Wrapping up a game that went right
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Oct 30, 2009 
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Hideki Matsui said his 2003 ALCS double off Pedro Martinez never crossed his mind when he hit his go-ahead home run tonight at Yankee Stadium. At the time, he was down in the count, 1-2, and needed to do something to simply keep the inning alive. He got a curveball and he hammered it.
“Because I was at two strikes, I was just ready for pretty much anything and just trying to make adjustments,” Matsui said. “Particularly for that pitch, I tihnk the location was fine. It was low. But I think it caught part of the plate.”
Matsui and Mark Teixeira came up with the big home runs that finally sparked something in this Yankees offense that was never there against Cliff Lee in Game 1. All indications were that this would be an offensive World Series, but after two games, it’s been all about pitching. Taking advantage of mistakes — whether by Chase Utley in Game 1, or Teixeira and Matsui in Game 2 — has been the key.
Tonight, A.J. Burnett didn’t make many mistakes. He had a hard, tight curveball tonight that he was able to throw for strikes. His stuff was pretty electric in Game 1 of the Division Series as well, but that came with five walks and two hit batters. There were no such problems tonight, and Burnett served as his own bridge to Mariano Rivera. In a game that felt a lot like a must-win, the Yankees did what they had to do.
“You know, I actually sat and watched (Cliff Lee’s) interview when he was on the field (after Game 1),” Burnett said. “He talked about confidence and he talked about belief in his stuff, and all I told myself last night and today was the same thing. I went out tonight with confidence and I just, you know, the game just rolled by.”
It’s a lot easier to have confidence with the series tied at 1 game apiece. The alternative… well… there’s no reason to think about the alternative now. And that’s a good thing.
By the way, here’s the audio from Derek Jeter in the postgame clubhouse. The Captain was – not surprisingly – pretty upbeat about a big win for the Yankees.
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Great job AJ!
Great job AJ! Great job HP umpire!
“Some fans thrive on that petty stuff and others have no interest in it.”
Pedro, regardless of whether or not he called out his catcher, is a violent dirty scumbag any way you slice it. He is true scum of the Earth, and a 2004 Roider to boot.
Tough nite for AJ haters.
AJ was simply awesome. Maybe if ARod was a bit more mobile he doesn’t even give up the 1 run on the Stairs hit.
I hope he keeps that confidence and uses it next week and even for the rest of his career.
Tonight AJ stared into the abyss. And he gave it the finger.
“Like why did the Red Sox allow him in the clubhouse and dugout?”
He wasn’t supposed to be there, but they didn’t want to board up the doggy door.
Sorry repost…did not notice new thread
Not sure if it is because I have been tuning out Buck/McCarver or for that matter the whole team including Grace/Karos/Guillen but has there been any mention of Brian Cashman? Has he been MIA or is there reasons as to why he is not being shown? Any ideas?
Werth kind of looked like he was Riverdancing his way back to 1st on the Molina pickoff.
Bronx Bombers Girl
there been any mention of Brian Cashman? Has he been MIA or is there reasons as to why he is not being shown? Any ideas?
================================================
He’s tiny and very hard to photograph without a military spy satellite.
Sad:
http://johnsterling.blogspot.c.....to-be.html
Are you guys sure it was a good game?
I mean, on his blog Abe-Fraud said it was a snoozer that put him to sleep.
http://www.boston.com/sports/b.....p_aft.html
Funny how this tight game bored hims, yet he found Wednesday’s blowout one the most exciting world series games in history.
Bronx,
They don’t mention Cash because his only purpose is to sign the checks. He’s irrelevant to the untrained eye.
To the trained eye, he’s doing his thing which is to let his stars shine and be the story. But his imprints are all over this club. No doubt about it.
Cash is stealth
and too cool for fools.
I prefer to think that Cashman is stealthily getting us a new pitcher.
Sad:
————
It’s sad that people can’t just let a 75+ year old man live his life quietly like he wants. Pete is a loser. Let’s see him when he is an old man if he would want pics taken of him and people bothering him. Some people are just pathetic…
I love Pete’s twitter pic.
