Yankees win, Theeee Yankees win! On video!

Via Amanda Rykoff:



View her game 2 photo gallery here

Argument for Instant Replay gets stronger

1) Watch this video.

2) Tell me what you see.

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.

In theory, the Yankees should have bases loaded, one out, with Mark Teixeira at bat.


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.

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.

How did I know? If it really was a double play, Howard had utterly no reason to throw to second base.


It seems, that with every round there' yet another botched call, and each one increasing in severity after the last.

It has now gotten to the point where every play, even ones that should be utterly routine, have become the subject of much dissection.

Umpiring along with journalism has one single, cardinal rule: never become the story.

Alas, in the 2009 postseason, the umpires have.

Damaso 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.

Mariano is still Mariano, but nearly everyone else has struggled at some point--even Robertson had a less than stellar appearance last night.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In other words, then, what Marte has been doing is simple: his job.

It doesn't sound like much, but when you consider how much the other, normally reliable, relievers are struggling, it does matter.

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.

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.

Gone Astray

Sometimes things don't go the way you want.

It has happened before, and it will happen again.

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.

To have beaten Cliff Lee tonight, the Yankees would have had to pitch perfectly.

Until the ninth inning, the Yankees had just one batter reach second base, and none reach third.

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.

Okay, so perhaps Brian Bruney should not be anywhere near a postseason roster, but this isn't really the point here.

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.

With the way that Lee pitched, even if the score had remained 2-0, the Yankees' chances were still slim--he was that good.

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.

Alas for us, we have a rooting interest that was on the wrong end of that game.

So what now, then?

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.

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.

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.

As Douglas Adams would have said, DON'T PANIC.

There is still a lot of baseball left to play.

****

I will be at tomorrow's game. If you are going and would like to say hello, send an email or tweet my way.

Stadium to Open for Fans for Game 4

Via LoHud, Yankee Stadium will open to fans on Sunday so that they may view the road game four.

With luck, this game could be especially significant (although my gut tells me this is unlikely).

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.

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.

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!

PBP #6: HELLO THE NAME IS SWAGGER (Live Chat)

Who'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.

Game two.

In New York.

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.

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.

While he did pitch well against the Dodgers, the Yankees could easily be another story.

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.

***

Live chat at 7.30. Be there

Baseball as it Should Be

The World Series is supposed to be about the two best teams in each league duking it out for supreme bragging rights.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This, though, is how it should be.

A World Series, by definition, should 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.

The Phillies-Yankees series holds that promise: baseball as it should be.

****

More later, including a live chat at 7.30 pm, so make sure you're there!

Just in case you weren't pumped up enough

***

The Jersey girl in me is positively squeeing at the possibility of a Turnpike Series, and a chance for some North Jersey domination.

[Congratulations to the Phillies on their NLCS win. The best NL team is going to the World Series and you can't ask for more than that.]

Correspondence

To: Philadelphia Bullpen
From: Pedro Martinez

Please for the love of all things holy, I gave you seven shut out innings. I made like it was 1999. Please don't blow this!


To: Pedro Martinez
From: Philadelphia Bullpen

Erm. We tried.


To: Philadelphia Bullpen
From: Pedro Martinez

...

I thought I left the Mets?

A Letter to Dodger Fans

Dear fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers:

Your team is in the NLCS, one step from the World Series. One of the four remaining teams in all of baseball.

It's the ninth inning of the first game and your team is only down by two runs, and the Phillies have notoriously not-very-good-in-2009 Brad Lidge coming in, which is a golden opportunity for your team to make its move.

So why, exactly, are you leaving early?

I don't know what it's like in LA, but in New York even the cheapest seats are going for high prices--they've come down recently because there's a freaking nor'easter that has it snowing in New York in October--but the point remains, if tickets are that expensive you don't leave a playoff game early.

There shouldn't be any empty seats in Dodger Stadium.

Surely you realize this?

Please, do your team proud. If you show up for the game, and you don't have a major emergency or the apocalypse isn't just around the corner, stay till the end.

You never know what you might miss.

Cheers.

