Yankees Double Up The Twins With 8-4 Win

Today was the first day in a long time that I got to sit down and watch a Yankee game. I didn't get to watch the whole thing, just the 2nd half. I think I joined in the 5th inning when the game was tied at 2. I haven't enjoyed being away from the Yanks. I feel so out of touch it's not funny. I haven't been able to keep up on much. Life has calmed down a little bit since we're done moving so I'm hoping to get back into the groove. We'll see how that goes.

A.J. Burnett looked pretty good tonight. At least he did in the 2 innings I saw him pitch. He bounced back quite nicely from the beating he took from the Red Sox. The Yankees rotation, except for Vazquez, who in his defense didn't pitch poorly in his last start against Detroit, has been a been a strength all season. I know I'm a day late in this but better late than never: Huuuuughes! 5 Us for 5 Ws. Phil has definitely been the team's brightest star this season. He's without a doubt the best SP in the AL right now. I've been on the Hughes bandwagon since day one. I had a "Hughes 65" shirt when he first debuted. I picked up a #34 BP jersey when he switched his #. I love seeing how well he's doing. He's starting to live up to the hype. And then some.

I am so glad the official scorer gave the win to Joba. It would have been a travesty if Damaso Marte got the win. I've said this many times: I hate it when the lefty specialist can't get out the lefites. Marte came in to get out Joe Mauer and he couldn't do it. He then had to get out Justin Morneau and couldn't do it. He's lucky the Yankees offense bailed him out. Joba looked absolutely magnificent. He's pitching like the Joba of old. Just took a quick look at the numbers from his last few outings. He's been rock-solid his last 8 times out: 7.1 IP, 2 hits, 2 BB, 0 runs, and 11 K. Those 11 K came in his last 6.1 IP. Joba be rocking.

A-Rod was the big offensive hero tonight. I hope Ron Gardenhire learned his lesson: don't intentionally walk Mark Teixeira to get to Alex. You will pay and you will pay dearly. Speaking of Tex, I see he's still kind of slumping. He's at least hitting a little more regularly at least. I'm surprised he's still hitting as low as he is. His 2 hits tonight raised his average to .209. I'll feel good about Tex when his average gets closer to .250. The Yankees appear to be a little wounded and they're going to need Tex and Alex to deliver.

Tomorrow's game is at 1:05 and it looks like it'll be a good one. Andy Pettitte vs. Francisco Liriano. Both lefties are off to great starts. It's got pitcher's duel written all over it. So the final score will probably be something like 11-10.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Hey, Ho, Javy Got To Go (And Some Other Random Stuff)

If you're sick and tired of Javy Vazquez raise your hand! This act is getting very tired. He's now made 5 starts this season and he's thrown a grand total of 23 innings. He's bad, very very bad. I didn't get to see much of the game today. It's been a very busy time here. On top of working 11-12 hours per day, we're in the middle of moving out of our house. I spent all day packing and moving stuff. I didn't experience any of the good today for the Yankees, only the bad. I saw Vazquez give up his 5 runs and I heard Robertson and Marte give up the other 2 as I was in the car. All I saw/heard of the Yankees was the first run they scored. Considering all of the bad and none of the good happened on my watch, maybe it was my fault?

I'd have to think that Vazquez will get better. He does know how to pitch. He's proved that in the past. Maybe pitching in NY is a different animal and he just won't cut it. Whatever it is, he and Eiland need to figure it out and they need to do it fast. He could have really used a good start in front of the home crowd today. Instead he sucked major balls. I didn't get to see his exit. I'm assuming the fans gave him the proper sendoff. But again, Javy has shown he knows how to pitch. He has it in him. I just hope he finds that pitcher sooner rather than later.

The Yankees bullpen is turning out to be one of their biggest weaknesses. It would have been nice if Robertson and Marte would have done their jobs. Nothing irritates me more than seeing the "lefty specialist" come in with one specific job to do and then not do it. Friggin' Marte.

