Our long national nightmare is over

After all that waiting, the news is starting to come fast. Right on the heels of the news that Alex Rodriguez is a narcissitic idiot comes word that the Yankees have decided to hire Joe Girardi as manager. Technically they're still negotiating, but I doubt it'll take long to finalize the deal. After all, Girardi is going to have to get right to work and find himself some coaches. Don Mattingly, who is disappointed at not getting the job, has already announced that he won't be returning next season. Meanwhile, Larry Bowa has been offered a job as the third base coach in Seattle, and Ron Guidry will likely be getting the axe soon. This would leave Girardi with a staff that consists of first base coach Tony Pena, hitting coach Kevin Long and bullpen coach Joe Kerrigan. Right now, the only candidate whose name I've heard bandied about is Dave Eiland, the pitching coach for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees who helped Phil Hughes so much in September. Other than that, I think the field's wide open.

As for Girardi himself, I think it's a good decision by Brian Cashman and the Steinbrenners. I've certainly written about his qualifications enough, but that's not what really impressed me about their choice. For the past few seasons, Don Mattingly has been the presumed heir to Joe Torre's throne. There really was no question that the Yankees were grooming him for the role, and when Torre left it really seemed like it was Mattingly's job to lose. However, the Yankees sat down with their candidates and allowed themselves to be impressed by Girardi, who was reportedly fantastic in his interview. As I said, it seemed like the job was Mattingly's to lose, but Girardi went ahead and won it anyway. The reason he was able to wasn't because Mattingly did anything wrong, but because the Yankee brass kept their minds open, and you have to give them a lot of credit for that.

After the sour notes of the departures of Joe Torre and Alex Rodriguez, it's truly refreshing to have good news coming out of Tampa and I'm hoping to hear more soon. Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte all said that Joe Torre's departure would impact their decisions. I hope that the arrival of the catcher who helped them so much in their younger days will also make an impact.

A-Rod opts out

Regular readers of this blog know that I'm a big fan of A-Rod the player, and I still am. My opinion of Alex Rodriguez the man has gone down considerably tonight. For those who weren't watching the World Series, Scott Boras announced that Alex Rodriguez is opting out of his contract. According to Boras, the decision was made because he didn't know if Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte were coming back, and he didn't want to make any decisions before seeing what happened.

Alex, I can respect your decision to become a free agent. What I can't respect is the ridiculous lie your agent just spouted. You had ten days before you had to make your decision. That's ten days you had to at least talk to the Yankees. That's ten days for you to wait and see what was going to happen with your teammates. Don't tell me that you don't read the papers, that you didn't know the team was ready to make offers to you, Posada, Pettitte and Rivera in the next week. The truth is that you always intended to become a free agent, and saying anything else is just insulting.

No news is just boring

Well, so much for all the rumor and innuendo that said a decision on the new manager would be announced yesterday. According to Peter Abraham over at The Journal News, the decision's probably been made, but the announcement won't be made until after the World Series. Normally, I'd be in favor of such a decision, as it's better for baseball as a whole for the Yankees to let the World Series have the public's full attention. That, however, is because normally that delay wouldn't affect the rest of the Yankees' agenda. Unfortunately, this is not a normal offseason.

You have to figure that the identity of next year's manager will end up factoring into A-Rod's decision making process, so every day that goes by without an announcement is one less day the Yankees' have to negotiate. Again, this normally wouldn't be a problem since there's usually plenty of time to negotiate with players who can become free agents, but according to his contract A-Rod has only ten days after the World Series ends to decide whether or not to opt out of his contract and effectively become a free agent. That's an awfully small amount of time to negotiate what could be the largest contract in history.

The final countdown

The word is that the Yankees will announce their new manager either today or tomorrow. Right now the short list seems to consist of Don Mattingly, Joe Girardi and Tony Pena. I wrote about Mattingly and Girardi before, but Pena's name came up later, so I'll share my thoughts about him now.

Pena's resume is very similar to Girardi's. They're both former catchers who had very successful rookie seasons as a major league manager, leading mediocre teams with limited payrolls to surprisingly strong seasons. They then followed that rookie season by getting fired in the next one. Unlike Girardi, however, Pena was not fired because of a conflict with ownership. Instead, he lost his job over the trivial matter of losing 104 games. I'm not sure what that says about his managerial skills. On one hand the Royals were a pretty bad team, and you have to give him a lot of credit for bringing the team their first winning season since 1994, a feat they have yet to replicate. On the other hand, 104 losses is one of the worst totals in baseball history, and no matter how bad his players were, he has to take some of the blame.