Should you really have to choke up that much on an aluminum bat?
m,
very true indeed. Yankee’s do their thing and he is the man!
Thanks for replying.
Nick,
You beat me to it. Was just thinking he went north of the border.
Hopefully he can snooker the new gm into giving us Doc.
Nick in SF
October 30th, 2009 at 1:42 am
I prefer to think that Cashman is stealthily getting us a new pitcher.
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Nick in SF, Also a good thought. Pitching is always important!
Doc and Chapman shouldn’t have to share a press conference.
The umpire said they got the call right on Howard “catching” the ball so it was a dp..Is he kidding me? That ball was not caught.
“The objective is to get it right, we asked each other what we had seen and the replay confirmed we got it right,” Davis said.
Oh, that pitcher. I read he met with the Red Sox. That means it’s pretty much a done deal.
>Should you really have to choke up that much on an aluminum bat?
Apparently, being a Red Suck comes naturally to him seeing as he’s trying his hardest to hook anything over the inner half to the wall.
But he won’t dare call it cheap or anything.
They had to explain to him that John Henry wasn’t dressed up as a skeleton for Halloween.
G’nite Yankee fans! Awesome game and more on Saturday…I can’t wait. (All I need is an Erica countdown…LOL)
Undoubtedly she has to know by now the Yankee’s won and had a great time @ R-n-R H-O-F concert
Tex message : Godzilla is Pedro’s Daddy!
What’s the significance of that picture? Who is it and where was it taken?
Anyone get the feeling that Pete will be watching closely and reporting on the Yankees off-season as well as the Sox’s off-season?
Not surprised the umpires messed that call up. I would love to hear why they thought Howard threw the ball to 2nd base.
Great win by the Yankees. Burnett was incredible tonight, he really came up big in the most important game of his life. Now the Yankees get to go to Philly with Andy Pettitte ready to take the lead. I’m goin to game 5 in Philly, so I hope the Yankees decide to go with the 3 man rotation so I can see Burnett pitch another gem like he did tonight.
This time, Burnett quieted the Phillies all night.
“Sometimes you’re going to beat him. Sometimes he’s going to beat himself. And sometimes, he’s going to beat you,” Philadelphia leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins said.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....z0VOdSmxOF
My recap, with photos from the game: http://www.puristbleedspinstri.....r-had.html
I’m also greatly relieved that Mo was able to bring down his career post-season ERA to a respectable 0.76 after seeing it jump a full 3/100ths of a point after the Angels cashed in a favor from God and scratched out a run off him.
Rebecca,
I’m glad that you got to go. So jealous.
BTW, who’s Amanda?
(I’m with you, not a big Jay-Z fan. Actually like him better as a producer. Tee-hee.)
M. Amanda is a loyal twitterer. We have been following each other most of the season.
Rebecca,
Gotcha. I still haven’t gotten into Twitter. Too many twits. But I know it’s an essential tool for a serious blogger like you [and PeteAbe
]
Jason Stark’s POV. lol @ Jose. Now I know why he takes so
many trips to the mound. He doesn’t want to give AJ more than he can chew.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=4607640
I guess everyone fell asleep from exhilarating exhaustion. Hopefully Nick is out eating a bowl of celebratory ramen.
I hope you guys enjoy this story on the Legend of Tardy Matsui.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=4607585
Sleep tight and don’t let the trolls bite.
>They had to explain to him that John Henry
>wasn’t dressed up as a skeleton for Halloween.
I reached into next week and capped a tweet from John Henry:
http://bit.ly/194NCq
Pedro said he was “under the weather.” Wow, I did not expect that from a guy like him. No excuses, play like a champion. Let go Yanks, three more.
Matsui is totally pedro’s daddy. He’s always been, this was the finaly paternity test.
40 hours and 35 minutes until Game 3!!!!!
I realize everyone is asleep but me, however….
Good night Yankee people!!!!
It would be nice to see Joba step up, and take over the role of heir apparent to the Great Rivera.
