tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2769072254286402292024-02-22T14:53:54.873-05:00This Purist Bleeds PinstripesBlog of a girl who somehow has found a way to balance being a baseball purist with being a New York Yankees fanRebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comBlogger1080125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-61726431895724069772009-10-31T12:28:00.002-04:002009-10-31T12:29:44.345-04:00Rebecca's Blog has moved!Rebecca's blog has moved from blogger to Wordpress and may now be accessed at:<br /><br />http://www.puristbleedspinstripes.com<br /><br /><br />Most of you won't have to change your bookmarks, but some of you may.<br /><br />Intense Debate comments did not survive the import, so for any post made between 04/09 and 10/09, the comments can be found here.<br /><br />It's a bit rough, I know, but in the long run it will be worth it.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-31974358275552713902009-10-30T13:28:00.002-04:002009-10-30T13:30:41.300-04:00Yankees win, Theeee Yankees win! On video!Via Amanda Rykoff:<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="300" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=8eb4f65fb0&photo_id=4057074141"></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"></param> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=8eb4f65fb0&photo_id=4057074141" height="300" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />View her game 2 photo gallery <a href=http://amandarykoff.posterous.com/my-favorite-shots-from-a-great-game-world-ser>here</a>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-37481090916182344732009-10-30T13:21:00.003-04:002009-10-30T13:28:11.949-04:00Argument for Instant Replay gets stronger1) Watch <a href=http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=7104167>this video</a>.<br /><br />2) Tell me what you see.<br /><br />If you saw the same thing I saw, you saw a) a short hop to Ryan Howard, b) no stepping on first base, and c) a throw wide of second base.<br /><br />In theory, the Yankees should have bases loaded, one out, with Mark Teixeira at bat.<br /><br /><br />Instead, the play was ruled a double play--that Howard caught the ball and tagged the runner--and instead of being able to expand their lead and perhaps momentarily avoid using Mariano Rivera, the Yankees had to call on their 39 year-old closer for a 39 pitch save.<br /><br />I was seated in the right field grandstand last night (check the photos from the post below), and, with Howard's back to me, I knew it was a blown call.<br /><br />How did I know? If it really was a double play, Howard had utterly no reason to throw to second base.<br /><br /><br />It seems, that with every round there' yet another botched call, and each one increasing in severity after the last.<br /><br />It has now gotten to the point where every play, even ones that should be utterly routine, have become the subject of much dissection.<br /><br />Umpiring along with journalism has one single, cardinal rule: never become the story.<br /><br />Alas, in the 2009 postseason, the umpires have.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-72815417315873053362009-10-30T00:49:00.003-04:002009-10-30T02:03:55.714-04:00"The Funnest I've Ever Had"So this is what the World Series, the real World Series, feels like, huh?<br /><br />What with the pitching and the timely hitting and the Mariano-ing and the <i>Hoosierdaddy</i>-ing and the mid-game-change-your-luck-Tweetups with Amanda Rykoff and Brent Nycz and the OHMIG-D YOU DID NOT REALIZE PAUL O'NEILL WAS THROWING OUT THE FIRST PITCH!<br /><br />This is what it feels like.<br /><br />It feels pretty darn good.<br /><br />This isn't just baseball.<br /><br />This is love.<br /><br /><br />***<br />Unlike last night's cold, rainy and windy drudge, tonight <i>felt</i> like October baseball.<br /><br />There was, first of all, getting off the subway and walking, in the pale, dying sunlight, across the street to the Stadium. There, you find yourself transported to another world, one in which nothing matters except baseball. Nothing.<br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2509/4057032749_ee99e4ed1e.jpg><br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2753/4057773882_3a8cc61e89.jpg><br /><br />There was, in the pregame, the Jay Z/Alicia Keys mini-concert.<br /><br />I'm not even a Jay Z fan, but the show the two put on seemed to set something off: the Stadium came alive, as if, finally, finally, we realized what it is our team has accomplished.<br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2458/4057037077_2a7be9cd53.jpg><br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2473/4057776458_6460c79257.jpg><br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2603/4057037393_d05c481d8f.jpg><br /><br />We're here, in the World Series.<br /><br />We've reached the last round, we will play in the last Major League baseball game on the 2009 calendar; we will play into November.<br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2786/4057715032_eebb21b751.jpg><br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2704/4057777882_4c37288fee.jpg><br /><br />The National Anthem is sung by John Legend and there's a flyover which goes right over my head, all of which is utterly awesome and makes it hit me again: HEY THIS IS THE WORLD SERIES, but it pales in comparison to the reaction when Paul O'Neill comes out to throw out the first pitch.<br /><br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2439/4057779426_4653e0d8cd.jpg><br /><br />We are ready for this game to start.<br /><br /><br />AJ Burnett takes his warm up tosses not to the <i>300</i> soundtrack as normal, but instead to Marilyn Manson.<br /><br />I don't know if today will be Good AJ or Bad AJ, not yet, but the music choice soothes me: almost every other time I've seen Burnett pitch this season with his normal warm up music, he's been bombed. Maybe the change will do him good.<br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2714/4057780042_81fb5a9717.jpg><br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2677/4057043409_2fa6d1935c.jpg><br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2613/4057041911_0380e7508e.jpg><br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2801/4057780890_1527cd3dc0.jpg><br /><br />After a few innings, after the Phillies take a 1-0 lead and Pedro Martinez refuses to let the Yankees do anything besides chant "Who's Your Dad-dy?", Amanda Rykoff and I start texting. She's scored a last second ticket to the game and we're talking about a mid-game tweet-up, along with Brent Nycz, to change the Yankees' luck. We decide: Top of the fourth inning, by section 413.<br /><br />So, we meet and we walk over to one of the concession stands so I can buy myself some Twizzlers.<br /><br />We watch the game on the screens, which are about 10 seconds behind the actual play on the field.<br /><br />We watch AJ Burnett pitch a 1-2-3 inning, and then we watch Mark Teixeira hit a game-tying home run into the Yankees' bullpen, and we decree the tweet-up a success: our luck has been changed.<br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2434/4057737396_954120d1a7.jpg><br /><br />After we part, Burnett pitches as though he has taken it to another level. Slowly, we stop holding our breath with every pitch AJ throws, and instead begin to long for the next one. It may not be Lee's dominance, but you could have fooled us.<br /><br />In the seventh inning, the crowd senses that this is something spectacular. So we chant: "AJ! AJ! AJ!"<br /><br />He dazzles.<br /><br />Later on, while speaking to reporters, he'll say it's "the funnest I've ever had".<br /><br /><br /><br />In the bottom of the seventh, with a one run lead, the Yankees threaten for more. With first and third and no one out, a Melky Cabrera singles makes the score 3-1 and knocks Pedro Martinez from the game. <i>Hoosierdaddy</i>!