Boston loses fifth game in a row, clinches playoff spot

I know this is a Yankee blog, but Boston clinching a spot in October despite losing five in a row is pretty damn amusing. To think for a brief moment in August I actually thought the Rangers might pull a Wild Card berth out.

Far more importantly, the Yankees beat the Royals 4-3 in the 9th inning of last night's contest, recording their Major League-leading 15th walkoff win of the year, this time on a Juan Miranda single off old friend Kyle Farnsworth. Good to see that ol' Farnsy hasn't changed much since his time in pinstripes.

The Yankees are an awesome 102-56, and will try to get to 103 wins for the first time since 2003 tonight against the Royals at the last home game of the season. They'll also be looking for a record-setting 58th win at home in the first year of a new ballpark. I'll be in attendance, and looking for my sixth straight win after starting the year off at new Yankee Stadium 0-4.

A note about the comments

Yes, I know Blogger sucks and its commenting system is awful. I also realize that WordPress and almost every other blogging software is light years ahead of Blogger in every conceivable way.

Regardless, Blogger's upgraded itself enough whereby it's still way quicker (and, more importantly, freer) to get a site up-and-running via Blogger than anywhere else. I also have a strong affinity for Google products of all kind, be it G-Mail, Picasa (the hell with Flickr and its 200-photo limitations), and hopefully Wave, once I receive my invitation.

But perhaps most importantly, Google is hosting my domain name for free, for some inexplicable reason. I'm surprised more people don't know about this particular feature of Blogger, but I imagine the dislike for the platform is intense enough that this fact has been lost amid a sea of indifference.

While Google clearly hasn't paid as much attention to Blogger as some of its other properties, having the Google name behind it gives me hope that it will eventually get the necessary upgrades it needs to bring it back to semi-respectability.

For starters, threaded/nested commenting is a must. Additionally, it's beyond unacceptable that they haven't even bothered to rewrite the code so that "0 comments" becomes "1 comment" and not "1 comments" after the first person leaves a note.

I tried to implement one of the Blogger hacks for threaded comments, but couldn't get it to work. I also tried utilizing Disqus, but found the software buggy and the commenting system way too distracting. Of course, most importantly, neither of these options seem to have a reliable notification system -- as inefficient and ugly as Blogger's existing commenting system is, the one thing I love about it is that I am e-mailed the instant someone leaves a new comment. It would also be fantastic if Google would implement the ability to respond to comments via e-mail.

So unfortunately I am probably going to stick with the Blogger commenting system for the time being, and hope that Google eventually gets around to sprucing the software up so that it's representative of the quality and high standards we've come to expect from the company's products.

Sizing up the Yankees' potential ALDS opponents

As we enter the last week of the 2009 season, there are only two undecided playoff spots: the winner of the AL Central, and the National League wild card. Despite being only 2 games behind the Rockies, a lot would have to go right for Atlanta this week, who have a 22% chance of making the playoffs as of Tuesday morning.

Far more pertinent to the Yankees is the race in the AL Central between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins, separated by a mere two games with a four-game set between the teams starting this afternoon in Detroit. The Tigers have had sole possession of first place since May 16, despite not reaching 10 games over .500 until September 2. If you told me that a team could stay in first place for nearly four months while barely hovering over .500, I'd assume without a doubt that it was a National League squad. Such is life in the mediocre AL Central.

Given the Tigers' uninspired play and the division's seeming lack competitive drive, Yankee fans should be salivating at the thought of playing either Detroit or Minnesota. Of course, memories are still strong of the Yankees' early 2006 exit at the hands of Detroit, although many are also quick to point out that these are two vastly different teams. While potentially facing Justin Verlander twice within a 5-game set sounds daunting (although I wouldn't be surprised to see the Yankees sweep the ALDS), the rest of the Tiger team, both on the pitching and offensive side, appear nonthreatening.

Which means that if the Twins -- not only a Yankee postseason punching bag (see ALDS 2003, 2004) but a team the Yankees went 7-0 against this year (not that regular season success is any sort of predictor of postseason outcomes, but it's still worth noting) including three walk-off victories in a row back in May -- manage to overtake the Tigers this week, there will be even more rejoicing in Yankeeland, because the Twins are terrible.

