Ghosts? What ghosts?

The common refrain going around the Yankee fan base right now is that while nothing is guaranteed, and that the Yankees are not guaranteed to win their series against the Twins, there is a different feel around this year's squad than there has been in many years. This team is likable, fun to root for and really, really damned good.

So nevermind CC Sabathia's less than stellar postseason ERA or Alex Rodriguez's absence of a decent postseason since the ALCS of 2004.

This is a team where expectations are not just high for the free agents signees who make more in a year than some entire countries, but for those who have played only for the Yankees and those who came to the Yankees in unheralded trades. The team won 103 games in the regular season, and one or two players can't win 103 games all on their own. Though, God knows Albert Pujols tried.


As with any beginning, there are opening ceremonies of a sort. With the ALDS it's nothing too spectacular--full line ups and guys in uniform, but it's somewhat muted. It's good to be here, but there's still a while to go before the grand prize.



When the players are introduced, some receive particularly loud accolades--like Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter--while others receive, well, lots of non-accolades. Like Carl Pavano.



Because of the odd start time, the Stadium was still fairly empty as the lineups were being announced.



By the time the first pitch was thrown, however, almost every seat was filled.

The National Anthem always seems to add a sense of "this is it, this is what we live for."





As the Yankees take the field, there is a rush of excitement. As stated earlier, if you're a fan at that Stadium at that time, you're either way amped up, or you're dead.



With no other game going on at the present moment, the scoreboard instead displays the line up of both teams, highlighting the next batter to come to bat.



The blazing lights against the sunset make for an auspicious early game atmosphere.



The Twins took an early 2-0 lead that could have never have been: had a close pitch been called a strike three, CC Sabathia would have gotten out of the inning. Instead, a couple hits and a passed ball, and the Twins had a 2-0 lead.

That lead was, however, short lived.

Reason A: Derek Jeter



Jeter has done a lot of great things in his career and is something of an immortal among Yankee fans. Hitting a left field home run to tie a game? Awesome. And in the postseason? Well, there's only one Derek Jeter.



Hit a home run like that, then hear the entire Stadium erupt in chants of M-V-P! M-V-P! (Yes, we know it's going to Mauer. No, we don't care.)


Meanwhile, Sabathia must have been somewhat mindful of his rapidly escalating pitch count: he settled down and started to deal.



Despite having over 70 pitches after the fourth inning, Sabathia pitched into the seventh inning and did not walk a single batter.

The Twins were the first to go to their bullpen--by this time the Yankees had already taken the lead.



Who did the Twins call upon?



I swear I'm not making this up.

Not too long afterwards, Hideki Matsui hit a home run--the type that screams HEY YAY INSURANCE RUNS! My friend Brent summed up our reactions pretty well.





With two outs in the seventh inning and the Yankees with a four run lead, Joe Girardi did the prudent thing and went to the bullpen before Sabathia's pitch count approached abusive levels. He left to a raucous ovation.



In came Young Master Hughes.



There was a massive Orlando Cabrera at bat just to end the seventh inning, but Hughes got the job done, and instead of having to face Joe Mauer with the bases loaded, Joe Mauer came up in the 8th with no one on.

This is the only game I've ever been to where I've actually heard people sing "God Bless America".



It was a stirring rendition courtesy of the NY Pops



This is just a really awesome late-game shot:




Out went Phil Hughes, and in came Joba Chamberlain. Phil Coke also made an appearance and had the best possible appearance for a reliever: one pitch, one out. It was nearly a double play, but Mauer was just a shade too nimble for Teixeira.




With a five run lead--and here it should be noted that two of these runs, yes two are the direct responsibility of Alex Rodriguez, something you haven't seen in an October write up for a while--it perhaps seems strange that the Yankees bring in their closer, but this is October. You don't take chances.

Enter Sandman. Exit Twins.










Magic number, that real magic number that all Yankee fans really care about, is now down to ten.

And we'll see you Friday night!

Joe Mauer for MVP

A few weeks ago, some of you will no doubt be aware that I did a guest post on River Ave Blues arguing that Derek Jeter should walk away with the MVP.

No disrespect to Jeter, who is still having an amazing season and an even more amazing road trip, but I need to change my vote.

I have seen the light, and the light is Joe Mauer.

How have I seen the light?

Mauer's average, .383, is higher than Mark Teixeira's on-base-percentage. That means that Joe Mauer is getting a greater percentage of hits than Mark Teixeira--one of the league leaders in OBP--is getting on base.

Mauer has 139 hits and 25 home runs to go along with it--and let's not forget, he missed the entire first month of the season.

As one might now expect, his walks and strike outs are almost exactly identical (46 and 47), and this is already mid-late August.


The only, and I mean only, knock on Mauer here is that the team he's playing for is, well, not very good, and the award is most valuable and not most outstanding player.

Still, it can't be much of a complaint. Alex Rodriguez, after all, won on the last place Texas Rangers, right?

Take heart, supporters of Jeter and Teixeira, however: those two could very well pick up some other hardware that might skip Mauer by (this season, at least)--and that hardware is plenty valuable on its own.

Yankees Get Series Win in Final Visit to Metrodome (Postgame Notes 08 July 2009)

The Yankees' 12th win in their last 14 games was a bit of an odd one.

For example, take AJ Burnett, who had been stellar in his past four starts. It wasn't quite a bad start, at least not by the final results--technically it was a quality start--but it involved making a lot of good pitches at the right time.

He didn't get his first strike out until later in the game, but it came with two outs and the bases loaded.

Talk about wiggling out of jams.


Ultimately, it was a start that would have thwarted lesser pitchers--there were always, it seemed, men on base and control was in short supply, as the three wild pitches will attest--but AJ Burnett is not a lesser pitcher.

Actually, when you think about it--and friends at River Ave Blues took this line--the game was less Yanks-vs-Twins and more Yanks-vs-Mauer. Given what Mauer's been doing this season, that's not entirely shameful.

On many rotations he could be the ace of the staff, and tonight he showed why.


As for the offense, it wasn't the offensive show of yesterday, athough it looked in the beginning like it might be, but as has been so often the case in this 12-of-14 stretch, the Yankee hitters did just enough.

For you A-Rod hitters, just remember that Alex Rodriguez had the RBI hit that ended up being the winning run for the Yankees.


Now, as Alfredo Aceves takes the mound tomorrow, he can do so knowing that the Yankees have already won the series and that the bullpen, for the most part, is fairly well rested. Phils Coke and Hughes pitched tonight, and Hughes is probably unavailable for tomorrow. Still, though, Tomko, Robertson and Bruney should all be available--and, if necessary, Mo--so, unless Aceves completley flames out, the Yankees are not in poor shape.