<br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2673/4057002181_a7de452b91.jpg><br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2491/4057746354_0bbe534829.jpg><br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2487/4057004307_93623e830e.jpg><br /><br />After a pinch-hitting Jorge Posada reaches, Derek Jeter bunts foul ("I was stupid", he is rumored to have said) and Johnny Damon comes to the plate.<br /><br />I'll examine this in more detail tomorrow, but from our seats, what we saw was him ground to Ryan Howard, who, without touching first, threw the ball wide of second base. It should have left the Yankees with the bases loaded and no one out, but it was instead ruled a double play.<br /><br />Somehow, you get the feeling, that it's impossible to conduct a 2009 postseason game without some sort of major umpiring scandal.<br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2464/4057014003_ae5ce0f3ba.jpg><br /><br />Still, the umpires' awful call notwithstanding, the Yankees took no chances, and went straight to Enter Sandman.<br /><br />With the top of the Phillies' lineup due up in the eighth inning, going to Mariano Rivera is, in terms of, leverage-baby-leverage, a no-brainer. With the off day tomorrow, the Yankees could afford to do it, and so they did.<br /><br />Rivera did make things a little exciting, but, being the great Mariano, he found a way.<br /><br /><img src=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3482/4057026715_85be82e13a.jpg><br /><br />Ball game over, Yankees win, theeeee Yankees win!<br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2480/4057768902_8f93d7e4e1.jpg><br /><br />****<br /><br />I found and purchased a "Got Pie" t-shirt. It's a much better souvenir than the program, which cost $5 more than normal and is mostly a reprint of the LCS program.<br /><br />I still can't get over the umpires' call in the bottom of the 7th. I will address tomorrow, likely in the afternoon.<br /><br /><br />Any photo taken after the fourth inning is <b>credit Brent Nycz</b>. The video of the final out (<i>will be uploaded in morning</i>) is credit <b>Amanda Rykoff</b>.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-2931125374306453602009-10-29T14:45:00.003-04:002009-10-29T15:35:13.042-04:00All Hangs on AJFor the first time this postseason, the Yankees find themselves behind, down in a series and in much need of a win.<br /><br />While comparisons to 1996 invoke a certain romanticism, it is not a position in which any Yankee fan wants to find his team--as fun as a come-from-behind series win would be, a series tied at one game a piece is still a much better option than being down 0-2 and having to go on the road.<br /><br />So it falls to AJ Burnett to shut the door.<br /><br />AJ Burnett, who has been so predictable--the same pitcher that surrendered six runs to Baltimore in one inning is also the one who one-hit the Red Sox through eight.<br /><br />Burnett's unpredictability is nothing new--in fact, it's probably the most consistent thing about him.<br /><br />Tonight, the Yankees need the "good AJ" to show up and shut Philadelphia down, and, well, not repeat his outing the last time he faced the Phillies.<br /><br />AJ wants to be a big game pitcher; this is his shot.<br /><br />He still needs a little pie, after all.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-56535302233044906932009-10-29T10:46:00.003-04:002009-10-29T11:41:10.608-04:00Damaso so good?If there's one thing that's surprising about the Yankee postseason thus far, it's this: the bullpen has struggled more than we expected.<br /><br />Mariano is still Mariano, but nearly everyone else has struggled at some point--even Robertson had a less than stellar appearance last night.<br /><br />Despite the fact that the malaise seems to be so widespread, there's just one Yankee pitcher that seems to bear the brunt of everyone's emotions: Damaso Marte.<br /><br />The thing is, although Yankee fans are generally astute (I hope, anyway), Marte might not actually deserve all the blame that is being heaped on him.<br /><br />While it's true that Marte struggled in Game 2 of the ALDS, allowing two hits with no outs in extra innings, he has not allowed anything in the two innings (spread out over four games) he has pitched since then--no hits, no walks, no nothing.<br /><br />While you might be thinking that spreading two innings over four games may not say much, keep in mind that, as a LOOGY, this is exactly how Marte is supposed to be used: to nab the left handed bats and no more.<br /><br />In other words, then, what Marte has been doing is simple: his job.<br /><br />It doesn't sound like much, but when you consider how much the other, normally reliable, relievers are struggling, it does matter.<br /><br />Would I advocate, like I did with Robertson, for Marte to be used more? No, not really--being used as he is is the best way to use him, and the track record of using him too much isn't pretty--but what I would suggest is that perhaps he does not necessarily need to bear the brunt of our ire.<br /><br />At any rate, tonight the Yankees need AJ Burnett to be solid. As important as Damaso Marte may or may not be, he will still not be important as the starting pitching the Yankees receive.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-67270192388983226132009-10-29T01:41:00.004-04:002009-10-29T02:51:33.995-04:00This is New York(A response to <a href=http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20091028_Welcome_to_New_York__the_worst_seat_in_the_house.html?viewAll=y>this</a>)<br /><br />You exit my apartment.<br /><br />Walk south to the end of this block and the next, hang a right, walk two more short blocks and find yourself in the heart of the Bronx's own Little Italy.<br /><br />You could get yourself a thick crust slice at Full Moon, to stay or to go, or you can sit down for a full meal at Zero Otto Nove.<br /><br />You can sample fresh seafood at the outdoor clam bar next to Umberto's or buy a fresh baked loaf of olive bread at Madonia brothers.<br /><br />This is New York.<br /><br />You hop the D train up by Fordham Road. <br /><br />While you're riding it past 161st and River, a Mariachi band--complete with accordion--boards and somehow, even though you really hate accordions and you want to resist, you still find yourself drumming along to the music.<br /><br />You get out at Columbus Circle.<br /><br />You contemplate going to the Park. Sure, it's splendid in the sun, and brilliant in the winter snow, but it's <a href=http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=60134>this proposal in the rain</a> that'll get you every time.<br /><br />You contemplate turning west, towards Lincoln Center, but it's not quite Nutcracker season just yet. You contemplate walking just a little bit further, to where you could get cheap Chinese food at Ollie's, and you smile. Ollie's Noodle Bar, this is where you came this summer, after every afternoon win, a tradition between you and one of your best friends. He always gets the fried rice, you the steamed fish. The food comes so fast that you have time to eat and digest your meal and not miss a single firework on the Fourth of July.<br /><br />Your stomach, however, is full from that slice at Full Moon, so instead you turn east along Central Park South, and you walk until you reach the Plaza hotel.<br /><br />Across from the hotel where you once stayed as a kid the same night the Toronto Raptors were in town--you were in the elevator with Tracy McGrady, only you didn't realize it at the time, not till you read the name on the gym bag later--there's the Apple Store, which exists all underground, where you got your brand-spanking new computer four months ago, and there's FAO Schwartz, where you duck in just because they've got candy and you've got one hell of a sweet tooth.