# MLB post season: 2009 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 4, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592 "2009-10-04T21:59:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/521 "2009-11-05T18:08:54Z")
Anyone know why they did the awards outdoors and didn’t show any of the champagne spraying in the locker room like they usually do? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/522 "2009-11-05T18:23:19Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Well, Hairston was a defensive replacement for Damon when the Yankees had a 4-1 lead. Not a bad move, considering Damon is not a great fielder and throws like Bernie Williams. No, Damon strained a calf muscle running home on Matsui’s single. Damon’s defensive shortcomings are inarguable but that’s not why he came out of the game. I think you may have missed what I was going for: _because of injuries, the Yankees finished the Series with three subs in the outfield._ Swisher had a pretty good year and became a fan favorite, but he was supposed to be a utility player and became the starting right fielder when Nady went down in April. He hit for some quality power and was a big help at the start of the year, and I like him, but he was really bad in the playoffs. He was benched in game two in favor of Hairston, who was a trading deadline pickup. I like watching Gardner be a pest on the basepaths - and in point of fact, Gardner won the starting CF job in the spring and then lost it back to Melky - but he was only there because Melky got hurt. Which reminds me that I am very grateful Girardi didn’t get a chance to pull some of the ridiculous pinch running moves we saw against the Angels. In any case, despite Swisher’s decent salary and good production, he was not supposed to start on this team, and Hairston Jr.-Gardner-Swisher is not exactly a fearsome outfield. And that wasn’t a late inning defensive lineup; that was the outfield for the last six innings. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/523 "2009-11-05T18:34:48Z")
OK, so i was wrong about why Damon came out, but the fact is that, with a 4-1 lead in a game that could win them the World Series, the Yankees didn’t lose much by having a better fielder out there. > [@Marley23](#): > > I think you may have missed what I was going for: _because of injuries, the Yankees finished the Series with three subs in the outfield._ > > \ > > In any case, despite Swisher’s decent salary and good production, he was not supposed to start on this team. But you’re making my argument for me. When a player who hits 29 homers, 82 RBIs, an OPS+ of 126, and makes $5.4 million is your _backup guy_, that means you’re the Yankees. The fact that Swisher had a bad post-season is irrelevant; he’s still a good player. A-Rod has had bad post-seasons before too, but you’re not going to leave him out of your lineup. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/524 "2009-11-05T18:47:17Z")
While Swisher was certainly lacking at the plate in the post season, he was the best option defensively (his doubling up of Vlad was a gem). Congratulations to the Phillies for making it to the series, they were a worthy representative for the Senior Circuit, and are truly a great team. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/525 "2009-11-05T19:01:39Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > OK, so i was wrong about why Damon came out, but the fact is that, with a 4-1 lead in a game that could win them the World Series, the Yankees didn’t lose much by having a better fielder out there. I didn’t say they lost much. I said the guys they had out there were not big names. Two of them were backups, and the other was supposed to be a bench guy and was on the pine in game two. > [@](#): > > But you’re making my argument for me. I think you’ve misunderstood what I was saying, because it wasn’t an argument, it was a simple observation in the form of a joke. They’re not scrubs, but they are far from big names. Gardner and Hairston were reserves going into the Series who were only in the game because of injuries. I’d have to check to see if they saw action in the home games even as defensive replacements. But they weren’t even there as late inning defensive replacements. Gardner was there the whole game and Hairston played the last six innings. > [@](#): > > When a player who hits 29 homers, 82 RBIs, an OPS+ of 126, and makes $5.4 million is your _backup guy_, that means you’re the Yankees. Who said otherwise? > [@](#): > > The fact that Swisher had a bad post-season is irrelevant; he’s still a good player. A-Rod has had bad post-seasons before too, but you’re not going to leave him out of your lineup. I never said Swisher was a bad player, and I never said that about Rodriguez either. (That whole thing was stupid, but I was glad to see him have a historic postseason this time out.) I said that that outfield was pretty anonymous, particularly on a star packed team. Which is true. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/526 "2009-11-05T19:53:22Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Yeah, Lidge is NOT a sufficient Billy Wagner replacement. I didn’t say I wanted him dead. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/527 "2009-11-05T19:55:43Z")
Hey, I can’t keep track of what y’all in Philly do with the relief pitchers the Astros keep sending you. You did pretty well with that Schilling kid a while ago, too, I guess. So I guess Lidge ends up in Boston in 3 or 4 years, then? ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/528 "2009-11-05T19:58:15Z")
Congrats to the Yankees fans! The Yanks were truly awesome. I think the Phillies have a great team. But, this year they weren’t quite good enough. 27! Awesome. I’m hoping that the Phillies can get back again next year! If Hamels gets his head on straight they have a very good staff with Lee, Happ and Blanton. And, hopefully Rollins won’t be quite as bad next year. While Werth, Utley and Howard can hopefully maintain their superstar status. Great job Phillies and Yankees! Really good series. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/529 "2009-11-05T20:03:24Z")
