Am I getting carried away?  Reading the story that the Phils sent Greg Dobbs back to Philadelphia with the flu, the first image that came to my mind was Dobbs making himself at home in the Citizen's Bank Park visitor's clubhouse for a couple days, initiating germ warfare against the soon-to-arrive Yanks.  That would be one way to make the most out of the 25 man roster.  The Yanks should send someone in ahead of the team to disinfect the place.

Is this the kind of thinking that made Billy Martin tick?

It's nice when the gameplan actually plays out.  Burnett was able to keep it close while the Yanks waited for Pedro to tire, which he did juuust enough so they could push a few runs across.  I'm not sure how Burnett threw as many first pitch strikes as he did and still leave with a poor ball-strike ratio, but if he can get yips out of the way early without burying the team, then cruise for the next 6 innings, I guess we'll take that.  Given how many pitches he threw through 6, I was surprised he came out to pitch the 7^th.  It kind of reminded me of the Angel game when he came out to pitch the 7^th after cruising for several innings following an early shellacking.  The only difference was he did not languish for long on the bench this time around, and when he did after the bottom of the 7^th, his night was over.  Oh, there was the familiar baserunning gaffe by the opposition that helped.  Thanks Jayson Werth for keeping the streak alive!

Meanwhile, Pedro was still the same old Pedro.  He pitched a great game, but labored exactly when he should have -- at around 100 pitches.   Which is to say, he labored after he should have been lifted from the game by Charlie Manuel.  Pedro's a great pitcher, but he's not a horse.  Thanks to some goofy umpiring, the Yanks would only cash in a run after Pedro tired and left to the usual chorus.

The Evil Umpire

It's all fab that the Yanks held on to win the game, but the Yanks having the bases loaded with one out in the 8^th with Teixeira and Arod coming up while aiding a two run lead seemed like a good recipe for not requiring two innings out of Rivera.  But that didn't happen thanks to a very evidently wrong call by the first base ump.  I don't assume it was an easy call, though it was easy for Posada and even easier for Ryan Howard who played it like a grounder by throwing to 2B instead of just stepping on 1B.  Most damning: on the radio Joe Morgan said he thought it was a caught in the air and not a short-hop.  Apparently he brings the same what-game-are-you-watching perspective to radio as he does to television.  So the result of this botch is Rivera was required to labor through two innings, which can absolutely rear its head later in the series because he's more taxed and may not be as sharp on Saturday, and also it's greater exposure to the Phillies lineup.  That call may well haunt them.  But then again, Chase Utley was safe at 1B in a huge DP in the top of the 8^th, so if you screw up enough times things can even out.

DVRs Sure Are Permanent About Deleting Things

I'm having trouble pinpointing nuanced moments during the game because apparently "cancel a recording" is code for "delete a recording forever", so I ended up not seeing as much as I'd like.  This was an interesting development because A) for the first time ever I discovered and used the "keep" function, and B) any time I intentionally delete something it makes me jump through hoops and warning messages along the lines of "are you sure?" and "don't do something you'll regret".  Yet this time, without the word "delete" ever being used, it very cavalierly went VFWOOOP.  All I was trying to do was stop the recording process since it was going to record a couple more hours of Fox television and I don't want to accidentally have TMZ on my television.  Did Challenger the Eagle make an appearance and carry Arod's bat away into the night?  Did Morgana the kissing bandit make a return appearance and run out to right field to kiss Jerry Hairston just because he's not Nick Swisher?  If such moments existed, I'll never see them because my DVR went all "sorry pal, you'll have to fake your way through the water cooler conversations tomorrow". 

Picket Fence

The home runs are nice, and apparently necessary, but they are not being preceded by the single, the bloop, the walk, the catcher's interference - nothing.  It's just been the occasional solo blast and cling to the lead by the skin of your teeth.  Might have to diversify the offense a bit - and no that does not mean let Jeter bunt with two strikes on him.

Maybe the Steinbrenner Family Will Recruit Jay-Z to Play Before Every Game...

...in the same vein of the honorary batboy who followed the team around for the '98 World Series.  Keep your schedule clear Mr. Z!

Take Arod to the Video Room

OK boys, Rodriguez and the opposition's well-timed spasms have carried you far enough.  Anyone besides Jeter bring their stick? 

