Spanning the playoffs

Live Fast, Die Young, and Leave a Good Looking Blog

2007-10-10T00:33:00.000-07:00

Assuming the Yankee fans in the audience have had time to uncurl themselves from the fetal position and drag themselves up off the floor... there now, deep breaths. Time to start constructing wild, vivid fantasies in which Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, and Ian Kennedy all finish in the top three for the 2008 Cy Young.

This week New Yorkers get to choose which Yankee or Yankees they're going to blame for the latest debacle, and it can be a revealing choice, sort of like picking out a jacket or a new car. How does this "fire Torre" suit you? Perennial favorite "A-Rod choked again" might go well with your look. Or is the practical, no-nonsense "it's all on Wang" a better match for the image you'd like to project? Perhaps you'd like to try our new, cutting-edge "Jeter killed them" model...

Personally, I really want to stand out from the crowd this year, so I'm planning to pick someone completely arbitrary. Thoughts? Right now I'm leaning towards declaring everything to be Jose Molina's fault. Never trust a Molina brother, I always say.

These are always an awkward few weeks, but soon it'll be time to obsess over the free-agent market and get excited about next year's team. I always enjoy the off-season, because even the angriest, hardest-to-please fans tend to get a little giddy with optimism of the "Hey, this Igawa guy has excellent numbers in Japan" variety. Hope springs eternal.

Thanks for reading and commenting, everybody, it's been fun. Enjoy the rest of the playoffs if you can. And stay safe out there: if you're planning to listen to a lot of Chip Caray over the next few weeks, don't forget to assign a designated driver in advance.

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens / January 8, 2007)

Spanning the Carnage

2007-10-09T03:03:00.000-07:00

(Newsday/Paul J. Bereswill / October 8, 2007)

So... no Subway Series this year, huh?

I had higher hopes for this New York baseball season. But I don't subscribe to the George Steinbrenner Series-or-Bust attitude; for me baseball is entertainment, and if I'm engaged and interested from April through October... well, I'm not going to say it's all I ask, but I'll accept it. The Mets had me hooked til their 162nd game of the year, and the Yankees til the third out of the ninth tonight. While I am certainly not arguing that both teams didn't have decidedly disappointing years in the end, there weren't too many dull moments.

This wasn't a heartbreaking game, or series, for the Yankees; a loss has to be closer than this to be heartbreaking. I feel like we all learn this same lesson every single year, and then the following fall, we're surprised all over again: "Huh -- maybe there's something to this good pitching beats good hitting thing!" But here's a miserable thought for Yankee fans: as River Ave. Blues points out,this might very well have been the last playoff game ever played in Yankee Stadium.

I just can't bring myself to support letting Torre go -- logic aside, I just plain like the guy, and I've gotten too used to him. But it looks like it's happening, and ESPN just showed a list of potential replacements for Torre, according to Buster Olney: Joe Girardi and Don Mattingly we already knew about; Trey Hilman, who used to manage in the Yankees' minor league system; Buck Showalter. But also: Tony La Russa?! Bobby Valentine?!?! While that would be a truly terrible idea, there's no denying that Bobby V in the Bronx would make for arguably the best reality television show of all time, so I'd be lying if I said part of me -- not a part I'm particularly proud of -- isn't rooting for this. Who can resist the man who invented the wrap? Or sneaked back into the Mets dugout, after being ejected, in a fake mustache and glasses? Or showed off his dance moves in this Japanese music video?

Man, poor Joe.

(Newsday/Paul J. Bereswill / October 8, 2007)

... We Missed "Heroes" For THAT?

2007-10-08T23:58:00.000-07:00

Well, you’re not gonna win an awful lot of series when your starting pitcher is yanked in the third or sooner, two games in a row. Paul Byrd was just good enough -- you were right, Eric Wedge, I apologize; but you do still need to shave -- and the Yankees left way too many men on base. Unlike last year, when they looked completely limp in their last loss to the Tigers, the Yanks at least went down fighting tonight, but the end result was the same. I'm happy for my Indians fan friends, at least; they deserve a pleasant October.

