ghost of miles

Well, that decision to start A.J. with three days' rest on the road isn't looking so hot right now. Too bad, too, because Lee looked strangely nervous and very hittable in the top of the 1st... with a 3-run lead (and Burnett yet to get a single out!), I can't help but think Lee will settle down now. If only A.J. could too and stop the bleeding... we might be able to stay in this game. (At least keep it close enough that we might get to the Philly bullpen if Lee's pitch count goes high enough. He threw 20 in the 1st.) Bad odds, though--the bottom of the NY lineup is particularly weak tonight

Money alone can't buy a championship. If it did, the Yankees would have about 20 additional World Series titles. That's my point. The Phillies' payroll last year was what--2.5 times as big as Tampa Bay's? Did anybody make a big deal out of that? But that's not why they beat Tampa Bay. On another topic completely: last night's game was the most-watched World Series game in 5 years.

Agree w/you BB; I'm sure not writing the Phillies off for dead. Never mind 2004, teams have definitely come back from 3-1 deficits in the WS before...and as I posted above, I share your concerns about Pettitte in Game 6. On the brighter side, I was glad to see Joba pitch so well last night, even though he did give up that game-tying HR to Feliz. That felt like an aberration, whereas with Hughes an out feels like an aberration right now (what is his WS E.R.A. now..81.00 or something? I'm not exaggerating! I just hope he can recover from this and get it together next season...a scout yesterday was quoted as saying that "Hughes doesn't look like the same pitcher right now...he looks frightened.") I just want to say re: "best team money can buy"--the Core 4 are still powering NY to a large extent, and they are all farm-grown--Jeter, Pettitte, Rivera and Posada. A-Rod came to the Yankees in a trade. Of the Big 3 free agents that came to NY this past year, Tex has been MIA for just about all of the postseason, save a hit here or there, and CC has lost one game and given up 3 runs in a no-decision in the WS so far. I'm not denying the power or positives of NY's high payroll, but they're not just a collection of bought players. In the 35 years that I've been following NY (good Lord!), I think the only time NY might have "bought" a championship successfully was with Reggie Jackson in 1977...even then that team was so much more than Jackson. I wouldn't deny that Steinbrenner's tried to do it, but he failed miserably for years! And the legendary late-1990s team was built almost exclusively on farm players and shrewd trades (as has been said before, in large part because the Boss was out of commission for a couple of years and Jeter/Pettitte/River et al weren't traded away for aging stars past their prime).

Yeah, it's a really tough call re: tonight. With Burnett pitching, the Yankees' chances of winning increase slightly, but they're increasing from a low, low percentage. And you're setting up NY's greatest vulnerability with this 3-1 lead...all three remaining Yankee starts being made on 3 days' rest, with your Game 5 starter (A.J.) a full E.R.A. run worse on the road, your Game 6 starter (Pettitte) now 37 years old, and your Game 7 starter (CC) pitching on 3 days' rest for the second time in a row. That's one big reason why I wouldn't be giving up just yet if I were a Phillies fan, and why I'm not sitting here today feeling supremely confident as a Yankees fan. (Of course, after 2004 it's hard to imagine ever feeling supremely confident until a series is won and over, even with a 3-0 lead.) So the notion of starting Gaudin tonight is intriguing, but it does seem like a real crapshoot--or rather like a chess move, sacrificing a game for a much-improved pitching position in the next two. (And if they did, wouldn't they be better off starting Pettite on full rest for Game 7, with CC taking over as mid-relief/bridge to Mo?) Plus Burnett would be pitching at home, as opposed to on the road. I just hope NY can get some runs off Lee tonight. I'd love to win the WS against him, but in all likelihood we'll be going back to NY to face Pedro for Game 6. Speaking of moves--I'm still a bit in disbelief about this one: Did any other Yankee fan here just about lose it when he saw Damon take off from second? I had no idea that nobody was covering at third and at first thought Feliz was going to get Damon in a rundown with either Lidge or Ruiz...very happily surprised when the camera pulled back to reveal Damon's unobstructed path to the next base.

