MLB 2009 Season

[Matthew]

Talk about a mismatch -- Phillies bring in Lidge. Yankees bring in Mariano Rivera. That says everything. CRAP!!!!

[Chalupa]

I mean, I've known, known since about early May that if the Phillies made it to the WS again it would end w/Lidge throwing it away in the 9th. So am I upset? Yeah, but I've had 6 months to prepare for this eventuality so I'm not devastated. Actually Lidge pitched reallly well the entire inning except that fastball to ARod. Damon had a great at bat. And Posada getting that hit w/ 2 strikes another clutch piece of hitting. Really it was Ruiz' throw down to second fucked up the whole inning. He never should have attempted that throw. That was the beginning of the end right there.

Edited November 2, 2009 by J.H. Deeley

[Noj]

With the tendency Lidge has to throw his slider for a wild pitch, why leave him out there to just throw fastballs (to A-Rod no less) once a runner is at third? Epic meltdown, my condolences Phillies fans.

[vajerzy]

Geez.....what a turnaround!! Well at least it ended earlier than last night.

[ghost of miles]

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.

Edited November 2, 2009 by ghost of miles

[Noj]

Great at-bat and great heads-up baserunning by Damon.

Yeah, both were nails.

[Matthew]

Dang, but do I ever hate watching the Yankees win games like that.

[Chalupa]

With the tendency Lidge has to throw his slider for a wild pitch, why leave him out there to just throw fastballs (to A-Rod no less) once a runner is at third? Epic meltdown, my condolences Phillies fans.

Yeah, once Damon got to third on that bone head throw by Ruiz that pretty much ended any chance of Lidge tossing any sliders.

I'm just glad we won it all last year. I would be freaking out right now if we hadn't. Except now I'm starting to wonder if were going to become the new Atlanta Braves - dominant for season after season w/ only one title to show for it. I mean I think the Phils will be right back in the postseason for the next 3 or 4 years, barring any injuries a la the Mets. They have a relatively young team and a great farm system so there's no reason why they can't keep the window open for a few more years. But will it be enough to beat the Yankees??

[Noj]

Yeah, if the Braves had never gotten that one title they'd be the Buffalo Bills of baseball.

It looks grim, but stranger things have happened. Lee's on the hill for Game 5, Burnett's not likely to pitch as well as he did in his first start, CC's been subject to serving up the long ball (particularly to <ahem> UCLA Bruin Chase Utley), the Yanks have choked a lead this big before...

Edited November 2, 2009 by Noj

[Chalupa]

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.

I think NY wins it all Monday night. They are just flat out playing better baseball right now than the Phillies.

[ghost of miles]

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.

Update | 9:08 p.m. Keith Olbermann, the former pregame host for Fox’s baseball telecasts, was watching the opening tease, that mash-up of World Series highlights and “Avatar” clips and wrote on his blog a few minutes ago that it “was a great argument for transferring the World Series broadcast rights to PBS. Or maybe C-SPAN.” – R.S.

For the query upstream about Ryan Howard and the WS record for most K's by a batter:

Update | 8:54 p.m. Ryan Howard is still having his problems. He just struck out for the 10th time this series. Two more and he ties Willie Wilson’s record from the 1980 World Series. Sabathia also struck out Raul Ibanez to get out of the inning with Utley stranded at second. Howard has 10 strikeouts in 14 at-bats. If there were a strikeout average, he would be swinging .714. – D.W.

[Dave James]

Yeah, if the Braves had never gotten that one title they'd be the Buffalo Bills of baseball.

It looks grim, but stranger things have happened. Lee's on the hill for Game 5, Burnett's not likely to pitch as well as he did in his first start, CC's been subject to serving up the long ball (particularly to <ahem> UCLA Bruin Chase Utley), the Yanks have choked a lead this big before...

Actually, the Yankees have been up 3-1 in the Series eight times before this year. They won all eight.

Up over and out.

[Noj]

"in the Series," OK. I was referring to the '04 ALCS, though I'm actually slightly mistaken in that they choked a 3-0 lead and not a 3-1 lead.

[MartyJazz]

Harold Reynolds on the MLB network made an interesting analysis after the game on why the Yanks, in his opinion, should go with a 4th starter (Gaudin?) Monday night. He reasons why go with your #2 starter (Burnett) on 3 days rest against the Phils #1 starter (Lee) who is fully rested when the Yank lineup will be especially depleted partially as a result of playing in the NL ballpark. That is, no DH, Molina (A.J.'s personal catcher) hitting with Posada forced to the bench, and a very iffy if not outright out of the lineup Melky due to his evident hammy injury this last game. So, Reynolds says you make it a bullpen game for game 5, and if you lose, the Yanks then have a fully rested Burnett ready to go at Yankee Stadium where Matsui re-enters the lineup. And, left unsaid, but if it goes 7, the Yanks have CC with a fully rested Petite to back him up if need be.