And for once, it wasn't about A-Rod. Go figure: he was fine but unspectacular. I feel for Chien-Ming Wang, who is under an awful lot of pressure to represent Taiwan, and just didn't have anything to work with tonight. In any case, the Yankees exit in the first round for the third year in a row, and there will probably be some repercussions -- it won't be a quiet off-season for either New York team, that's for sure.

This is a tough one, Yankee fans… but remember, when God closes a door, he opens a window, which you can crawl out of and run far, far away so as not to have to listen to Chip Caray anymore. Back a little later with more.

UPDATE, 11:58:

Torre's talking to reporters: "This ballclub, they've got a bright future." They, huh?

"The twelve years felt like they were ten minutes long." That sounds like someone saying goodbye.

Joe Torre has his faults as a manager, and I can understand why some people want him gone, but he's going to be tough to replace. And man, is it going to be strange to see someone else sitting in the dugout for the first time since I was a freshman in high school.

Fausto-ian Bargain

2007-10-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

As we get closer to game time, the Great Paul Byrd Debate of '07 continues. Eric Wedge is sticking to his plan, and I'm eagerly awaiting Paul O'Neill's flabbergasted reaction on the YES pregame show.

Several commenters in the last post made a pretty convincing case for holding back Sabathia, though, based on his high pitch count Friday and lack of experience on three days' rest, and I guess can see the argument there. Plus, it's true that having Carmona potentially ready to go behind Sabathia in a Game 5, should the Yankees get that far, is a fairly terrifying prospect for New York fans.

But I've also heard a lot of people elsewhere argue that Byrd's a really good pitcher, and back it up by pointing out his 15 wins. The thing is, wins taken out of context just don't tell you very much. You know who won 15 games last season? Randy Johnson and the Mets' Steve Trachsel, whose 2006 season will, for me, always stand as a monument to the meaningless of that particular stat.

Of course, that doesn't mean Byrd won't win tonight; this is one unpredictable Yankee team. They might get shut out or score 10 runs in two innings and it wouldn't be all that shocking either way. After all, would you expect them to lose a game where Andy Pettitte goes into the seventh without allowing a run, or win one where Roger Clemens is out in the third? Maybe the Yankees should've started Kyle Farnsworth, just to stick with the unexpected.

[UPDATE 5:47: Good lord, Eric Wedge really needs to shave. He seems like an intelligent guy and I'm sure it's intended to be lucky, which I respect, but it's tough to take his press conference answers seriously when they look like they're coming from a drifter with a substance abuse problem. Somebody should talk to him about this.]

Is That a Rocket in Your Pocket?

2007-10-07T23:07:00.000-07:00

(Newsday / Kathy Kmonicek / October 7, 2007)

Well, I guess now we know Phil Hughes can handle playoff pressure. That was an extremely impressive outing from the rookie under those circumstances -- 2 hits, 4 strike outs, no walks in 3.2 innings. Meanwhile, someone reminded the Yankees that the guy standing on the mound in the Indians hat was Jake Westbrook, and they finally managed to string some hits together, highlighted by Johnny Damon's three-run homer, and a Robinson Cano single that, thanks to a Trot Nixon error, became a three-run hit (Trot Nixon giveth, and Trot Nixon taketh away).

Chip Caray: "And what was the point I made earlier, the metaphor of the shaken soda bottle, with the Yankees?"
Me: [sobbing]

In the seventh inning Joba Chamberlain set out to prove that the hype is real, as long as you leave entymology out of it. After Ronan Tynan finished singing the slowest version of "God Bless America" I've ever heard in my life, though, Chamberlain went back out for the 8th and struggled, allowing a run and getting his pitch count up to 38 before it was over.

And so, for the "What Will We Be Second-Guessing Joe Torre About Tomorrow?" segment of our program, I can't say I really understand the thinking behind leaving Chamberlain in for two innings with a five-run lead -- not that I blame Torre for not trusting the rest of the bullpen, but now Chamberlain's questionable for tomorrow, and who knows if there'll be a four- or five-run lead to work with then? If the Yankee bullpen blows a lead in Game 4, you will be hearing a lot more about this.