Rebecca

A-Rod and Melkman Come Up Clutch; Yanks Walk Off (Postgame Notes 23 May 2009)

Earlier this afternoon, Helen and I are on the D train from Columbus Circle, going north to Fordham.

Helen has just arrived from Newcastle, England; she's not, as you imagine, a baseball fan by nature, though she is trying.

We're standing, holding onto one of the poles, it's about 4.30 pm and I can't remember now what we were talking about then, but at 125th street, a guy and a girl get on. The guy is wearing a Yankees' cap while the girl is wearing a Phillies' cap.

As one might imagine, the girl starts uttering,

"We'll be lucky if we get there by the seventh inning."

I can't help myself.

"All the good stuff happens in the later innings, anyway."


Self-fullfiling prophecy, it would seem.


I have no idea as to how Andy Pettitte pitched or as to how most of the Yankees hit; when I turned the game on, it was 4-1 Phillies.

Here is what I did see:

Phil Coke is something, that 8th inning guy if/when Bruney can't go.

Derek Jeter had a nice home run, but Alex Rodriguez hit one out in the ninth, and that one mattered, no question.

Bottom of the ninth inning, off of Brad Lidge, to tie the game...and, of course, once that happened, there really wasn't much of a question:

AJ had to go get the pie ready.

The question became not if the Yankees would win the game, but who, and it would somehow seem fitting that Melky Cabrera, who started the last winning streak, should start this one.

***

CC Sabathia and Cole Hamels tomorrow; should be quite a match up

Sometimes Your Luck Runs Out (Postgame Notes 22 May 2009)

The game, I must have decided, wasn't unlucky when Ibañez uncorked one all the way into the right field bleachers.

It wasn't unlucky when Kevin Cash had some of the worst-looking swings I've ever seen from a major leaguer.

It wasn't even unlucky when Jimmy Rollins hit the very first pitch of the game over the right field fence.


No, it was unlucky when they couldn't find my jacket.

***

Last Friday, amidst the hubbub of Melky's and the Yankees' walk-off win, Dan and I forgot the Adidas jacket that I had been brought in case of rain. It was still there, plopped under a seat in section 211, when we exited the Stadium and headed for a cab.

No problem, I figured. I have tickets for next Friday's game. If they have a lost and found, surely, then, I'll find it, get it back and all will be fine and dandy.

***

This evening, when I got to the Stadium, I met my brother and his friend, whilst my game companion (Joe) was still en route.

My brother and his friend decided to explore the Stadium; I figured I'd go and check after my jacket.

I walked up to the booth in the Great Hall for customer service; I asked one of the very nice people there two questions:

a) Is there anywhere in the Stadium that sells sunblock (No, which is an issue considering summer sun and day games) and

b) Do you have a Lost and Found?

They do have a Lost and Found. They asked what I lost, when it was lost and where; I told them a black Adidas jacket last Friday in section 211.

They looked through a log and then phoned someone in a far off room, but to no avail. They shook their heads, as though to say "Sorry, no dice."


There goes my summer rain coat.


***

As for the game itself...


I have seen home runs.

I have seen players hit multiple home runs in the same game.

I've seen one run home runs, two runs, three runs...though I can't remember ever seeing a Grand Slam.

I've seen home runs off of good pitchers and home runs off of bad; cheap shots that just clear the fence and no doubters...

...but I have never seen the shots like I saw tonight.

Jimmy Rolllins, Jason Werth, Raul Ibañez and Carlos Ruiz for the Phillies; Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira for the Yankees.

A hot night and two fly ball pitchers was a recipe for home runs. And so we saw. From the very first pitch.

Ultimately, the difference may be ascribe to this: Of Philly's four home runs, two came with men on base, so instead of four runs there were six (and one more on a non-home run play).

All of the Yankees' home runs were solo shots (but holy moly, what a shot for Teixeira! Into the top deck!), because they just couldn't get men on base. Brett Myers put on a razzle-dazzle them type-show.

****

Lost in all the home run hullaballoo will be Chien Ming Wang's three innings, where his ERA went down even after Raul Ibañez's shot.

