Pick an opponent for the division series
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Sep 08, 2009 
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According to Cool Standings, the Yankees have a 99-percent chance of winning the division. So this seems safe to ask:
Who do you want the Yanks to face in the Division Series?
There are two choices, either Texas (if the Rangers win the wild card) or Detroit (if Boston wins the wild card).
Let’s break it down:
Tigers: The Yankees are 5-1 against Detroit this season. The teams have not played since July. The Tigers could line up Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson and Rick Porcello, a formidable trio. They do not have an especially good bullpen, however. The Tigers are one of the worst team in the league offensively but do have a star player in Miguel Cabrera. The X-factor is wily old Jim Leyland, who led the Tigers over the Yankees in the 2006 playoffs. Plus A-Rod could get distracted by poker room at Greektown Casino.
Rangers: Texas is one of the surprise teams in baseball. After winning 79 games a year ago, they are fighting for the wild card with the Red Sox thanks to a pitching staff that is fourth in the American League in ERA and an offense that is second in home runs to the Yankees. Texas has not been to the postseason since 1999 and only a handful of their players have postseason experience. Texas also is three games under .500 on the road. The Yankees are 5-4 against Texas this season. The Rangers took two of three at the Stadium in late August. Young Neftali Feliz could be the K-Rod of the playoffs.
Other things to think about: If Texas is in, that means the Red Sox are out. As Yankee fans, that is ostensibly what you want. But would it be the worse thing in the world for the Angels to the play the Red Sox in the division series? That series could be a bloodbath and the Yankees would get the bruised winner. Perhaps Boston would even eliminate those pesky Halos. I think the Yankees have a better chance to win a game or two on the road at Fenway in the ALCS than they do in Anaheim.
The verdict: To worry about the ALCS, you need to get there first. Texas is a better team than Detroit right now. But those three starters and Jim Leyland would scare me more than the untested Rangers in the postseason. I’d root for Texas to win the wild card.
Which team do you want the Yankees to face? Vote in the poll over to the right.
I learned my lesson about wishing for certain opponents a long time. As far as I’m concern, I think the Yankees can beat any team in the playoffs and that’s the mentality I want them to take into the playoffs. Wishing for certain opponents can be a disppointing experience like the 2006 playoff season.
Totally agree Cash.
Justin Verlander twice in a 5 game series?
the same Justin Verlander who the Yankees NEVER EVER hit….
ill take texas…..but it aint gonna happen
I am with Cash-
Worry about whatever opponent you get when the time comes. The phrase “be careful what you wish for” comes to mind
Cash,
Thanks for saving me the time of typing the same response
Yes Betsy,
It is just baseball. You ought to think about that every time you post one of your im worried about this, or worried about that or the year is a disappointment posts.
Another one in agreement with Cash. We should be concerned with how we are playing, not who we are playing.
Erica,
Have fun tonight. Hope you get to see Derek break the record since I didn’t.
Lets hope the Sox win..I much rather play Detroit (sweeeeeep) and then the Sox/Angels winner. Our pitching staff will be on full rest after a quick sweep and CC AJ will dominate either team.
Erica-
Did you jinx Jetes? Do you have magic powers?
Cash is King-
That about sums it up.
I agree with the others, you can’t wish for a certain opponent. We all saw what happened in 2006 (Tigers) and 2007 (Indians). I just want us to continue to play well and let the chips fall where they may. Who ever we get I’ll be fine with it.
Can we play the Orioles instead?
In all seriousness, as good as Verlander is, he’ll be lined up against Sabathia. Edwin Jackson has fallen back to earth in the 2nd half (just ask my fantasy team) and Porcello is solid but not as good as Andy/AJ. They also don’t have a dominant bullpen and their lineup only has three good hitters (and Granderson can’t hit lefties).
Neftali Feliz is scary as hell and goes two innings at a time. Their power is also scary in new Yankee Stadium and, as their team ERA would attest to, they are a very underrated pitching staff.
Both teams are very good and neither series would be a sure thing, that’s for sure, but I think the better matchup is the Tiger series.
Erica,
Have fun tonight. I didn’t see Jeter break the record so hope you do
“the same Justin Verlander who the Yankees NEVER EVER hit….”
He’s 3-2 against the Yankees with a 4.36 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. He’s still got solid numbers, but I wouldn’t say they don’t hit him.
Pete please revise the poll. Add don’t care or something like that. I cannot vote in the poll. I will not wish for one opponent over another. I wanted the tigers and the Indians and look where that got us.
jennifer -
I like your suggestion.
Cash – and others – are 100% on target.