However, they had to get to Game 4 for that to become an issue, and give Torre credit for some good moves tonight: he didn't wait too long to yank Clemens; he made the right but risky call in going to Hughes. And I like that he's starting "the Wanger" tomorrow, too.

Speaking of which: like Paul O'Neill, who was talking to Michael Kay on YES, I still can't believe the Indians are really going to start Paul Byrd tomorrow, instead of Sabathia on three days' rest. This is all part of an elaborate fake-out, right? Unless there are health concerns with Sabathia that I'm not aware of, which is possible, I don't get this at all. And Sabathia would have set up Fausto Carmona, who totally dominated the Yanks on Friday, for a possible Game 5 on normal rest -- wouldn't that be ideal?

Who knows, though: maybe Paul Byrd pitches the game of his life and there is no Game 5... or maybe O'Neill is right, and Eric Wedge will change his mind after getting a good night's sleep.

Finally, after the game Johnny Damon said they were "playing for Joe". Hmmm. Is George Steinbrenner just a loudmouthed autocrat with lucky timing, or does he actually know what he's doing with these ultimatums? I don't really believe there's a connection, but if the Yankees make it out of this series alive, we'll certainly be hearing about The Boss's motivational tactics throughout the ALCS.

Coke or Pepsi, Chip?

2007-10-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

Roger Clemens just got yanked after 2.1 innings, with what TBS is calling a "strained hamstring". He had a rough start, alternately missing the plate and getting hit hard -- Jeter's throwing error in the firstwas just icing on the cake. (As an aside, doesn't it just seem wrong that a pitcher of Clemens' caliber would have, as his nemesis, Trot Nixon?). Torre let Clemens get Victor Martinez on a strikeout, and so at least, if this is his last-ever game, he went out with a K. And as bad as he looked, things never did get completely out of hand.

This is a very, very tough spot to put Phil Hughes in -- do you really want this rookie, coming back from a major injury earlier in the year, to feel responsible for the end of the Yankees' season and maybe the loss of Torre's job? It's an insane amount of pressure to put on someone that young and inexperienced -- Friday night was his first time ever coming out of the pen. But I can't really argue that Mussina or anyone else would have been a better choice.

Hughes, after a Nuke LaLoosh-esque wild pitch, a ground out, and a run-scoring double to Jhonny Peralta, gets out of the inning, and it's 3-0. If the Yankees could stop hitting into soul-crushing double plays, that wouldn't be insurmountable.

Chip Caray: "You get the feeling that this Yankee offense is like a two-liter bottle of soda." Oh my god, STOP IT!

On the plus side: A-Rod finally got himself a solid single. All together now: It's alive! It's moving! It's aliiiiiiiiiive!...

Far Safer to be Feared Than Loved

2007-10-07T14:45:00.000-07:00

Two fascinating and divisive Yankee figures are front and center today: George Steinbrenner talked to the Bergen Record's Ian O'Connor, in his first in-depth interview in quite some time, and for better or worse seems to be old self; meanwhile, Roger Clemens will be on the mound representing the Yankees' last chance against the Indians.

If you needed further proof that all those carefully composed Steinbrenner "statements" PR guy Howard Rubenstein has been releasing all season were complete BS, the old Steinbrenner style will come as a refreshing smack in the face. On Torre:

"His job is on the line," the Yankees' owner said in a phone interview. "I think we're paying him a lot of money. He's the highest-paid manager in baseball, so I don't think we'd take him back if we don't win this series."

And the umpiring:

"The umpire was full of [expletive]," Steinbrenner said of the retiring Froemming.

But, guys, even George is going easy on A-Rod:

"I think we'll re-sign him," Steinbrenner said of Rodriguez. "I think he's going to have a good run the rest of the [postseason]. I think he realizes New York is the place to be, the place to play. A lot of this [postseason] is laying on his shoulders, you know, but I think he's up to it."

So if you've been screaming for Rodriguez to be let go, just keep in mind that this makes you less patient than George Steinbrenner. Deep breaths!