Wang gave up six hits in three innings--too many, of course--but with the exception of Ibañez's utter moonshot (and it was a moonshot) they were all singles, and the way the ball carried tonight, that says something.

Wang's three innings are the most he's pitched all year, and by being able to work out of trouble, he showed massive progress.

He's not all the way there yet, but he's better than he was, and that's something.

****

The best reaction to the game came from the team itself:

So what if we lost tonight? It happens.

We'll consider this the start a new winning streak.


Since Boston and Toronto both lost, the Yankees lost no ground in the standings.

Andy Pettitte's on the mound for the Yanks; I have to pick up a friend at JFK around three, so I don't expect to liveblog.

I'll be blogging likely sporadically throughout the week, but I will do my best to make sure each game is covered.

Yankees Vs Philllies, 22 May 2009: An Unlive Blog

4.00 PM: I'm headed out to the game tonight, but thought I'd provide you with what I can before I go.

Per WFAN the Yankees' line up tonight:

Jeter
Damon
Teixeira
Rodriguez
Matsui
Swisher
Canó
Cabrera
Cash

If this line up is correct (the entire reason I'm listening to WFAN right now is a long story and I still don't entirely trust Francesca), then it's good to see Damon back in there, though I get the feeling I'll never actually see Cervelli in a game.


I'll be section 118, Row 28.


Also, check out my guest post on River Ave Blues this afternoon about Alfredo Aceves and the second coming of Ramiro Mendoza.


4.08 PM: Via Bryan Hoch on Twitter, Jonathan Albaladejo has been optioned down.

4.33 PM: Per WFAN, Bruney got an MRI on his arm, but "sounds like he will be okay". If I hear more I will let you know.

4.57 PM: Yeah, Bruney is unavailable tonight. Feeling elbow pain so soon after being activated off the DL, even with a clean MRI, is not a good sign. I'm no doc, but your body is usually only in pain when something is wrong.

The Yankee bullpen tonight is basically Wang, who was recalled and activated off the DL, Tomko and Coke. Mariano Rivera's pitched two nights in a row so they probably try to stay away from him tonight, and Coke's arm might still be a little sore, so hopefully Burnett is on his game. Otherwise it might get ugly in a hurry, and those Phillies can mash.

Why Baseball Doesn't Need a Salary Cap

This post was inspired by a very well-written post by Mike of High and Tight, which can be found here. It's worth your time.

****

In the past decade, both the NBA, in the forms of the Spurs and the Lakers, and the NFL, in the form of the Patriots, have seen "dynasties"; that is, teams winning, year after year.

Both leagues have had a salary cap for that time span, if not longer.

The NHL also has a salary cap, but as it was only implemented a few years ago, it's still too soon for any conclusive remarks.


Baseball, on the other hand, has no salary cap. Every single person reading this post right now probably knows that. Still, in the last decade, only the Red Sox have won multiple World Series--and not consecutively, either.

In 2007, the Tampa Bay Rays finished last in the AL East.
In 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays went to the World Series.

Sure, the method of losing for nine years in a row, taking the first round draft picks and then building a contender is something many teams probably want to avoid, but the points remain: a) it's possible to build a winning team out of a perennial doormat, b) you don't need gigantic contracts to do so, and c) smart ownership and general managing is much more important how much the ownership spends.

Lucky for baseball, there are a lot of smart GMs and owners out there.

Okay, so there are a few that we like to pretend don't exist (I'm looking at you, Pete Angelos), but consider that in the past ten years the following teams have made the playoffs, including a one-game playoff scenario: (+ denotes at least one World Series appearance)

Diamondbacks +
Dodgers
Angels +
Athletics
Giants +
Padres
Rockies +
Marlins +
Rays +
Braves
Cubs
White Sox +
Red Sox +
Tigers +
Twins
Cardinals +
Yankees +
Mets +
Indians
Phillies +
Astros +
Mariners
Brewers.


That means that a grand total of seven teams in the league--Orioles, Nationals, Rangers, Blue Jays, Royals, Reds, Pirates--have not appeared in the playoffs in the last decade.

