Yankees | The Baseball Zealot

Yankees Make the Wait Werthwhile

arod There was a one hour twenty minute rain delay before game three finally was set into motion. Southpaw Andy Pettitte was on the bump for the Pinstripers, while lefty Cole Hamels (I see that commercial with those kids dad, every time he pitches) was matched up against the cagey vet.

It looked like Pettitte was the kid with the jitters in the 2nd inning, when he allowed a leadoff homer to Jayson Werth to give Philly a 1-0 lead. Before the second inning dust had settled, Andy walked Jimmy Rollins with the bases loaded, and then Shane Victorino’s sac fly made it 3-0.

In the top of the 4th with a runner on 1st Alex Rodriguez’ flyball hit off a camera in rightfield, it appeared as though the camera was out over the field of play, but it was reviewed and ruled a two run home run, making it a 3-2 game. With one out in the 5th Andy Pettitte took matters into his own hands when he singled home Nick Swisher from 2nd base with the tying run, Swisher had doubled to open the inning. Derek Jeter kept the line moving with a base knock. The big blow came moments later when Johnny Damon’s double plated both Pettitte & Jeter, giving NY a two run lead.

In the sixth inning the teams exchanged runs with Nick Swisher hitting a home run in the top of the frame and Jayson Werth matching it with a big fly of his own in the bottom for Philadelphia, still a two run Yankee advantage. New York took control in the 7th & 8th, with one run in each inning, Jorge Posada’s RBI single in the 7th and pinch hitter Hideki Matsui’s solo shot in the eighth.

Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz hit a solo blast in the 9th off reliever Phil Hughes to cut it to three, but then Mariano Rivera was called upon to close it out. Andy Pettitte was the winning pitcher, his 17th postseason victory.

I want to say something about the talking heads, they are crazy, and for the most part they talk about stuff which makes no sense. They talk about pressure & clutch, they talk about slumps, and meaningless statistics of what batters are doing off certain pitchers in certain situations. The problem here arises in the fact that there isn’t a whole lot of data, the statistics are very limited, and they are skewed as a result. What I’m talking about in particular is Alex Rodriguez 0-8 with six strikeouts after the first two games, Chase Utley with two long balls in one game off a lefthanded pitcher, Nick Swisher & his woeful slump, and then there’s Ryan Howard 0-8 with seven K’s in his last eight at bats. This isn’t about pressure and coming through or not coming through in the clutch. This is the World Series, featuring the best of the best, don’t over analyze everything, just sit back & enjoy.

Nasty A.J. Dominates Phils, Series Even at One

aj-burnett A.J. Burnett is one of baseball’s nastiest pitchers and he brought his nasty stuff to the mound for game two versus the Phils, against Pedro Martinez. Philadelphia jumped out to an early 2nd inning lead when Matt Stairs’ single(?) under the glove of Alex Rodriguez plated Raul Ibanez, who’d doubled to left with 2 outs. It seemed more like an aberration, rather than a sign of things to come. A.J. is either on or off and he looked on from the start in this one.

Mark Teixeira took a Pedro pitch over the centerfield fence leading off the top of the 4th and the game was knotted at one. Godzilla, or Shemp if you prefer, Hideki Matsui drove one out to right in the 6th, giving New York the 2-1 advantage. Down by a run, Charlie Manuel allowed Martinez to pitch to Jerry Hairston, Jr., and the second guessing began when JH2 hit a soft single to right. Joe Girardi jumped on this opportunity by inserting pinch runner Brett Gardner at first. Gardner went to 3rd on a Melky Cabrera hit to right (for sure Pedro shouldn’t have been allowed to pitch to Melky, but perhaps Manuel was thinking a bunt was in order). That was it for Pedro, when Jorge Posada was announced as the pinch hitter for Jose Molina. Jorge’s single to center off Chan Ho Park gave the Yankees a little insurance now up 3-1.

It seemed insurmountable with A.J. dealing on the mound for the Yanks, and it was. Burnett allowed only 4 hits over 7 innings, striking out 9, before giving way to Mariano Rivera for the two inning save. This game was a pivotal one for the Series, if Philly had won the first two in New York, it would’ve been very tough for the Yankees to comeback. But now with the series at one win apiece, the home field advantage was gone, but the Phillies would need to win three straight in the city of brotherly love in order to maintain that advantage.