Clemens, like Steinbrenner, became a larger-than-life figure a long time ago, and by now it's hard to separate the person from the hype. A lot of Yankee fans are conflicted about him -- unlike fans of other teams, who almost universally loathe him. But while you can argue endlessly about his personality, the endless retirement melodramas, the huge contracts, or the Mike Piazza Incident, there's no debating the fact that he's been one of the most dominant pitchers of his era, and very possible of all time. Just as Steinbrenner's been, like it or not, one of the most influential owners in sports.

This year, finally, despite flashes of dominance, Clemens hasn't been able to pitch like an ace, and Steinbrenner's no longer the feared, overbearing force he once was -- but apparently The Boss won't be going out quietly; we'll find out whether Clemens will in a few hours.

Mr. Splitty's Last Stand

2007-10-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

Well, say goodbye to the Cubs. Too bad, because I was looking forward to watching Lou Piniella bury his face in his hands in stunned disbelief every time one of his pitchers walked someone. The Phillies are, as I write this, tied with Colorado, but it's not really looking good -- I get that the Rockies are better than I thought, but Ubaldo Jiminez should not be able to do this to the best offense in the National League.

The Angels, like the Yankees, will try to stave off elimination tomorrow afternoon, after a Manny Ramirez walk-off last night. I wasn’t surprised by the home run, but was absolutely stunned to see him talking to reporters afterwards.

As for the Yankees, well, they've certainly lost their margin for error; what else is there to say? So glad you asked:

Buster Olney doesn't think another bad October will hurt Alex Rodriguez's standing with the Yankee front office. The fans may be another story...

I'm pretty sure A-Rod will get a big ovation to start tomorrow's game - right? If the Yankees fall behind, though, while he suffers through a few more bad at-bats, things will go south fast.

Yanksfan vs Soxfan muses about insects, forces of nature and the Pathetic Fallacy. That was one of my 10th grade English teacher’s favorite terms, and I can't believe I didn’t think to apply it here myself.

Replacement Level Yankees Weblog: "Life is unfair." Larry Mahnken gives the Yankee offense some tough love.

The Yankees canceled their workout and batting practice today. I get the thinking behind this, I really do... but it doesn't sound good, does it? I mean, I took this approach with the piano once -- I was terrible at it, so I stopped practicing. Didn't help.

Kat O'Brien also has a revealing quote from Roger Clemens in that post: "Whatever it takes to get it done, I've got to get the ball to -- I've got to get somebody the ball on Monday, and that's the bottom line."

Ah, yes, good old reliable Somebody. He's had a lot of success against lefties this year... too many walks though.

The DiaTribe: “Do we believe that ‘Great Pitching Beats Great Hitting’ yet?”

Speaking for only for myself, yes, pretty much. But the real question tomorrow may be: does Kyle Farnsworth beat Asdrubal Cabrera?

In other Indians news, Ryan Garko has a blog! And he -- or more accurately, whatever MLB.com employee transcribes his thoughts -- writes,

“The bugs caused a lot of drama tonight. But Fausto didn’t flinch. He didn’t blink. That says a lot about him. You’ve got to give him credit. There was some adversity thrown at him. That might have been my favorite part of the game. He didn’t step off the mound once, and the other guys on the Yankees were acting like there were bullets flying around their heads, not gnats. I mean… this is the big leagues.”

Wow, catty. But fair.

On closer inspection, it turns out every team but the Yankees has a playoff blogger at MLBlogs, including Chone Figgins, Kevin Youklis, former Yank Tony Clark, Aaron Rowand, and Todd Helton. For the most part, these guys aren't revealing anything remarkably interesting:

DeRosa: “You've got to be realistic and take it one game at a time."
Youk: "I think all of us, now, we just want to win."
Figgins: "But they’re a good team, and they came back. You have to give them credit for that."

Zzzzzzzzz. However, I did learn that Tony Clark -- who I remember as being very solid during his brief time in New York, though the stats don't really seem to back me up on that -- has kids named Kiara, Jazzin and Aeneas. Man, you've gotta love the idea of Clark sitting by his locker before a game, flipping through The Aeneid.