Let's take a quick look at each team's projected lineups and starting pitchers using two of my favorite metrics, OPS+ and ERA+:

Detroit Tigers		OPS+
C	Gerald Laird	67
1B	Miguel Cabrera	145
2B	Placido Polanco	92
SS	Adam Everett	68
3B	Brandon Inge	88
LF	Ryan Raburn	122
CF	Curtis Granderson	102
RF	Magglio Ordonez	101
DH	Marcus Thames	98
		ERA+
SP	Justin Verlander	134
SP	Edwin Jackson	136
SP	Rick Porcello	110
SP	Armando Galarraga	81

Outside of Miguel Cabrera and Ryan Raburn of all people, there really isn't much firepower in this lineup. The pitching, on the other hand, looks pretty formidable.

Minnesota Twins		OPS+
C	Joe Mauer	181
1B	Justin Morneau*	135
2B	Alexi Casilla	44
SS	Nick Punto	72
3B	Joe Crede	88
LF	Delmon Young	86
CF	Carlos Gomez	71
RF	Michael Cuddyer	128
DH	Jason Kubel	137
		ERA+
SP	Nick Blackburn	99
SP	Scott Baker	93
SP	Francisco Liriano	71
SP	Carl Pavano	108

Prior to penning this post I had no idea that Michael Cuddyer and Jsaon Kubel were having such great seasons. Apparently Mauer or Morneau have had some help. Of course, the great Justin Morneau won't be an option for the Twins should they make the postseason. Pesky Denard Span and his surprising 120 OPS+ will be leading off, although I'm still not particularly worried about the Twins, especially since their only above-average starter is somehow Carl Pavano.

And for kicks, let's take a gander at the home nine:

New York Yankees		OPS+
C	Jorge Posada	131
1B	Mark Teixeira	146
2B	Robinson Cano	125
SS	Derek Jeter	127
3B	Alex Rodriguez	142
LF	Johnny Damon	124
CF	Melky Cabrera	97
RF	Nick Swisher	125
DH	Hideki Matsui	132
		ERA+
SP	CC Sabathia	139
SP	AJ Burnett	107
SP	Andy Pettitte	109
SP	Joba Chamberlain	95

Damn Melky, you had to go and ruin it for everyone again, huh? Kidding aside, the 2009 Yankees are a steamroller on paper (even Brett Gardner boasts a 95 OPS+). With a team OPS of .842 and OPS+ of 119, this is the strongest Yankee offensive attack in years.

Now before people get all up in arms over how the Yankees had great offenses from 2005 through 2007 while getting bounced in the first round (for the record, the 2006 squad had a team OPS of .824 and an OPS+ of 111, while the 2007 squad was even better offensively, scoring 968 runs with a team OPS of .829 and an OPS+ of 117), it's important to remember that (a) no matter how great our offense might be, there's really no discernible way to prevent a lineup from falling into a teamwide slump at the worst possible time -- although I believe the lineup is too deep and the number of attacks it possesses too diverse for that to happen this year -- and (b) those early-exit Yankee teams, while sporting pretty good rotations, did not have the kind of pitching the team has this year -- both in the rotation and in the bullpen -- with regards to missing bats and getting strikeouts, not to mention a vastly improved defense.

Add it all up, and the 2009 Yankees should be a pretty ferocious opponent in the postseason. For as much as Yankee fans have let themselves get overly concerned about potential playoff opponents these past few years, other teams' fans should be even more concerned to draw the Yankees, especially given that the team with the best home record in baseball also has home field advantage throughout October.

First Keith Olbermann's mom, now this?

According to the Daily News, former Yankee second baseman Chuck Knoblauch has been arrested for assaulting and choking his wife.

Truthfully, I'm a bit surprised he even landed an accurate punch considering he couldn't even throw the ball to first base.

The Kansas City Royals: Who even Robbie Cano can get a hit with RISP against

Robinson Cano has had a fantastic bounceback season after a putrid 2008. While I still find myself periodically tearing my hair out after way too many first-pitch swings, the approach seems to mostly be working for him -- a career-high 25 home runs (one of which came last night via his second career grand slam) and a highly respectable .870 OPS. The Mario Mendoza-like BA with RISP is generally explained away by bad luck, which is partially true, although changing his approach to situational hitting could help improve on that number, since pitchers are clearly changing their approach to Cano with men on base.

In any event, Cano's blast was the highlight of an 8-2 win over the Royals that felt like watching a spring training game. That a good number of fans bothered to sit through a two-hour rain delay to watch the Yankees' scrubs take on a team slightly better than the Orioles is both impressive and a little disturbing.

Boston lost at home to the Blue Jays, which is hilarious and delays their postseason-clinching celebration by one more day, although given the way the Rangers have played in September the Sox may as well have busted the bubbly out a month ago.

