinstripes. Phil Hughes has been sensational and will hope to continue his awesome play tonight vs. the Orioles. Andy Pettitte is having the best start to his career and that is saying quite a lot as he has 236 wins with the Yankees, tied with Whitey Ford for the most as a Yankee. AJ Burnett has been pretty good despite a few rough outings. His last two starts were great and showing signs of his dominance when his control is right. When he doesn't walk batters and hits his spots, he has top 5 stuff in all of baseball. CC Sabathia started the year on fire and has cooled off of late, but he is a horse and loves warm weather and I have no doubts his era will be in the mid 3's when the season ends. Overall the numbers on the starters look like so:

• AJ Burnett- 6-2 3.28 ERA 71.1 IP 53 Ks
• Phil Hughes- 6-1 2.70 ERA 56.2 IP 57 Ks
• Andy Pettitte- 7-1 2.48 ERA 65.1 IP 41 Ks
• CC Sabathia- 4-3 4.16 ERA 71.1 IP 54 Ks
• Javy Vazquez- 4-5 6.06 ERA 49.0 IP 43 Ks

Offense- The Yankees offense leads the league in runs scored with 289 after 52 games, that's about 5.55 runs a game. Although the Yankees lead the league in runs scored, it almost seems as though the Yankee offense hasn't even gotten going yet. New man Curtis Granderson missed about 3 weeks with a groin injury and hasn't completely found his stride yet only batting .240, however he homered in yesterday's ball game, a potential sign of things to come. The Yankees also brought in another former Yankee along with Vazquez in the form of Nick Johnson. Nick was struggling mightily before hurting his wrist and is now out for 8 weeks. Jorge Posada was batting great this year but then got himself hurt and will make his first return to the lineup in 3 weeks tonight vs the Orioles.

That covers all of the health issues, now to the rest of the batters. Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano have been unbelievable, both All-Star worthy and having their best seasons in the majors. Derek Jeter is having a typical Derek Jeter year, with a slightly lower avg and obp but more power than in previous years. Alex rodriguez is just beginning to hit his stride after driving in 6 runs the other day, he is now quietly 5th in the league in RBIs with 41 and is batting .293. The homers are down (7), but his production is not and he continues to heat up with the weather. Mark Texeiria had an abysmal April which is to be expected, but then followed that up with an eh May. Now Mark looks to finally break out and bring his numbers to where we expect them to be despite a leg bruise that cost him the 2nd half of last night's game. Brett Gardner has done a great job proving to the Yankees and the world that he is capable of being an everyday starter. His average is high, his stolen bases rank top 5 in the league, his defense has been stellar, and he adds another dimension to the Yankees offense that isn't just station to station anymore.

Overall assessment of the offense is that it has been good but not great. We have to do a better job of getting runners in from 3rd with 1 out or less. We need to find ways to score runs earlier in games and stop waiting for the opposing team's bullpen to score runs. If that is the case though, we need to work pitch counts and see to it that we face their relievers in the 6th not the 8th. We need to see more from Tex and Granderson, we need A-rod to get hot, Cano to stay hot, and a healthy Posada for the year.

Bullpen- This is where the enormous problem in the team lies. Other than Mariano Rivera there is no one reliable in the entire pen. Robertson has struggled mightily. Marte has been inconsistent. Aceves has gotten hurt and will be out for a while. Chan Ho Park got hurt and has been piss poor even when healthy. Joba has at times shown flashes of his 2007 self, dialing up 97 and an incredible slider to match it. Unfortunately he has been really hittable at other times and his era is 5, way too high. If this team wants to go the distance, the middle relief has to do a better job of taking the baseball from our starters and getting the ball to MO.

Given the team's enormous injuries, the glaring issues at middle relief, the early struggles for Vazquez and current struggles for CC, the team is very pleased to be 32-20 at this point. They have played a lot of road games and played a lot of good teams and have done very well against every team except for maybe the rays (2-3 overall). The Yankees maintain their status as a contender and with the 2nd best record in baseball, the future is bright in Yankee Land.

Tonight Hughes takes the mound against Bergessen at 7:05 in Yankee Stasium as the Yankees look to take the series against the Orioles.