I'm going to use this as a flimsy excuse to bring up the fact that Manny Ramirez named both of his sons Manny Jr.

Nothing else to do but wait for tomorrow's game. What do you guys think? Will the Yankees make it to a Game 4? Will this be Roger Clemens' Last Game Ever, again? It might actually be, if things go poorly, the last playoff game ever at Yankee Stadium, so here's hoping they send the old place off in style -- if not with a win, at least with some dramatics.

THEM!

2007-10-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

Losing to the Indians is one thing. They’re an excellent team; it happens.

But losing to small flying ants?

Now I realize I’m not being totally rational. Tonight’s loss is also on the offense, which never got anything going; on Joba Chamberlain, who arguably should have been able to maintain his focus even in the face of the eighth plague; and on ~~Jose~~ Luis* Vizcaino, who had a lousy inning and couldn’t hold the tie. All those things played a part. But really: do you genuinely think the Yankees would have lost if not for The Swarm?

On the plus side, it’s always nice to see something you’ve never seen before – like, say, multiple game delays in order to hose down the infielders with OFF!. That was a new one. The bugs are apparently known as “Canadian Soldiers,” so obviously there’s only one thing to do here: blame Canada. (Warning: that link includes a little language that’s Not Safe For Work… unless of course you work at Madison Square Garden).

So, was this game an argument for the need to combat global warming? A sign that God hates the Yankees? Don’t forget to tune in Sunday, when a small meteorite is expected to fall on the bullpen. Indians fans have spent the last few days waving towels that say “New York Sucks” – tough talk for a town best known for Drew Carey and, now, mayflies – but if there’s any justice in this world, the Indians will be harassed by a flock of peeved pigeons on their arrival in the Bronx. In fact, as long as we’re enlisting local fauna in the cause, maybe we can get the roaches and rats involved too, or the rabid raccoons out in Greenpoint... I'll see your gnats, and raise you those terrifying translucent things with a zillion huge feelers that I keep finding in my kitchen.

Other points of interest from tonight’s game:

-In the top of the seventh, Bobby Abreu came up and tapped his bat once on the plate… and it immediately collapsed in pieces. Funny -- but, in retrospect, probably a bad sign.

-Can we please hold off on the A-Rod bashing? It’s troubling that the entire offense has struggled so much in the playoffs the last few years, but for the most part he hasn’t been any worse than the rest of the team. If he doesn’t get anything done against Jake Westbrook, or Paul Byrd, then there’ll be more of an argument to be made… though even then, for me, his staggeringly good career numbers have to trump a small sample size of playoff games.

-Andy Pettitte was absolutely great - just a strong, smart, ballsy start. It’ll get lost in the noise and confusion if the Yankees are eliminated Sunday or Monday, but it was the best performance New York's gotten from a playoff starter in years.

-Bob Brenly was actually pretty good in the booth tonight. Early on he pointed out that Posada was giving Pettitte a series of signs, rather than just putting down a finger, even though there were no Indians on base -- which implies that he’s worried about someone stealing signs. Posada’s always been a bit paranoid about this, so I wouldn’t read too much into it, but it’s worth keeping an eye on. And later, he called attention to the way the Yankees had carefully orchestrated Pettitte’s pickoff of Kenny Lofton as he tried to steal third. Tony Gwynn seemed more comfortable his second time around, too.

However, Chip Caray still makes me want to poke myself in the eye. The man has such an absolutely unholy love of sacrifice bunts that I'm beginning to view it as a grave threat to the institution of marriage. I like Eric Wedge – although he hasn’t shaved in days and is starting to look a bit like a hobo – but if he hadn’t given away four outs against the Yankees tonight, the Indians might have gotten the winning run home a lot earlier.

-Roger Clemens is starting Sunday. He hasn’t pitched in weeks, and if he implodes early, the bullpen is not well-equipped to pick him up; it could easily be game over, season over, Joe Torre’s Yankee career over.