Your 2009 AL East Champs: The New York Yankees

Although part of me was hoping the Yankees would clinch tomorrow so I could watch it live, I must say it felt great to finally take the division back. And to do it by sweeping the Red Sox, locking up 100 wins, and the best record in baseball, well, that just makes it even sweeter. I think it's safe to say that, with consecutive series wins against the Angels and Red Sox, not to mention their domination this year of the Tigers and Twins, the Yankees are in the heads of the other playoff teams (and not, as we often like to complain, the other way around.) As such, this seemed like as good a point as any to reflect on the team's season.

Success starts at the top, and even though I'm as big a Cashman hater as there's been over the years, color me impressed with his work this year. For once, he didn't just make the big moves, he made the right moves (OK, they were pretty big,) and I'd hate to think about where this team would be without CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher, Andy Pettitte, and even A.J. Burnett (although the jury is still out on his absurd contract.)

And speaking of those pitchers, they all deserve a lot of credit. At the All-Star break I was bemoaning Dave Eiland and the underachieving staff. Since then, they've cobbled together a group of reliable, and at times downright dominant, starters and relievers. The pitching depth is, well, deep. Maybe the deepest in all of baseball. Not too long ago Rob Neyer described the Yankees as a team without a weakness, and well, I couldn't agree more. 100 wins will do that, I guess.

It's also pretty plain to see that at least some of our staff's troubles have come from the team's absurdly homer-prone new home. But now that our pitchers have adjusted, and the offense has exploded, we're left with the best home record in baseball. The Yankees have as big a home field advantage as anybody this postseason, and wouldn't you know it, they also have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. This is not a minor point.

And lastly, you have to give credit to all the players who bounced back this year after a disappointing 2007. For some it was injuries, for others it was a question of job security, and maybe even a little bit about pride (playing in a bandbox helps, too.) But if you look up and down the Yankee lineup, you see a lot more production from the 2007 regulars.

Since there's not much else to talk about in the waning days of the season, we'll inevitably start talking about post-season matchups. Who we would rather face, who we think the Yankees would rather face. But it doesn't matter all that much. Nobody wants to face the Yankees. Nobody.

- Posted by Scott

Game 155 Recap: Yankees improve to 8-9 against Red Sox on season; shut Boston out for third time

I've attended two no-hitters at Yankee Stadium:

Doc Gooden's improbable 1996 gem and the Houston Astros utilizing 6 different pitchers in their 2003 effort.

Yesterday afternoon started off in somewhat similar fashion, as my dad and I watched CC Sabathia cruise through 3 2/3 perfect innings until walking Victor Martinez in the fourth, and the no-hitter fell as Mike Lowell led the fifth off with a single. Still, Sabathia stayed strong, and he, Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera combined to not only 2-hit the Red Sox, but shut the Red Sox out for the third time this season at home, as the Yankees won 3-0. That's absolutely ridiculous, considering the kind of offensive team the Red Sox are. Granted, JD Drew and Jason Bay didn't come to bat until the 8th inning, but it's still damn impressive. The only thing more amazing would have been if the Yankees had shut the Sox out three times at Fenway Park this year.

Sabathia ended up tossing 7 innings of shutout ball, striking out 8 and walking two. Phil Hughes pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, and Mariano Rivera picked up his 43rd save despite bringing the tying run to the plate with a 3-run lead.

The Yankee bats were mostly quiet, seemingly stymied by Daisuke Matsuzaka. It's near-impossible to pick up pitch movement when you're attending a game, especially from section 331, but based on the Yankees' sheer number of off-balance swings and weak pop outs, it seemed like Dice-K had great stuff. The most frustratingly maddening sequence came in the 5th, as the Yankees appeared to be set-up, loading the bases with no outs, and A-Rod at the plate. The next three players then made out in just about the weakest possible ways, plating no runs while making Matsuzaka throw approximately four pitches.

Thankfully Robinson Cano came through in the 6th, belting a line drive shot that actually bounced off the top of the left field wall and just made it out for a solo home run. The Yankees picked up a couple of insurance runs off Billy Wagner in the 8th; although the Cano home run would end up being enough.

Another great win for New York, as the Yankees take the series and drop their magic number to 1. AL East crown, here we come.