I saw a replay of Curtis Granderson hurting his groin while running the bases. That looked painful. As expected he's been placed on the DL. Something tells me Curtis is going to miss some time. I think he'll definitely be out more than 15 days but I'm hoping I'm wrong. I'll play armchair manager for a second here. If I'm Girardi, Gardner becomes my everyday CF and I platoon Winn and Thames. I really like having BG at the bottom of the order. I've said that before. I think having him turn the lineup over is perfect.

Congrats to Nick Swisher for hitting his 3rd HR of the season. The HR added $37 to our fundraiser. For those not in the know, a bunch of us Yankee fans have gotten together to donate money to Nick's charity, Swish's Wishes. We're basically donating $37 for every HR he hits. The total is now up to $151. I know, $37*3 is not $151. Someone ponied up a flat donation of $40. If you're interested in donating along with us, let me know and I'll add you to the tally (see upper left). Keep it going Swish. We want you to take our money.

Sorry for not blogging after Friday's victory. Truth of the matter is I was asleep before 9pm. Yeah, it's sad. I know. But getting up at 5 all week really took it's toll on me. I did have the fortune of seeing Jeter tie the game with a HR. I must have fallen asleep with the game on because Michael Kay's call of his triple woke me up. It was a nice way to cap off the month of April. Jeter finished the month with 4 HRs, the same number that A-Rod and Teixeira combined to hit. He finished the month with 18 RBI, 5 less than Teixeira and A-Rod combined for. He had 31 hits and a .330 average. He had 1 less hit than A-Rod and Tex combined. That's amazing to me. The RBI stat is staggering considering Jeter hits leadoff. Unreal.

Not sure how much of the game I'll get to catch tomorrow. More packing is on the docket. There's always something else to move. If I didn't have to work such ridiculous hours during the week it'd be a little easier, but what can you do? Gotta pay the bills.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Javy Vazquez + Joe Girardi = Loss To Anaheim

Had another rough day at work today. Out the door at 7am and in the door at 6:45pm. Tomorrow I'm out at 5am and who knows when I'll get back home. Yay me. I don't have much time because the missus wants me to help her pack, so I'm going to try and make this quick. Here goes nothing.

Javy Vazquez needs to get better and fast. He can't keep going out there and pitching the way he is. He looks like he has no confidence. It's getting to the point where I get knots in my stomach whenever his turn in the rotation comes up. I'd be really irked if the Yankees had traded someone worth of value for him. Melky Cabrera isn't exactly a superstar. I'm especially curious to see what kind of reception he gets when he pitches during this homestand. Warm up the Bronx cheers.

I was eating dinner last night when Damaso Marte served up the longball to Kendy Morales. I was halfy paying attention. I saw the HR but not what led up to it. I had no idea that Girardi originally called for an intentional walk and then changed his mind. When I saw that in the postgame highlights I was a little irked by that. Not so much by him changing his mind, but because he didn't change it back after the count went to 3-0. Now I'm not a major league manager. Sure sometimes I pretend to be. Who doesn't? But even I know you call for ball four there. Or at least call for a pitch out of the zone that you hope he chases. It's on Marte too for throwing a meatball, but he never should have thrown a strike. Horrible call by the skip.

Gotta bolt. Wife is getting agitated that she's packing up the house and I'm blogging. We sold the house and closing is coming up. Busy times here. I really need it to cool down a little. My stress level is probably at an all-time high.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Pitching Falters In Opening Night Loss To Red Sox

I woke up this morning in more pain than I was in yesterday. Again, spent the weekend scraping paint and painting my garage. Forearms and shoulders are killing me. I'm so out of shape. After watching last night's loss to the Red Sox, I'd say the Yankees pitching is pretty out of shape too. They were far from being in top form. Thing started out real well and then the wheels fell off.

CC Sabathia started out well. He looked real good to me in the first few innings. He had a few rough spots but pretty much came through them unscathed. I'm not sure what happened to him in the 5th, which is when things started to turn. I don't think it had anything to do with his physical condition, meaning I don't think he was running out of gas. His strike-to-ball ratio was just under 56% which to me isn't anything to write home about. He only walked 2. Conclusion: He wasn't attacking the strike zone. CC would have probably made it through 7 innings if he had thrown a few more strikes. At one point, he had a 4-run lead and had only allowed 1 hit. Hope he learns his lesson and attacks the zone next time.