Eventually Hamels, Lee, Happ, Blanton and Drabek, god willing. I’d really just like to see Lidge get his head on straight again. I enjoy rooting for him, and it’s just awful having that sense of impending doom about a guy on your team. But if he does end up in Boston, he’ll have to die, of course. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/530 "2009-11-05T20:07:30Z")
That won’t happen. If Papelbon takes the money and runs, the next Sox closer will be Daniel Bard. He may be ready already, in fact. A fine Series all-around, and the Yanks came through when they needed to. Yes, A-Rod and Teixeira are there instead of Boston because they went to the highest bidder with the deepest pockets, but they did have to go out and hit too. Well done. ---
**Author:** ![Hawkeyeop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/958977/32.png) [@Hawkeyeop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkeyeop)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/531 "2009-11-05T20:13:25Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > That won’t happen. If Papelbon takes the money and runs, the next Sox closer will be Daniel Bard. He may be ready already, in fact. > > A fine Series all-around, and the Yanks came through when they needed to. Yes, A-Rod and Teixeira are there instead of Boston because they went to the highest bidder with the deepest pockets, but they did have to go out and hit too. Well done. What percentage of the time does the “closer in waiting” become an effective closer for a team? 10%? It almost never works out. Oh and on Teixeria I don’t believe the Yankees were the highest bidder or at least any higher than the Red Sox. Teixeria decision was more about his wife’s distaste of Boston and the Red Sox leaking too much info to the media if I recall correctly. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/532 "2009-11-05T20:35:49Z")
> [@Hawkeyeop](#): > > What percentage of the time does the “closer in waiting” become an effective closer for a team? 10%? It almost never works out. > > Oh and on Teixeria I don’t believe the Yankees were the highest bidder or at least any higher than the Red Sox. Teixeria decision was more about his wife’s distaste of Boston and the Red Sox leaking too much info to the media if I recall correctly. I have heard in the end it was what you said and less than $1 million a year. But there was some extra money involved. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/533 "2009-11-05T20:38:46Z")
> [@Hawkeyeop](#): > > What percentage of the time does the “closer in waiting” become an effective closer for a team? 10%? It almost never works out. Beats me. But most closers don’t have a long shelf life no matter how you slice it, and everybody wants their closer in waiting to be the next Mariano Rivera. > [@](#): > > Oh and on Teixeria I don’t believe the Yankees were the highest bidder or at least any higher than the Red Sox. There may have been other issues, but the Yankees got him for $180 million over eight years and I think the Sox had offered $170 million. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/534 "2009-11-05T20:49:09Z")
> [@Hawkeyeop](#): > > What percentage of the time does the “closer in waiting” become an effective closer for a team? 10%? It almost never works out. See Rivera, Mariano. You’ll find him in the Wiki article for John Wetteland. > [@](#): > > Oh and on Teixeria I don’t believe the Yankees were the highest bidder or at least any higher than the Red Sox. They were. But he did want to go to NY; Boras was just using Boston to drive up the price until Boston realized it. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/535 "2009-11-06T00:52:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > By the way, the Yankees finished the series with an outfield of Jerry Hairston Jr., Brett Gardner, and Nick Swisher Murderer’s Row refers to the first six or so hitters. If I’m remembering right, I may have swapped someone, it was Jeter, Damon, (Hairston), Teix, A-Rod, Matsui, Posada, Cano, Swisher, Gardner. > **[Murderers' Row](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murderers%27_Row)** > > Murderers' Row were the baseball teams of the New York Yankees in the late 1920s, widely considered some of the best teams in history. The nickname is particularly used for the first six hitters in the 1927 team lineup: Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel, and Tony Lazzeri. > The term, which mimicked the name applied to a section of the Tombs prison in New York City, was applied to several different baseball teams before it became associated with the Babe Ruth-era Yankees. ... I’ll compare that fairly favorably to the ‘real’ row, of Combs, Koenig, Ruth, Gehrig, Meusel, Lazzeri, Dugan, and Collins. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/536 "2009-11-06T08:17:13Z")
Well, the Yankees won another World Series. They can CHOKE on it! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/537 "2009-11-06T16:46:32Z")
Why Lee did not pitch games 1, 4 and 7, I do not know. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/538 "2009-11-06T17:11:21Z")
Maybe because there was no game 7? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/539 "2009-11-06T17:15:24Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Murderer’s Row refers to the first six or so hitters. Fair enough. And yes, the Yankees won because those top six guys hit so well and worked over the Phillies’ pitchers. > [@gonzomax](#): > > Why Lee did not pitch games 1, 4 and 7, I do not know. What does it matter? They won both of his starts. The problem was that they did not win a game started by anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592/540 "2009-11-06T17:29:29Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Why Lee did not pitch games 1, 4 and 7, I do not know. I believe he said he didn’t want to pitch on short rest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-post-season-2009/512592.md?page=28)