Other recaps

River Ave. Blues | NY Daily News | Was Watching | Replacement Level Yankees Weblog | Bronx Banter | Journal News

You know what John Sterling says

Even if they didn't want to admit it, many Yankee fans likely wrote Friday night's game off as a loss before a pitch was tossed. Lefty Jon Lester, who has been one of the best pitchers in the American League this year, against Joba Chamberlain, who has the potential to be even better than Lester but has struggled mightily of late, seemed like mismatch in favor of the Red Sox. Good thing you can't predict baseball, as the Yankees thumped Boston 9-5, with one of the larger blows being an awesomely long A-Rod home run into the second deck in left field, one of the rare times I've seen that happen at the new park. (ETA According to Cliff Corcoran, it's only the second time, and both were by Alex).

Additionally, amidst the sweet offensive shellacking of Lester (who sounds like he'll be OK), was one of Joba's best outings in a while. Not only did he turn in a quality start (6IP, 3ER), but even better was how quickly he was working, barely shaking Posada off and really not giving the Red Sox any time to settle in or get too comfortable. Great game all in all.

Idle musings on Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes

Has anyone else noticed that Clay Buchholz has quietly emerged as a quality, reliable starter for the Red Sox? In his last ten starts he's only given up three earned runs more than once, with the shortest outing being a 4 2/3 effort in which he gave up 7 runs to the White Sox (the Sox obviously still won that game).

The development of Jon Lester and Buchholz makes me hopeful that the Yankees can have the same thing with Joba Chamberlain and Phil Franchise in the years to come. Remember, it's not like Lester and Buchholz came up and were flat-out dominant from the get-go. While Buchholz did throw that fluke no-hitter in 2007, he was also demoted last year and spent a fair amount of time in the minors this year. In 2006, Lester made 15 starts to a 4.76 ERA before having to shut it down due to cancer. I knew Lester was highly touted, but I never thought he was going to come back and become one of the best pitchers in the AL. Additionally, when the Santana trade talks were going on after the 2007 season, I thought the Yankees' Hughes-fronted package was far superior to the Sox' Lester-fronted package, but if Bill Smith actually did turn down a package led by Lester as was reported, then he's even stupider than he initially appeared.

It's tough to say this, but as much as I dislike the Red Sox and their fans, I find it hard to root against Lester after what this guy has gone through and how successful he's become.

Some thoughts on interleague play and the playoffs

I know this topic was flogged to death yesterday, but I thought I'd add a few comments.

I had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine yesterday, about how the regular season itself essentially used to function as the playoffs, with the two best teams in each league battling it out for the right to go to the World Series. And before 1969, there wasn't even a championship series. It's almost hard to imagine baseball as we know it now sending the teams with the two best records from the AL and NL straight to the WS.

While I like the cut-and-dryness of those halcyon days of the postseason, I also realized that, while I began to love baseball around 1988, my rabid fandom for the Yankees didn't really fully develop around until 1993-1994, when I really started paying attention on a daily basis. Which means that the last pre-Wild Card era postseason I remember watching was the 1993 World Series with Philly playing Toronto. Otherwise, my baseball zealotry has been at its strongest during the Wild Card era, and at this point three rounds of playoffs has been going on long enough that it feels like it's been that way forever.

Part of me does think it would be cool to go back to two divisions in each league, albeit keeping the four playoff teams from the AL and NL. I love that it could mean that three teams from a hypothetical 7-team AL East could make the playoffs.

As far as interleague diminishing the value of the World Series, while I don't despise interleague play per se, it seems silly now. For the first five years or so, it was a fun novelty, getting to see the Yankees face teams they've never played before. But, more than 10 years in, now that the Yankees have been to every ballpark in the majors and faced everyone at home during the regular season (with the curious exception of the Dodgers, of all teams), it seems superfluous and also arbitrary, especially since the way it's presently set up, you only face your geographical rival and a handful of teams from whatever division you're chosen to play against. And you don't even face every team from that division, which makes even less sense.

Assuming interleague play isn't going anywhere, I say that to keep interleague play relevant, get rid of the unbalanced schedule (honestly, I do not need to see the Yankee play the Orioles and Blue Jays each 19 times a year), and set it up so that every team in baseball plays every other team. How cool would that be, if you knew you could expect to see the Yankees play every team in baseball at some point throughout the year? It'd probably be logistically impossible to have home-and-homes against every team, but I wouldn't have a problem with the Yankees only getting to play some NL teams on the road if they had to, given that that's how interleague play is scheduled as it is.

On the flip side, I would also have no problem getting rid of interleague play, enabling the Yankees to play every team in the American League an equal number of times, while also reestablishing some distance from the NL. Non-interleague play was one of the many things that made baseball so unique from the three other major sports, and I do think you can make a case that interleague has cheapened the World Series to a degree. Playing the National League in the World Series definitely seemed like a bigger deal when you didn't meet that team in the regular season.