On the plus side, though, gnats know better than to even think about crowding The Rocket -- try it even once and the next one goes right where an ear would be, if gnats had ears.

*As soon as the Yankees traded for Luis Vizcaino, I just knew that would happen... sorry!

Before Them There Were No Such Locusts As They

2007-10-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

What a great game for Cleveland's Board of Tourism. "Come to beautiful downtown Cleveland... enjoy our fine restaurants, Rock and Roll hall of fame, and take in our nationally recognized SWARMS OF GNATS!"

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the warm weather and Cleveland's bug problem -- Mistake by the Lake indeed -- might just cost the Yankees this game, and if so, very possibly this series.

And here you were thinking their pitching would do them in.

The gnats arrived in force in the 8th and clearly drove Joba Chamberlain, so sharp in the 7th inning, to distraction, affecting his concentration and control. I can't really blame him, since they were crawling all over his face and neck and I was twitching just watching it on TV. But a walk and wild pitches tied the game at one, and the Yankees wasted the guttiest playoff start they've had in years - Andy Pettitte was amazing.

Yes, Alex Rodriguez struck out with a runner on to end the 9th, but before all the A-Rod angst starts up again, it needs to be said that Fausto Carmona was brutally on his game tonight. The Yankees only got three hits off him total.

So the game's tied at one in the 10th (needless to say, it takes more than a little biblical plague to faze Mariano Rivera in the ninth); I'll be back with more when it's over. Which will be soon if the Yankees don't start hitting.

So Can We Call That Start Magnificent?

2007-10-05T00:03:00.000-07:00

(Newsday/Paul J. Bereswill / October 4, 2007)

Well, that got ugly fast. Joe Torre, as is his wont, left himself open to second-guessing with his bullpen management -- should Chien-Ming Wang have been gone earlier? Was Ross Ohlendorf the right choice there? If you're going to use Phil Hughes tonight, why at that particular point, when the game was already essentially over? But really, this game was lost because Wang had nothing. Although it certainly didn't help that, although the Yankee hitters did a good job working the count against C.C. Sabathia, walking six times in five tough innings, they did a lousy job of getting all those runners home.

Wang gave his usual loquacious interview afterwards:

Kim Jones: Were you nervous?
Wang: No.
Jones: Are you disappointed?
Wang: Yes.
[silence]

Somebody hire this guy to do color commentary, ASAP.

This wasn't an encouraging game, but it's too soon to freak out. It might be time in less than 24 hours, but for now, recent history tells us that winning the first ALDS game is hardly a great predictor of future success. Although: did it have to be Kenny Lofton? The only reason you don't hear more about how disappointing he was for New York in 2004 is that Tony Womack came along in 2005 and made him look like Ken Griffey Jr.

More worrisome than the Yankees' performance tonight, for me personally, is the fact that TBS announcer Chip Caray is rapidly leeching away my will to live. Tony Gwynn didn't have a ton to say, but he's affable and charismatic; Bob Brenly has the charisma of a turnip, but he knows his baseball. Caray, on the other hand, was actively painful to listen to.

I generally think Yankee fans are far too sensitive and quick to call "anti-Yankee bias" in the national media -- I don't see it with FOX or ESPN, honestly, at all -- but Caray was, in fact, blatantly and opening cheering on the Indians ("Cleveland Rocks!!!!"). That wouldn't be particularly bad by itself if he brought some interesting discussion to the table; instead he spent two full innings trying to blame the Yankee loss on Joe Torre's failure to bunt Derek Jeter in the fifth. Why on earth would you bunt one of your best hitters there against a pitcher he's had significant success against in the past? Yes, as the inning eventually developed, it probably would have gotten another run home; but that doesn't change the fact that it is, in general, completely the wrong move. Or that the Yankees lost by nine runs.

Another gem: "Borowski’s come into Cleveland and done a magnificent job!" He... has? I'll give you "good job after a very rocky start," possibly. But the guy's got, as noted earlier, a 5.07 ERA and eight blown saves. In fact, when you Google "blown save," a story about Borowski is literally the second thing that comes up.

It's going to be a long series.