So how can we make any kind of guess as to his managerial skills? I decided to go back to his experiences as the manager of the Aguilas Cibaenas in the Dominican Winter League. in three seasons he led the team to two league championships and a Carribean Series title. Of course managing a great team in Santiago de los Caballeros is very different from doing it in New York, but it's all we have to go on.

Similarly, we don't know much about how he'd be able to handle the media or his players. Neither of his previous managerial positions required him to face an aggressive media or deal with star players and their egos. All we can say is that he's had two seasons to watch Joe Torre do those things better than anyone, and that he's known to be a terribly nice guy.

In the end, I see the three candidates as breaking down like this. All three of them are classy guys who conduct themselves with the kind of professionalism that you'd expect from anyone who worked under Joe Torre. Girardi and Pena both have had success as managers, while Mattingly has had no experience whatsoever. Mattingly, as a former Yankee star and captain, is the only one who has ever had the spotlight of New York upon him and he's dealt with it well. All three are fine candidates, but I'd go with Mattingly and his media experience. The Yankees' are depending heavily on their young pitching, and the next manager is going to have to protect them from the media and teach them about how to deal with New York. While I've no doubt that all three would be willing to throw themselves in front of the proverbial bus for these kids, Mattingly's probably the one whose best equipped to survive it.

Of course two weeks ago I said that Girardi would be the best choice. That has less to do with me being indecisive and more to do with just how good these candidates are. Considering how badly the Yankee brass handled the end of the Joe Torre era, I'm glad to see that they're in a situation where there is no bad choice for them to make.

An open letter to Red Sox fans

Dear Red Sox Fans,

It's been a while since we've had a heart to heart, and I think we need one before tonight's World Series opener. Before we start, however, those of you whose love of baseball keeps your fandom from devolving into buffoonery can excuse themselves (I'm looking at you, Peter). The same goes for anyone who learned any basic sense of sportsmanship as a child. As for the rest of you, I want to remind you of a few things.

First of all, making it to the World Series while the Yankees were knocked out of the playoffs in the Division Series is not a moral victory; it's just a regular victory. I know you like to think of this rivalry as the good "Red Sox Nation" versus the "Evil Empire," but it's not. I know this because the Yankees have yet to enslave the people of Connecticut, and the Red Sox have yet to restore freedom to the oppressed peoples of Rhode Island. Instead, they've played baseball, a game where good and evil don't come into play. So you should stop thinking that rooting for the Red Sox makes you a better person than me.

Please don't look at me like that. I really do understand how you feel. I'm a Buffalo Bills fan and, while I haven't endured 86 years of heartbreak, I defy you to find any fan who went through a more devastating four years as Bills fans did from 1990 to 1993. I know it's tempting to take solace by creating a comforting fantasy world where, even though you lost, you did so fighting evil, but when you do you run the risk of starting to act like an idiot.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy mocking fans of other teams as much as you. It's going to be a few months before my brothers stop hearing about the Mets' incredible collapse. However, I don't call them names (at least not for baseball reasons), nor do I hypothesize about the sexual habits of David Wright, and I certainly don't harass random strangers wearing Mets' paraphernalia.

Now, the reason that it's so important for you to understand this before tonight's opener is because you're playing the Colorado Rockies. This is a scrappy young team who rode an incredible hot streak to make it into a one game playoff for the wild card. Now they've made it to the World Series for the first time in franchise history where they face a perennial contender who had the best record in baseball and sports a payroll more than three times their own. In other words, they're the underdogs and if you persist in your delusions you'll find that you've become the Evil Empire.

Calm down, now. I know it's scary, but I'm going to help. Have a glass of water, take a breath and repeat after me:

"Baseball is a great game that can be enjoyed without being an ass to other people."

I'm glad we had this little chat, and I hope you've learned something. Now run along and have a fun World Series.

Sincerely,
Amol

Winter League Week Part 2 - Javelinas in the Sun

Considering how badly the Joe Torre situation has been handled, I think it'll be good for everyone to take some refuge in actual baseball. So, as promised, I'll continue with my review of the Yankees' winter league action by looking at the six prospects the team has sent to play for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League.

As I mentioned before, one of those players is a personal favorite of mine, Kevin Whelan. He's not a favorite because he's a huge talent like Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes, but because of his arsenal. Whelan throws three pitches, and they're all fastballs. His four seamer is strong, sitting in the low to mid 90's, and he complements that with a splitter and a forkball, both of which can be exceptional when he's on. Unfortunately, like so many hard throwing prospects, he struggles with his command. Its been no different in Peoria so far, where he was dominant in his first outing, and wild in his second. Of course the whole point of the AFL is for players to learn, and I'm hoping to see some improvement from a him.