<br /><br />This is New York.<br /><br />You continue to walk along Fifth Avenue. You pass St. Patrick's Cathedral, where you step inside and light a taper for a Catholic friend who is in a really bad spot, and you pass by stores ranging from the ultra upscale Bergdorf Goodman to the NBA Store where you remind yourself that your brother's birthday is in two months and you haven't gotten him a gift yet.<br /><br />You were here, you remember, on St. Patrick's Day, when all the world seemed to be one giant college party and you found yourself longing for your undergraduate days. You can still hear the sound of the bagpipes, a reminder of the city's Irish heritage even as you contemplate getting sushi in SoHo for dinner.<br /><br />You walk past 42nd street--Times Square is to the west, and you remember spending your New Year's there, just that once, just to be able to say that, yes, you were there, that you braved the nearly 0 F temperatures and did so without gloves and somehow did not get frostbitten. <br /><br />You continue, you walk past the back side of the Empire State building, so tall that you can crane your neck and still not see all of it, and you reach 34th street--Penn Station, from where you've taken trains to your parents in Jersey, to your family in Long Island, to Shea in its last year and Citifield in it's first, and the Amtrak to Boston last Christmas. <br /><br />This is the same place as Madison Square Garden--and though the Jersey fan in you can't stand the Rangers and remains indifferent to the Knicks, the annual Big East tournament is a source of pride. You're not sure which you enjoyed more: winning it all in 2006, the wins against Cincinnati, hated UConn and Georgetown all coming on last second shots or that game in 2009, six overtimes against that same UConn, that game that wouldn't end, that seemed destined to continue for all eternity, and you smile.<br /><br />Foley's isn't too far from here, either--this is where you met with other bloggers, most of whom you read religiously or follow on Twitter--and this is where you had lunch with the folks who are still trying to save Gate 2 from the old Yankee Stadium, and where Nick Swisher has made an appearance a few times this season, too.<br /><br />This is New York.<br /><br />You walk down some more, and at 23rd street you think about walking west a few blocks--here is where your other brother lives, with his wife and your sixth month old nephew. He's getting so big now, your nephew, that he can no longer fit into the Yankee baby clothes you bought for him the day he was born, if only because you were at the Stadium that day, and the opportunity presented itself.<br /><br />Your brother and sister-in-law are still at work, however, so you instead continue, following Fifth Ave, until it ends abruptly at Washington Square Park and the NYU campus. You remember the last time you walked through Washington Square Park with your boyfriend, where he bumped into an acquaintance of his, nothing more at work here than two people in the right place at the right time.<br /><br />From here, you know you could walk through Greenwich Village, and past that venue where you and a friend once saw the Daily Show's John Oliver in a stand up performance. You could continue down to Soho, walking past Houston and along Sullivan till you wind up at Purl, your favorite yarn store, where you think that they have to be sick of you by now.<br /><br />You could continue much further south and you'll find yourself in the Financial District, and near the 9/11 memorial site, where you wish they'd hurry up already and build something there, where every year those lights still go up, and you still remember.<br /><br />Instead, though, you get back on the D train and take it all the way to the end, all the way to Coney Island in Brooklyn. You get off the subway, walk past the site of the famous Nathan's Hot Dog contest (it's always the skinny guy, the Chestnut or the Kobyashi) and towards the pier. You stop short of the pier, however, as you pass by where the Cyclones play, and the field next to it, where you remember that on one August night, here is where you hurt your shoulder because you thought that there could not possibly be any harm in throwing too many pitches to your friend, the only ones to reach his mitt being knuckle-ball types. You remember how after you decided you absolutely had to test out the fast pitch, and registered at 30 miles an hour. <br /><br />As bad as the thirty was, you laugh, it was still better than the 22 mph you threw when you went to Trenton, although that had consequences of its own.<br /><br />From the pier you can see the amusement park, and just for a moment you wish you were a little bit less wimpy, hated roller coasters just a little bit less...<br /><br />Against the sunset, you decide it's time to head back, so you get on the subway again (and damn, you think, that unlimited card comes in handy), and you ride all the way up.<br /><br />You pass by 145th street, where you'd get off and switch to the A to visit that same friend on 173rd, the one that urged you to throw those knuckleballs, who lives in the way-too-much maligned neighborhood of Washington Heights, that same place where Manny grew up. You can literally see the George Washington Bridge from his apartment, and it glitters in the moonlight. You keep thinking about all the baseball games you went to this year--the game the day your nephew was born, that loss against the Nationals back in June, the walk-off on July fourth, the game that didn't start till 9.30 on July 23rd because of rain, that same game that saw the kids from Camp Sundown, that game the day after Derek Jeter broke that record, the very first game of the postseason, and now one more--the second game of the World Series. Not to mention the Staten Island, Brooklyn, Trenton and Scranton games you went to, improvising transportation and going just because you love baseball, and no other reason.<br /><br />You think about the nights you spent in that apartment--once without even working electricity--because it was too late to go all the way back. You think about how when there was no roommate you could sleep on the spare bed, but now that there is one you sleep on the futon that's never really been pulled out, and how badly your back hurts in the morning, and how much you just don't care.<br /><br />As you pass by the Stadium, you think about this.<br /><br />You think about how you were there that first exhibition game against the Cubs, the night before you had to be at a conference at 8.30 AM but you still wouldn't have missed it for the world, about the ALCS game three viewing, where you sat in the expensive seats for free and about how you were totally fooled by the Johnny Damon lookalike sitting two rows behind you.<br /><br />You realize you've been to so many games this year that you've lost count. Sure, you were lucky enough to sit in the expensive seats a few times, but your favorite memories are when you got the tickets the day before, sitting in the 400s or the bleachers, and that sense of pride...you are a Yankee fan. That itself is enough.<br /><br /><br />It takes a while, but the subway reaches Fordham Road again.<br /><br />You exit along E 188th, and walk downhill, past the markets, the Indian or Pakistani woman on the street selling children's books, the community health center, the pediatrician and the weight loss clinic. You walk past the stairway to nowhere (well, that's what you call it, anyway), the Chinese take out, Dominican barber shop, brand new bar and the fried chicken joint on Webster. Along the way a tall, strong, imposing man stops you--asks you, because of your hat, if you're a Yankee fan. He asks how the Yankees will do, and without even thinking about it, you tell him,<br /><br />"They're going all the way."