The Yankees bullpen didn't have a banner night either. David Robertson gives up the tying run on his first pitch. The team gets the lead back and Chan Ho Park quickly gives it back up. Damaso Marte was crazy wild. Joba wasn't any better. Hopefully, this isn't a sign of things to come. They were pitiful last night. I'm definitely not sold on Chan Ho. Hopefully, it was opening night jitters and nothing more. He has to earn my love. Last night's performance isn't the best way to do that.

I love the Yankees lineup. As I've written before, I think it's perfect. Collectively, the lineup had a great night. Anytime you score 7 runs you should win the game. I'm really liking my Cano-for-MVP prediction. Robbie hit the ball hard all spring and it continued yesterday. He came up with RISP and while he didn't pick up a hit, he at least had a productive out. His groundout scored Teixeira and moved A-Rod to 3rd, which put him in position to score on Posada's AB. Good night for Robbie.

Great night for Jorge Posada at the plate. 3 hits. 2 RBI. 1 HR. Maybe his Dad should call him in the dugout more often. Except next time maybe he should give him some catching tips. He's got to catch that pitch from Marte. If it hits the glove the catcher has to stop it. Period.

Loved the double steal that Jeter and Gardner pulled off. Great call by the coaching staff. It worked perfectly. Gardner had a good night at the plate also but his arm needs a little work. What was up with that throw to 3rd or home? I have no idea where he was going with that. It was ugly.

Derek Jeter had 2 hits. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Nick Johnson went 0-3 with 2 walks. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Nick Swisher killed a rally. Yeah, that sounds about right. I really was hoping Swish would homer in the opener so it would get the fundraiser of to a good start, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. The pledge drive is picking up some love from the Yankee fans on Twitter. I hope to get their "pledges" and track them on the "tracker" which is in the upper left part of the blog. If you want to donate, please let me know. No amount is too small. Someone on Twitter said they'd do $1/HR. You gotta love it.

So the title defense didn't get off to the best start. Keep in mind before you declare the season over that the Yanks lost their first 8 games to the Red Sox last year. Keep in mind that they love to start slow. We've seen this before. No cause for alarm. No reason to be concerned.

For those of you lucky enough to be in front of a TV today, enjoy Opening Day! I'm jealous. Lucky jerks.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

I'm In An Empire State Of Mind

The chorus from Jay-Z's song, Empire State of Mind, is very fitting right now. "In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of. There's nothing you can't do, now you're in New York. These streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you, let's hear it for New York, New York, New York." I've been bumping that song all day. If you're a Yankee fan, how can you not be in an "Empire State of Mind." Today is all about the Yankees. Excuse me. I mean today is all about the 27-time World Champion Yankees. Yeah, that's more like it. Last night's game is still playing fresh in my mind. What an awesome night. What an awesome day. Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York.

Hats off to Andy Pettitte who shut up all the doubters who said he couldn't pitch well on short rest. I'm not sure if I fall into that group or not. Here's what I wrote about Andy before yesterday's game:

I'm really nervous about tonight's game. Andy is 37 and hasn't pitched on short rest in over 100 starts. But if anyone can figure out a way to battle through the game, it's Andy Pettitte. We shouldn't expect perfection but I'm confident he'll be able to keep the team in the game. That's all I'm looking for. The offense though needs to show up and get the necessary run support.

That's pretty much what happened. Andy definitely battled his way thru the start yesterday. But he did what I thought he'd do and that was keep the team in the game. The offense came through and took care of the rest. Andy is definitely one of the unsung heroes of the postseason. He went 4-0 in his 5 starts, pitching to an ERA of 3.52 and he held the opponents to a .226 batting average. 3 of his wins came in clinchers. You the man Andy. I really hope this isn't the last we've seen of AP, but if it is, thanks for everything.