The other pitching prospect that accompanied Whelan to Peoria is Steven White. White was drafted in 2003, and the Yankees had high expectations. However, like so many promising pitchers, injuries have kept him from fulfilling those expectations. He's not a bad pitcher, mind you. He's performed well as he's slowly moved up the ladder, but he hasn't stood out in any way. He's now 26 and coming off of another typically good but not great season in Triple A, and has been rocked in his first two starts in Arizona, giving up eight runs in just three innings. To me, he's a classic Quadruple A player; the kind of guy who can do well in Triple A, but won't make it in the majors. He might have some success if the Yankees move him to the bullpen, but otherwise I wouldn't expect much.

In addition to the two pitchers, the Yankees have sent three positional players to the Javelinas, all of whom could be in pinstripes in the coming years. I've written about center fielder Brett Gardner before, and there's nut much to add to it. He's one of the fastest men in baseball, hits for average and draws walks, but lacks any real power, having hit all of six home runs in 294 minor league games, and only one in the past two years. At best, he develops enough doubles power to be a Kenny Lofton kind of player. At worst, he's a fourth outfielder who provides excellent speed and defense at all three outfield positions. Either way, he's a useful player to have.

Another player whose power will determine his fate is Reegie Corona who's currently a shortstop, but can play all over the infield. Like Gardner he hits for average and draws walks, but has very little power. Unlike Gardner, he only has average speed, meaning there's an even greater chance that those ground balls which are slipping through for hits will turn into outs when they hit Triple A and major league fielders. Still, he's a strong defender and could very well become a useful utility infielder, something every team needs.

Finally, there's Juan Miranda, who is something of a mystery. A first baseman who defected from Cuba to the Dominican Republic in 2004, he was signed to a four year, $2 million contract last year and split the season between Advanced Single A and Double A. He put up solid numbers in Tampa and replicated them after being promoted, which is a good sign. Another good sign is that while he was merely solid statistically, he recieved nothing put praise from coaches and scouts, who say he has light tower power, and just needs to refine his game after having spent two years out of the game. His performance thus far in Arizona certainly speaks to that, as he's currently sporting a .571 SLG, and a .250 ISOP (ISOP stands for isolated power, a quick measurement of a player's power which is simply a players slugging percentage minus his batting average). Granted, it's a lot to read into seven games, but this kind of performance and the Yankees' current hole at first gives him an outside chance of becoming part of a major league platoon as early as next season.

Goodbye Mr. Torre

I did not see that coming.

For those who haven't heard, the Yankees decided to offer Joe Torre a 1 year, $5 million contract, and Torre turned them down. Its a surprising turn of events, and it seems more than a little shady to me, at least as far as the front office is concerned. The Steinbrenners (its been reported that George's sons Hank and Hal had a lot of input on the decision) couldn't really think that Torre, a Hall of Fame manager who has led the Yankees to historical greatness, would take a 33% pay cut just to have to go through the headache of another negotiation in a year. If they did think that, then they're idiots. If they didn't, then they must have been trying to look good to potential free agents Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada, who have indicated that Torre's future will play a role in their decisions.

I've already written about the potential replacements, so let me just say a few things about Joe Torre. He could absolutely infuriate me with some of his in game moves, but there's no denying that he handled the spotlight of New York, and shielded his players from it, better than anyone. With the rise of cable, Torre faced scrutiny from more press than any manager in Yankee history. In fact, other than the White House Press Secretary, I can't think of anyone, that has to face more reporters and cameras than Joe Torre. His class and professionalism set the tone for a clubhouse that could easily fall apart with the number of highly paid stars that are on the team. and its going to be an incredibly difficult act to follow. I'm sad to see him go, and I've decided that as a farewell present, I'll be making a donation to the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation. It's a small thank you to a man who helped bring me some very good memories.

Aloha from Winter League Week

About the only news in the Yankees' off field drama is that the reporters who camped out at Joe Torre's house have moved on to the Steinbrenner estate in Tampa. Quite frankly I'm finding the whole wait and wildly speculate thing kind of boring. Fortunately, there's still Yankee baseball being played, and so I've declared this week Winter League Week here at Poughkeepsie Pinstripes. In the coming days, I'll be going over the Yankee players and prospects who are spending their off-seasons working on their game against live competition.

Today's focus is on the Hawaiian Winter League, whose inaugural season last year was a great success for the Yankees as well as the league. It was with the Honolulu Sharks that Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy made their dominating professional debuts and put themselves on the fast track to Yankee Stadium. This season the Yankees have sent four players to the Sharks, where they'll play against a combination of players from Japan and America.

