YANKEES Clinch AL East! (1 Viewer)

[Njja]

Girardi made only one other mistake (besides letting Swisher remain in the lineup) and that was leaving Burnett in after the long top half of the 7th inning. You can't argue he overmanages and then complain when he sticks with Hughes, his best set up reliever all year.

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I think Joe blew this game in the first inning! Asking any team including the

Yankees to come back after that first 4 runs is difficult. Even when they

produced 6 in the top of the 7th the Angels responded with 3 of their own

to put us behind again.

We need to be careful at this point as the momentum is shifting. Philly is

relaxing like we should be doing.....if the Angels take us to the brink, it will

make the series a lot more difficult.

 

[Warrior]

You can play the what if game seven days a week and twice on Sunday; pull Burnett after he gave up two runs in the first? Seriously? And who pitches the rest of way?

Your bullpen blew it for you yesterday, end of story. Scoscia pulls Lackey and the bullpen implodes (Darren Oliver, what is he, 90 years old?), giving up 6 runs, all with two outs.

Then your bullpen implodes, giving up 3 runs. Chamberlain has been brutal this post season, man does his fastball has zero movement and zero jump, just as flat as a pancake.

Hughes; see what happens when your not pitching vs the Royals in August? The bright lights of the playoffs cause some guys to melt under the pressure, thought this guy was your bridge to Rivera?

Count your blessings Yankee fans; you should be DOWN 3-2 were it not for an 0-2 meatball to ARod last Saturday night and he hit a home run in that arena league stadium of yours.

 

[Njja]

I don't agree, after the first two runs it was clear that AJ wasn't sharp. If it

was regular season thats one thing, when you are trying to win a 7 game

series each game is important. The Angels are going to be a lot harder to

finish off after last night. I think a lot of managers tend to leave pitchers in

a little to long. Once they start getting bombed its time to pull them out.

 

[Warrior]

This is shaping up to be very, very interesting.

With a monsoon predicted for tomorrow night, I doubt they play the game, but instead it will be played on Sunday.

CC pitched Tuesday, so he COULD go on Sunday with 4 days of rest; does you manager have the stones to pitch him Sunday night?

We'll see; if he does and if you lose, man oh man is this going to be fun Monday night, what do you do then, Pettite or Burnett on three days rest?

For a team that spend 450 million in the off season on free agents, you have three starters, that is pretty weak, maybe you should have signed another pitcher instead of horseface over at first.

If Girardi goes with his normal rotation and Pettite can't close it out, then CC goes on Monday.

At this point, I want Yankees/Phillies, it would be a great series; if it's Angels/Phillies, wake me up when it's over................

 

[Njja]

YANKEES WIN!

Way to go!

Should be a Great Series!

 

[lancer]

Congrats to the NYY and Phillies. It is going to be a good, old-fashioned, east coast shootout. The one worry I have for NYY is that they seem to be leaving A LOT of runners on base. Made several games closer than they should have been. Could be a lot of HR's flying around if the pitching falters at all. Should be entertaining. Go NYY! -- lancer

 

[Njja]

I agree, I think the first 3 games are going to be the key! Which ever team
really wants it the most, and settles down to get the job done early may run away with the series.

There seems to be a certain mindset amongst certain managers.....the monotone "we are going to take it one game at a time theory". I watched an interview with Joe Torre just after the Dodgers lost game 4. He said in an emotionless monotone "We have to go out and win one game, then we have to win one more, then" it sounded like a structured statement from "Lou's Guide to Big League Management"

Now I'm not picking on Joe hear, I think a lot of managers, coaches, use this same philosophy. Today they make big money, and they need something to say to help them keep their jobs.....for at least one more season, or day, or hour.

I like the old style coach/manager that gets excited, yells, thows things,
and motivates his players to win. Vince Lombardi, Billy Martin, John Madden and my all time personal favorite "Wild Bill Apsley" my High School Coach.....now there was a guy you didn't want to dissapoint!

Wild Bill in class........

Will Bill "The look"!

 

[Warrior]

Well Yankee fans, game one is in the books, just a few observations from a neutral fan;

Sherman Klump sort of hit the wall last night; he gave up two bombs and wiggled his way out of a bases loaded jam in the first. Was sort of hoping the game ended 1-0 with the lone run being that 301 foot home run by Utley; Yankee stadium giveth and it taketh too. I heard he pitches much better when he is angry; how about keeping him away from the buffet before the game, that will really piss him off.