Yankees Chased over Cliff in Game 1 of World Series

It was the the Cliff Lee and Chase Utley Show last night. They certainly quieted the pundits who were so giddy over the Yankees chances in the World Series. That includes ex-Cub Mark Grace who was predicting the Yanks would take the Series in 6 games.

While the Yankees came in the Series with all the momentum, it is the Philadelphia Phillies who now gain the upper hand. Former Cy Young winner Cliff Lee was masterful beyond compare. Allowing no walks, he kept the Yanks scoreless until the ninth inning when Jeter scored on a measly groundout.

Chase Utley was the total offense for most of the game (up until the eight inning). Thanks to his two solo dingers. Philly had a 2-0 lead which is all they really needed with Lee on the hill.

Props goes to C.C. Sabathia. Despite the ‘L’, he pitched a fair game, allowing just 2 runs in seven frames, good enough for a win in most any other game.

Two observations: Ryan Howard’s line looks pretty good (2 for 5, 2 doubles, rbi) but I thought he looked pretty miserable at the plate for his two strikeouts. Also, the Yanks were obvious pretty anemic with the bat last night but one exception was Derek Jeter. He was 3 for 4 and scored their only run.

Tonight, Pedro Martinez for the Phils and A.J. Burnett for the Yanks.

I checked out PJ’s stats and they’re quite interesting. Not the most durable fellow but it’s amazing how times he’s led the league in certain categories.

Obviously, ERA, five times. Hits per 9 IP, five times, Win/Loss Pct, four times, Strikeouts per 9 IP, four times. walks and hits per 9 IP, six times, and shutouts, 3 times.

Innings pitched, Games Started, and Complete Games… eh, not so much.

Go Phillies.

New Meaning to “Take Me” Out to the “Ball Game”

baseball A Philadelphia radio station has come through with two tickets for this woman and her husband to go to a World Series game 3 in Philadelphia. Susan Finkelstein, 43, posted to Craigslist looking for tickets.

She was charged with prostitution and related offenses Tuesday after police say she advertised herself as a buxom, blond, die-hard Phillies fan who was desperate for tickets and would perform sex acts to get them.

“I’m the creative type! Maybe we can help each other,” authorities say Finkelstein’s online ad read. She described herself as “gorgeous” and said her price was negotiable, according to police.

Finkelstein was busted when, authorities say, an undercover officer responded to the Craigslist posting. She allegedly offered to perform graphic sex acts on the officer in exchange for World Series seats.

It was later reported a police officer in Chicago is more likely to have sex with a prostitute than arrest her.

2005 World Champion Chicago White Sox

1927 Yankees Team Photo 2 The 2005 White Sox were the Major League team since the 1927 Yankees to lead wire-to-wire, and then go on to sweep the World Series, their first World Series championship since 1917. This fact appeared on my tear-off Chicago White Sox trivia calendar.

Yankees get #40… off to the World Series for them

The Angels gave them a pretty good fight considering the outcome of the first two games. But the Yankees won. They won their 40th AL pennant. In a league that is barely a century old, that is quite a feat.

As was the ALCS, yesterday’s game between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim was a whole lot closer than the 5-2 would lead you to believe. The Halos were within one at 3-2 with runners on base in the top of eighth inning. The Yankees were helped by two errors in the bottom of the inning to seal the fate of the Angels and put New York into the World Series for the first time since 2003.

For the series, yeah yeah, there was Alex Rodriguez. 9 for 21 with 3 homer and 6 rbis. The Angels caught on quick to him because he also had eight walks. Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon contributed also to the Yanks’ victory. Both had 2 dingers and Damon had 5 rbis while Jeter scored 5 runs.

No can deny C.C. Sabathia’s role in the ALCS. In two starts and 16 innings, he only allowed 2 earned runs giving up nine hits.

Vladimir Guerrero overcame his putrid Game 1 to put up some good series numbers. He was 10 for 27 (.370) with 5 rbis. But Jeff Mathis had some interesting stats. He was 7 for 12 (.583) but with only one rbi. He made his one rbi count, though as it was the game winning hit in Game 3.

The award for most least productive for the Yankees goes to Nick Swisher who not only went 3 for 20 (all singles) with 0 rbis, but didn’t come through in key situations.