No crime to lose a game to Cliff Lee, but the alleged best offense in baseball should have been able to do to him what the Phils did to CC - make him look just remotely human and hope you can get a whiff of their bullpen.  Especially since it's the Yanks that have actually seen live pitching a few times in the past week.  I'm going to go ahead and assume the Phillies are not going to spontaneously start running the bases like their minds are on picking up their laundry from the cleaners, so it will actually take a little offense to win this thing. 

The requisite spastic baserunning play in this game was the double play cooked up by Matsui and Cano.  It's a tough read for Matsui to see that the bloop was caught on a fly, but if Cano hustles out of the box then Rollins catches the ball in the air rather than an inch above the dirt and Matsui would then know to hold first base.  If Cano doesn't want to run hard in a 2-0 World Series game, then when does he?  Should we release Mothra to chase after him every time he makes contact?

Backbreakers

Oh, all those two out RBI hits by the Phillies.  When trying to chip away to get to an unsteady bullpen, keeping the score 2-0 would have been peachy.  Maybe some time this October it'll be the Yanks who rack up a few 2 out run-scoring hits.  The only string that jumps to mind was that one game against the Angels in Anaheim in a losing effort.  Then it was back to their new version of normal.

Two Hands, Meat

Buck and McCarver may have enjoyed Cliff Lee's casual catch of Damon's pop-up, but that's just plum not smart.  If the Phils want to be that relaxed the rest of the series, they are cordially invited.  Maybe they'll start to look as sloppy as the Twins and Angels.

Game Six Backfire?

You would never want to send up a sacrificial lamb to go out and lose to Cliff Lee, but CC being spared of pitching a game 7 against the Angels may have backfired in that the Yanks lost what would have been a matchup of their big guy against a pitcher who does not make the Yanks look like a AA team.  Sabathia held it together, but seeing him labor makes you question if he has it in him to pitch three games of this series.  Watching the Yank bats, I don't think he has it in him to defeat Lee once, let alone thrice, should that match-up repeat itself.  Obviously sending someone like Gaudin up to face Cliff Lee is a recipe for disaster.  But I'm just rappin' about the baseball fates here.

We Haven't Forgotten About You, Tex

It's easy to say the Yanks shouldn't be swinging at the first pitch when down by six, but seeing Teixeira hack at his first offering in the 9th up at his eyebrows kind of encapsulates the team's offensive woes this post-season.  Teixeira's walk-off against Minnesota has served as a nice camouflage for his lack of punch this post-season, so if the Yanks don't pull this thing off, he might just play the role of scapegoat.  Too early?

Sartorially Speaking

Start Molina!
Uh, just kidding.  But some players never strand as many baserunners in a career as Posada stranded Sunday night.  Truly remarkable.  Given the outcome, we'll hope this is just a well timed in-game slump.  But he's not done that much and, combined with the fact that Teixeira has left his offense at the bus stop, Arod's ridiculous OBP is not bringing back as much return as it should.  Last night one of Arod's hits was actually bookended by double plays from Teixeira and Posada.  That's hard to do.  After nine post-season games, I still feel the Yankee offense needs some smelling salts if this team plans to host a parade this October... I mean, November.  Mid-November, even.  Maybe they can just glom on to the tail end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade?

What was previously slight hyperbole is now no exaggeration; there are no hot hitters on this team right now that are not dating Kate Hudson.  Arod is the only guy whom you can say is truly firing on all cylinders.  The bases loaded walk in the clincher was an excellent example of his newfound patience.  If the Fox box is to be believed (not to mention the ump, though that's dubious these days), the ball was indeed inside.  In fact, it was a perfect pitch save the fact that Arod seems to be exercising a perfect knowledge of the strike zone now.  If the count was full, he should probably have given it a hack.  But with only one strike on him, let it pass.  This ain't live blogging, so you may call "malarkey!" on me for saying that my reaction to seeing Arod come to the plate with bases loaded and one out with Posada on deck was not that the Angels should walk Arod, but if they did walk him it might well yield the best possible result. Posada's subsequent first of 36 DPs on the night would support that notion.  You can't go wrong giving the ALCS MVP to CC, but Rodriguez had him edged out in my mind.

