Wrapping up Game 4
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Alex Rodriguez is crushing the ball, CC Sabathia is everything anyone could have hoped for and the Yankees are one win away from their first World Series in six years.
“We’re not comfortable,” Nick Swisher said. “We’ve got some work to do. We’re not quite where we want to be, but we feel like if we keep going out there and playing good baseball like this, we’ve got a chance.”
That’s what the playoffs are about. Much is always made about the fact that the best team doesn’t always win in the postseason, but so far the Yankees are playing like a team that is going to give itself a chance.
They made a few base-running mistakes tonight — though they weren’t always punished for them — but this has generally been a fairly clean postseason in terms of Yankees fundamentals. They have a clean-up hitter and a lead-off hitter who have been good enough to carry a lineup that has otherwise gotten big hits from different hitters night-to-night. They have a rotation that’s been consistent behind a no-doubt-about-it ace, and they have a bullpen that’s become a reliable bridge to the game’s top closer.
Let’s give the last word of the night to Rodriguez, who was asked if his postseason will finally eliminate the questions about his ability to perform on this stage.
“Well, I’m not sure about that,” he said. “I will say that in other postseasons I failed and sometimes failed miserably. It certainly feels good to come through for my team and help the team win.”
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on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 1:21 am by Chad Jennings.
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Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
A hot Alex? you can’t stop him you can only hope to contain him
not only is arod playing great but his comments are spot on.
arod has been a monster…..
Thank you, Chad.
I love that answer by Alex. He really doesn’t owe anybody an answer to such a ridiculous question. This is a team game, you win as a team and lose as a team.
But he answered it perfectly.
Not only is Arod doing everything right, he’s saying all the right things, who is this man? I love it! lol
One more win. Lets close it out.
The boys in Pinstripes look great! I’m really happy to see Alex get the playoff monkey off his back. The team looks unstoppable!
Jay
bodhisattva – Destiny Wears….. October 21, 2009 at 12:52am
BTW, I asked you this once before, but don’t know if you saw the post.
Have you tried A Taste of Asia in Chatham? It’s exceptional Malaysian. Any way, they have a great Sunday Dim Sum.
_________________________________________\
If you’re still online, the answer is that we have not. I go past it at least a few times a week on general errands but have never stopped in.
We have a restaurant in a nearby town (New Providence) that serves almost the same style of food that we frequent a lot.
Are my suspicions correct that you are a Fagan/Becker fan?
Uncle Ellsworth,
Thanks, and glad you like the haikus!
Just looks and sounds like finally something clicked in Alex’s head. He finally got out of his own way and is just letting his playing do all the talking. Here’s hoping he can keep helping the team win.
Does Alex finally “get it”?
When Rodriguez was asked if the toughest part of his day was explaining how he was doing what he is doing, he laughed and said it was not.
“I don’t talk much anymore,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t have to explain myself. That’s a good thing.”
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/.....for-a-rod/
Great job w/all the audio, LHYB Staff, it’s primary reason TheBlog remains the go to center for NYY Universe, around the world. Chad’s ’someone with a microphone’ should be repeated wide & often; see you ESPN tomorrow morning.
Swisher doesn’t look comfortable, particularly at the plate. He is squeezing the bat into sawdust.
G. Love,
“Melky had an abysmal series until tonight. It wasn’t your faith in him that got him those hits, it’s the law of averages. He has good numbers against Kazmir.
Spare us your excellent acumen on how incredible he is since up until tonight he was a black hole in the lineup along with Cano, Tex and Swisher and Damon to an extent.”
Melky was 1 for 2 in Game 1 with 2 walks and a run. In Game 2, he was 2 for 6. That is not abysmal. He hit .375 with a .500 OBP in the first 2 games. Watch the games, they have been really good.
“How this is still Garnder vs. Melky is beyond me since most of the people on the blog wanted gardner in for swisher and most of us were saying you can’t sit Melky as he has good numbers vs. Kazmir.
Why don’t you get over your personal obsessions with certain players and just root for the team, the team that Melky and Gardner both happen to be a part of?”
Swisher hasn’t done a good job in the playoffs, but he had a great season at the plate and had a much better chance to be productive than Gardner. It’s not even close.
It’s not about personal obsessions. Gardner was a backup all year. He isn’t going to replace Swisher because of a few bad games at the plate.
Swisher needs a day off badly
Where are all the experts that said Girardi was a pathetic coward that can’t manage? That he had burned out bullpen? That Melky should sit? By the way, how many rbis does Torii have in postseason? Ellsbury? Victorino? Gomez? Just wondering how we ever got best record in baseball with that albatross in CF.