The biggest name among the four is Austin Jackson, who I've written about before. Jackson has followed up his very impressive showing in the Florida State League with a solid .275/.367/.431 (AVG/OBP/SLG) line in 14 games. However, stats in Winter Leagues can be deceiving. Obviously there's the issue of a very small sample size, but there's also a huge amount of variety in the quality of opponents. In any given at bat you could face a pitcher who may have no professional experience or blue-chip prospect who has dominated Triple-A, or even a prospect from the Japanese League. Thus, when analyzing a player's performance in these leagues, it's sometimes better to look a little deeper for indicators of how a player is progressing.

When I look at Jackson's stats, the thing that jumps out at me is his high strikeout total. He's struck out 16 times in 51 at-bats, which is the second highest total in the league. It's a pace that would result in nearly 200 strikeouts over a full major league season, and that worries me. There are guys, like Adam Dunn or Jason Giambi, who can put up big strikeout totals while still producing but they're generally guys who hit the ball over the fence, something Jackson hasn't done so far. If he's going to continue to be successful as he moves up the minors, he'll either need to cut down on the strikeouts or develop some prodigious power.

The other position player the Yankees have sent to Honolulu is third baseman Brad Suttle. Suttle was a fourth round pick out in this year's draft. Coming out of the University of Texas, the Yankees hoped that he was the kind of polished college hitter who might be able to come straight out of a big time college baseball program and move quickly through the minors. His performance so far, however, isn't encouraging, to say the least. He started the season with a 24 at bat hitless streak, and now has a terrible .097/.263/.194 line. The good news is that he's had three hits, all of them doubles, in his last three games, which might be a sign that he has begun to adjust to using a wood bat.

On the pitching side, the Yankees have sent George Kontos and reliever Anthony Claggett. Kontos was a fifth round pick in the 2006 six draft out of Northwestern. He's got a plus fastball and slider, which allows him to rack up strong strikeout totals, but he has trouble with his mechanics which leads to lots of walks. Thus far he's continued this in Honolulu, picking up 11 strikeouts against 7 walks in 10 innings, which has resulted in a 5.40 ERA. He's worth keeping an eye on, because if he can find consistency in his delivery and improve his command, he would make for a formidable major league reliever.

Claggett was one of the three young pitchers who came over from Detroit in the Gary Sheffield trade, and he's the least exciting of them. Righthanders who throw an average fastball and slider are a dime a dozen, and unless he does something spectacular he'll just be an anonymous career minor leaguer.

Next up is the Arizona Fall League, where one of my favorite prospects, Kevin Whelan, is pitching for the team with one of my favorite names, the Peoroa Javelinas.

Get your ballot in

Voting for the Internet Baseball Awards ends at 2AM tonight. The more well informed fans who vote, the better these awards are (and they're already a lot better than the BBWAA awards), so I hope all of you take the opportunity to participate.

The vultures are circling

The vultures, in this case, are the throngs of reporters who have circled Joe Torre's house in a shameful display of tabloid hackery at its worst. There are stories whose importance might warrant harassing a man at his home, but whether or not the Yankees' manager will be fired is not one of them. It's incredible to me that this point even needs to made.

Anyway, there's not much in the way of actual news out in Yankeeland, just a lot of rumors and posturing. What's hilarious to me is how much those things have been contradictory. For example, I've read that the lack of word from the Yankees' on Joe Torre's fate means that Steinbrenner is reconsidering his position, and that it means the decision's been made. In other words, we won't know a thing until the starts having some organizational meetings in Tampa next week.

Let the speculation begin

So that's that for the Yankees' 2007 season. Last night's defeat is a little too fresh for me to do a look back at what went wrong and what went right in the season, so I'm going to place my focus on the future for now. The big story for the future right now is, of course, who will be the manager next season. It seems almost certain that it won't be Joe Torre. The only real question about that is whether he will announce that he's not coming back, or whether the team announces that they're not re-signing him.

As for his replacement, Peter Abraham is reporting that the short list consists of Tony La Russa, Bobby Valentine, Buck Showalter, Joe Girardi and Don Mattingly. Its a pretty weird list to me, consisting of two guys who'd be good picks, and two who I don't think would work out, and one who would be an absolute disaster. Let's go over them individually.

The disaster is Tony La Russa. One of the biggest challenges of being manager in New York is dealing with the media, something at which La Russa is incredibly bad. This is a guy who nearly got into a fistfight with a reporter in St. Louis. I really can't imagine that he'd make it through spring training with the New York media without having to serve jail time.