Jeter is rock, Rivera is paper
That was a typical Rivera run Sunday night to cut the lead to one.  A bloop and a bleeder, though the hardest hit ball was right at the curiously positioned Cano behind second base.  But Jeter may have passed on another fine post-season moment that would have saved the run and left his detractors nauseous.  The bloop by Figgins looked catchable with a dive, and I'm not talking about a spastic, injurious dive into the stands.  I think it was
close enough that Jeter should get dirty on that.  At least that's how it looked from my really cozy chair, with my feet up, nervously sipping a stout.

I Guess This is Considered Progress
A couple slick defensive plays and the first good AB I've seen from Nick Swisher this post-season.  The good AB didn't yield anything, but his next AB resulted in a grounder in the hole -- a pitch that looked possibly off the plate outside that he pulled for a worm-killer that somehow made its way to the outfield.   Not pretty, but it's a start I suppose.  And it proved to be an important cog in the three-run inning.  I still don't recall seeing him hit a ball hard the last couple weeks.  The reason his prolonged slump looks so bad is it does not seem like the law of averages evening out.  (Evening out what? His April, I guess).  Rather, his knowledge of the strike zone has looked off, so his 3-0 count early in the game was more encouraging than anything, even though it would eventually lead to a weak fly out.

Oops, Book 1 & 2
Kendrick should have held on to the ball he dropped, BUT... Kendry Morales made a bad throw.  The ball almost went into the runner, which hangs the fielder out to dry.  Howie Kendrick is not the first person manning 1B to go all alligator arms on a throw that dances a little too close to the baseline.  And Scott Kazmir, whose presence on the mound ahead of Jered Weaver was surprising considering how shaky Kazmir looked a few nights ago, choked his throw plain and simple.  You think this game ain't mental?
Maybe Met fans felt good watching that.

Wake Up the Babe

As of now, it looks like Charlie Manuel may start Pedro in the Bronx for game 2.  Sure, it'll lead to entertaining "Who's Your Daddy" chants, but it's probably a wise move in that he'll probably need a few innings out of the bullpen, which can rest the next day.  So we fans will be robbed of what we've wanted to see for years: to see Pedro back up his headhunting by stepping into the box.  I admit, I've not seen him in action that much since leaving the Red Sox, but I've not actually seen any video of him throwing at anyone anymore.  Is this an amusing coincidence or have I not been watching closely?

On the subject of pitchers hitting, too bad CC will only have one start on the road in this series.  He could have been the next slugger to call his shot in the World Series.

Swisher Should Sit!, pt 2...
...Swisher should sit!... except when it's AJ Burnett's turn in the rotation, in which case Swisher should take the mound.

The upside of seeing the Yanks clinch was a strong enough lure to try to shake myself  loose of a Theraflu-induced coma and trek through the usual brick wall of LA and Orange County traffic to go catch the game in Anaheim (located about 1.5 light years from Los Angeles).  My "angry traffic mood" would give way to my equally familiar "angry AJ mood" by seeing Burnett get lit up for four runs before people even had their thundersticks inflated.

Not Blaming the Ump, I'm Just Sayin'
I was sitting in section 523, close enough to where I could bounce a tennis ball off the Goodyear blimp, and I could tell without question that Damon was safe on the play at first base.  I know that sounds bogus, since, for instance, I don't actually believe the guy sitting in front of me could actually see anything while he kept screaming "Where was that, blue?!!" on every ball called for the Yanks.  But really... the Damon call was that clear, which is what is so inexplicable about this bad umpiring.  Both for and against the Yanks, no replay is needed on any of these erroneous calls.  Only reason I'd like to see a replay is to check if the ump sneezed while Damon was hitting the bag.

If I Only Brought a Pin

Beyond that, most of what I saw at the game was the silhouette of those insidious inflatable clappers, evil not just because of the dopey notion of artificial noise they create on par with the stadium stereo system (which itself is on par with takeoffs from LaGuardia), but their very design does nothing but create obstructed views for everyone at the game.  It's like if they have "free banner night" for all fans as a promotional date at the Big A.  Or "free oversized novelty ten gallon hats to the first 50,000 fans".   

And the big A should be really be renamed "The Big C" ("the big clusterflip"), as it took longer to find our car as it did for Burnett to record the first out hours earlier.  After 25 minutes of cursing the lack of marked poles in the lot, circumnavigating all the Hummers and SUVs and finally finding our car, it would be another 45 minutes of inching our way the 40-50 yards to the exit.  You get the feeling they're not used to capacity crowds, especially ones that leave at the game's conclusion.