As for the Angels, the goat is Chone Figgins. He started out with a 0-18 streak for the series. Before the dust settled, he went 3 for 23 (again, all singles) with 1 rbi and 2 runs scored.

A frustrating LCS for me. This is going to force me to root for the Phillies.

ALCS Beat: Yankees comeback not enough against resurging Angels

As Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over till it’s over”. And as my buddy Don, who is an Angel fan said late night, “If Brian Fuentes had walked Swisher, I think I would have jumped off my roof”.

Fortunately for the Angels (and Don S), he didn’t.

I learned my lesson though. I watched the game on TV at home till the beginning of the 7th. John Lackey had been pitching brilliantly up until then and had a 4-0 lead. Thinking that Big John had things well in hand, I decided to head to local coffee shop and watch the rest of the game on Gameday while I got some work done.

It’s a 6 block walk to the coffee shop and I was away from the game for 15 minutes, 20 tops. Logging into Gameday, I was rudely greeted with a 7-6 Yankee lead. Refreshing the browser didn’t seem to help.

Looking back at it, I had a sneaking suspicion that Lackey was tiring. Mid-inning, the camera crew show him in the dugout and boy, he really looked spent. I remember commenting on that to my kid.

But thanks to a 3-run seventh fueled by back-to-back base hits by Guerrero and Morales, the Angels got back on top for the final score 7-6.

I’d like to say that was the end of the excitement but the Yankees made the Halos earn their pay Thursday night. Angel reliever Brian Fuentes made things a little too interesting. After a two-out, bases empty intentional pass to Alex Rodriguez, Fuentes followed that up with a Matsui walk and a Cano HBP to load the bases. If that weren’t enough, Nick Swisher took him to a full count before popping out to short for third out to end the game.

Fuentes line looked good. One inning, no hits and a save. But that sure didn’t tell the story of the game. However, he got the job done.

The Angels got their miracle. Three-Two sounds a whole lot better than Two-Zero or Three-One.

ALCS Beat: Yankees back on track

I’m so rope they call me Mr. Roper
When the troubles arise I’m the cool coper
On the mic I score just like the Yankees

“3-Minute Rule” by the Beastie Boys

Yeah, the Yankees score alright. Yet, like any team should, the Angels remain hopelessly positive.

"We’ve got a mountain to climb," said Angels center fielder Torii Hunter. "We’ve just got to know we have to go out there [Thursday] and try to get that win. It’s a must-win. It’s not like we’ve got games left. We can’t go out there and let these guys win. If they do, it’s over with. We’re going to come with a different mindset and try to have some fun and get the job done."

But it ain’t going to be easy. With the Yankees now 3 games to 1, it’s simply going to be an uphill battle that will take a miracle to overcome.

Up until Monday night’s win for the Angels, the playoff series for them has been characterized as ugly and full of mistakes. Not Tuesday night. They were simply out-pitched and out-hit and the Yanks won 10-1. C.C Sabathia is doing his best to outdo ARod in his bid to strip him of MVP of the Series.

On just three days rest, Sabathia almost repeated Game One’s numbers, allowing just one run in eight innings with just five his and two walks. In Game One, he allowed one run in eight innings as well with four hits. For the postseason, C.C. is 3-0.

Alex Rodriguez led the hitting attack, going 3 for 4 with his fifth homer of the fall and 2 rbis and 3 runs scored. Melky Cabrera chipped in with a 3 for 4 performance and four rbis of his own.

The Angels have to be disappointed with their offense till this point. Up until Tuesday night, the starting pitching has held up pretty well. No Halo starter has given up more than three ER until last night (and if you want to pick nits, Kazmir only gave up four but we won’t go there). Had the offense been a little more productive even a little more timely, it would be a different series now.

Tonight’s scheduled pitchers are John Lackey and A.J Burnett. Don’t look for Torii Hunter to have a great night. He’s 2 for 23 lifetime against Burnett. However, those two hits? Homeruns.

ARod is in pretty much in the same boat with Lackey. He’s 9 for 51 (.176) lifetime against Big John. Most of those hits have gone for extras though. One double, one triple and FOUR homeruns.

This is first time I’ve said this publically but…

Go Angels!

2009 American League All Stars

derek-jeter The Sporting News has announced the American League All Stars as selected by a panel of 31 major league general managers and GMs. Joe Mauer received votes from all 17 AL executives who participated.

