2010 MLB Season

[ghost of miles]

Lee's at 109 pitches through 7. I'd be astonished if they don't bring him out for the 8th...and unless he runs into trouble, he should be able to finish it, setting up the 9th for Feliz.

Feliz can get jittery. This would not be the game to get jittery.

OTOH he'll most likely be facing the four dudes mentioned above who are performing in less-than-Murderers'-Row fashion so far for this series.

BTW, much as I'm disappointed by the Yankees once again having such an epic fail against Cliff Lee, hats off to Mr. Lee for having become such an amazing pitcher over the past several seasons. The Yankees scored the most runs in MLB this year, so it's no mean feat to shut them down in such dominating fashion. Matter of fact, all three Texas starters have handled them with aplomb in this series.

Edited October 19, 2010 by ghost of miles

[JSngry]

This bottom of the 8th is gonna be nerve-wrecking (sic).

[ghost of miles]

You wanna talk about "demoralized" and "disheartened"...I wanna see NY's hitters come back after THIS game. And they'll have to do it likely from the big hole A.J. will dig for them. Yes, Cliff Lee is an amazing pitcher, but this is just an appalling performance from NY's side of the plate as well. Add in the factor that they'll now feel they need to win every single game from here on out to prevent a game 7 in Texas.

If Texas holds on tonight, they're firmly in the driver's seat for taking this series.

Edited October 19, 2010 by ghost of miles

[JSngry]

This bottom of the 8th is gonna be nerve-wrecking (sic).

Sorry, I hit the 8 key instead of the 9...

[ghost of miles]

This bottom of the 8th is gonna be nerve-wrecking (sic).

Sorry, I hit the 8 key instead of the 9...

If Hamilton scores you can book this game for TX. Also, is anybody warming for Texas in the pen? Or are they sending Lee back out?

Like I said the other day, if the Yankees can't beat Cliff Lee in a postseason game, they don't deserve to go to the WS anyway.

EDIT 2: yep, it's over. Nice... a bullpen meltdown on top of everything else. Credit to the Rangers for once again dominating us all over the place. Sorry to see Andy's fine effort go to waste.

Edited October 19, 2010 by ghost of miles

[papsrus]

Rangers kick the old barn door wide open.

wow.

[Brad]

This is kind of embarassing.

Series over. Turn off your televisions.

Don't listen to this man. He knows nothing.

[ghost of miles]

This is kind of embarassing.

More than kind of. Why is Joe G leaving D-Rob out there for so long? I guess he's just given up on the game, but can't be good for Robertson to just keep getting lit up like that.

I don't know what it is about this year's team--last year's edition had some kind of spark, some kind of fight that appears only sporadically this year and hardly at all in the past two months. Outside of a good roll against the Twins in the ALDS they've played like a mediocre not-quite-.500 team since the beginning of August. Right now they look like they're in way over their heads against the Rangers. A lot of talent that just can't seem to pull it together anymore. That's why losing like this is far worse to me than the Rangers' blown game the other night. They could tell themselves after that game, "Hey, we outplayed these guys, they got on one hot streak and took it, but we outplayed them." The Rangers have outplayed NY all series long. What can we tell ourselves right now? We can tell ourselves we're lucky it's not a 3-0 series at this point.

Well, I'm certainly not gonna begrudge Texas a pennant and a trip to the WS if they follow through over the next 2-4 games, and I'd be happy for the long-suffering Texas fans around this joint. Damn, though, I'd sure like to see NY go down fighting. Andy did tonight, at least.

Edited October 19, 2010 by ghost of miles

[BERIGAN]

This is kind of embarassing.

Series over. Turn off your televisions.

Don't listen to this man. He knows nothing.

[Chalupa]

Man, Brian Cashman fucked UP by not getting Lee from the Mariners. Of course that non-trade wasn't as bad as the trade that a certain GM, who let Lee go in the first place, made....

[MartyJazz]

As bad as tonight's game was and that the Yanks are now down 2-1, I think Girardi should still go with AJ tomorrow night as much as I can't stand to see him pitch. One, JG already stated the guy is to start Game 4. Two, AJ is being paid royally to be a Yankee. Three, see if AJ can regain his past effectiveness in a clutch game. Four, if he screws up (as I expect), do everything you can to get rid of him prior to next season. Five, a loss and the Yanks are still alive having to win 3 straight in order to advance, but at least they have their top three starters going with full rest.

Edited October 19, 2010 by MartyJazz

[JSngry]

Looks like I mad a lot of observations and speculations this evening there were pretty much all wrong. Oh well!