Then there's his actual managerial style. La Russa really seems to believe he's some kind of genius, and makes all sorts of wacky little moves to prove it, not caring about how it might affect his players. In his book Three Nights in August, journalist Buzz Bissinger starts with a story about one of La Russa's more insane decisions. Albert Pujols, who is as valuable to the Cardinals as a player can possibly be, has an arm injury which allows him to swing a bat, but not throw a ball. A doctor has informed La Russa that throwing a ball could result in a career ending injury for Pujols. Any sane man would bench Pujols until he was well enough to play, but La Russa decided he had a better idea. He played Pujols in left field and told him to just underhand the ball to the shortstop if he has to field a ball. This is not a man you want to entrust a team to.

I'm actually a fan of Bobby Valentine's. I think he's a smart man who amuses with some wacky antics. However, those wacky antics are a lot funnier when they're coming out of someone else's clubhouse. He's just not a good fit for the Yankees.

Buck Showalter is the other guy who's a perfectly decent manager, but wouldn't fit in with the Yankees. I'm actually surprised that he's even being considered for the job, or at least reported to be considered, in light of his acrimonious relationship with George Steinbrenner. Managing the Boss is as big a part of the job as managing the team, and Showalter just can't do it.

Joe Girardi, I think, would make a good pick. As the manager of the Marlins in 2006, he did a very nice job in bringing a team with the lowest payroll in the majors into playoff contention. Granted, he didn't have a good relationship with the team's owner, Jeffrey Loria, which is probably what got him fired. Loria, however, is a very different kind of owner from Steinbrenner. Where Steinbrenner can be an ass because of his obsession with winning, Loria is an ass who is obsessed with making money without regard to any kind of ethics or the law. I could write a whole piece about this, but I'll just say that Girardi understands proffesionalism, and I think would fit in with the Yankees as a manager as well as he did as a player.

Finally, there's the obvious choice; Donnie Baseball. He's certainly proven that he can handle the New York media, has a good relationship with the boss, and a lot of respect in the clubhouse. However, since he's never managed at any level, we've got no idea what his managerial skills are like. Heck, I couldn't even tell you if he's a good bench coach, since its never been clear to me what it is a bench coach does. However, he is, at least, a smart man who knows as much about baseball, especially the art of hitting, as anyone. His three seasons as the hitting coach were filled with so much success and praise that I was actually against making him the bench coach because I thought he was more valuable where he was (though, again, I have no idea what a bench coach does, so its possible that that was where he was more valuable).

Personally, I'd lean more towards Girardi. The Yankees are a team who will be relying on young pitching going forward, and I think a former catcher would have a leg up in helping them along. However, its a small leg up, and Mattingly would certainly be a fine choice. Just please don't let Tony La Russa anywhere near the Yankee clubhouse.

Wang to pitch tonight

Joe Torre didn't leave the question of tonight's starter up in the air for long. It's not a particularly surprising move. If the Yankees were eliminated tonight without sending their best to the mound, there'd be hell to pay. Granted, we don't know how Chien-Ming Wang will react to pitching on three days rest, but I think it'll work out. Wang is an efficient pitcher who can give you a good seven innings without running up much of a pitch count.

Also, I have a feeling that part of his problems in game one had to do with being a little rusty after too much rest. His sinker ought to have its customary bite, and it'll just be a question of whether or not he can command it. Which, of course, is a big question. The Indians showed great discipline last night, continually laying off Roger Clemens' out pitch, the splitter, because Clemens couldn't hit the lower part of the strike zone, which is where Wang lives. The Indians are going to make Wang earn that strike, but if he can hit it he'll be unstoppable.

Live Blogging 10/07

I'm back for another night of liveblogging. Here are today's lineups:

Yankees
1. Johnny Damon LF
2. Derek Jeter SS
3. Bobby Abreu RF
4. Alex Rodriguez 3B
5. Jorge Posada C
6. Jason Giambi 1B
7. Hideki Matsui DH
8. Robinson Cano 2B
9. Melky Cabrera CF
Pitcher: Roger Clemens

Indians
1. Grady Sizemore CF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera 2B
3. Travis Hafner DH
4. Victor Martinez C
5. Ryan Garko 1B
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Kenny Lofton LF
8. Trot Nixon RF
9. Casey Blake 3B
Pitcher: Jake Westbrook

The big changes from the last couple of games are Giambi, who takes Doug Mientkiewicz's spot at first, and Nixon, who is the Indian's third right fielder in as many games. They're both pretty obvious moves. Nixon is a left hander with good numbers against Roger Clemens, and Giambi will hopefully provide some spark to an offense that's been pretty well shut down thus far in the series. The Yankees may get more of a spark from Westbrook, who has not done well against them. He gave up four runs over seven innings in his last start against the Bombers, and was pounded for eight runs over one and two thirds innings the last time he pitched in Yankee Stadium back in April.