And tonight ended all debates on Posada being a good catcher. Case closed. He doesn’t know how many outs are in innings more often than not. While this is bizarre for the other 7 positions for the pitcher or catcher it’s just insanity. Knowing the outs is essential to what pitch is thrown, where fielders are positioned, and so on. Also, is it that far off to suggest that if he doesn’t keep track of the outs that he also doesn’t know the count? Oh wait. We’ve seen him run to dugout after two strikes. That’s why he calls a bad game and that’s why he’s one of the worst catchers in game. He’s not smart enough to play the position.
What an awesome game tonight! I am so glad the boys are up 3 games to 1. Too bad I could not be on here with the rest of you bloggers during the game. Thursday can’t come soon enough…I hope tomorrow flies by.
Please Erica-always OPPC I know that you will do a fantastic job of the countdown…no pressure
What an amazing job by CC in shutting down the Angels bats! Just sitting here thinking about all the critics and their 3 days rest theories…
bodhi,
I’m not arguing for one over the other. The fact is that Cabrera is playing well, that’s all that matters. Now if people want to play fun and build up the 24th guy on the roster, it’s harmless fun. No one is seriously calling for Gardner to start over Cabrera. And if they are, then they really shouldn’t be taken seriously, right?
GB7 is correct that Gardner has a lot to learn, but he’s not as horrible as some make him out to be. The fact that he’s a defensive replacement late in games and is trusted by the staff means something. They must not be too worried about the routes he takes, his arm, and his decision making out there.
You just knew it was gonna be a lopsided Yankee win today. I hope Tex and Swish have big game 5’s so we can go into the series really firing on all cylinders.
I knew CC would be great on 3 days rest. The guy is just one of the best power pitchers in the game today. If Curt Schilling was able to do it and John Beckett so could CC.
Imback,
Girardi did not need to manage this game. There was no managing needed. To say that this game is proof that Girardi is a good manager is a bit out there. Girardi is a good manager because he did a good job with the Marlins, and did a great job with the Yankees this year.
It’s just as crazy to say that Posada is one of the worst catchers in the game because he lost track of how many outs there were after the double play. He’s had a great postseason on offense and hasn’t cost the Yankees any games on defense.
Several Yankees, including Swisher and Mark Teixeira, could be heard laughing about McClelland’s account from the bathroom area of the clubhouse. One player said that McClelland should have been looking at Swisher’s heel.
“In my heart,” Teixeira said to a Yankees official as he returned to his locker. “That’s funny. That’s a good one.”
anybody kinda want the yanks to lose thursday so they can clinch at the stadium? iirc no team has clinched at home this postseason
Jorge sure has had a few old-timers moments.
It was pretty funny since we were up at that point, but if that mistake cost us or if we lost this game it wouldn’t be so funny.
Yesterday was the best, though. The ump tried to punch Posada out, but Jorgie knew the deal. There were only 2 strikes.
But I’m sure his teammates are having a few laughs at his expense. And Tex was telling Jorge, “There are only 2 outs!”
i like pizza
October 21st, 2009 at 2:09 am
anybody kinda want the yanks to lose thursday so they can clinch at the stadium? iirc no team has clinched at home this postseason
*******
No let the Yankees win in Anaheim. No sense in having them come back home when they can get the job done there. We will have plenty of time to celebrate.
Will Game 5 be televised at YS again? Or was that a one-time thing?
“in my heart I felt he left early” is the most pathetic excuse I’ve ever heard.
Just say you messed up McLelland. Your idiotic excuse is just fuel on a fire of incompetence.
How about “in my EYES” I thought he left early you dunce??
CC saw CC came CC conquered.
Credit the Daily News for some great photos:
http://www.nydailynews.com/spo.....ngels.html
m, I just watched the Lakers highlights from tonights exhibition game, man they look very good……They’re going to win in the high 60’s……
Frank from Chatham, NJ
October 21st, 2009 at 2:35 am
Credit the Daily News for some great photos:
http://www.nydailynews.com/spo…..ngels.html
************
Thanks for the link! Those were some really great photos.
M-
Will Game 5 be televised at YS again?
____________________________________
What is “YS?”
Frank,
Thanks for that. Great pictures indeed.
This one of Jeter in the air was the best. I don’t know if he’s doing Brazilian martial arts or if he’s Captain Courageous.
http://www.nydailynews.com/spo......html#ph23
Also, one of hte pictures reminded me that Aybar was none too pleased with Melky tonight.
Remember when Mark Grace was rambling on about being a bully or a tough guy? I don’t know what he was talking about, but it looks like the Yankees passed whatever test he was talking about.