But still - that 1/18th if an inning of Friday night still leaves this a 2-1, not a 3-0 series, and that, Dear Friends, is a huge difference. You know that Yankee pride and depth of talent and resiliece and all that is going to have to kick in at some point. And you know that the Rangers are untested in these circumstances, so we really don't know what they have which to answer back when it does. Anything the Rangers do beside totally choke has me proud, but do they have that uber-killer instinct inside them that they gonna gotta have to deal with it when it comes?

It's starting to look like they might, but the truth is, nobody really knows, least of all the Rangers - or the Yankees either, they seem to be realizing that maybe the Rangers are a little deeper an organization than they first considered, and this is what sports is all about - not winning and losing and scoring and fucking and drinking and all that boy shit - sports is ultimately about digging deep into yourself to see what you got when you need it, and what you do with what you find out when you go there.

Go Rangers! Go THERE!

[Dave James]

Here's some interesting information from ESPN - New York about how close the Yankees came to getting Cliff Lee:

Last, it means that Eduardo Nunez and Ivan Nova better be good, because those are the guys that Cashman refused to part with (he needed to include one of them) to get Lee in the package that was headed by Jesus Montero. The Yankees were willing to do a deal with Montero as the lead guy, but Seattle kept asking for better second and third prospects.

Wow! If The Boss was still around and even marginally functional, Brian Cashman would be running for his life.

[ghost of miles]

Jsngry wrote:

It's starting to look like they might, but the truth is, nobody really knows, least of all the Rangers - or the Yankees either, they seem to be realizing that maybe the Rangers are a little deeper an organization than they first considered, and this is what sports is all about - not winning and losing and scoring and fucking and drinking and all that boy shit - sports is ultimately about digging deep into yourself to see what you got when you need it, and what you do with what you find out when you go there.

Go Rangers! Go THERE!

They're literally halfway there, and one of the things they've still got to dig out is a potential Cliff Lee start at home for Game 7. I was hoping that NY would tag Lee for at least a couple of runs tonight and get him out of the ballgame by the 7th or 8th inning--as I've noted before, they hit him early and late in Game 5 of last year's WS, even though they ultimately lost that game. After tonight, where are their heads regarding Mr. Lee? They couldn't pull it out at home in a Game 3 situation... that doesn't leave me feeling good at all about a Game 7 road situation.

Like I said after Game 1, Texas is a damn good team; if NY went into this series underestimating them they're fools. Right now the Rangers look like a team on the rise and NY looks like a team that's edging a bit too comfortably into near-champion decline. They've been completely dominated, just 1/18th of a game shy of being down in the dreaded 3-0 hole. So far Texas has outscored us 20-7. 20-7! I mean, it's a slaughterhouse out there, when you look at the statistics.

Again, congrats to the Rangers for playing so tough so far. They don't show any signs of stopping, Jsngry.

Here's some interesting information from ESPN - New York about how close the Yankees came to getting Cliff Lee:

Last, it means that Eduardo Nunez and Ivan Nova better be good, because those are the guys that Cashman refused to part with (he needed to include one of them) to get Lee in the package that was headed by Jesus Montero. The Yankees were willing to do a deal with Montero as the lead guy, but Seattle kept asking for better second and third prospects.

Wow! If The Boss was still around and even marginally functional, Brian Cashman would be running for his life.

That's interesting--I thought the crux of the matter was that Seattle really wanted Smoak and was using NY to get Texas to give him up. At the time I wasn't all that disheartened to see the Lee trade fall through, as I had real doubts about giving up Montero to essentially rent a guy for half a season who we had a good chance of signing anyway over the winter. Of course, at the time Andy Pettitte hadn't gone down with an injury yet and there was still hope for Javy and A.J. pulling out decent seasons as starters. In retrospect it might have been worth giving up Montero to get Lee, but I can't really blame Cashman for hesitating to give up better 2nd and 3rd prospects at the time, even if Seattle was indeed truly willing to deal Lee to NY and not just playing us to get Smoak.

Edited October 19, 2010 by ghost of miles

[JSngry]

Again, congrats to the Rangers for playing so tough so far. They don't show any signs of stopping, Jsngry.

Yes, but...the thing about uncharted territory is that nobody really knows where those signs are, or might be....

So far, so good. But so far ain't very far at all, not really. certainly not as far as 3-0 would have been.

[Brad]

I'm still not convinced about the Rangers for reasons stated earlier. However, you can ride a big gun in the playoffs and he may, as Hersheiser did for the Dodgers in 1988, get you to the promised land.