Of course the big pregame news is George Steinbrenner letting the world know that Joe Torre's job may depend on the outcome of this series. It'd be ironic to me if Torre lost his job after this season, since I've been impressed by his performance in bringing the team back to the playoffs. Of course, even if I didn't feel that way, I'd still think that he deserves better, but that's the Steinbrenner Way, and Torre should be commended for showing, once again, amazing professionalism and class.

Update 6:38PM: Anyone looking for the game on TBS, switch over to TNT. They're showing the game there until the Boston-Anaheim game is over.

Update 6:41PM: I'm sure some of you are thinking it, but I really doubt Doug Mientkiewicz could have made that play. Even if he had been able to catch Jeter's errant throw, it would've been extremely difficult to tag Cabrera.

Update 6:53PM: A tough first inning for Clemens, but he seemed to get better as the inning wore on. I'm hoping he's just shaking off the rust that comes with not having pitched for three weeks.

Update 7:06PM: Ouch. Looks like Eric Wedge made the right call by putting Nixon in. That ball was hit so hard that it almost didn't have time to elevate over the fence.

Update 7:14PM: The Yankees' are going to need to get to Jake Westbrook soon, because I don't think that Clemens is going to settle in. It might be time to get Mike Mussina warming up.

Update 7:18PM: Excellent at bat for A-Rod. He seems to have gotten comfortable with the fact that the Indian pitchers are afraid of him and aren't going to throw him much in the strike zone. So, he watched some balls go by, pounced on a mistake and didn't try to do too much with it.

Update 7:32PM: It's certainly got to be frustrating for the Rocket to be pulled in favor of a kid that hadn't even been born when he made his major league debut. However, I'm glad that Torre didn't let that factor into his decision making. Now we've got to hope that Hughes is in command of all his pitches, because it looks like he's going to need it.

Update 7:42PM: I think Hughes needs to mix in his other pitches a little more. He threw 13 pitches, 10 of those were fastballs. The rest were three beautiful curveballs, which I'd like to see more of, as well as the slider and change. Still, he appears to have good command on the fastball, and its up to 93mph, so I think we'll see some solid innings out of him.

Update 7:47PM: Kudos to Matsui for legging out that infield hit with that gimpy hamstring. You could definitely see he was in pain as he ran down the line.

Update 7:52PM: Who would've thought that Matsui would be making contributions with his legs. Great baserunning on that play, especially with his slide into third. That gutsy play not only puts him ninety feet from home, but keeps Melky from being out at first. That could well be a turning point in this game.

Update 8:05PM: Hughes has got to be feeling good about his curveball, because he shook off Posada twice in order to throw it. He's definitely got good reason for it, as its got some great break, and he's been spot on with his command. Plus, there's a huge speed differential there, as , at 70mph, it's more than 20mph slower than the fastball. And there's that slider coming in at 81mph. The kid's looking really good out there.

Update 8:40PM: It was only a matter of time before the Yankees broke through against Westbrook. Beyond the runs, Damon's home run is great since it eliminates the possibility of Jeter, who has been the rally killer in this game, grounding into another double play.

Update 8:48PM: Joba's warming up. With nary a bug in sight, He and Mo ought to be able to lock this down if Hughes can get through this inning unscathed.

Update 8:59PM: It's surprising to see Westbrook back out on the mound. Not that I'm complaining.

Update 9:06PM: I can't say I really see the point of that bunt. Considering who's coming to the plate, I think sacrificing a chance to bust this game open is a mistake.

Update 9:10PM: Well, it looks like they didn't need any more chances to bust the game open anyway. Big hit by Cano, and a bigger error by Nixon.

Update 9:14PM: Now the question is what do you do about the bullpen. One of the Joba rules is that once he starts warming up, he has to come into a game. However, with such a huge lead do you only use him for one inning so that he's available tomorrow? Do you use Mo, or do you trust the end of a must win game to a lesser pitcher? I say hand the ball off to Ohlendorf, Vizcaino or Veras. Five runs is a big enough lead to start thinking about tomorrow.

Update 9:21PM: That strikeout is exactly why Joba's stay in the bullpen is temporary. He just struck out Cabrera on three exceptional pitches. The fastball and slider we've seen plenty of, but that curve hasn't been used much as a reliever, and it's fantastic. Anyone with that deep an arsenal needs to be in the rotation.

Update 9:30PM: Tonight's public address announcer, Jim Hall, sounds so much like Bob Sheppard that it's creeping me out.