Meanwhile, our Backhanded Compliment of the Day comes from Joe Torre, when asked about Kenny Lofton after the game: "He's been bounced around to a lot of clubs for a reason... and that's because they thought he could help them." I'm not sure how intentional that was, but: heh.

Anyway, it's yet another big Game 2 for Andy Pettitte tomorrow night; we've seen this so many times before that I don't even know which year to flash back to.

Andy Pettite watches as the Indians pile on runs in the fifth inning. (Newsday/David L. Pokress / October 4, 2007)

Cameramen Take Their Indirect Revenge on Kenny Rogers

2007-10-04T17:36:00.000-07:00

Only Doug Mientkiewicz -- okay, or Carl Pavano -- would somehow manage to get injured while walking from the team bus to Jacobs Field.

The initial rumor, which was surprisingly easy to believe, had Mientkiewicz getting "run over" by a Cleveland cameraman, but it turns out he was just tripped over:

"I was walking up the ramp and he was backpedaling while filming. He tripped into me; my left foot was up and he landed on the back of it and rolled it," Mientkiewicz said.

It sounds like he'll be okay to go tonight... and the Yankees do have options at first with Giambi, Betemit, and Shelly Duncan all able to play there. But someone asked me, in the comments to the last post, what exactly was meant by "the baseball gods"? Short answer: vague, supernatural entities who are laughing their heads off over this. What did Mientkiewicz do, kill a back cat with a shard of broken mirror while walking under a ladder? It was just a few months ago, remember, that he suffered a fractured wrist, a concussion, and whiplash after coming out on the wrong end of a collision with Mike Lowell's thigh, which is apparently made of pure titanium.

Look Out Cleveland

2007-10-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

Just so you (and the baseball gods) know, that post title is not a cocky prediction but a reference to a great song by The Band, which I am 99% sure TBS will not play during this Division Series. Not with so many great Matchbox Twenty songs to choose from! That'll get the kids watching.

Anyway, it's finally game day. Will A-Rod live up to the stupefying hype? Will Chien-Ming Wang be an ace, with all of Taiwan glued to their TV sets, watching live at 6:30 AM? Is Cleveland closer Joe Borowski even close to as bad as his numbers indicate? They're actually worse that Kyle Farnsworth's. In fact, they're worse than Ron Villone's, and he's not even on the Yankees' playoff roster. The Indians scare me, and I do realize that Borowski's ERA was inflated by some serious early-season struggles... but he still strikes me as a potentially major Achilles' heel.

Also: did you know that Kyle Farnsworth's middle name is Lynn? Doesn't that just explain so much, in a "Boy Named Sue" kind of way?

Playoff previews abound:

Bronx Banter's Cliff Corcoran goes position-by-position, in depth, wisely going by lineup/rotation slot rather than defensive position -- because, as he points out, nobody really needs to see Casey Blake compared to Alex Rodriguez. Least of all Casey Blake.

(... and now that I've written that, he will proceed to hit at least three home runs in this series. Just wait).

River Ave. Blues' Ben Kabak warns that -- among other things -- the Yankees should fear the Indians' two Rafaels, Perez and Betancourt.

Baseball Prospectus breaks things down for the sabermetrically inclined -- though, really, this is a very readable post even if you neither know nor care about the meaning of VORP (hi Murray Chass!). Jay Jaffe suggests the Yankees would be better off starting Hughes in Game 3, rather than an unpredictable Roger Clemens, and following that with Wang on three days' rest for Game 4 the Stadium, instead of Mussina; that actually makes a ton of sense. But will never, ever happen.

Indians blog The DiaTribe points out that one permutation of the Yankees' starting lineup - just those nine guys - gets paid roughly $20,000,000 more than the 2006 Gross Domestic Product of New Zealand. I know this stat is supposed to illustrate how shockingly high the Yankee payroll is, and it does, I guess... but also: there's really not a whole lot going on in New Zealand, is there?

Anyway, DiaTribe blogger Pat Tablar also advocates pitching around A-Rod as much as possible, and he's right -- I honestly don't know why more teams didn't do this in the regular season. Certainly it worked for the 2005 Angels.