<br /><br />You bump fists.<br /><br />You continue, past the playground and the basketball courts--oh, how you wish a recruiter would stop by, discover the next LeBron--and play with fate herself as you cross 3rd Ave.<br /><br />You walk those last few blocks, past Arthur Ave again, and end up right back where you started.<br /><br />You are exhausted, but you don't care. The City teems with life and you love every bit of it.<br /><br />The kicker, though, is that you know, you know more than anyone because you've <i>lived</i> here, that you still ain't seen nothing yet.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-75028263649270744532009-10-28T23:10:00.003-04:002009-10-28T23:47:10.187-04:00Gone AstraySometimes things don't go the way you want.<br /><br />It has happened before, and it will happen again.<br /><br />It wasn't as though CC Sabathia collapsed or had some sort of awful performance--the two runs surrendered were the same as in his ALDS game one performance--it was that Cliff Lee pitched the game of his life.<br /><br />To have beaten Cliff Lee tonight, the Yankees would have had to pitch perfectly.<br /><br />Until the ninth inning, the Yankees had just one batter reach second base, and none reach third.<br /><br />There's not much else to day--it wasn't a bad managerial move that cost the Yankees the game; the other team simply pitched better.<br /><br />Okay, so perhaps Brian Bruney should not be anywhere near a postseason roster, but this isn't really the point here. <br /><br />You can debate how you would have pitched the top of the eighth--my faith in Robertson didn't work out the way I'd hope, but it happens--but it wasn't a bullpen that blew the game. <br /><br />With the way that Lee pitched, even if the score had remained 2-0, the Yankees' chances were still slim--he was that good.<br /><br />The first six innings, at least--before the Yankees went to the bullpen--were everything that a neutral fan would want to see in a World Series game: good pitching, good fielding, and played in a crisp manner.<br /><br />Alas for us, we have a rooting interest that was on the wrong end of that game.<br /><br />So what now, then?<br /><br />For the first time this postseason, the Yankees find themselves trailing in a series, faced with their first real must-win of the month. Lose tomorrow, and it's 0-2 going to Philly--although, as we all remember previous occasions, it's not as though the Yankees haven't overcome that obstacle before.<br /><br />The Yankees don't have to face Cliff Lee tomorrow; they have to face Pedro Martinez which is an entirely different story for reasons probably already familiar to you.<br /><br />There is no reason to think that the Yankees will not fight. We've seen this team play too long this year with their swagger. They always seem to find a way.<br /><br />As Douglas Adams would have said, DON'T PANIC.<br /><br />There is still a lot of baseball left to play.<br /><br />****<br /><br />I will be at tomorrow's game. If you are going and would like to say hello, send an email or tweet my way.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-91944461804163096222009-10-28T12:01:00.003-04:002009-10-28T12:07:02.036-04:00What do you Remember?Where were you the last time the Yankees won a World Series?<br /><br />What were you doing? How did you celebrate? What feeling are you most anxious to feel again?<br /><br /><br />I remember getting so nervous as Mike Piazza hit a deep fly to center, thinking it might never come down...and then Bernie was there, and the Subway Series complete.<br /><br />I remember being a freshman in a high school that leaned strongly towards the Mets, and I remember the naivete: the fourteen-year-old feeling that, yes, we were invincible.<br /><br /><br />So what about you? What do you remember from last time? What do you want to remember from this time?Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-56416856678877949902009-10-28T01:20:00.003-04:002009-10-28T11:59:17.970-04:00Stadium to Open for Fans for Game 4Via <a href=http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2009/10/28/jay-z-postponed-stadium-open-for-game-4/>LoHud</a>, Yankee Stadium will open to fans on Sunday so that they may view the road game four.<br /><br />With luck, this game could be especially significant (although my gut tells me this is unlikely).<br /><br />Having gone to the viewing party for Game 3 of the ALCS, I must say that if you have the chance to go on Sunday, I highly recommend it.<br /><br />There's really nothing like watching the game with a few thousand fans of the same team. It is, after all, the same reason you congregate in bars and friends homes to watch the postseason, especially the latter rounds in any sport.<br /><br />The event is free (save for concessions), so you needn't worry about cost. Just get there early--if you're there early enough, you can even try out some of the Legends Seats!Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-27924570118738435512009-10-27T18:58:00.001-04:002009-10-27T19:27:22.182-04:00PBP #6: HELLO THE NAME IS SWAGGER (Live Chat)<iframe src="http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=d1cc957818/height=550/width=400" scrolling="no" height="550px" width="400px" frameBorder ="0" allowTransparency="true" ><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=d1cc957818" >PBP #6 HELLO THY NAME IS SWAGGER</a></iframe>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-78196081831601261042009-10-27T11:45:00.004-04:002009-10-27T11:54:17.032-04:00Who's Your Game 2 Starter?By now you've likely heard the news: Pedro Martinez will start Game 2 of the World Series for the Phillies.<br /><br />Game two.<br /><br />In New York.<br /><br />This, of course, would be the same Pedro who once uttered, "just call the Yankees my daddy", spawning non-stop "who's-your-daddy?" chants at the Stadium.<br /><br />Pedro was once dominant against the Yankees--holding them to one hit in the 1999 ALCS--but has struggled lately, with an ERA close to six in his past five starts.<br /><br />While he did pitch well against the Dodgers, the Yankees could easily be another story.<br /><br />Charlie Manuel is taking a huge gamble--Pedro has been better than Hamels this postseason, sure, but Pedro's home/road splits are worrying at best and somewhere the law-of-averages is waiting to rear its ugly head.<br /><br />***<br /><br /><b>Live chat at 7.30. Be there</b>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-45494229587184173342009-10-27T10:31:00.004-04:002009-10-27T10:48:48.019-04:00Baseball as it Should BeThe World Series is supposed to be about the two best teams in each league duking it out for supreme bragging rights.<br /><br />Often, this fails in favor of two teams that simply get hot at the right time, but this year, it is, in fact, the league's two best teams going at it.<br /><br />In one corner, you have the team from Philadelphia. A group of "gamers" as some have described them, defending World Champions, a National League team with a lineup that mashes on an American League score.<br /><br />In the other corner, the Bronx Bombers. Despite the motley of expensive free agents, this team also boasts one of the highest percentage home-grown rosters in the league. The team that took off in May has flat-out dominated since then, cruising to its best record since the record-breaking 1998 season.<br /><br />Both teams have lost just two games in the postseason, both have survived playing in utterly frigid conditions in New York and Colorado, and both have their own lofty expectations.<br /><br />While it may have been easy to pick the Yankees over the Twins or the Phillies over the Dodgers, predicting a World Series winner is another thing entirely. I am a die-hard Yankees fan, but I would be shocked if the series went less than six games. These teams are, simply put, too good.