Pat M,
Haven’t seen them. I saw a tease about Kobe and Captain Ron on espnews. I hope that doesn’t mean he’s a captain.
So, you get to use your game 5 ticket after all. You know if we lose, it’s your fault right?
Yankee Stadium. For the longest time I called it NYS for New Yankee Stadium. But I’ve finally dropped the “New” because it’s finally broken in!
m, I plan on watching them celebrate the 2009 AL Pennant on the field that has been a thorn in my side this entire decade…..And finally I can tell all the Angel fans and the million or so bandwagon fans to stick it……
sounds like jeter finally shared his playbook with a-rod
There was no doubt tonight, none. The Angels fans didn’t all know it, however. What a bunch of annoying [REDACTED]. Ugh. And the thunder sticks.
I won’t miss them.
Nick in SF in… Torrance? Long Beach?
October 21st, 2009 at 3:24 am
There was no doubt tonight, none. The Angels fans didn’t all know it, however. What a bunch of annoying [REDACTED]. Ugh. And the thunder sticks.
I won’t miss them.
********
Nick, don’t worry the rest of us back here in NY won’t miss those thundersticks either. They are just plain annoying!
i think it was pretty obvious what happened with the Swisher blown call. the ump had witnessed the blown pickoff call at 2nd base moments earlier. either he saw the mistake live or the replay on the scoreboard. either way he decided he had to makeup that bad call by incorrectly ruling Swisher left early to try to even things out. the problem with that is that you are compounding the previous error.
makeup calls are ok for balls/strikes-ump realizes previous pitch was a strike but he called it a ball, so he calls the next pitch out of the zone a strike- it’s simple. but in that situation a tough, close play that was missed by an ump at 2nd turned into a ridiculous blown makeup call that could’ve cost the Yankees multiple runs. the umps should just try to minimize blown calls and not try to make them up.
I am just glad that every regular got a hit, with RISP or not, other than Swisher.
Seems the whole lineup is just starting to wake up.
How good did CC look tonight?! I mean, wow! It’s one thing to be a great regular season pitcher, but to be an absolute shut-down, ace in the postseason is beyond great…CC,A.J.,Tex and Swish were tremendous off-season pickups and they’ve been paying off all year…all we need is to get Tex rolling and we’ll be even more incredible!
God bless our Yankees!!!!!!
just tuning into lohud now (after night of fun)
but, didn’t like seeing cc in ice(elbow, shoulder), looking sad and petrified, (like he’d just pitched his last game). that creeped me out.
i dont’ want to see it again. and i don’t care if this team wins it all, but i dn’t want to see joe g. l’idiot in managing one more game. and that means i want cash gone as well.
A-ROD! A-ROD! says:
October 21, 2009 at 4:04 am
just tuning into lohud now (after night of fun)
but, didn’t like seeing cc in ice(elbow, shoulder), looking sad and petrified, (like he’d just pitched his last game). that creeped me out.
i dont’ want to see it again. and i don’t care if this team wins it all, but i dn’t want to see joe g. l’idiot in managing one more game. and that means i want cash gone as well.
———————————
Icing his shoulder and elbow is part of his routine. And where do you get “sad and petrified” from? The guy talked about how healthy and great he feels and while reminding everyone there’s still work to be done.
And by the way, one of the reasons he’s healthy is because he’s lucky enough to have a manager that is mindful of his workload. You know, the same guy who led this team to the best record in baseball this year.
The same guy you want fired.
CC sad and petrified in ice. Every pitcher ices after a game, thats ridiculous. Way to enjoy the victory, I do’t love Girardi but today’s not the day to complain. Nevermind you’re clearly not really a baseball fan, even Mo ices his arm it’s standard practice in the game. Bring something better than that, CC just pitched the game of his life…aaaargh (in lieu of name calling)
Tony-
no big deal, it’s not like they’re on ice, permanently, like Ted Williams
Yawning disparity in MLB getting tiresome
The best you can realistically hope for over the next few years is another big enhancement in baseball’s revenue-sharing system, hopefully with stricter rules requiring teams receiving those funds to spend them on payroll.
That wouldn’t stop the Yankees from buying their way into the playoffs every year, but something has to be done to keep hope alive in the hinterlands.
peter.schmuck@baltsun.com
“anybody kinda want the yanks to lose thursday so they can clinch at the stadium? iirc no team has clinched at home this postseason”
Not me, I want this series over with as quickly as possible and that means winning Thursday. Forget clinching or celebrating at home as it is overrated except for those at the game. When you have a good team like the Angels down, you go for the jugular and move on to the WS.
check out alex’s grab: http://i35.tinypic.com/16j31ph.gif
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/n.....LU4ZDXvvDO
Steve Phillips fail
I like it…but at what point this year did AROD stop using the word I and started using the word we and mean it..