Well, I obviously hope they do, J.H., but Lee on 4 days' rest vs. Burnett on 3... I dunno. I suppose Lee is due to have an off game one of these days, but that day will probably occur sometime in the 2010 season. According to the NY Times writers' live analysis blog, A-Rod's now tied with Max Carey of the 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates for most HBP in a World Series. Probably not the postseason record he wanted to earn. I thought Joe Girardi was very classy in the postgame interview when asked about all of the HBP. Couple other posts from the Times' blog--glad to see somebody else was nauseated by the AVATAR clips being woven into the pre-game introduction. God, that was horrible! I'm also sick to death of all of the advertising plugs Fox throws in... "this foul ball brought to you by..." etc., etc. For the query upstream about Ryan Howard and the WS record for most K's by a batter:

A-Rod heaping praise on Johnny Damon right now in the post-game interview. Great at-bat and great heads-up baserunning by Damon. And really happy to see A-Rod drive in the game-winner. This really was a must-win for NY, what with Lee pitching tomorrow night. I would love--LOVE--to see NY win the WS by beating Lee on the road, but frankly, that would be just about a miracle. I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing Game 6 and Pedro again come Wednesday night. At least Mo only threw 8 pitches tonight (and 5 last night). NY's big vulnerability now is everybody pitching on 3 days' rest for the remainder of the series. And if there's a Game 7, I'm sure we'll be seeing Cliff Lee in relief at some point. Still, overall just fantastic to see NY rally like that with 2 outs and 2 strikes on Damon at Philadelphia, especially after Philadelphia and Feliz had electrified the crowd by tying it in the bottom of the 8th. I really felt that the Phillies were going to win it if NY didn't retake the lead in the 9th...and that in all likelihood we'd be looking at a 3-2 Philly series lead after tomorrow night.

A-Rod comes through in the clutch! EDIT: yes!!! So much credit to Johnny Damon for that inning... man, I hope we can hold this lead now!

Great inning from Joba, save for one pitch. Damn! This game is a killer.

Boy, the Yanks just cannot seem to get a hit off Madson--he seems to have been the most effective Phillie out of the bullpen so far this series. EDIT: they (and Cano) finally get a hit off Madson, but it's a fluke single. Time for the shaky 'n swayin' bridge to Mo.

Lord, does Utley ever have CC's number!

I didn't see that play, J.H.--was out in the kitchen talking to my wife. Man oh man, Tex and A-Rod hitting .077 and .083 respectively in the WS so far.

I think NY would have been much better off w/CC swinging instead of trying to bunt--he didn't exactly look adroit trying to lay one down.

I know--pitiful on NY's part re: the SB! NY would have quite likely emerged from that inning unscathed if Howard doesn't steal second base. So far Blanton is definitely outpitching CC--and CC's pitch count is now at 66 after only 4 innings.

J.H., I feel like NY's giving it right back to you at the opposite end of things--yeah, Blanton's being given a good strike zone by the ump, but for God's sake, the Yanks are just standing there watching some pretty good pitches sail by. And now Cano up...I don't even want to look. NY really, really needs to put some more runs up w/CC pitching on only 3 days' rest. Arrgghh--8 straight down for NY. Stop complaining to the ump and get some hits!

Blanton seems to have settled down. Boy, Tex and Cano are not exactly tearing it up on the NY side...aren't they each hitting .083 for the WS now? Here comes Utley--man, he really seems to have CC's # so far in this WS.

Precious ARod, did you see him complaining to Joe West when he got to second base? If I was a Phillie batter, I'd try my best to get hit by a pitch, and writhe on the ground like some euro soccer player to get CC tossed. There is no way that the Phillies wanted to get more men on base in the first inning. It's because he got hit twice last night as well. When was the last time any player got hit 3 times in 2 consecutive World Series games? It's probably happened at some point, but I don't blame A-Rod for starting to feel irritated by it.

J.H., I thought the term had morphed in recent years into a more general one for HBP. Sorry, the whole thing just annoyed me--again, I accept that all three HBP have been accidental, but OTOH it's a bit ridiculous, and I don't want to see CC end up getting tossed because of wild pitches on Philadelphia's part. Man, rocky first inning for CC--I sure hope he can settle down. Kudos to the Phillies for coming right back at NY in the bottom of the 1st...NY lucky to get out of that with only 1 run given up. Took CC 24 pitches to get through it, which isn't good, given the 3 days' rest situation.