<br /><br />This, though, is how it should be. <br /><br />A World Series, by definition, <i>should</i> go to seven games. It should have a bit of everything (except blown calls, of course), and it should make you love the game all that more.<br /><br />The Phillies-Yankees series holds that promise: baseball as it should be.<br /><br />****<br /><br />More later, including a <b>live chat at 7.30 pm</b>, so make sure you're there!Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-77481094905648305442009-10-26T21:44:00.004-04:002009-10-26T22:24:18.431-04:00(Something Profound About 1999 Goes Here)When we talk of the Yankees' dynasty at the end of last century, three teams consistently enter our mind:<br /><br />The 1996 squad, a combination of pure grit and utter youth, of the waning days of the likes of Cecil Fielder, Doc Gooden and Jimmy Key, and of the coming out of the likes of Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera (Jorge Posada would debut later).<br /><br />The 1998 team, sheer and utter domination. Wells and Cone, Duque and Pettitte, and an offense that always found a way to win. A team that won 125 games over all, lost only fifty and is considered by many to be one of the best teams in any sport of all time.<br /><br />The 2000 team, Subway Series champions that survived more on luck--winning the World Series with just 87 wins--than anything else. This was a team that got their game winning hits from Jose Vizcaino and Luis Sojo, and the team whose pitching staff was anchored by the Rocket Roger Clemens.<br /><br /><br />The one team, it seems, that we never pay any mind, is the 1999 squad.<br /><br />Why is it? The 1998 team may have been more dominant in the regular season, but the 1999 team lost just <i>one</i> game in the postseason--a one-hitter against the Red Sox and a Pedro Martinez in his prime.<br /><br /><br />Maybe it has to do with the regular season being, well, regular. There was the death of Joe DiMaggio in Spring Training, and David Cone's perfect game in July--neither of these events insignificant, but in 1999 that the Yankees would go on to win the World Series seemed simply a given, that there was no one there who could rightfully challenge them.<br /><br />Much of the 1999 team boasted the same roster, just a year older than the 1998 team, and so perhaps we saw that team as a continuation of 1998, a comfortable plateau of hey-we're-the-best-and-no-one-is-even-close.<br /><br />You see, that's what happens when a dynasty reaches its zenith: nothing is there to challenge it, and so, for the moment its successes seem inevitable and unremarkable.<br /><br />It is only after the dynasty has fallen that we realize just how impressive the dynasty has been.<br /><br />By the end of 2001, there were teams to challenge the Yankees: a 116-win team in Seattle and the eventual World Champions in Arizona, and the dynasty would come to an end. <br /><br />Followed by years of disappointment, first round exits, and The Great Evil of Which We Do Not Speak, the Dynasty Years quickly accrued a glory usually reserved only for the greatest of our moments.<br /><br /><br />In 2009, the Yankees have a chance to give rebirth to that pride that makes us Yankees fans in the first place.<br /><br />All that remains to be seen is which team the similarities are most drawn: is it the gritty 96ers? The dominant Team of the Century? The dynasty's least-written about 99ers, or the 00 squad?<br /><br />The answer is probably a little of all four.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-60287650229953537992009-10-26T10:55:00.002-04:002009-10-26T11:11:59.714-04:00Leverage, baby, LeverageWhen Mariano Rivera began to warm in the seventh inning last night, there were a variety of reactions. Some liked the move, some did not, and I admit that, at first, I was a little worried--what if something happened, Rivera pitched two innings, the Yankees lost the game and then Rivera wasn't able to pitch a Game Seven?<br /><br />Fortunately, I soon came to my senses, and remembered that I do believe in the concept of use-the-best-reliever-in-highest-leverage, as this is <i>exactly</i> what Girardi did last night.<br /><br />In the top of the eighth inning, in a game that was still a two-run score, Girardi went with his best reliever to get the top--and then the meat--of the Angels' batting order: Figgins-Abreu-Hunter-Guerrerro-Morales.<br /><br />Just as recently as Game 5, Phil Hughes struggled against that same part of the lineup, unable to get the one out he needed, and as big a Robertson fan as I am--and I'm a big one--when you have the option to go to Rivera, you take it.<br /><br />Now, according to <a href=http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?gameid=291025110>Fangraphs</a>, the fourth inning in which the Yankees scored their first three runs was the highest-leveraged situation of the game, but at that time the starter was still pitching, and, well, ideally you don't remove a starter in the fourth inning.<br /><br />Still, as the graph indicates, the leverage situation in the eighth inning was still much higher than that in the ninth.<br /><br />The Yankees, last night, employed Mariano Rivera in the most effective way that they could. How is the mood repaying them?<br /><br />The team's off to their fortieth World Series.<br /><br /><br />****<br /><br />Stay tuned for more World Series/Turnpike Series goodies. I've got somehwere to be this afternoon, but plan on a Live Chat Tuesday evening, round 7.30. I will post a reminder tomorrow.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-37785962953601767432009-10-26T00:04:00.004-04:002009-10-26T00:47:00.873-04:00Anything is Possible<img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2712/4045733728_c6472f6d8a.jpg><br /><i>(photo credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images)</i><br /><br /><br />I had forgotten what it felt like.<br /><br />Not the winning, but the euphoria.<br /><br />This feeling, that nothing can touch us, that nothing can stop us, that for this moment, the baseball gods have smiled.<br /><br />The Yankees, though, the Yankees were there to make sure I remembered.<br /><br />***<br /><br />No one said that beating the Angels would be easy, and it wasn't.<br /><br />Six games, six games in which every emotion as a fan was tested: there was anxiety, nervousness, pleasure, pain, face-palming and, at long last, euphoria.<br /><br />To be the champions of your league, you have to beat the best along the way.<br /><br />The Angels were the only team in the league that played the Yankees well consistently all season, and so it was fitting that the road to the World Series would have to go through Anaheim.<br /><br />When it came down to it, it wasn't just that the Yankees had ALCS MVP CC Sabathia and the Angels didn't, or that the Yankees had Alex Rodriguez and the Angels didn't, it was that the Yankees never forgot how to play fundamental baseball.<br /><br />Fundamental errors cost the Angels games two and six; even just costing them one of those games would have been too much.<br /><br />****<br /><br />It is only fitting that Andy Pettitte was on the mound tonight.<br /><br />He was there in 1996, he should be there again this season, when comparisons to the late nineties Yankees have been so apparent.<br /><br />It was fitting, and Pettitte was vintage.<br /><br />He only pitched into the seventh inning, but he kept the Angels to just one run, and you get the feeling that once the Yankees scored, the Angels never really had much of a chance.<br /><br />There was Pettitte, and then there was Joba, where we held our breath, and then there was Rivera.