Hats off to the World Series MVP, Hideki Matsui. If this was his last go-around in Pinstripes, what a way to go out. Hideki had a monster World Series, hitting .615. His overall postseason numbers were pretty impressive too. He appeared in 15 games, smacked 4 HRs, knocked in 13 and hit .349 with an OPS of 1.136. Godzilla was definitely deserving of the MVP. He single-handedly won game 6 with his 6 RBI. He absolutely owned Pedro too. I'm on the fence as to whether or not the Yankees should bring back Matsui for another term. But we've got months to discuss that, so why start now.

Hats off to Mariano Rivera. Mo very well could have been the WS MVP. I think it was a two horse race between Mo and Johnny Damon until Matsui came along. Mo pitched 5.1 innings in the WS, allowing 0 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks. After game 1, Jimmy Rollins remarked that the Phillies "saw some things" against Mo. Guess not. Like he's done so many times before, Mo locked it down. And like they always are, his postseason numbers were out of this world. 16 IP, 10 hits, 5 walks, 14 K, 1 ER, 0.56 ERA, .169 opponents batting average. Add that up and you get 5 saves. If any non-Yankee fans out there doubt that Mo is the greatest ever, take notice. He was the only closer of the 8 postseason teams who didn't have a meltdown. He's the GOAT. Mo made a sort-of joking comment during the postgame festivities that he'd be able to pitch another 5 years. Memo to Brian Cashman: sign that deal! Right now.

Hats off to Alex Rodriguez. Nobody can dog A-Rod anymore about not coming through in the postseason. Alex's postseason, as I predicted, was huge. He hit .365, had an OBP of .500 and a SLG percentage of .808. In 16 games, he hit 6 HR and drove in 18 RBI. The Yankees definitely don't win #27 without Alex. His World Series definitely wasn't as good as his other 2 rounds of the postseason, but he definitely had some huge hits that can't be discounted. And though I think this happened long ago, we can now make it official. A-Rod is a 100% true Yankee. Don't even try to tell me he's not. You won't win that argument.

Hats off to Damaso Marte. Damaso came out of nowhere and had an outstanding postseason. His postseason numbers are shocking compared to his regular season numbers. Marte appeared in 8 games, allowing only 2 hits, both of which came in his 1st postseason outing. 4 IP, 2 hits, no walks, 5 K, and a .133 opponents batting average. Marte came up big. Color me shocked. I didn't see that coming.

Hats off to, and I'm not a big fan of this moniker, the "Core Four." The drought is over. You guys have your 5th ring. Congrats. It all starts at the top with the Captain. Derek was another one of the guys who had a stellar postseason, hitting .344 for the entire postseason and .407 in the postseason. It was definitely a magical season for DJ. I'll bet this victory tastes pretty sweet.

Hats off to Joe Girardi. I may not agree 100% with his moves and I do think he can be an idiot at times, but I've to give Joe some credit. Girardi was integral in bringing the team together and making it about the team and not individuals. Girardi did an outstanding job helping to turn this team into a true team. Now if only he could get rid of his little book.

Hats off to the entire Yankees organization. From the top to the bottom you guys have given us fans a season to remember. I love that the Yankees have an owner who's committed to winning and doesn't care what it costs, even if it means losing money. There's been a lot of talk on the radio today about the Yankees and their high payroll. Yawn. It all boils down to jealousy. I'll talk about that more in the coming days/weeks. Anyway, congrats Mr. Steinbrenner! And thank you.

I feel like I'm making an acceptance speech. I know I'm leaving people out but that doesn't mean their accomplishments and contributions are being overlooked. Everyone at some point or another had a huge hand in bringing the World Series back to the Bronx. Hats off to all.

There's only 1 question left unanswered. What am I going to watch on TV now?

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

It's Back To The Bronx For Game 6 As Yankees Fall To Phillies 8-6

Well that was fun, wasn't it? I'm going to save a lot of my comments for tomorrow. I could use some sleep so I'm going to keep this one real short. Yeah right.