Hi all!
This will be my last post before I’m off on my vacation – I will miss everyone. Someone needs to be the designated worrier while I’m gone……Doreen?
Man, CC is an animal……what a stud. He should never have to answer any ? about his post-season performance again. 101 pitches in 8 innings? Whew……Alex is just phenomenal…..and he’s doing it in all aspects. I missed his HR, but I loved the hit he got late in the game, when he tagged up on the fly ball and scooted home on the overthrow. Right now, Alex is making the game seem awfully easy.
Nice to get Gaudin some work ,and he didn’t fool around and make it at all interesting.
All I can say now is go AJ! He’s got a chance to get this team to the WS and I hope he does.
I will be going through blog withdrawal on vacation!
Bye all!
Regarding Phillips, I don’t like judging other people about their morals, but I’m very happy he got caught and hopefully this scandal ends his ESPN career because I don’t think he’s very good at his job.
Also, if this doesn’t end his ESPN career then that tells you all you need to know about ESPN after what they did to Harold Reynolds.
the commish needs to get involved when it comes to these umpires & fine them or sit them down for one game, never have see so many bad calls in one year all over baseball & the strike zone is a joke
Betsy,
How long are you on vacation?
Bye Betsy
“the commish needs to get involved when it comes to these umpires & fine them or sit them down for one game, never have see so many bad calls in one year all over baseball & the strike zone is a joke”
The core problem is that MLB needs to take proper ownership of their umpires from the time they’re hired in the minors, trained and evaluated down there to when they become MLB umpires. They need to attract a higher group of people to the umpiring profession by paying them a lot more than they have in the minors. They make peanuts down there, but that’s the pool of talent they draw from when making up their ML staffs.
If MLB wants better umpiring then get a higher caliber of personnel wanting to be umpires and do something more elaborate with their training, conditioning and evaluating.
Crawdaddy
What are you trying to say, Steve will be on mlbnetwork after he gets fired?!?!?!
NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A good line from the Bats Blog after Damon’s HR
“The Angels are in dire need of a Rally Gorilla”
Have a great vacation Betsy
No need to worry about this team!
“They have a clean-up hitter and a lead-off hitter who have been good enough to carry a lineup that has otherwise gotten big hits from different hitters night-to-night.”
Everyone is forgetting about Posada. Check out his line so far this postseason: .333/.429/.625 with 2 HR. Pretty good, he’s contributed.
Luckily the blown calls didn’t affect the outcome of the game. The 2nd call on Swish seemed like an attempt to correct the 1st bad call. I am glad it happened when the Angels were at home so they couldn’t say the umpires are scared to make the right call.
I thought it was a good move to put Posada ahead of Matsui.
Last night Girardi got out of the way of the team and they performed. Girardi needs to find a happy balance between making moves and letting the players play.
I had some fear that he was going to have a quick hook on CC when CC got into some trouble in the middle innings. The game was still close enough that taking out CC could have turned the game in the Angels favor. Fortunately, CC was allowed to get himself out of trouble and went deep in the game.
The way he managed last night had some to do with the lead they had, but by letting them play instead of running out there and interrupting things it might have helped ease the batters enough so they started getting some hits.
Posada getting the number of outs wrong… again. He has been doing that more often this year than I can ever recall. Its strange.
Those thunder sticks may build up the excitement of the stadium, but the Angels didn’t get a big boost from it. It might work against them as much as it works for them. When they are down, hearing the pounding may distract their concentration just enough that it kills the rally. Thunder sticks, like cow bells, should not be allowed. Crowd noise should be enough, if not oh well, then that is on their fans.
Since Molina is catching AJ and Matsui has looked, well, awful, do you start Posada in the Dh spot on Thursday? I do.
upstate kate, there is no way that Swisher being called out for leaving early when he didn’t was a make up call for the failed pickoff move call. Two different umpires, and the umpires wouldn’t have a clue at that point in the game as to what happened.
Both were bad calls. So it goes sometimes.
I believe it’s the fact that girardi knew cc was going to be great last night that he could use the pen on Monday. As for micromanaging…completely contrived by media that can’t get on alex or aj/Molina.
I would ask anyone that got caught up in the micromanager uproar to look at the number of run the bullpen has given up these 7 games compared to other teams in playoffs before they post.
I honestly don’t know if it would validate my point but I think it would….