Update 9:40PM: I'm having a hard time figuring out who is annoying me more, Dane Cook in these "There's Only One October," commercials, or this Frank guy and the endless promos for his show.

Update 9:52PM: I think the bullpen phone is broken again. Joe Torre is signaling Robinson Cano to check if Jose Veras is ready. This happened a few weeks ago, and you'd think that after the first time someone would think to bring a cellphone out there.

Update 10:10PM: Man, I really hate to see Mo here. I'm not knocking Torre's decision to use him, mind you, because I think it's a good call. It's just annoying that there's no one else in the pen you can really trust.

Update 10:15PM: And Mo closes it out against the top of the Indians' lineup looking like he was barely trying. I won't be able to live blog tomorrow's game, but I'll try and keep on top of the pregame stories, especially who the Yankees' will be sending to the mound. My vote is for Chien-Ming Wang, whose sinker ought to be better on short rest than long rest.

Live Blogging 10/05

Here we go with my first attempt at blogging while watching the game. Today's lineups are, according to mlb.com, as follows:

Yankees
1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Hideki Matsui, DH
6. Jorge Posada, C
7. Robinson Cano 2B
8. Melky Cabrera CF
9. Doug Mientkiewicz 1B
Pitcher - Andy Pettitte

Indians
1. Grady Sizemore CF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera 2B
3. Travis Hafner DH
4. Victor Martinez C
5. Ryan Garko 1B
6. Jhonny Peralta SS
7. Kenny Lofton LF
8. Jason Michaels RF
9. Casey Blake 3B
Pitcher - Fausto Carmona

These lineups are almost identical to last night's. The only changes are that Joe Torre has flip flopped Matsui and Posada, and Eric Wedge has benched Franklin Gutierrez in favor of Michaels in right field. I'm a little surprised Wedge didn't bench Lofton against the lefty, but I guess his big game last night was too much to ignore.

Update 4:50PM: Bob Sheppard will not make it to the stadium for Sunday's game due to bronchitis. This will be the first time he has missed a playoff game in his 57 year long career. Thankfully, its not serious, and I think all Yankee fans wish him the best. Peter Abraham has the full story.

Update 5:21PM: That was some efficient work from tonight's starters. I have to say that I'm a little afraid of Fausto Carmona, who is looking a lot like Chien-Ming Wang on a good night.

Update 5:28PM: Now that's more like it. Hideki Matsui took a page out of the Indian's playbook from last night and works a walk by making Carmona earn that low strike. The fact is that his sinker nearly unhittable when its at the knees, so you may as well lay off it and hope he misses the zone.

Update 5:40PM: You know, I was really hoping that TBS' coverage would be an improvement over Fox's. I understand that baseball's pace lends itself to some meandering conversations (I did, after all, enjoy Phil Rizzuto's broadcasts), but I'd like to hear tangents about baseball, not Queen Latifah's wardrobe.

Update 5:44PM: Wow. Maybe it's because I watch Melky so much, but I saw that coming a mile away. I'm not really sure what Indians' third base coach Joel Skinner could have been thinking when he sent Peralta (assuming that Peralta didn't just go on his own). It's not like Cabrera hasn't been doing this for the past year and a half.

Update 5:52PM: That, my friends, is how you break out of a slump. That's also an appropriate way for Melky to celebrate the two month anniversary of his last home run, which came against Kansas City on August 5th.

Update 6:07PM: The story of the day before the game was "Andy Pettitte: Big Game Pitcher," but it's been the defenders behind him that've been coming through in the clutch so far. First Melky, and now Mientkiewicz have saved Pettitte's bacon so far by stopping runs that the Indians should have scored.

Update 6:27PM: I guess Pettitte's been reading this, because he went ahead and saved his own bacon this time. Actually, he did it twice, first getting a double play ball after allowing a leadoff single, and then stranding a runner on second after the double play opportunity was missed. Granted, he was the one who missed the opportunity by deflecting that double play ball away from Robinson Cano, but it's still an impressive performance.

Update 6:40PM: Another note about TBS' coverage. The graphic showing the size of the baserunner's lead at first is a good idea, but those red and green zones are just silly. I mean a safe lead for Jeter or A-Rod is completely different from one for Posada or Matsui. Just give us a distance and let the announcers give the context. That's pretty much what they're there for, after all.

Update 7:07PM: This is starting to get ridiculous. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if Pettitte were to allow a leadoff home run in the seventh and still not give up a run. Its almost enough to make you feel sorry for the Indians. Almost.