As John Sterling always says, you can’t predict baseball. All you can do is play well, and the Yanks are doing just that.
Joe Girardi’s challenge will be to keep them playing at this level into October. It’s a challenge, given the time span involved and the level of the competition, but that’s why he gets paid the big bucks.
Posted this late in the other thread. It took me a few minutes to get it right.
Was at the game last night, and after some foolishness about letting the people for the second game in, we settled in for an enjoyable beating of the Rays.
Saw a couple of characters outside the Stadium as we crushed together, texting, calling, waiting to get in at Gate 6, and I felt the artistic eye of Todd Drew. One young guy, in a joysticked wheelchair, was selling candy. He looked like he had CP or some other neuro deficit, couldn’t physically make change. He carried the brightly wrapped candy bars in boxes on his lap, at the mercy of the customers. Everyone who bought candy from him treated him well, even though most people gave him the usual avoidance of eye contact we accord the differently-abled.
All that physical talent inside the shining, palatial stadium, all the god given coordination and the millions flowing toward it, and here was this one kid on the outside hawking candy to make ends meet, if he makes ends meet.
The nuns taught us to smile at people like him, people who get the stares from insensitive adults, the brutal questions from innocent children. It’s a gesture that’s supposed to say “God loves you.” I smiled at him like an idiot even though he couldn’t really smile back. In a few minutes I was inside Gate 6 collecting my collectible stadium miniature give-away, having a beer and sitting next to my beautiful wife. And today I’m at work in an office, starting another week of trying to keep people out of jail while the kid with the joystick listens to the weather and hopes it doesn’t rain tonight in the Bronx.
Jennifer, you didn’t read my post at all because I never said the Yankees weren’t a good team or that I didn’t have faith. I never even said that they were going to get knocked out…..
It was great to see a good game out of AJ, but one concern that I have is that it is in AJ’s head that he cannot pitch to Posada…
I would go with the tigers….Something about the Rangers in the Aug, worried me a bit….
upstate kate
September 8th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Erica-
Did you jinx Jetes? Do you have magic powers?
*****
I hope I have magical powers!!
If I did jinx Jeter, it was unintentional.
But thanks Fran, I am very excited about the game tonight. Jeter 4-4!!!!!
I think the Cleveland series in 07 taught us all not to wish for certain opponents in postseason. Yanks went 6-0 agains them in regualr season, and lost in 4 games in the ALDS to Cleveland. In Post season, anything can happen.
Coach, we’ll just have to agree to disagree. If people think I’m negative, it doesn’t bother me..everyone’s entitled to their opinion.
“We should be concerned with how we are playing, not who we are playing.”
Doreen, I appreciate your reply, but I disagree.
IF the Yankees lose (and I never said they would), reactions will range from they are a bunch of chokers to Joe and Cash must go. Fans will wonder why this team can not come through in the clutch – what’s wrong with Alex, Tex, Jeter, Posada, Alex, Alex? Yes, Alex will take 90% of the blame…If CC doesn’t pitch well, people will say he’s not a true ace and point to his post-season record. If AJ doesn’t pitch well, people will kill him and bemoan the signing. To think this isn’t going to be the case is naïve. There will be a thorough analysis of this team, with the basic variation being why they can not win in the post-season.
Anyway, this has run it’s course……..
considering where i live on cape cod, i’d like texas which would mean the red sox don’t make the playoffs. the silence here even now from red sox fans is very nice. them not even making the playoffs would be even better.
of course the wild card things sucks because the yankees are clearly the best team in the american league . i wish that teams would play a seven game series and play with no days off so the division series really measured a full team.
teams with three good starters like detroit would have much less chance if they had to pitch their whole rotation. and bullpens don’t really get measured the way they do in the regular season.
i realize it’s not going to happen , but as a baseball fan i’d rather the playoffs find out who the best team is rather than find out who has the hot hand.
Like others have said, be careful what you wish for.
’06 & ’07 were supposed to be easy walkovers to the ALCS – look how they turned out.
Randy where on the Cape?
I’ll be returning Columbus Day weekend (Harwich).
That oughta be interesting.
murphydog -
Indeed a Todd Drew-like observation.
I miss his writing very much. And I miss the people he wrote about. I often think about what his “take” would have been on some of the things that have taken place this season. It’s comforting knowing I’m not the only one.
It’s rather early in the morning to be complaining about somebody’s posts. Perhaps ya’ll can wait until a decent hour….like 12:00 PM, so you don’t ruin my breakfast.
randy l -
I so agree with your last post!