These aren't the Minnesota "How the @#$% did we get to the playoffs anyway, done after that home run by ARod in game 2" Twins or the Los Angeles "We play that rinky dink NL style of baseball and we were done after that 300 foot, 1 inch home run by Arod in game 2" Angels; this is a NL team that plays AL baseball, batters 1-6 can flat out rake, Howard hits lazers out there.

That thud you heard during the Angels series was Philip Hughes, you know the new bridge to Rivera, falling back to earth. He stunk in that series and he stunk last night, as did the other ham and eggers you trotted out there after Sherman Klump left the game and headed to Dennys.

Tonight is going to be spectacular from a drama standpoint; Pedro returns to the scene of the crime, New York, game 7 ALCS to now, I am sure he'll be greeted with chants of "Who's your Daddy!!" by those classy Yankee fans. Pedro; show them you're THEIR Daddy.

Hard.

Or, he'll get raked and the series will switch back to Philly at a game apiece. He'll be up against AJ "Icewater in his veins" Burnett, this should be interesting either way.

And in closing, don't order a pizza today New Yorkers as Sal from Queens, Vinny from Staten Island and Guido from "Da Bronx" will be in a foul mood today and who knows how your pie will taste.

That's all for now..................

 

[DMNamiot]

Hi George

Some interesting points. I thought Sabathia looked like he did on opening day in Baltimore (I was there) and my opinion of him wasnt good. Still he has done well for the bulk of the season but he really wasnt the issue last night as much as our bullpen messing up and adding runs late in the game. I see Philly as a pretty strong team but they arent the be all end all so the Yankees need to destroy them tonight otherwise there will be no joy in mudville! A loss tonight will be nearly impossible to recover from.

As for Yankee fans being classy thats a purely speculative thing because Red Sox fans arent classy either and if you were really neutral you would know this already so we wouldnt have to go there. I have received far more hate and harassment from Red Sox fans then I have from any other teams fans over the years so just drop it. Also if you listened to the crowds last night they werent anywhere as active (even in the early innings) and over the top as they could be during the regular season games because the regular season fans generally cant afford World Series Tickets. The crowds tend to be far more neutral at these games because its more of a status thing to go to a WS game. Even the dopes at ESPN have mentioned they noticed this as well.

Dave

 

[nshighlander]

Being a Jays fan(Don`t laugh).GO Phillies GO.Out of here.
Cheers
Dave

 

[jazzeum]

You guys make me laugh because back and forth we go. Seems like same discussion, different day.

Tonight should be interesting and not just because of Pedro vs. the Yankees and so forth from past history but because Pedro pitched well in his last outing.

It's obviously an important game for the Yankees but it's not the end of the world either if they lose since several teams have come back to win the WS being down 2-0. It is obviously harder to do that if you lose the first two at home and to my recollection only the 1985 Royals and the 1986 Mets did that.

 

[Njja]

Not a good start, they looked flat last night. I'm glad we have GS!

You can bet the phone rang last night, lets see what happens tonight. I'm

expecting a big game from the Yankees! Play hard, and play early......let the

other team have to come back!

"Wild Bill"

 

[Warrior]

Hi George

Some interesting points. I thought Sabathia looked like he did on opening day in Baltimore (I was there) and my opinion of him wasnt good. Still he has done well for the bulk of the season but he really wasnt the issue last night as much as our bullpen messing up and adding runs late in the game. I see Philly as a pretty strong team but they arent the be all end all so the Yankees need to destroy them tonight otherwise there will be no joy in mudville! A loss tonight will be nearly impossible to recover from.

As for Yankee fans being classy thats a purely speculative thing because Red Sox fans arent classy either and if you were really neutral you would know this already so we wouldnt have to go there. I have received far more hate and harassment from Red Sox fans then I have from any other teams fans over the years so just drop it. Also if you listened to the crowds last night they werent anywhere as active (even in the early innings) and over the top as they could be during the regular season games because the regular season fans generally cant afford World Series Tickets. The crowds tend to be far more neutral at these games because its more of a status thing to go to a WS game. Even the dopes at ESPN have mentioned they noticed this as well.