Gotta admit, it makes sense except for the "mo" factor in my mind. Obviously, by practically conceding game 5 because it does not seem at all reasonable to beat Lee with a bullpen rotation, the average fan and possibly Girardi himself is concerned with the Phillies arriving with a head of steam back in NY. But then again, if Lee pitches in game 5 the way he pitched in the opener, there's no shot whatsoever for a Yank win no matter who goes against Lee.

[Soulstation1]

They should of walked A-Rod and had a force play at any base with 2 outs.

That was the biggest hit of A-Rod's career.

[Aggie87]

Last night reminded me of the Brad Lidge that pitched for the Astros in 2005 against Pujols in the NLCS and the White Sox in the World Series. Get in his head a little and he gets rattled.

[Brad]

Last year was an aberration for Lidge. Rivera shows why he is who he is: eight pitches and everybody have a nice evening.

I would save Burnett for tomorrow. It's more than likely that Lee will prevail anyway so why not put things in your favor by saving him for Game 6.

[blind-blake]

I know it's an uphill battle for the Fightins, and the Yankees are the "best team money can buy." But now that they are down and written off for dead, perhaps the Phillies will play a little looser, win tonight, regain the momentum, put some fear into the Yanks, and do some more damage in Game 6. I think Andy Pettite on three days rest (if that's how they decide to go) will be vulnerable and I think the Phils can also get to Gaudin. The Phillies are a very gutty team; who knows?

Edited November 2, 2009 by blind-blake

[ghost of miles]

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.

Edited November 2, 2009 by ghost of miles

[ghost of miles]

I know it's an uphill battle for the Fightins, and the Yankees are the "best team money can buy." But now that they are down and written off for dead, perhaps the Phillies will play a little looser, win tonight, regain the momentum, put some fear into the Yanks, and do some more damage in Game 6. I think Andy Pettite on three days rest (if that's how they decide to go) will be vulnerable and I think the Phils can also get to Gaudin. The Phillies are a very gutty team; who knows?

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).

[Matthew]

I know it's an uphill battle for the Fightins, and the Yankees are the "best team money can buy." But now that they are down and written off for dead, perhaps the Phillies will play a little looser, win tonight, regain the momentum, put some fear into the Yanks, and do some more damage in Game 6. I think Andy Pettite on three days rest (if that's how they decide to go) will be vulnerable and I think the Phils can also get to Gaudin. The Phillies are a very gutty team; who knows?

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).

How's that Yankee Kool-Aid tasting? Facts:

1. A-Rod opted out of his contract and was signed as a free agent in 2007. Signed to a contract that no one else would ever possibly imagine offering.

2. Damon, the hero of last night's rally, was signed as a free agent when the Yankees outbid the Red Sox. Signed as a CF, he couldn't handle the position for four years and had to move to LF - but that extra 20 million offered makes up for it when he makes a heads up play like that one (not to mention the AB ending with the single).

3. Burnett signed to a ridiculous fifth year (when he's 37) to keep him from Atlanta.

4. And that "core" player, Jeter, will get his 25 million a year contract til he's 42 or whatever, too.

The Yankees are the best team that money can buy, and there's no denying that fact. End of story.

[ghost of miles]

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.

[Matthew]

He, he, he. I'll be buying this one soon...

Edited November 2, 2009 by Matthew

[TimMc]

I know it's an uphill battle for the Fightins, and the Yankees are the "best team money can buy." But now that they are down and written off for dead, perhaps the Phillies will play a little looser, win tonight, regain the momentum, put some fear into the Yanks, and do some more damage in Game 6. I think Andy Pettite on three days rest (if that's how they decide to go) will be vulnerable and I think the Phils can also get to Gaudin. The Phillies are a very gutty team; who knows?

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).

How's that Yankee Kool-Aid tasting? Facts:

1. A-Rod opted out of his contract and was signed as a free agent in 2007. Signed to a contract that no one else would ever possibly imagine offering.

2. Damon, the hero of last night's rally, was signed as a free agent when the Yankees outbid the Red Sox. Signed as a CF, he couldn't handle the position for four years and had to move to LF - but that extra 20 million offered makes up for it when he makes a heads up play like that one (not to mention the AB ending with the single).

3. Burnett signed to a ridiculous fifth year (when he's 37) to keep him from Atlanta.

4. And that "core" player, Jeter, will get his 25 million a year contract til he's 42 or whatever, too.

The Yankees are the best team that money can buy, and there's no denying that fact. End of story.

Dull, predictable and uninspiring baseball.

If the Yankees win it all, it will be a hollow victory at best.

Is it next season yet?

[Matthew]

I'm torn. If the Yankees are going to win, I'd rather they win tonight so I don't have to endure a Yankee Stadium love fest, though any Yankee loss is a joy to my soul. What, of course would be best, is the Phillies winning the next three games.