Additionally, many of the fans seemed to be honoring Nick Adenhart's memory by lifting a few in the backs of their titanic trucks before turning the ignition (clearly a practice not unique to the O.C.).
The whole experience made me wish the enemy territory I was in was Boston.  No monkeys, no cars, no thundersticks, and the drunks don't do much harm to anyone but the pavement.

Girardi May Live

I actually did not have a problem with Girardi bringing Burnett back out to pitch the 7th.  The way he was cruising and as low as his pitch count was, I wanted him to get through the 7th, then hand it over to Hughes in the 8th.  As wrong as I apparently am, theoretically because of the long half inning that preceded Burnett going back out there, Hughes got hit badly himself, so I don't feel like any decision is a no-brainer in this situation.  I still prefer to blame Burnett's fear of success. 

"Here's the ball for the potential pennant clincher", to which he responds by getting pounded while half the stadium is still in line for churros. 

"Hey, we picked you up and scored 6 runs for you - just one more inning and we're sitting pretty", and he coughs it back up with a single and then a walk to the #9 hitter, prompting immediate visions of heading back to the Bronx. 

It's one thing for a .211 hitter like Jeff Mathis to be on fire in the post-season, and good on him for it, but walking Figgins (he of the .067 post season BA) to start his night and later walking Izturis, representing the tying run (after having him 0-2) to end his night, is precisely what sunk Burnett and the Yanks.  See?  AJ can be equally wretched with Molina OR Posada behind the plate.

And speaking of Mathis, this is the equivalent of Jose Molina hitting over .500 --and with authority-- in the post-season.  But Molina is not, which is why Burnett's sketchy work is more galling.  The key AB in the Yanks six-run 7th?  Posada's walk.  Good battle, long, full count, foul-off-a-few-pitches AB.  He earned the walk, then Lackey didn't come close to Jeter and thus got yanked from the game.  That was a huge cog in the rally and I'm confident it does not happen with Molina.  Maybe even the lunkhead sitting in front of me in 523 could see that.

It's a shame the only stream of clutch hitting in the entire Yankee post-season not done by Rodriguez went for naught.  Who knows if we'll see this again the rest of the season, be it two games or nine. 

IF...

...the Yanks clinch in game six, this will probably be a blessing so the bats don't have too much time to get cold...er.  But if they lose CC for game one of the World Series (he says, ASSUMING they at least clinch this thing), things might look pretty good for them Phillies.

Will AJ be the "Posada" AJ tonight?  Will Pettitte then get roughed up by the Angels, as he has a couple times this year?  Will the series go 7 and Jeter's cold (more popularly known these days as "flu-like symptoms") wipe out the entire Yankee clubhouse, prompting the clubhouse boy to be promoted to replace assistant trainer Steve Donohue?  Will this be a repeat of '04 when Arod and the Yanks beat Minnesota before getting a big series lead against the Red Sox?

These are the thoughts that slip into my mind during weak moments.  But unlike '04, I like to counter them with "Oh thank God we don't have to rely on Javy Vasquez and Kevin Brown", neither of whom, I'm guessing, will have the honor of throwing out the first ball at the Stadium any time soon.

How is this team 5-1 in the post-season?
Cano has a history of low baseball IQ, but why is it this year Posada is demonstrating premature dementia?  This should not be heat-of-the-moment brain cramp stuff, let alone two simultaneous ones.  SOMEBODY (or both) stand on the bag - it's neither a landmine, nor made of kryptonite!

Swisher must sit!
This whole postseason thing seems to be moving a bit too fast for him.  Blame Girardi all you want for the ALCS game 3 loss, but Swisher has been a one man rally-wrecking crew.  Remember way back when Arod used to expand his strike zone in the post-season?  The historically selective Swisher has done the same, except he lacks any other ability to bring to the table to even remotely make up for it.  Maicer Izturis can get a runner home from 3rd with less than two out, but Swisher consistently fails -- his slow, stiff swing belying his relaxed persona, or the facade of a relaxed persona.  In the rare instance that he is on the bases he seems to be making an effort to make Cano and Posada look good.

Roll Call!

Arod?  Present.

CC? Present.