Yankees win in spite of Joe Girardi, part 2

I hate to keep ragging on our manager, as I do think he's done a fantastic job this year. Unfortunately, these last two games haven't exactly inspired a ton of confidence despite both surprisingly resulting in victories, mostly in spite of the managerial decisions that were made.

The Yankees took their first series from the Angels at Anaheim since May 2004. The team had obviously had its struggles at the Big A, but I had no idea it had been more than five years since taking two of three as a visitor.

Even if the Red Sox win again tonight (which seems like a foregone conclusion -- what are the chances the Royals can take 3 of four?), they'll come to Yankee Stadium 5.5 games out of first. In the worst-case scenario, Boston could exit the weekend's series 2.5 games out, but that's still a lot of ground to cover with the Yankees only having 6 games remaining after Sunday night.

I don't want to say it's a lock, but the AL East crown is within our sights. If the Royals can miraculously beat Boston tonight, and the Yankees win on Friday, I will be at Saturday afternoon's game with CC Sabathia on the hill and a chance to see the Yankees clinch the AL East and home field in person.

Let's go Ro-yals!

I guess one out of 3 ain't bad?

Joe Girardi apparently has zero interest in winning this afternoon and subsequently going into the off day on a high note.

SG at RLYW has the Yankee lineup under the heading "1962 Mets," which may actually be generous. To wit:

YANKEES (96-56)
Jeter SS
Hairston 3B
Teixeira 1B
Matsui DH
Duncan RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera LF
Gardner CF
Molina C

This, against Scott Kazmir, who almost always stymies the Yankees to begin with. Yikes.

Game 152 Recap: Yankees beat Angels in spite of Joe Girardi, clinch playoff berth

The Yankees finally beat the Angels on Los Angeles' home field last night, 6-5, in a game in which the Yankees led 5-0 at one point and wouldn't end until nearly 2am on the east coast. The Yankees also clinched their 14th playoff appearance in 15 seasons during the game, as the Texas Rangers lost to Oakland, although that achievement was given a bit more heft with the completion of the Yankee win, which dropped their magic number to 6 and also increased their lead in the AL East back to a more-comfortable 6 games (thanks to a surprising second loss in a row by the Red Sox against Kansas City. Thank you, Cy Greinke).

That they managed to win this particular game says more about the talent of the lineup than anything Joe Girardi did or didn't do last night. Chad Gaudin and Ervin Santana traded zeroes until the top of the 3rd, when A-Rod blasted a mammoth two-run home run to center field on a 3-0 pitch that I thought he'd be taking. Jorge Posada followed a few batters later with a two-run bomb of his own, putting the Yankees up by four. Hit-deki Matsui would follow in the top of the 5th with a long solo shot to right field. Unfortunately, even a 5-0 lead didn't feel comfortable against a team like the Angels, who, in addition to having the second-most come from behind victories in the league after the Yankees, have an annoying Red Sox-like tendency to claw back no matter how far down, especially in their home park.

The Angels began to do just that in their half of the 5th. Chad Gaudin, who up until that point had pitched quite well, gave up a solo home run just inside the RF foul pole to Chone Figgins of all people. That this run and the subsequent run the Angels would score that inning on a Vlad Guerrero single came with two outs underscored the Yankees' pitchers' continuing futility to close the door on innings. As River Ave. Blues has previously documented, nearly 50% of the Yankees' runs allowed this year have come with two outs -- that's madness, and hopefully something they can correct come playoff time.

The Angels would continue to battle back while Matt Palmer once again held the Bombers' bats in check, plating two more runs in the 6th off a very well-rested and slightly erratic Alfredo Aceves. Joe Girardi's failure to bring Damaso Marte in to face the lefty Abreu in the 6th was puzzling, and made worse when Marte did finally come in to relieve Aceves in the 7th only to give up a booming double to new Yankee-killer Kendry Morales, who finished the game 4-4 with a walk. Phil Hughes came in to extinguish the fire in the 7th, preserving the lead. However, the tying run scored in the 8th after Howie Kendrick got on via a Robinson Cano error, followed by an errant throw from Posada to try to nab Kendrick stealing which then sailed into CF, allowing Kendrick to make it to 3B with no outs. That Phil managed to escape the inning letting in only the one run was quite impressive, despite the failures of his defense.