I think Joba will be gone as a Yankee next year. The Yankees are about ready to call it quits with Joba, poor attitude, will not listen to the pitching coaches, or his catcher. Either he grows up, or he’s with a different club next season.
Would like to see the Yankees get that young Cuban pitcher, but, it looks as though he’ll be going to the Red Sox, if you believe everything you read in the sports pages.
Thanks AJ! Phenomenal game. Was lacking some optimism prior to the game (figuring there’d be a 4-run first inning for the Phils), but AJ pitched the game of his life. The 2nd game of his life will be coming up in a few days.
A poster mentioned this before – this could be the start of a whole new AJ – 20 game winner – Monster Man – less AJ-induced cardiac malfarctions…
Since I teach here in SE PA, life today at school should be a bit kinder and quieter re: manic Phil-idiocy.
I like that word ‘Phil-idiocy.’
Yanks are going to see plenty of it soon enough.
ITS a series again !
I guess Pete was watching a different game
• The Phillies had their eighth inning rally snuffed out on a double play that wasn’t as Chase Utley looked safe at first. “I’m not saying nothing about the umpiring,” Charlie Manuel said. “I’m just saying he was safe. That’s all I’ll tell you.”
And that’s all we’ll be posting for now. Thanks for reading.
He is so biased its not even funny, what about the phantom double play the phillies got in the seventh ….
Still ecstatic over yesterday – I’m so happy for AJ because his only post-season experience was watching his teammates celebrate at YS while he was on the sidelines. He said this was the first time he’s been part of something, where he’s truly been needed, and he came up HUGE.
Good morning, everyone.
Much better day today, no?
AJ came to play last night. I had a feeling he would. Oddly enough, I think it was good that he HAD to win last night – maybe it put more pressure on, or maybe he really had to focus more – whatever. Doesn’t matter. He really came through. (Although according to Kruk, to whom I never listen, but my husband flipped to ESPN, the Phillies “allowed” AJ to strike them out – sigh – and later in the game, EVEN THOUGH THEY DID NOT SCORE against Mariano, the fact that they got a couple of hits against them let them know that they could score against Mariano. And he gets paid for this. Sigh.)
Pedro is a piece of work. Pitched a great game. He’s a real competitor and loves the spotlight, and to some extent,I agree, if he was in pinstripes people would love him. He’s a little over the top, but he doesn’t offend me, as I thought he should. I did find it slightly funny, though, how he said he didn’t want to make excuses and then went on to mention no fewer than 3 times about how he was under the weather last night. I guess that means if he was feeling better, he would have thrown a no-hitter? I mean, he did very well – for a guy who was sick.
All that aside, it was a great game. Great to see Tex and Matsui come through as they did. Make it a series again. This is gonna be some series, guys. A good one.
And I guess the umpires, after the first two rounds, decided they should have meetings after close calls. But even if they all agree on a wrong call, it doesn’t mean “they got it right,” just that they all got it wrong.
And on that DP against the Yankees, please tell me how anyone but the 1st base umpire had any more clear a view? Oh, well. I guess the DP against the Phillies makes up for it. The umpires giveth and the umpires taketh away. Until they decide on a proper course of action (a 5th – or 7th – umpire in the booth who can over-rule the call on the field), this is what we have.
ELKEAL487
October 30th, 2009 at 4:40 am
I think Joba will be gone as a Yankee next year. The Yankees are about ready to call it quits with Joba, poor attitude, will not listen to the pitching coaches, or his catcher. Either he grows up, or he’s with a different club next season.
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Do you have authentic information about your post above or are you repeating what SS44 has posted recently.
The Yankees have too much time and effort invested in Joba to let him go. Unless they know that Joba’s season was affected by a shoulder problem.
Joba was drafted out of college in 2006 and first pitched in the majors late season of 2007. Phil was drafted in 04 and has been in the minors before coming up in (07?) and did not do well. Back to the minors for him.
My point is that a healthy Joba deserves as many chances as Phil has been given to develop in his years as a Yankee.
You must admit that the Joba Rules were more of a hindrance than help to Joba this year. Give him credit for following the rules and changes no matter how much it hindered him.
This young man has a lot of talent.