With the Orioles and Nationals, of course, there is a recent history of sordid ownership, and while the Royals and Reds have not had much recent success, both teams have a core of young players that will, quite possibly, make the teams much more competitive in the very near future.

A sweeping majority of teams have made the postseason at least once--many more than that--and a variety of teams have made World Series appearances, as well. If that type of scenario, or a scenario where a team like Tampa can go from worst to first, or, like the Mariners, from first to worst, does not speak for parity, then I'm not sure what does.

The idea of a salary cap, at least as presented to the casual fan, is to level the playing field, so to speak, right?

Well, baseball seems to have a fairly level playing field as it is!

You can't use basketball or hockey to argue that a variety of teams appearing in the playoffs is a moot point, because in those two sports, half of the teams in each conference make the playoffs, and once in, strange things can happen. In baseball, however, only four teams per league make the playoffs-meaning that your team has to be that much better to get in.

Heck, all you have to do is remember that .500 basketball gets you a playoff spot in the NBA Eastern Conference. In baseball, last year, that would have gotten you contention in the NL West for half the season, at least before the Dodgers got Manny, and nowhere close to the Wild Card.

Yes, it's true, teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Mets spend more than the GDPs of many smaller nations, but the important question to ask is what they spend it on.

All three teams spend the money they have on their team, and while we Yankee fans might lampoon the moves that the Red Sox and the Mets make, the fact is that the intent is to build a winning team, to entice players to come to Boston or New York, and not steer them away because the owners don't feel like paying for marquee talent.

That said, the plethora of teams that have seen success in the past decade illustrates that smart management and smart player development means just as much, if not more, than signing big free agent contracts.

To be completely honest, however, as incoherent as my argument may be (it's 2 AM, after all), there is one thing that shouldn't escape your mind: If the 2008 World Series saw the Phillies taking on the Rays, there is really no logical argument to be made that only the rich teams have a chance.

As much as we might get disgusted at the giant player contracts, or, in the case of some of us Yankee fans, revel in them, the truth is that baseball is surviving quite well without a salary cap.

A salary floor, however, is an entirely different argument--and for a different day.

Philly Phantastic

Congratulations to the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies, Champions of Baseball.

Funny to think that last year all this fuss was made about them being the first franchise to lose 10.000 games.

Nice to see them win.

It was easily one of the odder World Series deciding games, with the whole suspension thing, but you know what it means?

It means that every Philadelphia schoolchild got to stay up late to see their team win the World Series. And, as Yankee fans, we all know what those first memories of a World Championship celebration can do.

The Countdown to the day CC Sabathia files for Free Agency has begun.

The entries for the Ludicrous Trade Proposal Contest will be posted tomorrow.

The Selig Doctrine

For those interested in the history and historiography of baseball, the Washington Post has called last night's decision the Selig Doctrine: No World Series will end with a game played less than nine innings.

While last night's game should never have been started, baseball did right to suspend it when it did, as opposed to calling the game short while the Phillies had a 2-1 lead, and thus cheating the Rays out of their possible final three innings of baseball.

It shouldn't strike any of us as a new concept; I don't think you could find a baseball fan that would not have been aghast at the idea of a rain-shortened World Series game, but now that it's official, hey maybe Bud will have something to add to his legacy other than the steroids scandal!

Some More Notes on the World Series

I have got to update this thing more often, my apologies.

Anyway, due to various personal reason I haven't been able to watch the World Series as well or as closely as I'd like, but from what I have seen:

• It's obvious that at the end of Game Three, Evan Longoria wasn't trying to throw it to Home Plate, he was simply trying to throw it to the fifth infielder

• Where did the power go from the Tampa bats? Maybe I've just been missing it because I haven't been watching so closely, but it felt like Tampa slugged their way to the World Series, and now they're dying a whimpery death.

• After Ryan Howard was busy making Alex Rodriguez look clutch, he's now exploded, proving that good things come to those who are not named Alex Rodriguez.

• The umpiring has not exactly been great.

So now Philadelphia needs just one more win to bring their city their first major sports title since...well, their first major title in my lifetime.