Up came the Yankees in the top of the 9th, in a situation in which they pretty much had to take the lead back. Had the game gone into the bottom of the 9th tied, there's almost no question that the Angels would have pulled out the walk-off victory. Girardi had already made several questionable bullpen moves earlier in the game, but nothing was quite as maddening as what happened in the following sequence: Brett Gardner battled his way to leadoff hit against Matt Palmer. Darren Oliver came in, and Gardner, who nearly got picked off, wound up stealing second on a pitchout. Oliver then walked Jeter on four pitches, giving the Yankees runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. In steps Johnny Damon, who's come through with big hits for the Yankees time and again this year. One might be able to make an argument for a bunt in this situation with no outs, although you'd be wrong, because (a) this is the Yankees, the best-hitting team in baseball, and (b) with runners on 2nd and 3rd, 1 out, and first base open, why give Mark Teixeira anything to hit?

So of course Girardi gives Damon the bunt sign. Damon quickly bunts foul twice, which means that a third foul bunt will result in a punchout. This apparently did not phase Girardi, who called for the bunt with two strikes, and the only reason this did not come back to bite Girardi was because Damon managed to lay a miracle roller down the first base line that just stayed fair, moving the runners to second and third. To the surprise of no one, the Angels then intentionally walked Teixeira, loading the bases and setting up the potential inning-ending double play with Alex Rodriguez at bat. Granted, I'm perfectly happy to have my cleanup hitter, owner of the 7th-best OPS in the AL, come to bat with the bases loaded in this situation. But the fact that A-Rod managed to hit one deep enough to plate Brett Gardner on the sac fly and go-ahead run says more to about A-Rod and Gardner's talent, and also completely bailed Joe Girardi and his horrendous tactical miscues out. Unfortunately that one run would be all the Yankees would get, setting the stage for Mariano Rivera to protect a one-run lead in the bottom of the 9th.

Could Mariano, coming off the shocking walk-off loss to the Mariners last Friday, shake it off and pitch the Yankees to a much-needed victory? It didn't look great after walking Kendry Morales to start the inning, but Mo managed to get an absolutely huge strike 'em out-throw 'em out double play facing Juan Rivera, which effectively ended the Angels' chances. Erick Aybar then grounded out weakly to second base to seal the Yankees' first victory in Anaheim since September 9, 2008.

This was a rather tense, nearly four-hour long game, but it was great to see the Yankees finally pull a victory out in Anaheim, while also clinching the playoff berth in style. The teams play the rubber match this afternoon at 3:35ET. It seems highly unlikely that the Red Sox will lose a third game in a row to the Royals tonight, so another Yankee victory to chop that Magic Number down to 5 would be fantastic, especially going into an off-day before battling Boston back home this weekend for a three-game set.

As an aside, the liveblog was a lot of fun last night, and Cover It Live claimed that there were 21 unique visitors last night. I'm not really sure how that's possible, as the only way anyone could have known about its existence was through Twitter, where I only have 54 followers, and I doubt nearly half of them are hardcore enough Yankee fans to tune into a random liveblog of a west coast game. My hat's off to the one guy who stayed with me throughout the entire game, continually dropping comments under a host of different aliases, including Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, David Cone, Michael Kay, Ken Singleton's son, Chris, Paul O'Neill, Alfredo Aceves, Alex Rodriguez, Godzilla, Phil Hughes, Mariano Rivera, Wade Boggs, Joe Torre, Don Mattingly, and several others. Who knew bantering with pretend Yankees could be so much fun? Hopefully next time we do this we can get even more people aboard.

Highlights from last night's liveblog

“Larry: Robbie ‘First-Pitch’ Cano steps to the plate, and unsurprisingly swings at the first pitch. However, it actually goes for a leadoff double. Fortunately, no one was on base for this at-bat."

"Jorgie: Fastball
Larry: You're calling the game and typing in the comment section of a liveblog almost no one knows exists? That's damn impressive.
Jorgie: Yeah, what do you think I'm doing when I wiggle my fingers? Calling a pitch? Come on. Don't you recognize typing when you see it?
Larry: Great point."

"Chad Gaudin: Shut up, Kay. Let me concentrate on getting out of this inning without your incessant blabbering.
Larry: +10."

"Larry: Hunter makes a nice catch on the 4th ball Tex has scorched one tonight. If that were an Angel it would've found a gap."

"Larry: If you let Johnny bunt with two strikes, you should be fired."

"Larry: I can't believe it's 1:30am and I'm still doing this.
The Captain: You? What about all of us?
Larry: I'm even more amazed that you're all still here."