Brian, I would be tempted to, but on the flip side, you want to have Matsui getting At Bats to hopefully get him out of the slump. I really don’t know which is the better way to go. It also could also create a problem for taking Molina out of the game once AJ is done.
Hopefully the Yankee bats give the Angels another beatdown so missing one of the bats, Posada or Matsui, won’t be a big deal.
I expect the Angels to be playing tight in the next game. I don’t care who you are, facing elimination is a tough game to play in, and with how they have been playing the Angels are not handling it well.
maybe it is coincidence that both calls involved Swish, I am not a conspiracy theorist. However, I am pretty sure the umps knew about the bad call on Swish at 2nd as according to Buck and Mccarver it was replayed on the wide screen. You could hear the booing from the crowd.
The bigger picture with posada Demonstrating time and time again he has no idea of the outs/count is he is supposed to instill confidence in pitchers (aj and jobs ESP) that he knows the best pitch to throw. If they think he’s selecting a pitch bc he doesn’t know couunt they are allowed to ” argue” with him.
Imback, Sorry, but Girardi got out of the way of the team last night, instead of running around like mother hen. To read your post you seem to think that Girardi has powers to see the future. Please.
With Andy and Posada in the game, Girardi went running out like an over protective mother and broke any rhythm that Andy had going.
Last night Girardi had faced all the criticism of how he has been managing the games far too much and he backed off. The team seemed to not only survive, but thrive.
Validate your point? Nope.
While ABs for Matsui are needed to break out, we need to go for the jugular. With regards to not having a backup catcher, we have Cervelli there for a reason. He’s great defensively if Joe needed to pull Molina.
The umpires aren’t watching the screen, kate. On another point, stadiums aren’t supposed to show replays of bad calls. The main reason being that it can overly upset or incite a large crowd.
Hello
Ab- girardi knew from watching game one cc was going to go far- of course history graphs, eiland, and a feel for game probably helped as well. He doesn’t listen to the radio to learn about game, unlike you.
I know that Girardi has taken a lot of heat for his managing decisions on Monday night, but he certainly deserves credit for opting to bring CC back on 3 days rest.
It is nice to have a true ace.
Hope that the Yankees wrap it up tomorrow.
Wanted for poor umpiring: Tim McClelland !!!
http://baseballrules.today.com/
Chad or Sam- can you do a post that compares runs allowed and innings pitched by bullpen for playoff teams? Wouldn’t that be the simplest way to determine if the Girardi micromanaging arguement has merit?
Ps and unlike torre- girardi hasn’t blown out any arms this year but has allowed all relievers sans gaudin to get meaningful outs in postseason. That’s huge for them being able to breathe and not get as psyched up on entering a potential big game in WS. They will start 2010 as a tried and tested bullpen that are always into game and ready to pitch. Unlike with torre some guys would gave feet up in bullpen bc they weren’t one of his guys.
My favorite AB from last night was when Arod struck out to end the 6th inning with a man on third. Arod didn’t look frustrated at all, he looked just as confident as he looked as if he hit a home run. That is the true difference between Arod 2009 and Arod pre-2009.
“I would ask anyone that got caught up in the micromanager uproar to look at the number of run the bullpen has given up these 7 games compared to other teams in playoffs before they post.
I honestly don’t know if it would validate my point but I think it would….”
It would. It’s, i think, 4 or 5 ER in over 20 innings.
Girardi did not overmanage that game. It’s only called that because the decision he made did not work and the player did not perform the way that Girardi could have expected him to.
If Aceves comes in and gets the out, nobody says anything. It’s a pretty unfair situation to put Girardi in.
My sincere congratulations to Melky “The Blind Squirrel” Cabrera !!!
Someone must have grabbed him by the throat, slammed him on the ground, and finally got thru to him to stop swinging at ball 4’s and every other horrible pitch that’s out of the strikezone which have led to the constant killing of Yankee rallies & innings in general.
Hopefully, he learned….and we don’t see the “same old Melky” looking pathetic.
Even Cody Ransom had some good games.
I gotta say, I have great respect for the Angels. They are a tough team. They have their weaknesses for sure, but they’re no pushovers. This has been an excellent series because they are so good.
“My sincere congratulations to Melky “The Blind Squirrel” Cabrera !!!
Someone must have grabbed him by the throat, slammed him on the ground, and finally got thru to him to stop swinging at ball 4’s and every other horrible pitch that’s out of the strikezone which have led to the constant killing of Yankee rallies & innings in general.
Hopefully, he learned….and we don’t see the “same old Melky” looking pathetic.
Even Cody Ransom had some good games.”
The one looking pathetic was, is and always will be you.