<br /><br /><br />****<br /><br />I've gone back and forth on Rivera in the eighth, but ultimately it was the right decision. As a proponent of the leverage argument, tonight's use of Rivera is <i>exactly</i> what should have been done, with him facing Figgins, Abreu, Hunter, Guerrerro and Morales in the the eighth inning, in a two run game.<br /><br />You knew Rivera would be on the mound for the final out, regardless of the score.<br /><br />It just wouldn't be right without it.<br /><br />****<br /><br />The work isn't done.<br /><br />Philadelphia's not just a good team, they're the defending World Champions and with good reason.<br /><br />Yet, you get the feeling, if anyone can beat the Phillies, these Yankees can.<br /><br />We have watched this team, all season, dazzle us, surprise us, enthrall us and, most of all, make us believe.<br /><br />And so we do believe.<br /><br />The quest for 27 remains, and it closer than ever.<br /><br />This team is showing us that they are of the Substance, that they are Yankees.<br /><br />The euphoria is back.<br /><br />Anything is possible.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-55920940428986092532009-10-25T10:57:00.003-04:002009-10-25T11:25:24.577-04:00Finally, Some Baseball on tapFor some reason, off days during the post season feel longer and more drawn out than those in the actual off-season.<br /><br />Aside from the off-days which provide for cross-country travel, the other off-days seem an absurdity, especially when one considers that baseball is a sport that is predicated on the ability to play every day.<br /><br />Really, even with the delay caused by the WBC, there's no good reason we should not have at least already started the next round by now.<br /><br />Ah, well, at long last the Yankees can try again for a trip to the World Series tonight.<br /><br />It is only a game six, but I don't think there's a single fan out there that would suggest the mood is anything less than a game seven atmosphere. There are too many reasons to not go to a game seven that might actually make this game the biggest must-win game of the season.<br /><br />Now, just in case you're worrying, that's no reason to get negative.<br /><br />After all, the Yankees are back in New York, they have their most experienced postseason pitcher on the mound, a rested bullpen, and CC Sabathia in their back pocket.<br /><br />This is 2009, not any other year that might be entering your memory.<br /><br />The Yankees have every conceivable advantage tonight; it's up to them to make it matter.<br /><br />At long last, we have baseball.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-81708411764040801282009-10-24T21:23:00.002-04:002009-10-24T21:25:18.200-04:00Hawking a Friend's Wares<a href=http://scienceinreallife.com/2009/10/22/sirl-power-iii/>Check it out</a><br /><br />The author is a physics graduate student who ha agreed to help out during the off-season with a couple get-all-physic-y posts about the physics of pitching and baseball.<br /><br />The geek in you can't wait, and you know it.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-80944120827606724682009-10-24T18:29:00.003-04:002009-10-24T18:48:15.650-04:00Raindrops are not among my Favorite Things...but since baseball tonight has been postponed, here's something to mull over:<br /><br />MLB knew for days that a) the Philadelphia Phillies would not need to play a game six, and b) that the forecast called for massive rain in New York on Saturday evening.<br /><br />Even so, they did nothing to change the start time of the game.<br /><br />An announcement could have been made at any point Thursday or Yesterday about starting or attempting to start the game at, say, 4.30, or even 4.00, and they did not.<br /><br />Then again, with a guaranteed game now being televised on a Sunday--and not a Saturday night...<br /><br />At any rate, here is hoping you find a nice way to occupy your now-free Saturday evening.<br /><br />Me? I baked a loaf of bread. Yeah. I'm a sword-wielding, baseball-blogging, Bronx-living, <i>domestic</i>. Awesome.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-43268823757388136982009-10-24T12:23:00.002-04:002009-10-24T12:25:18.980-04:00PBP Caption Contest Vote ExtendedSince we have so many entries I've decided to extend the vote--voting will now end next Friday, at midnight.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">No more entries will be accepted.<br /><br /><br /></span><br /><br />The entries can be found <a href=http://www.puristbleedspinstripes.com/2009/10/first-ever-pbp-caption-contest.html>here</a>.<br /><br />To vote, send me an email at rebecca@puristbleedspinstripes.com with the name of the entrant.<br /><br />You may vote for yourself.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-26944783886929611352009-10-23T18:03:00.004-04:002009-10-23T18:25:19.614-04:00Optimist Prime Strikes AgainWith some fans still seething after yesterday's game, I figure what's a better time for a healthy dose of Optimism?<br /><br />The Yankees still lead the series, and only need to win one more game. It won't be easy, but it's still less of a task than that which faces the Angels in having to win two games in New York.<br /><br />The Yankees are a <span style="font-style: italic;">good</span> team. They aren't soft. You don't win all those walk off games if your team is soft; you win them because your pitching is good enough to hold your opponent and your hitters refuse to die.<br /><br />This team has surprised, amazed and surpassed many expectations--almost no one thought this team was going to win 103 games, and it did.<br /><br />You can win one or two games by virtue of luck; you cannot with 103 this way.<br /><br />The Yankees played .500 against the Angels during the season, and thus it should be no surprise that this series has turned into a long one. All the Yankees really needed to do was win one game in Anaheim--one game in a place where they have not historically played well--and they did just that.<br /><br />At any rate, given everything that's happened this year, you almost have to agree that there is something idyllic about clinching at home, in the rain.<br /><br />Baseball, after all, might be built on failure, but it is sustained by optimism. Every Yankee fan knows this.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-90355828192708672382009-10-23T14:37:00.006-04:002009-10-24T19:33:58.237-04:00Where* art thou Robertson?In his book <i>Birth of a Dynasty</i>, Joel Sherman opens with the 1995 postseason.<br /><br />He makes mention that Buck Showalter had a young Mariano Rivera in the bullpen--ostensibly along for the ride--but did not use him correctly, to close out, in that fatal game five when it would have mattered most.<br /><br />I won't bore you with the details of that game, we remember well enough what happened.<br /><br /><br />Now think about this:<br /><br />As I have stated previously, the best reliever not named Mariano Rivera on the Yankee staff right now is David Robertson.<br /><br />More than once this postseason, Robertson, who debuted last season, has been single-handedly responsible for keeping the Yankees' game hopes alive.<br /><br />It's easiest for me to remember his game 2 ALDS performance since I saw it in person, and to be honest, the performance was nearly Mariano-like.<br /><br />This really shouldn't surprise any of us.<br /><br />Robertson's strikeout per nine this season is twelve. That's an astounding rate--Mariano, in his historical campaign last season was at nearly thirteen (for contrast, this year he's at a pedestrian six).<br /><br />Yet, despite Roberson's success, Girardi seems, at times, to be reluctant to use him.<br /><br />Sure, Robertson had a masterful performance in the ALDS, but at the time the only pitchers Girardi had to use were Robertson and Gaudin--so the choice was more or less made for him.