At the very least, it seems somehow wrong that a wild card team starts the post-season in the same position as the teams that won their division. Ah, well.
I don’t care who the Yanks play. If you wanna be considered the best team, you go out there and steamroll whoever is in your way. Bring ‘em on.
But if the red sox miss the playoffs, that would be sweet, especially to watch the agony on the faces of those at espn.
Randy, I’m in Hopkinton and would love to have the Sox miss the playoffs. It’s hard to believe how cocky the Sox fans are considering they’ve only won 2 WS in their lifetimes and only one the ALEast once in 15 plus years…
While I agree with the sentiment that it’s risky to hope for a particular opponent how can anyone not vote for the scenario that keeps the Red Sawx out of the playoffs? If the Sawx with playing against the Taliban I’d want them to lose.
Not sure why a snide line about Alex was needed.
Yeah ESPN…hmmm…the Yankees games are always somewhere in the middle of the show now, as are the Angels. If the RS win, the 1st few stories focus on the wild card, otherwise they are buried too.
I don’t care who the Yanks play, and why not? They should be able to beat anyone that’s placed in front of them at this point.
As for the wild card, there should be some sort of “penalty” – people have spoken about perhaps allowing only one home game, for example.
The WCs are on equal footing with the division winners, which inherently really isn’t fair. Many times they’re also the most dangerous – having to fight their way to get that spot while Division winners could be back on their heels a bit after wrapping up things a bit earlier.
Highlight of the games yesterday was Gardners catch.. runner-up would be the Tex HR’s.
Oh and AJ … thank you.
Texas. Because that would keep the Red Sox out of the playoffs. An Angels-Red Sox bloodbath. No way, the Red Sox own the Angels big time.
And there’s still a chance the Yankees could get the Angels in the Division Series if the Rangers surpass them.
“Not sure why a snide line about Alex was needed.”
Reflex.
Randy,
Living outside of Boston I’d love to have the Sox miss the playoffs too. The Sox fans are so full of themselves even though they’ve only won 2 WS in their lifetimes and won the ALEast once in 15 years…
i would prefer to see the sox make the playoffs and then the yanks sweep them in the alcs. there are a lot of closet red sox fans down here that love to talk junk needless to say the last three months have been quiet
“One young guy, in a joysticked wheelchair, was selling candy.”
murphydog-
you have to think the kid’s tough inside and a has lot of heart with a no quit attitude to be doing the best he can to make a living.
too bad he couldn’t come on the blog. i’m sure he could give us all some lessons, including me,and remind us about priorities and keeping the games in perspective .
baseball is a game after all.
it’s easy to forget it.
The RS window may be closing for a while after this year.
They have the same problems the Yanks had circa ’02-’04…a bunch of aging stars clogging up the same positions, and not a strong farm system for support (especially not w/position players) – I think the reality has hit them (and their ESPN shills) finally on the latter point.
Add to that the thinning FA market, some bad contracts, and a “quick fix” isn’t going to be so easy.
Are people seriously still concerned with Boston at this point in the year????
I think I will take the playoffs and W.S. just like every player on the Yankee team is likely to do. One game at a time. Put any stinkers behind me and win the next one.
To approach those truly meaningfull games any other way is more selfdefeating than anything else.
murphydog,
Great post. I was at the first game and know exactly the young man in the wheelchair you’re talking about. I too smiled at him,but then I have to admit a rather sad & cynical thought came to mind. Here is this very handicapped soul with very limited physical abilities. I asked myself if someone was using him a prop? How could this poor guy even set the candies in his lap?
I’m a bit of an easy touch and I had already handed out a dollar to a desperate beggar on the platform (he walked away very happy and we smiled) and to the kids doing backflips on the D train to the ballpark. As we kept walking I felt guily for not at least giving the kid in the wheelchair a buck. I’m glad you brought him up this morning. I’ll include him in my daily prayers.
I don’t care who this team faces, it is their opponent who should be quaking in their cleats.
If Boston wins the Wild Card they won’t have home field advantage, and that’s the kiss of death for them. They are 24 games over .500 at home and 3 games under .500 on the road. They are very tough at home and very beatable on the road. The Yankees, on the other hand, are a bear no matter where they play. No opponent this year is going to be glad to draw the New York Yankees, and for good reason.
Doesn’t matter to me who they play. If the Yankees play well, they can beat anybody.
There are no “easy” teams to play in the post-season. Its going to take a combination of being hot and luck at the right time to win, regardless of the opponent.