A majority of the ESPN crew is picking the Indians -- including people like Buster Olney and Peter Gammons, who know what they're talking about, but also people like Steve "Trade A-Rod Before It's Too Late" Phillips. On the other hand, Vegas and the major online gambling sites have the Yankees as the favorites (at about -180) to win the series.

The extremely concise summary of all of this is, of course: the Indians' superior starting pitching meets the Yankees' superior offense. You could've said much the same thing about the Tigers-Yankees series last year, which is somewhat disconcerting.

But in any event: enjoy the October baseball, comment if you're moved to do so, and check back later for more on Game 1.

Photo: Newsday / Audrey C.Tiernan / October 2, 2007

Are We There Yet?

2007-10-04T01:09:00.000-07:00

The Yankees have a long wait this year for their first playoff game, but everyone else got started today. Colorado won this afternoon, 4-2, prompting me to suddenly wonder: are the Rockies actually good? I watched them play well against both the Mets and Yankees this year, but somehow I just blamed the New York teams for under-performing. Is it finally time to give the Rockies a little respect?

... Nah.

Anyway, at the post-game press conference, both managers had their chance to shine in front of a national audience:

Rockies manager Clint Hurdle, asked how important it is to win game one: "I don't know, I don't have any experience to draw on. But I'd think it would beat the heck out of losing game one."

And the Phillies' Charlie Manuel: "Today was a good game, but we lost. And tomorrow, it's very important for us to lose. [beat] I mean, to win."

Well said. Meanwhile, Josh Beckett looked terrifyingly good in throwing a four-hit complete game shutout at Fenway. Angels vs. Red Sox is always a tough call for Yankee fans; all you can do is hope the series goes five games and completely exhausts everyone in both bullpens. That's not working out too well so far.

Finally, the Diamondbacks just beat the Cubs, 3-1, after a pretty sweet Brandon Webb-Carl Zambrano pitchers' duel, which ended when Lou Piniella out-thought himself. Best names in this series: the Cubs' Geovany Soto and, of course, Felix Pie (though it isn't pronounced the way you want it to be); and the D-backs' Augie Ojeda, Dustin Nippert, and Jeff Salazar, who sounds like the European villain of a bad action movie. "Salazar! Nooooo!"

Why yes, I am getting a little twitchy waiting for Yankees-Indians to start... why do you ask?

Cap'n Crunch?

2007-10-02T21:21:00.000-07:00

With apologies for the blog title -- it was this or "Spantasy Baseball", people -- and for whatever it is that my hair's doing in that photo at left, let's get down to business.

For personal reasons*, I prefer not to make playoff predictions; I'd rather sit back and relax while others go out on a limb, then make fun of them later. Mainly I'm just glad the Yankees aren't facing the Angels, but not because I don't think the Indians are at least as dangerous -- just because if the Yankees do go down in the first round again, it'll be nice to get eliminated by a different team this time. Variety is the spice of life.

In fact, these Indians are a pretty easy team to like, featuring:

Travis "Pronk" Hafner: half project, half donkey, all milk chocolate. Someone please explain to me how Derek Jeter doesn't have his own candy bar yet. And does anyone have any suggestions for what to call it? Would it involve nougat?

C.C. Sabathia, whom the Yankees haven't faced in years. I've always believed that every team should include at least one overweight pitcher; it's good baseball karma. Somewhere in Cleveland, Chris Britton is fervently hoping Joe Torre agrees with me.

Fausto Carmona, who has, let's face it, one of the best names in the playoffs, and sick numbers besides. Runner-up best names on the Indians: Kelly Shoppach, Asdrubal Cabrera, and our old friend Trot Nixon, formerly of the Red Sox. Sorry, but Jhonny Peralta is disqualified.

So this series comes with none of the built-in animosity that would've accompanied a matchup against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, which is probably for the best -- if I never see a rally monkey again it will be too soon.

Somebody really does need to do something about that logo, though. Seriously, Cleveland: it's time. Let it go.

*My tendency to be very very wrong