<br /><br />As far as Game 3 is concerned, most, if not all of us agree that Girardi should have left Robertson in to pitch to Kendrick in the 11th inning, and I needn't go into Girardi's explanation for removing the young right hander.<br /><br />So, what gives? Why does Girardi seem so reluctant to use the one non-Mariano pitcher that has consitently come up big this postseason?<br /><br />I can think of two possible explanations, neither one of which I particularly enjoy:<br /><br />1) Girardi is attempting to mask some sort of injury. This sounds far fetched--and it's nothing more than a hunch on my part--but given Robertson's Andrews visit in September, I can't brush it off entirely.<br /><br />2) Like Showalter and Rivera, Girardi doesn't know what he has in Robertson. While on the surface this seems to be the much more plausible explanation of the two, it actually makes less sense to me. <br /><br />Robertson has been up with the Yankees for the majority of the season, and has progressed from low leverage situations to playoff situations where one bad pitch ends the game--and you don't get much more high leverage like that.<br /><br />There is an argument to be made for experience, but the only other reliever with any significant postseason experience is Mariano himself.<br /><br />I can understand not using Robertson in favor of the lefties when the situation warrants (although you can debate <span style="font-style: italic;">which</span> lefty should be used), but I'm not so sure, at this point, that Chamberlain or Aceves should be used ahead of our very own D-Rob.<br /><br /><br />Bullpens are notoriously fickle things--at the start of 2009, let's not forget, it was Mariano Rivera and the Arson Squad of Doom. <br /><br />That said, that's all the more reason that when one reliever is proving himself to be a hot hand, he should be the manager's first choice, not his last.<br /><br />The Yankees have a bullpen advantage over Anaheim; Girardi has to make it work.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />*<span style="font-style: italic;">wherefore, the common Shakespearean term, means not where, but why. Thus, 'wherefore' is not the appropriate title for the blog post. Head explode yet?</span>Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-71148970279067324042009-10-23T07:02:00.000-04:002009-10-23T07:03:06.910-04:00It's all about the leverage (or why Mariano should have pitched the 7th)Leverage is a funny word. A loaded word, if you will.<br /><br />For one thing, it's more or less responsible for the financial collapse of America.<br /><br />In baseball parlance, leverage refers to an on-field situation--the inning, number of outs, score, pitch count, etc--and how likely the result of that on-field situation is to have an effect on the game.<br /><br />Example: Bases loaded, no one out, top of the eleventh inning as it was in game 2 of the ALDS is a high leverage situation, because the result of the next pitch (or, if you prefer, at bat) is likely to have a significant impact on the game's final outcome.<br /><br />Other example: Top of the ninth inning, two outs, runner on second, your team is up 10-1. This is a low leverage situation. At this point in the game, because of the score, whatever happens with the batter at the plate is unlikely to have a significant impact on the game's final outcome.<br /><br /><br />***<br /><br />With this understanding of leverage, one can put forth a very simple concept:<br /><br />Teams should use their very best relievers in the highest leveraged situations.<br /><br /><br />Simple, direct, easy to understand, right?<br /><br /><br />Here's where we have a problem: there is a pervading belief among many, especially those that read only main stream media (MSM), that the highest leverage situations are automatically the ninth innings in close games. In other words, situations that would warrant a "save".<br /><br />This is not necessarily the case.<br /><br />The ninth inning can <i>become</i> a high leverage situation, but many, if not most, games are decided before the ninth inning.<br /><br />In the seventh and eighth innings, for example, you are likely to encounter a situation in which the starter has been removed from the game but where most (okay, right now, all) teams will consider it too early to go to their "closer"--who is often the team's best reliever.<br /><br />Take tonight's game, for example.<br /><br />In the top of the seventh inning, John Lackey was (wrongly) removed for Darren Oliver with the bases loaded and two outs. <br /><br />With the score only a four run differential, this was an incredibly high leverage spot, especially with Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez--two power hitters--due up. Now, one can argue whether or not Brian Fuentes should be a closer, but what is clear is that Oliver is not the Angels' best reliever. Jepsen, Fuentes and Bulger are all arguably or factually better than Oliver.<br /><br />So the Angels and the Yankees were left with a situation where the Yankees were batting against the "soft underbelly" of the Angels' bullpen in a close game, and a team as good as the Yankees doesn't usually miss.<br /><br />It's not much of a surprise, then, that at the end of that half inning, the Yankees lead 6-4.<br /><br />At that point in time, Mark Teixeira's at bat shapes up to be the single most important at bat of the game. Never mind what followed afterwards, but at that very moment, it seemed likely that Teixeira's at bat could very well dictate the final outcome of the game.<br /><br />Think of it this way: if you're the Angels' skip, are you sure you pitch Oliver there? Or would you be better off, if you're determined to take Lackey out, by bringing in Bulger or Fuentes?<br /><br />***<br /><br />So now we come to the Yankees and the bottom of the seventh inning.<br /><br />Let's start here with a couple of knowns or supposeds:<br /><br />A) Mariano Rivera is the best reliever the Yankees have on staff. <br /><br /> A1) Right now, this is likely followed by David Robertson, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Coke, Damaso Marte, Alfredo Aceves and Chad Gaudin, with Gaudin not being used except to mop up a blow out or to pitch extended work in extra innings.<br /><br />B) Pitching the ninth inning of any game is <i>not</i> an easy thing to do, even if it's not necessarily the highest leveraged situation of a game. Just watch this interview after Phil Coke's first Major League save:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4xzJG2aFuG8&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4xzJG2aFuG8&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Thus, while one tries to address leverage, one cannot ignore a ninth inning where the leading team leads by no more than three or four runs as being a non-factor.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />After tonight's loss, there was much conversation about the seventh inning and what should or should not have been done.<br /><br />There is no arguing that the inning was the most critical part of the game--just look at the WPA graph:<br /><br /><img src=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2642/4036760868_c3bcec365b.jpg><br />(<i>image credit: Fangraphs</i>)<br /><br />The bars on the bottom indicate the leverage of a situation--the ninth inning ended up turning into quite the critical situation, but it doesn't matter if not for the seventh.<br /><br />As it was, a simple refresher:<br /><br />With a two run lead, AJ Burnett went back to the mound with 80 pitches, and the first two Angel batters quickly reached base. At this point Girardi pulled Burnett for Damaso Marte, who retired two batters while allowing one run. Marte was then pulled for Phil Hughes, and, well, we know what happened from there.