C Joe Mauer appeared in 138 games for the Twins, 109 behind the plate, leading the league with a .365 batting average (he also topped the league in average the year before with a .328 mark), while getting beat up at catcher. Joe hit 28 homers, 30 doubles, and drove in 96, leading Minnesota to the postseason as Central Division champs.

1B Mark Teixeira powered the Yankees offense leading the league in homers (39) & RBIs 122, while batting .292, with 43 doubles, scoring 103 times, he also topped the Junior Circuit in total bases with 344.

2B Aaron Hill came back after suffering a concussion, which allowed him to only play 55 games the previous season, to have his best year ever. Aaron batted .286 with 36 home runs & 37 doubles, driving in 108 & scoring 103 times.

3B Evan Longoria was the Rookie of the Year who was one of the leaders of the Rays who made it to the World Series last year, now he’s the best player at the hot corner. He batted .281, with 33 longballs, 44 two base hits, drove in 113 & scored 100 times.

SS Derek Jeter is the captain & leader of the New York Yankees. Jeter batted .334 with an OBP of .406, it was his job to get on for the big bats, steling 30 bases at the ripe old age of 35, he ripped 18 homers to go along with 27 doubles.

OF Ichiro Suzuki is known simply as Ichiro. Since coming to the States all he’s done is hit, a lifetime batting average of .333, over 200 hits every season (9 years), and leading the league in hits the last four years. This year Ichiro batted .352 with 225 hits, 31 doubles, 11 homers, and 26 steals.

OF Torii Hunter just missed batting .300, finishing the season with a .299 batting average, 22 homers, 90 RBIs, despite missing significant time due to injury.

OF Jason Bay has quickly found his Fenway Park stroke since coming over to the Red Sox, socking 36 homers, driving in 119, while scoring 103 runs.

DH Hideki Matsui joins three other Yankees on this year’s all star squad. Due to injuries Matsui took over the team’s fulltime DH duties to keep him healthy and to keep his potent bat in the lineup. It worked as Hideki hit 28 home runs & drove in 90 for the Bronx Bombers.

SP Zack Greinke seems to have it altogether for the Royals, being named Pitcher of the Year. 16-8 with a league best 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts in 229′ innings, doesn’t begin to tell the story of this youngster’s dominance, with any kind of run support at all he certainly would’ve been a twenty game winner.

RP Mariano Rivera There are closers, then there is Mariano Rivera. He is that good, he is a step above every other closer in the game, and like a fine wine, he just keeps getting better with age. He has this cutter, a gift from God, the hitters know it’s coming, but can’t do anything to hit it. He has taught his famous cutter to a few pitchers throughout the league, to the chagrin of many hitters. This year Mo, at the age of 39, had 44 saves to go along with a 1.76 ERA, ho-hum.

ALCS Beat: Hello Angels!

Game 3 of the ALCS started ominously (and quite familiarly) for the Angels. Shortstop Derek Jeter led off the game with a homerun off Halo pitcher Jered Weaver. It was Jeter’s 20th postseason dinger which puts him third behind Manny Ramirez of the Dodgers and postseason superman of lore, Bernie Williams.

Down 3-0, in the 5th inning, things weren’t looking much better for the Angels. Things started to click with the help of some questionable decisions by Yankee skipper Joe Girardi. With a decent lead going into the homestretch of of the game, some of his calls just didn’t go his way.

Putting Jerry Hairston in left field is somewhat questionable. But the fact that it required removing the designated hitter is beyond me.

Girardi (left) also replaced David Robertson in the 11th after he got the first two outs only to bring in Alfredo Aceves. Girardi justified his move saying that Robertson threw 33 pitches on Saturday. True but many of those pitches on Saturday were on intentional walks.

Too much micro-managing. Girardi just needs to relax and let his boys play ball.

When all was said and done, the Angels came up with the big ‘W’, thanks to a game-winning double by Jeff Mathis off Aceves.

Box Score

Howie Kendrick was 3 for 5 with a homer and 3 runs scored. Vladimir Guerrero went 2 for 4 with a homer and two rbis. Reliever Ervin Santana got the win.

So the Los Angeles Angeles, on the brink of a 0-3 deficit, buck up and take advantage of some weaknesses as the Yankees did the first two games. Now it’s 2-1 and a whole new ALCS.

Tag: Yankees