And here are the results of the in-game polls:

Who will win New Jersey governor?
Chris Christie: 33%
Jon Corzine: 0%
Derek Jeter: 67%

How much did Danny Tartabull get paid for his appearance on Seinfeld?
$50,000: 67%
$100,000: 0%
$10 million: 0%
Danny Tartabull?: 33%

Will the Yankees win this game? (this was in the bottom of the 5th, with the Angels starting to mount a charge)
Yes: 40%
No: 40%
Fuck the Angels: 20%

Who will win the 2009 AL MVP?
Joe Mauer: 50%
Mark Teixeira: 0%
Derek Jeter: 0%
Danny Tartabull: 50%

Who is the worst team in baseball?
Orioles: 50%
Royals: 0%
"Natinals": 0%
Pirates: 0%
Mets: 50%

Other game recaps

River Ave. Blues | Replacement Level Yankees Weblog | NY Times | The Journal News | Bronx Banter | Was Watching | NY Daily News

Game 152 | Yankees at Angels | Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Game 151: Recap

So last night I liveblogged an entire Yankee game for the first time since last May. Good times ensued, and several players even stopped by, including last night's starter, Andy Pettitte. How Pettitte was able to toss a quality start while simultaneously commenting on a random Yankee website is beyond me, but still very impressive.

Anyway, the Yankees lost last night's affair 5-2, in a game which the usually patient Yankees allowed Angel starter Joe Saunders to pitch into the 9th inning. The team's approach was clearly first-pitch swinging, and it looked like the strategy might work way back in the top of the 1st, but Saunders would get out of trouble and end up allowing almost no runs outside of solo home runs by A-Rod and Matsui. Otherwise the Yankees barely made Saunders work, and as a result the game flew by in a very un-Yankee like two hours and a half.

The Angels took advantage of a shaky Andy Pettitte in the first, plating two runs, but Pettitte really settled in afterward and ended up turning in a quality start. Brian Bruney and Jon Albalaedejo each gave up a run, allowing the Angels to put the game just far enough out of reach. A 3-2 game in the top of the 9th may have been a slightly different story with Brian Fuentes on the mound instead of 5-2. And so the Yankees fell to 5-18 in their last 23 games at Angel Stadium, which means the Yankees essentially turn into the Baltimore Orioles playing the Boston Red Sox when traveling out to Anaheim.

Entering this series I'd hoped the Yankees could steal two of 3, but with Gaudin going tonight and Burnett on Wednesday, now I just hope the team doesn't get swept in Anaheim again. Unfortunately that seems increasingly likely, as the Angels just do not lose to the Yankees in their home park.

Highlights from last night's liveblog

"I know the Red Sox don't lose anymore, but how come every time I check MLB.com for the score it's always a Boston highlight and never the team they're playing?"

"And Posada smacks a base hit."
"Can't wait to strand him on base."

"Of course that walk is followed up with a base hit by a guy batting .200."

"The Yankees have spent what feels like a total of 10 minutes at bat over the course of 6 innings."

"Cano, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, swings at the first pitch, and drives it foul."

"I bet that [death bed-ridden cancer patient] was pumped that one of the last things he ever did was film one of the most disturbing commercials of all time."

"Morales crushes a solo shot to RF -- this comes, of course, after Kay and Singleton spend approximately 800 years talking about how badly Morales has been slumping."

"The crowd starts chanting 'Yankees suck.' I can't argue with them."

"And that does it, yet another loss for the Yankees in Anaheim. Not sure why they will even bother to play the next two nights-- Girardi would be better served forfeiting to give everyone a couple extra days of rest."

"At least the Royals somehow came back from a 6-0 deficit to improbably beat the Red Sox."

Game 151 | Yankees at Angels | Monday, September 21, 2009

Time to see what we're really made of

So the Yankees face both of their arch-rivals this week, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Boston Red Sox. The road to the World Series will also go through at least one of these teams, should the Yankees make it that far.

I'm not going to go all crazy and irrational Yankee fan on you and be all "these are the most important six games in the history of mankind!!11!!" since the Yankees essentially have their playoff ticket punched. However, this week's games should still be a decent barometer of how competitive the Yankees can be against their potential postseason opponents.

I'd be happy with a 3-3 split. Anything more than that would have to be considered gravy, especially since three of these games take place in Angel Stadium, the Yankees' own personal house of horrors.

Why did the Orioles even bother showing up to the ballpark this weekend?