“At the very least, it seems somehow wrong that a wild card team starts the post-season in the same position as the teams that won their division.”
doreen-
revenue sharing and the luxury tax are not the only hurdle the yankees have. the playoff structure is another way of creating parity in the sense anyone can win once they get there because the playoffs don’t really measure a whole team against another whole team.
i also don’t like as a yankee fan hearing from some red sox fans how smart theo is in building a team for the playoffs rather than the regular season. like they tried to be 9 games behind the yankees .
there really should be more of a penalty for the wild card team. maybe they should have the top two teams in the wild card race play each other in a playoff. in this case there’d be a one game playoff between the red sox and texas .
if the team that wins the playoff game that then beats in a seven game series the team with the best record ,then you’d have to tip your hat to the wild card winner.
in the past 3 years, i have remained confident the Angels dominance over the Yankees was over. In particular, from the time Girardi took over. Has anything changed? NOPE
i will be dammmed, if i wish for them in the playoffs. Only a fool would. Until it is proven otherwise, they own us.
i prefer to let Boston do our dirty work, and knock them out of the playoffs
Buster Olney’s latest Insider piece:
“Derek Jeter’s unbroken contract with fans
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Derek Jeter finished playing catch with Robinson Cano in front of the Yankees’ dugout early Monday afternoon, about 10 minutes before the first pitch of the doubleheader, and as he jogged off the field, Tina Stawinski stood at a railing about 75 feet behind the Yankees’ dugout, holding up a glove on her left hand, calling to him.
Jeter whirled his arm like a fast-pitch softball pitcher and flipped the ball to Stawinski, who caught it with both hands. And then she turned and rushed back to her seat, a couple of rows back, and started to shake. Overjoyed, she flipped open a cell phone and called her friend Kyle and told him about her latest connection with her favorite player.
Jeter has never disappointed her, or other fans. Young and old have invested in him through the years as a hero, and he has paid off over and over and over.
Jeter has never showed up on a police blotter, never posed for a mug shot, never testified before Congress about allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. His name has never appeared in a dark chapter of a Jose Canseco book, and no one has ever suggested he’s one of the names on the list of 104 players from the 2003 testing.
He’s never been accused of punching anybody in a nightclub at 2 a.m., never accidentally shot himself in the leg while illegally carrying a concealed firearm, never got hauled into court for tax evasion, never been forced to give statements vetted by lawyers preparing for the possibility of trial. He gets hits and scores runs, and when fans call to him, he answers, and signs thousands and thousands of autographs for free. Stawinski, from Sayreville, N.J. has always been a Yankees fan, and was brought to old Yankee Stadium as a kid by her grandfather. His favorite player was Joe DiMaggio, and when she was a young girl, she started following the Yankees’ new shortstop. He wore No. 2, and so did she, while playing softball.
She got her first autograph from him at the stadium in 1996, when she was 10. Stawinski was on one side of a barricade, pressed at the front of a crush of fans, and as he approached, she began to cry. Jeter saw the girl, tipped his sunglasses onto his forehead and walked over to her. “I started shaking,” Stawinski recalled, sitting at her seat. “He said, ‘Don’t cry, sweetheart.’ Everyone was pushing up against me, and the barricade was falling over, and he started telling everyone, ‘Quit pushing, quit pushing.’ And he gave me an autograph.”
She has six Jeter autographs now — three on baseballs, one on a hat, another on a glove, one on the cover of a People magazine. And now she has a baseball tossed to her from the field.
When Jeter was growing up in Kalamazoo, Mich., Charles and Dorothy Jeter drew up contracts annually with their two children agreements about their behavior, about how they would handle situations, about their schoolwork. At stake for Derek, of course, were his extracurricular activities: Sports. Charles and Dorothy signed the contract, and so did Derek. For him, it was simple: If he adhered to his part of the deal, then he could do what he wanted to do, which was to play baseball.
The bargain continues for him, into his mid-thirties. David Cone said years ago that while most great players didn’t like the demands of living life in the superstar’s fishbowl, Jeter loved that part of it, rose to it, embraced it; he likes being a role model. There is a code of conduct that goes along with that, yes, but there is a special power, too, to create a memory for a child, a senior citizen, someone going through the worst of times.
In the first very first weeks after 9/11 eight years ago, I remember how a daughter of one of the pilots on a hijacked planes was brought to Yankee Stadium, and how Jeter stood by the stands and chatted with her cheerily, before ushering her onto the field and introducing her to some of the other Yankees, good-naturedly teasing. I wish I had written down what he had said, exactly, but I recall him being so natural and so at ease, and I remember thinking that at that moment, he might have been one of only two or three people in the world who might have brought a smile to her face, in the way that he did. The relationship between a superstar and the fans who revere him can be complicated. As a player, Ted Williams refused to tip his cap to the Red Sox fans, tempted though he was after hitting a home run in his last at-bat. Mickey Mantle, prone to rashes of strikeouts and helmet throwing, heard many boos from Yankee fans.