I can accept that A-Rod's been beaned 3 times in the past two games now by accident...but the warning then issued to BOTH teams disturbs me greatly. No way CC's going to jeopardize NY by beaning or even brushing back a Phil...but I do NOT want to see him get tossed if an inside pitch gets away from him because three different Phillie pitchers have hit A-Rod. In the current circumstances, why not simply warn Philadelphia...and if CC were so stupid as to feign some kind of payback in a World Series game (and boy, that would be REALLY stupid), THEN warn the Yankees as well?

Wow, you threw the towel in pretty early. But I have to confess after seeing Pettitte's lack of control during the first two innings - he couldn't throw a first pitch strike and was consistently behind the Phillie hitters - I was ready to pinch-hit for him in the 3rd down 3-0 and take my chances with Gaudin. Shows you what I know. But after A-Rod was awarded the HR (legitimately) and Petite settled down (altho Werth owned him pretty good), I had a good feeling about our chances of coming back. The only major disappointment last night for me was Phil Hughes' inability to close out the game. He really threw a meatball fast ball to Ruiz in the 9th. The first 3 innings and the last 6 seemed like completely different ballgames. I really thought Hamels was going to come through with a strong six or seven-inning effort, esp. since he was pitching at home, but he did seem to come apart in the 4th. Can't believe there's so much controversy over A-Rod's HR...it took the umps what, 30 seconds to rule on it? Re: Pettitte, a gutsy effort for sure, as he clearly didn't have his best stuff last night and still managed to keep things reasonably under control, preventing Philly from developing an insurmountable lead. Plus it was great to see him knock in the tying run. But I'll keep up my pessimistic bent and say that tonight's game is another must-win for NY, given that Lee's starting tomorrow night. And yeah, on paper Game 4 looks pretty good for NY, but expect the unexpected and all that. Watching Philadelphia throughout the playoffs, I've built up a ton of respect for not only their ability, but their mental toughness and ability to come through in challenging situations. They're easily the best team NY's faced and I still agree that it's "Only NY might be able to beat the Phillies," not the other way around. EDIT: also, surely Ryan Howard won't keep on simply striking out forever.

Set the clock back an hour at 12:57 a.m. and experienced midnight for the second time in one evening. For some reason I'm reminded of the Stephen Wright joke about putting instant coffee in his microwave and going back in time.

Agreed--but don't forget, Dave, Rollins said the Phillies would win it in 6 if they decided to be "nice." It was great to see Pettite drive in the tying run, btw. And he adds another W to his alltime postseason record... surely something that will be points in his favor down the line for Hall of Fame voters.

Bummer that we did end up having to bring in Mo--I was really, really hoping that Hughes would follow up on Chamberlain and Marte's good relief spots and that NY could let Mo take the night off. After that homer I don't really blame Girardi, though, for not wanting to risk having Hughes allow another baserunner, with the top of the Phillies lineup to follow. At least Mo threw only 5 pitches to wrap it up. Still, great to see both A-Rod and Swisher break out of their slumps and for the Yankees to finally get a few hits. My concern for the rest of the series--in addition to the bullpen, though tonight was obvioiusly an improvement in some ways--is the rotation pitching on 3 days' rest from here on out. But at least NY's taken back home-field advantage. Of course, there was a similar pattern in the 2003 WS, which didn't turn out so well...

Arrrgggghhhhh!!!! Please, Hughes--not another meltdown! Are we going to have to bring in Mo to try to finish this off?

OK, Dave, you were right--game on and then some. Hamels is gone and it's 5-3 NY in the top of the 5th... with Nick Swisher and Andy Pettitte leading the way. Still worried about the bullpen, though--and that's assuming that Pettitte can hold off the Phils for another couple of innings.

They called it a HR on the replay. My concern is how high Pettitte's pitch count already is... we'll be lucky to get 6 innings out of him, and as bad a start as he's had so far tonight, I dread the notion of Hughes or Chamberlain coming on to pitch here at Citizens Park. But at least A-Rod has kept them in the game with the HR, and Hamels, good as he's pitching so far, is not Cliff Lee. Hopefully that HR will put some spark into the Yankee batting lineup--and we'll see more ALDS/CS-style hitting from A-Rod, now that he's uncorked one.