However, given that it's been a really sort of strange baseball year, don't count the Series over just yet...although the sooner it is, the sooner we can fire up the Hot Stove...

Phighting Their Way to a Game One Win

It was a close thing.

In a game that was without a doubt the epitome of a pitcher's duel, the Phillies used a solid starting performance from Cole Hamels as well as a key caught stealing to pull out a 3-2 Game One win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

In doing so, they've stolen the home field advantage for themselves and now can rest a little easier going into Game Two.

Some points:

• Ryan Howard has got to get his act together. It's one thing not to hit and quite another for the other team to walk Chase Utley to get to him. In the AL park the slump can be obscured by the DH, but the moment they get to Philadelphia, the Rays will have a phield field day with the Phillies if there are two automatic outs in the line up...

• While I'm all for mixing and matching pitchers when the situation warrants, I didn't quite get Maddon's almost Spring Training-like approach to the ninth inning. Granted, in the World Series, everyone is available...but I don't know...I think more than anything Maddon illustrated the lack of a solid back end of the bullpen for the Rays

• That caught stealing looms huge now, but Hamels was really, really close to a balk. The city of Philadelphia should be thanking the umpires for that ones.

• Since the strike in 1994, a National League team has won the World Series in 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2006--five times in thirteen tries. Of those five wins, only once (the Cardinals in 2006) did the National League team win it in fewer then six games. Conversley, of the eight years an American League team won, only twice did the AL team need more than five games to win the series (the Yankees in 1996 and the Angels in 2002). This might mean nothing, but I found the quirk interesting.

2008 World Series Preview

Think back to April 1, and all the baseball predictions you read.

Could you honestly tell me that you found somewhere that predicted the 2008 World Series would be the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies?

No?

Don't worry, me either.

Still, this is what the end of October holds for us baseball fans, and despite the historical legacies of both teams, this series looks like it'll be a good one.

Both teams are scrappy, feisty--getting the hits and the pitches when they need to, but making you bite your nails the rest of the time. Both teams have an unquestionable hunger--Philadelphia hasn't won a major sports championship since the early 1980s (and the times they've come close, outside of baseball, defeat seems to come at the hands of Tampa, who knew?), and Tampa, to some, still has to prove that the Rays are for real.

So, what to look for? Who will win?

Let's start with pitching.

Philadelphia has an unquestionable ace in Cole Hamels, but outside of that, in Myers, Blanton and Moyer, you're looking at pitchers that can be very...well...hittable. There's no question the pitching staff can get it done, or else they wouldn't be here, but they'll make you sweat for it. In terms of the bullpen, Brad Lidge has a ridiculous saves streak going, but like the rest of the pitching staff, he'll make you sweat before getting the final out.

Tampa's "ace", Scott Kazmir, has not emerged as the number one starter for the Rays in the postseason. Instead, James Shields has emerged as their "big game" starter, and it was Matt Garza that pitched a gem in Game Seven of the ALCS. As for the Rays' bullpen...well, you remember Game Five well enough, right? Tampa has David Price. They shouldn't be shy about using him.


As for hitting...

Philadelphia's hitters have, on the whole, been around longer than Tampa's and are thus more veteran, although this doesn't necesarily imply better. Chase Utley, Pat Burrell and Ryan Howard can all hit the ball a mile, but none of them are averse to striking out--especially not Howard. In the NLCS, Shane Victorino emerged as a somewhat unlikely hero, it will be interesting to see if the "Flyin' Hawaiian" can keep the juices flowing in the World Series.

Tampa's gotten to the point it his on the back and long fly balls of BJ Upton and Evan Longoria. Okay, so the others have helped as well, but the amount of home runs that have come off the bat of those two this month is insane, and, I believe, record-setting. Against Philadelphia pitching, with the exception of Cole Hamels, you have to imagine that this could be a powder (power?) keg type of situation.


So, while I will be rooting for the Phillies--I've got at least three friends who are admitted Phillies fans--my prediction, like everyone else's so far, will be the Rays in six.

In which case, we'd better start preparing for the apocalypse.