A.J. Burnett was terrible. Beyond terrible. He had a chance to bring it home and he couldn't even make it out of the 3rd inning. It was a gamble going with him on short rest and it backfired. I'm not saying it wasn't the right move but it certainly didn't work out as we envisioned. I'm watching the postgame show on YES and Girardi sounds non-committal about using Pettitte in game 6. My buddy dropped a rumor on me that Pettitte told the team he had nothing left. I think that came via Jon Heyman. I'm inclined to think it's true after listening to Giradi say he wanted to ask Andy how he felt before announcing the game 6 starter. If there was any question about Pettitte being able to go in game 6 , then Chad Gaudin should have started tonight and they should have saved A.J. for game 6. I'm going to be highly ticked if Pettitte is toast.

I'm not sure how many of you guys follow me on Twitter. If you do and were following me last night you know I didn't have some nice things to say about Phil Coke. The bullpen needed to shut the Phillies down and for the most part they did. Until Coke came along anyway. I've been wondering since the ALCS why Girardi was using Damaso Marte over Phil Coke and now I have my answer. If Coke could have kept the ball in the park then maybe the 9th inning rally would have tied the game. I wouldn't be surprised if we've seen Phil Coke pitch his last pitch for the Yankees. I have no problem with that if that's the case.

Has anybody seen Mark Teixeira, one of the favorites to win the AL MVP? If you see him, tell him to show up in the Bronx. He's been missing all series. He had a big chance to atone for all of his shortcomings there in the 9th and he whiffed. The team needs you Mark. Please be in the Bronx on Wednesday.

I can't be overly disappointed because this wasn't a game I expected the Yanks to win. It would have been nice to close it out but what can you do? Philly is a good team and we Yankee fans should be happy they took 2 of 3 there. It is going to be real tough for Philly to win 2 straight in the Bronx. I don't see it happening, but who knows? I'll be back tomorrow with more.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

3-Run 9th Inning Puts Yankees 1 Win Away From 27th Title

The ending of tonight's Yankees/Phillies World Series game was one for the ages. It's amazing the range of emotions one goes through while watching a baseball game and how quickly they change. Joba blows a 1-run lead with 2 outs in the 8th and the mood sours. Brad Lidge retires the 1st 2 in the 9th and has 2 strikes to Johnny Damon. At that moment I was having visions in my head of watching the Phillies celebrate a walkoff series-tying victory. Johnny Damon had a great at bat and singles to left and my mood improves a little. Damon steals 2nd and then bounces up and heads for 3rd and I'm ready to throw the remote because I think Johnny thought the ball skipped into center. Feliz chases Johnny as if it's a run down and he slows up?? What? No one was at third. Now I'm on the edge of my seat hoping Teixeira can come through. HBP. Oh boy. A-Rod v. Lidge. Here's your chance Alex. Double to left!! Johnny scores! To quote Phil Rizzuto, "Holy cow!" Jorge follows it up with a 2-run single. Mo closes it out. Ball game over. Yankees win. Thuhhhhh Yankees win! Talk about a roller coaster ride. I love October, or should I say November, baseball. Nothing beats it. Nothing even comes close.

Joh-nny Dam-on. Clap clap clap clap clap. Joh-nny Dam-on. Clap clap clap clap clap. Johnny had an epic 9th inning. His AB against Brad Lidge was epic. His "double-steal" was epic. Johnny is without a doubt the hero of the game. His single and double steal set everything up. Lidge's best pitch is a slider. It's often a pitch he throws in the dirt. It's not a pitch he's likely to throw with a runner on 3rd. Damon getting to 3rd set up the rest of the inning and Lidge's eventual downfall. I suppose I should thank the Phillies' defense for over-shifting on Teixeira as it took the 3B out of the picture. Johnny often gets knocked for being not so smart. That swipe of 3rd was one of the smartest plays I've ever seen. You the man Johnny.

My buddy Scott started calling Alex Rodriguez "Choke-Rod" after his 1st 2 games. I'm sure he wasn't alone in his feelings towards Alex and I'm sure "Choke-Rod" wasn't the worst thing people were calling him. Alex may not be hitting for a high average this series but nobody should say he's choking. His tie-breaking double in the 9th pretty much erases any thoughts of Alex choking. He's had 2 huge hits in the last 2 games. If you're still on his back, get off it.