At the end of today's action, Baltimore, who is already losing to Boston 3-0 in the 2nd inning and clearly has no chance of coming back, will have gone 2-16 against the Red Sox in 2009. Two and sixteen!

Thank you, Orioles. That's some stellar ballplaying right there.

Recap: Game 148 | Yankees at Mariners, Friday, September 18, 2009

Hard not to feel good about your team's chances of winning with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, bases empty and Mariano Rivera on the mound protecting a one-run lead. Two pitches later the Mariners stole away a victory. Frustrating as it was to watch -- it seems like these kinds of things always happen when I stay up to watch a west coast game -- you have to tip your hate to Ichiro.

I had a feeling Mo was due for a bad outing once Coney and Singy announced he'd converted 36 straight save chances. Better now than in October.

Three out of 3 postseason predictors agree

The Yankees are going to the playoffs.

Nick Swisher: Great heist or greatest heist?

Nick Swisher as a New York Yankee in 2009 through 138 games: 130 OPS+
Wilson Betemit as a New York Yankee in 2008 in 87 games: 86 OPS+

Recap: Game 147 | Blue Jays at Yankees | Wednesday, September 16, 2009

My first walk-off win in person this year. Francisco Cervelli's hit was great, although Hideki Matsui is really the hero of this game in my book, hitting a huge two-run bomb in the 8th to tie it up. Considering the Blue Jays bullpen basically handcuffed the Yankees from the 2nd inning through the 7th, as well as the fact that the Red Sox don't seem to lose anymore, it was especially gratifying to see them come back and take this win.

As an aside, the Yankees have now won the last four games I've gone to, after I started out 0-4.

Game 146 | Blue Jays at Yankees, Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Yankee Stadium | Field Level, Section 120A | Bottom of the 8th | September 13, 2009

En route to a sweet 13-3 bludgeoning of the Orioles. Hard to believe the Yanks were actually trailing earlier this game.

Best offense ever?

Steve Lombardi of Was Watching fame provides this awesome bit of statistical analysis with regards to our beloved 2009 New York Yankees:

"The 2009 Yankees currently have 7 players with 400+ PA and an OPS+ >=120. If New York can keep this up, they will become only the third team in baseball history to have 7 players with 400+PA and an OPS+ >=120. The others to do it were the 1993 Tigers and 1978 Brewers."

Damn, it's been a fun year.

And it wouldn't have been possible without Jose Molina reaching base a career-high five times

As per SG, by sweeping yesterday’s doubleheader while Boston and Los Angeles of Los Angeles lost, the Yankees lowered their magic number to make the playoffs to 14, to take the division to 16, and for home field advantage to 19.

Not to get too cocky, but it's hard not to feel good about the Yankees' chances in the postseason this year

From Mark Feinsand -

"The Yankees accomplished something last night that no team in the majors has done since that historic 114-win club, beating the Blue Jays, 10-5, to put together their fifth winning streak this year of at least seven games."

Pray to Mo that Mo heals quickly

Mariano is experiencing some tightness in the groin.

Mo seems to get shelved for relatively short periods of time due to a random injury almost every season, although I can't recall a instance where he was ever actually put on the DL. Hopefully a little rest heals him right back up.

What do Shane Spencer, Glenallen Hill and Eric Hinske have in common?

From today's Joel Sherman's Hardball post -

"Eric Hinske is part of an interesting piece of Yankee history: The out-of-nowhere slugger. Think Kevin Maas and Shelley Duncan. Hinske now has seven homers in 56 Yankee at-bats. That translates to an average of 12.5 per 100 at-bats.

If the season ended today, Hinske would rank second all-time on the Yankees for homers per 100 at-bats (minimum 50 at-bats). The leader is Shane Spencer, who in his magical 1998 had a 14.93 average. The current second best (awaiting a final result from Hinske) belongs to Glenallen Hill, who raked at a 12.12 homers per 100 at-bats rate in 2000.

So we could be looking at a top three in Yankee history of 1) Spencer. 2) Hinske. 3) Hill. Not exactly what you think when you think Bronx Bombers.

For the record the next best percentages belong to Babe Ruth followed by Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, another Ruth and another Mantle."

Not everyone gets an invite, you know

Brian Bruney appears to be doing everything he can to pitch himself off the playoff roster.

20-HR Club Watch

Jorge Posada is one home run away from becoming the 7th Yankee with 20-plus home runs this season. Derek Jeter is three away.

It's rather mind-boggling to think that the team could end the season with eight of its starting 9 reaching the 20-home-run plateau.