Jeter heard smatterings of boos a few years ago, in the midst of a deep slump, but never complained about it, never answered with a one-figured salute in the way that Jack McDowell did, never altered the way he conducted himself. He just kept playing and kept running hard, and eventually, he started hitting again, and those few who booed rejoined the congregation who cheered for him. They believe in him, always will.
Oh, sure, he has hitless games, some in October. But he has been a great player, always running hard to first, and above and beyond that, Jeter has always been who they hoped he would be.”
——————————–
as far as Post-Season opponent I want to see: first Detroit and then Boston.
this is the Yankee team that can give us fans some measure of redemption for the horror show that was 2004.
Cash is King’s first post on this thread summed it up for me. Whoever it is, bring it on
-AS a proud Yankees fan,I see a hungry no fear dig deep cohesive group of guys.I’m looking forward to postseason,with Jeter,Andy,Mo,Joe G,and Posada,right there leading through example,and being a rich source of information about the process,and what the newbees are to expect.
-Homefield is precious in postseason and the Yankeess play well here.May that be more so in postseason.
-Hope Gaudin can give the Yankees 6 innings today to not tax the pen,even 5 would help.
-Since you need 4 pitchers in postseason.What if Joe got creative and used Joba and Gudin,or Mitre and Joba then ,go to the pen either Ace or Phil,and Mo if needed?
———————OR————————————-
-Couldn’t the 3 back end pitchers Joba,Mitre,Gaudin piggy back each other in a game IF needed,going 3 innings each,then go to the pen?
-All three are good in short burst right now,none can go the 7 innings distance,it could work.
I agree, there needs to be some penalty for winning the wild card. Maybe add a second and as someone suggested a one game play off between the two. I wouldn’t add another round because you’d have the division winners sitting and getting cold). Or as someone else suggested only 1 home game. It is too easy for a wild card team to roll in and win it all. How many times has the wild card won the WS in the last few years?
From the other thread…..
If the regular season is “meaningless”, then why watch the games? Just watch them in October.
For a team that didn’t even make the playoffs last year, whatever happens from hereon out doesn’t diminish the season.
This has been a GREAT season so far for the Yankees. The entire organization has been reborn. Why not be happy about that?
Fact is, George Steinbrenner was WRONG about the “WS or bust” attitude. That’s not how you evaluate teams.
You evaluate teams on whether or not they improve from the previous year.
This team didn’t make the playoffs last year. Getting in this year already makes it a good season. Anything after that is a bonus.
randy l -
I like that scenario – a two-team wild card playoff prior to the ALDS – and I think we’ve discussed that here before.
I guess it’s good for MLB’s bottom line to have things lined up this way. But adding another layer to the playoffs would create more money making opportunity, wouldn’t it? Or are they worried another tier of playoffs would dilute the situation even more so than it is now?
It seems to take so long to get to the WS. And there are too many off days.
And, as in many “parity” situations, the “best” is not necessarily rewarded. A part of me has some difficulty with mediocrity being rewarded. (But, full disclosure, if the Yankees were to be the beneficiaries of that policy, then I guess I’d “somehow” come to grips with it
)
sj44-
there was some discussion late last night about what a special team was and whether this 2009 yankee team is a special team.
after watching it come together as the year went on, it feels like it is . i’d like to think this team can create some of it’s own hotness and luck.
Drive 4-5:
To be honest the thought crossed my mind too, whether there was some cynical act in play. But regardless of his bona fides, which for what it’s worth I resolved quickly not to doubt, it’s a moment to look inside. In my business they say it is better that a thousand guilty men go free than one innocent man be convicted. In a way, I’m a better man if I am fooled into compassion than goaded into suspicion. At least I think so
in the past 3 years, i have remained confident the Angels dominance over the Yankees was over. In particular, from the time Girardi took over. Has anything changed? NOPE
i will be dammmed, if i wish for them in the playoffs. Only a fool would. Until it is proven otherwise, the Angels OWN us.
i prefer to let Boston do our dirty work, and knock them out of the playoffs for us.
SJ44, I’m so sick and tired of this Steinbrenner/media-hyped “WS or bust” attitude. I seem to remember a stretch, a very long one, from 1982-1994. Where was the WS or bust attitude there? And the Yankees didn’t turn it around until Steinbrenner got suspended (again), so he really had nothing to do with getting to the WS.
