ALDS Game 3: Yankees 7 vs Indians: 2
Clemens (1-0), Westbrook (0-1)
Rivera S1

ALDS Game 4: Yanksees 5 vs Indians 2
Wang (1-1), Sabathia (1-1)
Chamberlain S1

ALDS Game 5: Yankees 9 vs Indians 7
Pettitte (1-0), Carmona (1-1)
Rivera S2

You’re a sore loser, little man.

I concede it was the depth of those previous Yankees teams’ starting rotations rather than the preeminence of one particular pitcher. Still, in almost each of those years, it seemed one of their pitchers pitched with the dominance of an ace– e.g., Boomer in ‘98, Clemens in ‘01, Pettitte in ‘96

Do you really think aces are so scarce however? In the AL East there’s,

1) Beckett
2) Halliday (Burnett could be if he ever managed to stay healthy)
3) Bedard

in the AL Central
1) Verlander
2) Santana
3) Sabathia or Carmona

AL West
1) King Felix
2) Dan Haren
3) John Lackey

Add a pitcher of the caliber of anyone of the above 9-10 pitchers and place him in front of Wang and Pettitte/Hughes and the Yankees, with their lineup, would dominate the AL for the next 5 years.

The Yankees of 96-2001 certainly had guys with good numbers and more importantly guys who were big game pitchers (wells and el duque)but none of them match the dominating stuff of guys like Santana(04-06), Unit/Schill in 2001 and others I mentioned. The Yankees were stocked with #2 and #3 guys who didn’t melt in the post season, in fact, they largely thrived.

It sure does help to have a dominating #1 but how many teams have one? There are a handful of true ace pitchers in the ML, so if you have one you are in a distinct minority.

My point was you need top flight pitching, not necessarily a dominant #1, as well as some offensive capability to create runs when your big guys run into funks. The Yankees of their championship years had this balance, the Yankees since 2001 have not.

I fully believe the Yankees will put some fight into the rest of this series and it will go 5 games. If the underdog can beat the favorite two games in a row, then the new underdog can beat the new favorite 2 games in a row. Game 5 is going to be crazy. We can only hope that Wang or Pettitte can pitch, and pitch well.

This team needs IPK, Hughes, Chamberlain all to pitch well next season. If Andy doesn’t come back, we;re going to need an ace for this staff. Pitchers will be on the market this offseason and during the season for trades. We need to make some sound moves, even if it means giving up some big prospects (hopefully offensive ones). This team never has trouble finding offense with their cash, but pitching is certainly a rare commodity.

Have faith for the next few games. Roger can go 7-8 if the Indians aren’t patient. We’re going to have to use Mo and Joba again, and maybe Farnsworth. BUt let’s not panic with regard to Farnsworth. He could surprise us.

Who will start game 4? I have no idea. I kind of hope it is Moose because I know he’ll go out there with a plan and execute. We should ***DEFINITELY*** take him out in the 5th, regardless of the score, because he starts to falter from the 6th inning on. Hughes needs to be ready to throw 3-4 scoreless innings in relief. he showed some nasty stuff on thursday and he’s still got it in him now.

We need a hero this year. I think it’s Hughes.

If they didn’t have an ace, they certainly had a collection of four to five #2 starters, which is the reason why the won with offensive far inferior to the post-’04 teams.

In ‘96
1) Pettitte was 21-8 with a 3.87 ERA
2) COne was 7-2 with a 2.88 ERA

In 1998,
1) Wells was 18-4 with 3.49 ERA with a perfect game
2) Cone was 20-7 with a 3.55 ERA
3) Duque was 12-4 with a 3.13 ERA

In 1999,
1) Cone was 12-9 with a 3.44 ERA
2) Duque was 17-9 with a 4.12 ERA

In 2000
1) Clemens was 13-8 with a 3.70 ERA
2) Pettitte was 19-9 with a 4.35 ERA

In 2001
1) Clemens was 20-3 with a 3.51 ERA
2) Mussina was 17-11 with a 3.51 ERA
3) Pettitte was 15-10 with a 3.99 ERA

In 2003,
1) Roger Clemens 17-9 with 3.91 ERA
2) Andy Pettitte 21-8 with 4.02 ERA
3) Mike Mussina 17-8 with a 3.40 ERA
4) Wells was 15-7 with a 4.14 ERA

By contrast, since ‘04 the Yankees have had, at best, one or two top starters. Kevin Brown was their best pitcher in ‘04. Need I say more? Mussina hasn’t been better than a #3 since 2003. In 2005, their best pitchers were Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon. In ‘05-’06, The Unit won 17 games but was exhausted by the post-season and pitched poorly. Wang pitched one good post-season game in ‘05, one mediocre one last year, and this year was wretched.

I really liked the confident look Phil Hughes had in Game 1. His body language was excellent. He’s going to be a legitimate #3 starter. The question will be if the Yanks decide Joba is more valuable as a starter or in the bullpen.Down the road Humberto Sanchez could turn into this year’s Joba.Who knows? All I know is I wouldn’t mind a rotation of Joba, Wang, Pettite, Hughes and Kennedy next year.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. ‘07 ain’t over!!! Go Yanks!!!!

The one other thing they had going for them, like any championship team. was a decent offense that could manufacture runs and come up with the occasional big hit.

I maintain The Yankees since 2001 Dbacks have lost their swagger not mainly because of a lack of a true #1 SP, but because of an offensive approach that has failed, and failed some more. They have relied on the long ball at the same time ignoring all semblance of small ball and have paid for it. This a team that looks like a juggernaut when they are on but they look like the most pathetic offense in the entire ML when they are not. What the hell is this?? No protypical #1 is going to cure this offensive disappearance.