Dave

If Arod does not hit this series, you are toast. And as Louis pointed out, sit Swisher down, he's 4-36 in the playoffs; some guys rise to the pressure, others get consumed by it and he's the latter, not the former.

As far as the fans being quiet, they were quiet as they just thought this was going to be a walk through; they were wrong. And the noise comes mostly from the seats along the baselines and behind home plate, and at 2,800.00 PER SEAT, those are not selling, notice all the kids sitting in them so they look full? Also, the weather was lousy, misting rain most of the game, who wants to sit through that?

Tonight will be high drama...............

 

[Warrior]

Not a good start, they looked flat last night. I'm glad we have GS!

You can bet the phone rang last night, lets see what happens tonight. I'm

expecting a big game from the Yankees! Play hard, and play early......let the

other team have to come back!

"Wild Bill"

John,
You keep talking about Mr Steinbrenner like he's overseeing the ball club; you do realize the man is very ill and his sons Hal and Hank are basically running the team, don't you? He's been ill for quite some time, he probably thinks Billy Martin is still the manager.

The sign that George is not running the team was after Girardi stumbled and bumbled his way to 0-8 vs the Red Sox and the 450 million clams they spent in the off season had them closer to third place than first, IF George was still in charge, Girardi would have been fired................

 

[lancer]

This series is basically simple. NYY have to hit and score. If their pitching keeps them close, so much the better. If they don't hit better than they have been (Jeter and A-Rod, before last night, being the exceptions), they are toast. All through the playoffs they have left too many baserunners on or hit into DP's when a hit could have broken open the game. They are winning games by the skin of their teeth. This won't do in the WS, against a team that can also hit and out-pitch them. Tonight will tell the tale. Go NYY! -- lancer

 

[jazzeum]

The Yankees may also have to face facts that they've run into a hot pitcher (a la Hersheiser) and there may be little they can do except beat the other pitchers the Phillies have, which aren't really that great after that. If they have to face Lee two more times, that may just make it a seven game series, something baseball fandom has been lacking for awhile.

 

[Sahara]

The Yankees may also have to face facts that they've run into a hot pitcher (a la Hersheiser) and there may be little they can do except beat the other pitchers the Phillies have, which aren't really that great after that.

If you are saying the Phillies don't have a great pitching staff behind lee then I guess the same could be said about the Yanks. Even though Cole Hamels hasn't had the best year of his career everyone knows what he is capable of. The same goes for Martinez and Lidge. IMO I don't think NY will make it out of Philly.

 

[jazzeum]

Sorry but I seriously disagree; the Yankees top three is much better than the Phillies top 3 and Lidge has had a terrible year. Yankees pen is much better than the Phillies pen although they didn't show it last night.

I said before the series started Yankees in five. I'll concede Lee is hot right now and give him an extra game; Yankees in six.

 

[Warrior]

The Yankees may also have to face facts that they've run into a hot pitcher (a la Hersheiser) and there may be little they can do except beat the other pitchers the Phillies have, which aren't really that great after that. If they have to face Lee two more times, that may just make it a seven game series, something baseball fandom has been lacking for awhile.

Explain to me why with a 6-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth Lee was still out there, he got cuffed around a bit and ended up throwing what, 122 pitches? Stupid, unless Lidge is a complete mess right now, he looked good to me in the Dodgers series.

It should be Cole tonight, not Pedro, but the drama will be unreal, so we'll see; and also Brad, Sherman Klump is past last years pitch total, which was the highest of his career, so he may be ineffective going forward as well..................

 

[Njja]

John,
You keep talking about Mr Steinbrenner like he's overseeing the ball club; you do realize the man is very ill and his sons Hal and Hank are basically running the team, don't you? He's been ill for quite some time, he probably thinks Billy Martin is still the manager.................

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I realize that his health is failing but as long as he draws breath I believe he will be a guiding force behind the Yankees. Time will tell how his sons handle the Yankees, and how strong his influence has been on them.

I believe and hope they will carry on the same dedication to excellence and winning that he had. Any sports fan can look at the personal appearance of the Yankee players to see his influence. Young children see ball players that look like professional athletes. Many players today look like they could use a good bath, or visit to the barber.