Sorry to vent, but these myths created largely by the media are just annoying.
Lastly, you are correct. Much better team this year, and post season is gravy in the improvement department.
My preference is for the Rangers but only because that means I would get to see a couple of games in Arlington.
Firing up the Five Iron mobile for the first trip to the new Stadium.
Past years saw Clemens first game back and the Sidney Ponson experience face the Mets on the back half (Shea side) of the home and home double header.
Regarding Jeter – at that Shea game saw he and Cano playing long toss during warm ups. Jeter was in the extreme left field corner and Cano at home plate. The throws, with what looked like no effort, travelled 300 feet directly to each other’s gloves. Unbelieveable how effortless and easy that looked. Also saw the Fenway back to back to back to back homerun game when I saw Andy Pettite warming up in the bullpen from up close and had the same feeling. These guys are on a completely different level.
So based on past experience I am predicting a 3-5 night from Jeter to get the record.
I fear the Rangers. To me, a series with Texas has “UPSET” written all over it in bold letters.
Somehow, the Yankees typically fare better against better pitchers they’ve seen numerous times (i.e. Verlander, Jackson) than they do against lesser pitchers they haven’t seen much of (i.e. Hunter, Nippert).
(Disclaimer of Serious Bias: I live in Michigan, 13 minutes from Comerica, and am desperately hopeful of seeing the Yankees come here…)
Randy,
I think if they win the WS, its definitely a “special” kind of team.
Aside from that though, the culture has changed around the Yankees. Not around some of its fans, who are overly negative and/or overly concerned about everything Boston Red Sox.
Throughout the organization though, significant culture changes have taken place.
The clubhouse is a friendlier, more together place. That’s something other players talk about to each other around the batting cages. In other words, it makes coming to the Yankees less daunting for players. That’s a big plus.
The organizations committment to their farm system has re-energized the guys in it. They now know if they play well, they are going to get a fair look at playing for the Yankees at the big league level. That’s a HUGE culture change.
All of the community work the players have done this year has made this team a more “approachable” team than the teams of the last 4-5 years. Again, a departure from the past and a big positive.
They are laying the foundation for the future with what they are accomplishing this year.
If they can win it all? Obviously, that would be fantastic.
However, if they don’t, they can’t let the negative nellies in the media and fan base dictate their thinking and change the path they are currently on.
That’s what happened after the 2001 WS, and the Yankees lost their way for quite a few years because they went away from a winning formula.
No matter what happens the rest of the way, I don’t want to see them change their course because they are on the right path for long term success again.
The other thing is that if Texas gets in, it means they are playing really good. And with Young hurt right now and Hamilton hobbled, it means that the other guys are turning it on. It could be bad news to meet up with them if that scenario happens, and Young and Hamilton are getting healthy as well.
Unlikely, but not out of the question yet that Texas could take out LA for the division, and we end up in a 5 ghmer against LA.
SJ: I was saying that this is a special team last night…
Joe has done a lot to make the clubhouse a more together place. That started in ST this year. Canceling practice to go play pool. Allowing the male children both before and after games win or lose. Allowing the girls in on specific days (only because the players have to get dressed out of sight.)
-The wildcard is Selig’s gift to the NL,because of the money that larger markets enjoy.He’s never going to change the wildcard.
-It does what he intended.Lousy performing teams can get hot midseason,and back into the postseason AND WIN the WS.
-Selig is the former owner of the Brewers,as a small market owner,he favors the NL,who wants a salary cap on the amount of money a team could spend.
-This brain child of Selig (the wildcard) was to appease the small markets.He won’t put a stumbling block in their way.
-Look up how many wildcard teams won the WS,since the conception of this tool,that watered down the true meaning of the World Series,the best from both leagues,meet a play.
-With the wildcard,you get the team playing the best those 7 games,even if they had a losing or barely passing season.
-SELIG will never ,give this highly favorable to the Wildcard winners to win, scheme up.
-I personally hate the wildcard because it waters down the meaning of the best team won.
-I’M a pennant person,this hasn’t been tainted,yet it still means based on you record THE BEST!!
-Selig may try to screw around with this too I’m sure.
There is talk that the hottest team wins in October. While this may have been true lately, the 96-01 teams weren’t necessarily the hottest team in October, but rather were just flat out better than everyone else. This current Yankee team has that same feeling. I know there have been other great regular season teams (see 2001 mariners), but this core group has more playoff experience than anyone else in the league and the way they have come back to win so many games shows they don’t give up.