Btw, the Dodgers weren't that great in 88 (the Mets and As) were far better but they had Hershiser. Maybe that is the difference as far as this Series is concerned.

[Chalupa]

Here's some interesting information from ESPN - New York about how close the Yankees came to getting Cliff Lee:

Last, it means that Eduardo Nunez and Ivan Nova better be good, because those are the guys that Cashman refused to part with (he needed to include one of them) to get Lee in the package that was headed by Jesus Montero. The Yankees were willing to do a deal with Montero as the lead guy, but Seattle kept asking for better second and third prospects.

Wow! If The Boss was still around and even marginally functional, Brian Cashman would be running for his life.

Seriously.

Ruben Amaro had better hope that the Phillies win it all because I will be leading a crowd w/ pitchforks over to his house if he doesn't. How do pass on Cliff Lee for prospects? That dude is money.

[Chalupa]

From ESPN's Jim Caplan's column....

Then came the moment of truth for this band of inexperienced Rangers in the three-quarters-empty ballpark: "Let's go, Rangers!" erupted from a group of red-clad Texans standing in the second deck along the third-base line. Only to be interrupted by a "Cowboys suck" chant -- OK, so some things can't be argued --

[Dan Gould]

For all the agita Yankee fans are feeling over AJ Burnett, the reality is that they are facing a mediocre right-handed pitcher in a little league field designed for the destruction of mediocre righties. AJ could get clobbered and the Yankees could very easily win game 4.

And if they do, they have Sabathia going on full rest in the stadium where he's been nearly unbeatable.

Quite simply, I'll make this prediction: If the Rangers don't win game 4, they won't get to a game 7 hoping that Cliff Lee will save their cojones.

And the Game 1 meltdown, aided and abetted by a foolish manager, will loom very, very large.

[Aggie87]

From ESPN's Jim Caplan's column....

Then came the moment of truth for this band of inexperienced Rangers in the three-quarters-empty ballpark: "Let's go, Rangers!" erupted from a group of red-clad Texans standing in the second deck along the third-base line. Only to be interrupted by a "Cowboys suck" chant -- OK, so some things can't be argued --

It's entirely possible that the Texans who were there rooting for the Rangers were also the ones chanting Cowboys Suck!

[Quincy]

This is kind of embarassing.

Series over. Turn off your televisions.

Don't listen to this man. He knows nothing.

Given the way they lost it sure looked like the series could be over though. However it reminds me of another Texas team in the playoffs a few years ago. After Pujols hit that monster off of Lidge (has the ball come down yet?) there was a lot of talk about how the Cards would surely win the series as it was such a crushing defeat. Nope, Houston won the next day.

[Dave James]

My take on Cliff Lee. If he's a Yankee, you go to the World Series next week. If he's not, you go home this week.

Dan, I wish I shared your enthusiasm for a comeback, but New York bats are so quiet that even with some decent pitching, I can't see it happening. As a group, they are hitting just .188 in the ALCS. The fact of the matter is, this is an aging ballclub with marginal pitching that is getting zero production from Texiera (.000) and Rodriguez (.154). These are the guys who make huge money and, at least in theory, are supposed to be doing the heavy lifting this time of the year. As much as i'd like it to be otherwise, I'm afraid the Yanks have left the building.

[MartyJazz]

My take on Cliff Lee. If he's a Yankee, you go to the World Series next week. If he's not, you go home this week.

Dan, I wish I shared your enthusiasm for a comeback, but New York bats are so quiet that even with some decent pitching, I can't see it happening. As a group, they are hitting just .188 in the ALCS. The fact of the matter is, this is an aging ballclub with marginal pitching that is getting zero production from Texiera (.000) and Rodriguez (.154). These are the guys who make huge money and, at least in theory, are supposed to be doing the heavy lifting this time of the year. As much as i'd like it to be otherwise, I'm afraid the Yanks have left the building.

Add the fact that Jeter is striking out more often than I'm customarily used to - see the way he totally failed to at least move Gardiner to 3rd with no outs last night - and this series is becoming an exercise in total Yankee bat futility. Also, I love the way Tex plays 1st base, but when, if ever, is he going to learn to hit a two strike curve ball? He's become an automatic out with two strikes as long as the pitcher can get an off speed pitch over any part of the plate.

[Quincy]

Afternoon baseball. Well, if you're on the left coast at least. It's looking like SF should get to work on making a Cody Ross statue.

[Chalupa]

Jesus this ump needs some glasses.

Wow. Utley. Again.

Damn, even w/ a good ump the Phillies would still be 0 for 5 w/ RISP.

Edited October 19, 2010 by J.H. Deeley