Question: Who better than Derek Jeter? Answer: nobody. The Captain remains locked and loaded. He picked up 2 more hits tonight and is now hitting .412 in the World Series. Jeter is having a monster postseason. He's now hitting .333 and has hit safely in 12 of the 13 playoff games and he walked 3 times in the game he went hitless. He's just the man. I don't know how anyone can call him overrated.

CC didn't look like the CC we all know and love but he still pitched a really good game. He gave up 3 runs in 6.2 and to be honest, one of those runs was all on Posada (not getting a throw off on Howard's steal and not catching and holding onto the ball when Howard "scored"). It wasn't his sharpest outing of the year but it was still pretty good. It was very similar to his game 1 start. I'll take a start like tonight from him any day of the week. He just needs to find a way to get Chase Utley out. This series would be over right now if not for Utley's ABs against CC. If the series goes 7, I hope CC figures out how to shut him down.

Joba was looking incredibly awesome until he gave up that game-tying HR. He was pumping out some serious heat and was 1 strike away from whiffing the side and then the wheels fell off. My heart sank as soon as the ball left Feliz's bat. I don't know what's up with the bullpen but it's becoming extremely hard for them to get the ball to Mo with a lead. I'm nervous when anyone not named Mariano comes in to pitch. One of the Yankees' greatest strengths coming into the postseason was their bullpen. Right now it's arguably their biggest weakness. What's the most difficult thing to believe is that outside of Mariano Rivera, Damaso Marte is their most consistent performer. You know something is wrong when that's the case. Joba is extremely lucky that the team bailed him out. I hate seeing him pick up the win. It's definitely not deserved.

How awesome is Mariano Rivera? He picked up yet another save, getting 3 outs on 8 pitches. In the last 2 games, he's gotten 5 outs on just 13 pitches. In a word, dominant. I love how stupid Mo is making Jimmy Rollins look. After game 1, Rollins was asked a question about facing Mo. His response was, "I think we saw some things." Oh yeah Jimmy? What did you see? I know I what I see and that's Mo breaking your bat and getting you to pop out weakly in the infield. Sounds like you didn't see much of anything. J-Roll isn't having the best postseason. First, he predicts that the Phillies will win in 5. Then he comments about Mo and pops out twice against him. J-Roll is looking foolish. I love it.

The win tonight puts the Yankees 1 win away from their 27th world title. 1 win. 27 outs. They could be 27 outs away from winning it all. I have tickets to game 7 and I'd be more than happy not to have to go. As it stands right now I'm either going to game 7 of the World Series or I'm watching the Yankees win it all sometime between Monday and Wednesday. Again, I'd be more than happy if it doesn't go 7. It's going to be tough to win game 5 against Cliff Lee. Lee dominated the Yanks in game 1. He's the Phil's ace and he's been absolutely lights out all postseason. It won't be easy. A.J. Burnett is getting the ball for the Yanks and he'll be making the start on short rest. I'm conflicted about having A.J. start. I was all for it at the onset of the series but now that the Yanks are up 3-1 I'm starting to think Chad Gaudin should go in game 5 and A.J. should go in game 6. A.J. for some reason has pitched better at home so there's that benefit. The Yankees have also made Jose Molina A.J.'s personal catcher for the playoffs. Since the game is in Philly, A.J. will have to hit and having Molina and A.J. at the bottom or the order is not ideal. The Phils definitely have the advantage going into game 5. But like John Sterling likes to say, "You just can't predict baseball." Anything can happen.

As exciting as it is to be 1 win away from winning it all, nobody should get ahead of themselves. The team has been here before and failed to bring it home. If the great Yankee collapse of 2004 happened once it can happen again. Like Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over 'til it's over." Wow, I'm quoting everybody today, aren't I.