I really like that article posted above about Jeter’s unspoken contract to the fans. Whoever is going to the game tonight have fun! Every time Jeter got up at the plate last night the place was going crazy ( and the stadium wasn’t even that packed). I still think its kind of funny that he went 0-8 last night. Booing the pitcher when he walked Jeter was fun too
I’ll never forget the beating we took in 06 from Tiger pitchers, so I’m hoping for Texas.
As a a fan this has been a great season. How much fun it has been to watch them winning so often. A good post-season would,of course, be special, but regardless, I have had a heck of a good season watching baseball. Thank you Yankees, organization and players.
-Marcy
Yet that same Tigers team showed up to the lowest rated WS,in St Louis,and were so spent,they allowed the Cardinals to sweep their butts out of town.
Eveything they did great with the Yankees, fielding,pitching,batting,they froze up in St Louis.
I think they partied too much before the WS,being happy they beat the Yankees.
I think the Angels will knock out whoever they play in the ALDS. They match up much better against the Sox than they have in the past and this year’s Boston team is very mediocre on the road. If we’re going to the Series, the road is going through Los Angeles (of Anaheim).
NYY626
September 8th, 2009 at 10:36 am
I really like that article posted above about Jeter’s unspoken contract to the fans. Whoever is going to the game tonight have fun! Every time Jeter got up at the plate last night the place was going crazy ( and the stadium wasn’t even that packed). I still think its kind of funny that he went 0-8 last night. Booing the pitcher when he walked Jeter was fun too
****
Me! Me!!
Erica – I am super jealous that you are going tonight! I was determined to buy tickets Monday morning and I was debating wheter to buy for the Monday night or Tues night game. I knew whichever game I picked would be the wrong one LOL. I don’t know if its going to happen tonight though anyway. A part of me wants to buy tickets for Wednesday….
For my wallet’s sake and Jeter’s mental health ( and for your sake too Erica), I hope he goes on a tear tonight and gets it done
A.B.B. (Anybody But Boston).
Not afraid of them…
I just love the thought of them sitting at home and watching us on TV.
Id rather play Texas. The Yankees will pick apart that pen in the late innings as they always do. i could see the Yankees winning in 4 in that series. I agree with Pete , id rather play the Red Sox than the angels if I were the yankees.
I meant Detroit
sj44-
it was indeed rebecca who initiated the “special” team discussion .
at first i said the 2009 team has to win it all to be special, but then after some discussion where the 1960 world series came up between the pirates and the yankees, i changed my mind. getting to the world series seems important though to be considered a special team.
that said i agree about the direction the team is going in. several things impress me, arod listening to long and changing his approach to a higher contact one( he’ll still get his home runs), hughes’ development, girardi’s use of the whole team mixing and matching as he went along finding out combinations that work like melky and gardner.
sabathia and teixeira have been exactly as hoped for so there is a really strong base moving forward.
I’d face Detroit if it was up to me. Let the Sox and the Angels play a knock around five game series in the ALDS where the Sox have to take two trips out West. The Sox are the only team that can knock out the Angels aside from us so I’d rather face the Tigers and the winner of Sox/Angels than the Rangers and the Angels, who would easily beat the Tigers in 3 or 4 games.
I agree with other posters that picking the playoff opponent just leads to disappointment. I believe that this Yankees team is capable of beating any team they might face. They can play both long and small ball. They have an above average defensive unit (well above in some positions), they have an above average bench/reserve unit that can hit, run, and position play. Their starters are very good (CC and Pettitte are great, AJ has the stuff if his head is right), and the bullpen is poised to convert wins as early as the 5th inning or bail out the starting staff, if needed. They win at home AND away. The team simply does not give up.
Some teams may match up better than others with the Yankees, but I don’t think anyone wants to meet the Yanks in a short series. The Angels are a better team that than they were when the swept the Yanks before the All Star Break, but the Yankees have amassed an even better record since then. I am looking forward to see how these last meetings before the end of the season play out.
The only thing (and it is a BIG THING) about Detroit is the likelihood of having to beat Verlander twice in best 3 out of 5 series.
Having said that, I am comforted by the fact that in both games the Yankees face Verlander (probably Games 1 and 4) we will probably have CC on the mound. I anticipate this happening because the Yankees will probably win home field for the playoffs and I assume that they will opt for the extra days rest in the first round which means that they will be more likely to go with a 3 man rotation because the Game 1 and Game 2 starters can pitch twice in the series on full rest. My guess is Leyland does the same thing.