Update 7:55PM: Good lord. What was a cute little side story a half hour ago has turned serious, as this swarm of gnats seems to actually be bothering Joba Chamberlain's control. You really can't blame him either, as the cameras cut to a shot of his neck with a dozen of the little buggers perched on him and plenty more buzzing around. This is after the Yankees' trainer has doused him in repellant twice.

Update 7:58PM: This is crazy. Chalk that run up to the bugs, and there's a decent argument to be made at this point for the umpires to stop the game so they can spray the field.

Update 8:12PM: According the TBS on field reporter, the bugs that are causing these problems are "Canadian soldiers," which is another name for mayflies. Should the Indians win, they might well be the MVPs.

Update 8:23PM: A huge missed opportunity for A-Rod right here, and a huge opportunity given to the A-Rod haters. Before they get started, let me just say that that was a great battle against a pitcher who is having a huge night and who has stymied the entire Yankee lineup, including Captain Clutch himself.

Update 8:49PM: He's being overlooked by the TV crew, but big props to Doug Mientkiewicz for being able to keep that ball from heading to the outfield, which might've allowed Sizemore to make it to second.

Update 9:10PM: Here's when we should really start to worry. The Indians' bullpen is much deeper than the Yankees'. At least the Viz gets the bottom of the order this time around, but the top of the order will get their chance no matter what the Yankees do.

Update 9:32PM: And that's all she wrote. Goodnight folks.

The Bright Side of Life

Last night's game was chock full of bad news, so I thought I'd contribute some good news. Since the inception of the division series in 1995, the Yankees are 5-0 in series where they've lost the first game, as opposed to 2-5 when they've won game one. Also, if the regular season has taught us anything, it's that this team doesn't let early struggles keep them down.

I'm going to make my first attempt at in-game blogging during today's game, so come back at five for what I hope will be some amusing commentary.

Just Do It

We're less than six hours from the start of the Division Series, and Joe Torre has announced a roster that, surprisingly, contains three rookies who didn't join the team until after September callups; Jose Veras, Ross Ohlendorf and Bronson Sardinha. Normally, in order to be eligible for the playoff roster, a player has to have been either on the active roster or the disabled list on August 31st, which means that Ohlendorf and Sardinha wouldn't have been eligible (Veras was on the DL at the time). However, a team can substitute any player from their forty-man roster for any eligible player of the same position that's on the DL when the playoffs start (this is the rule that allowed Francisco Rodriguez to get five postseason wins for the Angels in 2002). Thus, Ohlendorf and Sardinha step in for Carl Pavano and Andy Phillips. Should Ohlendorf actually contribute I think it'll be most value the Yankees have gotten out of the Pavano contract.

Anyway, this leaves the Yankees with a pitching staff that features only one lefthander (Andy Pettitte), and a bullpen whose slowest fastball is in the 92-94mph range (Jose Vizcaino). It's safe to say that the Yankees have decided to go with talent over diversity and experience. It's a gutsy call, but it's also in line with the decisions that have brought the team back from their horrible start.

I'm not usually one to quote ads, but Nike's 80 foot tall billboard by Penn Station pretty much sums things up:

Rotationology

With the regular season wrapped up, it figures to be a slow couple of days while we wait for the playoffs to start Thursday. So, I've decided to take the opportunity to talk about the playoff roster, starting with the rotation. The first two spots in the rotation are no brainers. Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte have been battling each other all season long for the title of team ace. Torre seems to have decided that Wang is his number one guy, and that's who will take the start in game one against Cleveland's ace (and my Cy Young pick) C.C. Sabathia. Pettitte will follow on Friday against Chien-Ming Wang's doppleganger, Fausto Carmona.

The rest of the rotation is harder to figure out. There are three candidates for the last two spots; Roger Clemens, Philip Hughes and Mike Mussina. Supposedly Clemens' spot as the number three starter is locked up, but by the time game three rolls around, he won't have pitched in three weeks. His continuing health problems calls into question whether or not he can actually make the start.

Of course no matter what Clemens' ultimate status might be, a decision has to be made between Hughes and Mussina. They both have turned things around in September after struggling in August, and they both have done so against weak hitting teams like Baltimore, Toronto and Tampa Bay. Based on their last starts, you'd have to go with Hughes, who allowed only one run in seven innings against the Devil Rays. However, Mussina is the veteran with a history of postseason succcess. Ironically, I think it's that history that makes the bullpen the best place for Mussina. Both pitchers are at risk to get into serious trouble, and I feel better about Mussina being in the bullpen, ready to bail Hughes out, than vice versa.

Anyway, my schedule's pretty tight right now, but I'll try and write about the far more complicated bullpen situation in the next couple of days.