Yeah baby! Angels win! Christ, talk about giving up a huge friggin’ lead. My shitty 4x$216 world series tickets are still alive! That was pretty exciting. Back to NYC, I’ve got the faith!
Intentionally walking Arod was a horrible, horrible strategical decision. I wish the Angels had lost on principal because of that.
I thought walking him was dangerous and not too smart. But they got away with it.
A few observations:
A. I really hate it when a team bails out a pitcher, like the Yankees did for Burnett last night, and he comes right in and gives it back. Way to step up, AJ.
B. Has Joba gotten anyone out this post season? Why anyone thinks he’s a situational reliever is beyond me.
C. The Angels showed a lot of toughness coming back after the Yankees tied it. I’m concerned.
D. Even with gimpy wheels and never having met a pitch he didn’t like, Vlad Guererro is still a dangerous hitter and I hate seeing him up with men on base.
God, Swisher vs Fuentes. What can you say? It was a case of who lost first.
This was another move that puzzled me last night. Clearly Burnett didn’t have his stuff last night. Even when he wasnt giving up runs, AJ was putting men on base and being bailed out by defense and shots right at people. Why bring out a guy with nearly 100 pitches of not his best stuff after your hitters have put the team back into the game?
Maybe not… but at least Joba EXPECTS to get people out. When I saw Marte warming up, I asked my girlfriend to get on the batphone and tell Girardi I am on my way as I have a better chance of getting people out than Marte does. Marte is to relief pitching as Dr. Phil is to therapy.
The only rational reason to put in Marte was that Girardi took pity on Sciosca removing Lackey too early. Either that, or Girardi’s ego didn’t want Sciosca to get any credit for being the dumbest manager on the field that night. Girardi had to fight hard for that distinction last night.
And given the way he is not hitting, I would have thrown anyone else on the bench, including Pettitte or Sabathia, to pinch hit for Swisher. The bat boy could make better contact than Nick has.
AJ was at 80 pitches and actually looked good the prior 3 innings. Leaving him in made sense even though he blew it. Marte was not the one to bring in, but it was the pair of lefties that led Joe to do so. His move was pretty standard, I would have greatly prefered Coke, but then I have been big on Coke all year. I think it should have been a strike out specialist though and that means I wanted Robertson in.
In fairness to Swisher, Tex wasn’t hitting a lick till last night either. Bats have a way of waking up. The Yanks have been doing very well for so many hitters not having stellar postseasons- Swisher, Texiera, Damon, Matsui. Up to now it’s been the Jeter and A-Rod show. Damon finally is coming around, even Matsui got a big hit.
I was rooting for the Angels anyway, but i really wanted the Yankees to lose after their fucking ridiculous delaying tactics to get Rivera in for Chamberlain.
These postseason games take long enough without that sort of bullshit, and i think the league needs to find a way to stop it. Even Bozo Buck and Moron McCarver were commenting that the Yankees should have had Rivera up during the previous at-bat if they knew he was going to be coming in during the inning. If your reliever isn’t ready when the next batter steps to the plate, than bad fucking luck; leave the other guy in there and get on with the game.
Regarding the umpiring, I clicked on the game yesterday a few innings in and was immediately greeted by blown call on a not especially close play at first. Weird.
Phillies in 4. Hands down. 
The Yankees won their 40th pennant last night. The Phillies are a very good team and I expect a 7 game series. Thank goodness we have that fair and sensible All-Star Game method of determining home field…
Give me a shot of what Locrian’s drinking, I want to get fucked up too.
It’s better that the mindless alternating year method.
Seriously, a bigger complaint I have is about the umpiring. I think they need two complete crews plus the 2 extra outfield umps. In the AL park, you use a complete AL crew, and naturally in the NL park, a complete NL crew. After all, if you play the home’s league rules (DH), then you ought to have league-biased umpiring too.
Another great game. I was up in the top tier on the 1b side. The crowd was loud and really into it.
Yanks played a good game and Joe G made the right moves and the Angels made plenty of mistakes as Mike Scioscia was the one to over manage this time. Pulling out Mathis was silly and using Kazmir was insane. A kid with control issues against the second most patient player in baseball was a bad match. The fact it came down to bunts and Scott pulling 2 Knoblauchs is besides the point.
Putting Rivera in for 6 outs was brilliant and boy was the stadium overjoyed to see it. Joba looked good too in the 7th. The scariest moment of the game was seeing Marte warming up in the 7th.
There was nothing wrong with alternating years. Now you’ve got the Phillies penalized for the play of individuals from teams that were out of the race 3 months ago. I think it’s silly to take the result of an exhibition game with special rules and use them to determine home field. Face it, the one and only reason to do it that way was to try to pump up the ratings for Fox.
Regarding the umps, I thought there were no more AL and NL umps, all the umps have the MLB logo on their cap and they work both leagues throughout the year.
You are correct on both counts but on the first part, letting the All Star game determine is no better or worse than the alternating years or the oft suggested give it to the team with the best record. So as the All Star game is the only one that brings in more cash for MLB, why begrudge the choice.
I personally doubt that the All-Star ratings are any higher because of the WS home field angle. As an American League fan in general and a Yankee fan in particular, even I have to sympathize with the Phillies being penalized by what Cubs or Marlins or Giants may have done back in July. I also think it’s a bit biased for the AL in that the NL is forced to take players from 16 teams while the AL only has to pick from 14. That’s a slight edge in the roster for the AL since they have more flexibility in the selections.
There was only one Knoblauch play. On the Swisher bunt, Kendrick just plain dropped the ball.
The All Star game and alternating years are both stupid methods for determining the home team as far as I’m concerned. I’d rather give it to the team with the best record, although that’s also flawed. And in that situation the Yankees would have homefield anyway.
I think we’re looking at a good series here, and I still like the Yankees to win it.