Therefore, you CC and Verlander pitch against each other in Games 1 and 4 (if it goes beyond 3 games). Even if Verlander beats CC twice, the Yankees could still win the series because the pitching match ups in the other games lean toward the Yankees and if Detroit were to win a Game 5, it would be at Yankee Stadium without their best pitcher on the mound. Factor in that the Yankees have a better lineup and bullpen and I think we get thru to the ALCS this year.
But like I said in previous threads, the key in the first round is to win the second game before the other team does. This forces them to play at least 1 elimination game that we dont have to play and it guarantees that if they are to beat us, it will have to be done in deciding 5th game at Yankee Stadium.
Lets see, bad bullpen and one of the worst offenses in the AL…..hmmmmm…….still thinking. Yep, bring on the Tigers.
The ARod gambling comment was totally unnecessary. Stay professional man.
murphydog
September 8th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Posted this late in the other thread. It took me a few minutes to get it right.
Was at the game last night, and after some foolishness about letting the people for the second game in, we settled in for an enjoyable beating of the Rays.
Saw a couple of characters outside the Stadium as we crushed together, texting, calling, waiting to get in at Gate 6, and I felt the artistic eye of Todd Drew. One young guy, in a joysticked wheelchair, was selling candy. He looked like he had CP or some other neuro deficit, couldn’t physically make change. He carried the brightly wrapped candy bars in boxes on his lap, at the mercy of the customers. Everyone who bought candy from him treated him well, even though most people gave him the usual avoidance of eye contact we accord the differently-abled.
All that physical talent inside the shining, palatial stadium, all the god given coordination and the millions flowing toward it, and here was this one kid on the outside hawking candy to make ends meet, if he makes ends meet.
The nuns taught us to smile at people like him, people who get the stares from insensitive adults, the brutal questions from innocent children. It’s a gesture that’s supposed to say “God loves you.” I smiled at him like an idiot even though he couldn’t really smile back. In a few minutes I was inside Gate 6 collecting my collectible stadium miniature give-away, having a beer and sitting next to my beautiful wife. And today I’m at work in an office, starting another week of trying to keep people out of jail while the kid with the joystick listens to the weather and hopes it doesn’t rain tonight in the Bronx.
====
This is a very moving slice of life account of the Stadium yesterday between games. I was there, too, and you captured the buzz outside, the different energies, the jewels we find in the ordinary, very nicely.
It really doesn’t matter, because when it come to October. The Yankees are chokers. CC, AJ and Mrs. Teixiera have no proven play-off skills. and to top off an un-challenging September. They most likely will pull what the un-challenged Angels pull year-in and year-out! One BIG Goose egg!
Boston in 7 against Detroit……much to your dismay!
mike the blowhard is back stating the obvious about jeter. he should get a writer.
for the love of god can we please avoid an injury and at the same time send joba to a motivational seminar at the holiday inn?
I just looked at the published schedule for the playoffs and WS.
Looks like the Yankees will only need 3 starting pitchers, except a 4th starting pitcher will be needed twice (assuming no injuries).
Here’s the way it could go (if all series go the full length):
ALDS A
Gm 1 10/7 CC
Gm 2 10/9 AJ
Gm 3 10/11 Andy
Gm 4 10/12 CC
Gm 5 10/14 AJ
LCS
Gm 1 10/16 Andy
Gm 2 10/17 CC
Gm 3 10/19 AJ
Gm 4 10/20 Joba
Gm 5 10/22 CC
Gm 6 10/24 AJ
Gm 7 10/25 Andy
WS
Gm 1 10/28 CC
Gm 2 10/29 AJ
Gm 3 10/31 Andy
Gm 4 11/1 Joba
Gm 5 11/2 CC
Gm 6 11/4 AJ
Gm 7 11/5 Andy
This is a tough choice — agree with the majority — the Yankees can’t wish for anything but to be playing their best and to get a bit of luck.
Feliz scares the hell out of me, but the Tigers do as well. I couldn’t agree more with Marcy: the ’06 Tiger pitching shellacked the Yankees.
My concern — in two starts against the Yankees this season, Verlander has gone 14 innings (7 in each) with 15 Ks, 1 BB and 2 ER. The one salvo is that the Yankees did manage to pound out 14 hits. If Verlander comes in and dominates in Game 1 with a shaky performance from CC, it could get nasty. Yankee teams in the last 5-6 years have NOT fared well against strikeout pitchers in October.
Just a thought — getting excited for the playoffs nonetheless. It’s good to be back.
I’m with Cash, and I don’t care. Just tell ‘em who, and go get it done.