<br /><br />Here's the leverage argument:<br /><br />Because of the importance of the situation, with the tying runs on base and the Angels' best hitters (Hunter-Guerrerro-Morales) due up, Girardi should have gone to Mariano Rivera.<br /><br /><br />It's a claim that much of the MSM and their readers/viewers will brush off as being too reactionary, but it's based on the single, simple premise discussed above:<br /><br />Teams should use their very best relievers in the highest leveraged situations.<br /><br /><br />At the time, there is utterly no way to predict that the ninth inning will matter or how much it will matter.<br /><br />What you know, however, is that at the time, the two potential tying runs on base are the two most important runs you want to prevent from scoring if you are the Yankees.<br /><br />A tie game will automatically favor the home team, since they always have the final at bat and one less half inning to pitch, so it is imperative to keep that from occurring.<br /><br /><br />Most (okay, all) teams will use these situations for their set-up men, and this is where those like Mike Francesa start oggling over the eighth inning guys. The fallacy here is the the eighth inning guy, almost by definition of the term, is not a team's best reliever, but the team's second best reliever, the one that teams most trust to get to their best reliever.<br /><br />Has your head exploded yet?<br /><br /><br />At any rate, after tonight's game, I had a conversation with Ben Kabak of <a href=http://www.riveraveblues>River Ave Blues</a>.<br /><br />I had previously asked via Twitter how many would have pitched Mariano in the 7th, and a large number of respondents said either that they would or that they would at least think about it.<br /><br />I then brought up the issue that if you pitch Mariano for the seventh and maybe the eighth, and the Yankees don't score again, you are still left with a high-leverage ninth inning in which you cannot use Mo (the Hammer of G-d is, after all, 39) and have to choose from the remaining pitching staff.<br /><br />Ben proposed this solution--and I swear your head IS going to explode--<br /><br />You have Andy Pettitte pitch the ninth.<br /><br /><br /><br />It's not abnormal for a starter to pitch in relief in the playoffs.<br /><br />Starters are, by definition, better than relievers, and many teams, even playoff teams, lack a solid relief corps outside their closer and maybe one other guy. <br /><br />We saw Jered Weaver pitch in relief tonight; in the past we've seen Mike Mussina do it in an ALCS game 7 against the Red Sox. There are other historical examples, as well.<br /><br />You don't, as Ben suggests, pitch David Robertson in the ninth in a save situation, because there is an intangible aspect to a save that can't be ignored--see the Coke video above.<br /><br />You go, instead, with the experienced hand. <br /><br />In this scenario you don't even need to worry about Pettitte's start on Saturday--because you've effectively used Mariano, perhaps piggybacked with Robertson in the eighth, so you still have the lead in the ninth. Pettitte grabs three outs and the ALCS is over.<br /><br /><br /><br />I am not the first person to suggest that a reliever's most important role is the ninth inning and I doubt I'll be the last.<br /><br />Some day, a manager <i>will</i> come to the same conclusion and pitch their closer in the seventh to get through another team's 3-4-5. If that manager succeeds, he'll be branded a hero, visionary and genius, and if he fails, he'll be branded whatever his city's equivalent of "Clueless Joe".<br /><br />The beauty of baseball is that it is a game that evolves, and that someone, somewhere, will try.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-54275535566530016072009-10-22T23:33:00.004-04:002009-10-23T00:08:29.041-04:00When you assume...We assumed.<br /><br />We assumed and we started to plan, as though all that was left was tying up some gift ribbons and signing the greeting card.<br /><br />We forgot, in the process, that the Yankees still had to win the game.<br /><br />They had to win the game, in Anaheim, against the best Angels pitcher. Even on paper it was no easy thing.<br /><br />We assumed, and we were wrong.<br /><br /><br />You can attach blame wherever you'd like, though only assigning blame does not do much. As my father has told me, some are in love with assigning blame and others prefer to fix problems.<br /><br />So, here we go:<br /><br />Some will blame AJ Burnett, some Joe Girardi, and some Phil Hughes.<br /><br />I am no baseball manager and I've never played in an organized baseball game, but this is what I would have done:<br /><br />In the seventh inning, I let Burnett come out to start the inning. He's at 80 pitches and has more or less been doing all right since that let's-not-talk-about-it first inning. <br /><br />Once Mathis reaches, that's when I replace Burnett, instead of giving him the chance to put the tying run on base.<br /><br />The reliever I bring in is not Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain, but David Robertson. I know, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but both Hughes and Chamberlain have been hit this postseason and Robertson has more or less worked some miracles.<br /><br />At this rate, Robertson right now is the most valuable reliever not named Mariano Rivera.<br /><br />This isn't to detract from what Hughes or Chamberlain have done this season--and without Hughes, especially, the Yankees aren't even playing tonight--but both have had issues this postseason.<br /><br /><br />If I leave AJ in to face the first two batters and they both reach, I consider bringing in Mariano Rivera. It's undoubtedly the highest leverage situation at that point, but my issue arises if the Yankees don't add any more insurance runs and the game goes to the ninth still a two run game and your team on the road.<br /><br />***<br /><br />Unlike most of you, I suspect, I'm not all that bothered by Girardi's decision to pinch run for Alex Rodriguez in the ninth.<br /><br />With two outs, and down by one, you do anything you can to tie the score, and while Rodriguez isn't a Molina, Guzman is much more likely to score from first. Again, your team is down two outs, so you don't have any more outs with which to work.<br /><br />Nick Swisher, of course, killed us all with the 3-2 pop up. I don't know if he was swinging at ball four or not, but the Yankees lost the game in the seventh, after coming so close to winning.<br /><br />***<br /><br />So we go back to New York.<br /><br />The forecast on Saturday calls for rain and thunder.<br /><br />After everything that's happened this season, the possibility of being able to clinch at home, in the rain--possibly even, well, you know how--has a certain romanticism to it.<br /><br />October baseball lives on.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276907225428640229.post-64892236510947854042009-10-22T11:03:00.004-04:002009-10-22T11:24:59.866-04:00Make the Turnpike Dream a RealityOkay, not that "turnpike" and "dream" should ever really be used in the same sentence, but here we go.<br /><br />End the ALCS tonight.<br /><br />Don't let it linger, don't let it go back to New York.<br /><br />There will be at least two more games at Yankee Stadium this season, but I don't want those two games to be played this round.<br /><br />Close this out, and once and for all excise 2004. Excise it from our conscience, excise it from our memory. Get rid of it, and everything it symbolizes.<br /><br />We want to remember what it is to feel that glory.<br /><br />We want to vicariously join you in that dog pile, to know euphoria.<br /><br />We've been waiting since Tuesday, since April, since, well, you know.<br /><br />We don't want to wait any longer.<br /><br />Jersey beckons.Rebeccahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099918567255772685noreply@blogger.com