Mo? Present.

Jeter?  Sick, but present.

Anyone else?  Anyone?  Hellooooooo ouuuuut therrrrrre.

Following the Dodgers elimination to the Phillies:

"I feel great," Ramirez said. "I accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish."

Maybe this time Torre means it when he says he'll retire at the end of his contract.

The TBS broadcast is getting a lot of flak, a fair bit of it for good reason (I'm looking at you, Chip Caray).  I still furrow my brow from two years ago when thinking of him belaboring the reason for Chien Ming Wang's ineffectiveness in the '07 playoffs, as he kept insisting that at 92-93mph, Wang was throwing too hard and that is a bad sign for a sinkerball pitcher.  Hey Chip - Wang ain't Tommy John.  It's called a power-sinker and if you watched a single start of Wang's career up to that point, you'd know it.

It's this kind of analysis that almost makes you wish a representative from each hometown team was up in the booth for the playoffs.  That idea probably sounds grand until you come to in a cold sweat with visions of Rex Hudler stepping behind a microphone for the upcoming series.  Hudler put himself on the map by being a regular on one of the past Jim Rome radio shows, which tells you all you need to know.

All this said, Chip Caray and Ron Darling earned points with me last Sunday night, by acknowledging that Delmon Young fouled a ball off his protective cup.   It may have been the first telecast I've seen that featured such misfortune that did not involve broadcasters who you felt were about to make a joke about "ringing the bell", or the victim being left with a high-pitched voice.  Often I feel like they're about to replay the accident with zany morning DJ sound effects.  Or on the flip side, some broadcasters just go silent, leaving what seems like the rest of the inning to go by with only ambient
crowd noise, which makes you wonder of the broadcasters have their fingers on the cough button while they are doubled over, giggling.
But Chip and Darling - whose only major negative trait as a color guy is that his voice sounds like he's gurgling a milkshake - handled this with straightforward aplomb. 

My only reaction to this happening to Delmon Young was that I stood and applauded when he came right back and hit a double in the gap.  Though I was puzzled why Joba/Jorge didn't bust him back inside after his most foul of foul balls.  Sympathy?

While much is being made of Joe Mauer's fair ball that was not in game two, though Mauer himself is dignified enough to not make the fuss, more egregious umpiring was coming from behind the plate in game three.  It's certainly less exact than, well, a ball at which you're staring from close distance falling a solid foot in fair territory, but the erratic strike zone Sunday night was relentless to the point that it affected at bats throughout the whole game.  Maybe that helps explain why Nick Swisher has turned into the old form of Arod, widening his strike zone beyond what he can handle.  Arod, in turn seemed to take a cue from Swisher this year and into the post-season, somehow managing an excellent, patient at bat in the ALDS clincher, turning an 0-2 count into a game-tying homer to right.  A little patience has gone an awful long way with him, to the point that it's kind of ridiculous how every hit of his in the series was clutch. 

This all makes for good television, and I'm liking the results so far, but what I'm hoping for is the occasional game that the Yankee bats are not being stymied through six innings by pitchers who either modestly toil in obscurity, or are not in obscurity only because their distinction is already dubious.  No question Pavano looked great Sunday night, but how is this the same guy that tried twice in the last week of the regular season to give away the Twins remarkable comeback?  I reject any glowing reviews I've heard on
Pavano this year because his season was, well, it was not good.  But the scale on which he is measured is the scale of the inactive and the ignoble. I know it's stunning for baseball fans to see him with a slightly over .500 record, but the ERA north of 5.00 is rather telling.  And since he was able to pitch almost 200 innings this year, 5.10 Carl Pavano is apparently a healthy Carl Pavano.  Which is I guess is nice for someone seeking a number six starter.  Although the way he pitches against the best offense in baseball, his games are becoming reminiscent of the Yankee battles against Pedro.

The Jeter-Punto play 

While not spectacular, and certainly no "flip", it's a perfect demonstration of one wily veteran who can slow the game down vs one overanxious less-experienced ballplayer.  It's no coincidence Jeter seems to be in the middle of such plays.  Many shortstops try fruitlessly to get the runner at 1^st rather than calmly assume the single and check the runner on 3^rd to see if he went too far.  Good stuff, but I'm still hoping for a Yankee post-season that is not so reliant on an opposition blooper reel.