10 down, 1 to go.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Come From Behind To Beat The Philles, Take 2-1 Lead In World Series

Man it's late. I've been up since about 5:15 and I'm exhausted. You think that'll stop me from doing a little postgame blogging? Please. The Yankees did what they do best and that's pull off another come from behind victory. It didn't look good early but the team fought back and walked away with the W and a 2 games to 1 lead over the Phillies. Yankees win! Thuhhhhh Yankees win!

Pettitte battled his way thru the game tonight. He really only had 1 bad inning and he pretty much locked it down after the 2nd inning. He had to keep the Phillies off the board to allow the team to get back in it and that's exactly what they did. Well done Andy. Way to pick up yet another postseason win.

I'm shocked by how many Yankee fans write the game off so early in the game. Seriously guys. You should know better. It wouldn't be a Yankee game if they didn't play from behind. A 3-run deficit is nothing to these guys. Especially in the 2nd inning. There were a lot of "tweeters" or "twitterers" (whatever they're called) lining up to jump off their nearest bridge when it was 3-0. I remained cool, calm and collected. I've watched this team enough to know you can never count 'em out. I'm surprised people forget that. Shameless plus: You can follow me on Twitter by clicking here.

I got a text from my friend and fellow Yankee fan Tom after the 2nd inning asking me when this team was going to wake up and score? My response to him simple said, "the 4th inning." Nailed it. The flood gates opened on Cole Hamels once A-Rod broke out of his slump and a 2-run HR off a TV camera. With how the umpiring has gone this postseason I thought for sure they were going to keep it a double. It was obviously a homer. Glad they got it right.

I can't believe Nick Swisher finally decided to show up. "The Rally Killer" as I affectionately call him had a pretty good day at the plate. I hope he gets his act together for these final games.

Phil Hughes is killing me. The last thing I wanted to see tonight once the 9th inning started was Mariano Rivera. I don't know what's wrong with Phil but he sucks right now. Actually, saying he sucks might be an understatement. My theory would be is that he's lacking confidence which is a shame because it should be through the roof after the regular season he had. Kudos to the rest of the pen for pitching so well. Damaso Marte has been a pleasant surprise this postseason. He seems to be the new Phil Coke, meaning he's Girardi's preferred lefty. Hey, go with it. If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

The Yankees are absolutely owning Ryan Howard. I wrote before the World Series started that the Yankees would be best served by throwing as many lefties as possible. I said it would shut down the Phillies, specifically Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard. CC starts tomorrow night. It shouldn't get any easier for these guys. Speaking of Jimmy Rollins, I wonder how he's feeling about the prediction he made that the Phillies would win it in 5. Looks like someone should have kept his mouth shut. J-Roll also made a comment that when it came to facing Mariano Rivera, that the team "saw some things." You know what I saw tonight there Jimbo? The same thing I see every night Mo pitches. The Yankees fist-bumping each other on the infield grass celebrating a win. I especially love how Rollins did what most lefties do against Mo. He broke his bat on a weak pop up in the infield. Go watch some more game tape there Jimmy. It still wouldn't help.

CC makes the start tomorrow night on short rest against Joe Blanton. After game 2 I said that I really liked the Yankees' chances in games 3 and 4. The team got the job done tonight. If they can get it done tomorrow they'll be 1 win away from winning the franchise's 27th world title. CC has been awesome lately and does well on short rest. I don't want to get ahead of myself but I'm liking their chances.

9 down, 2 to go.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Fail To Close Out The Angels, Back To The Bronx For Game 6

Ok. I've slept on it and I don't feel as bad about last night's loss as I did right after the game ended. I had a gut feeling during the 7th inning meltdown that I was watching the Yankees season come to an end, meaning that I had the sinking feeling that this was the beginning of the end for the Yankees. Those feelings have subsided. The Yankees are up 3 game to 2 and are headed home to try and finish it out. While it would have been nice to wrap this up in Anaheim, I didn't think they dispatch of the Angels in 4 or 5, so before the series even started, I felt it would finish in the Bronx. Since that hasn't changed, I don't know what I was so worried about. It's hard to say with a gut feeling. I just felt off.

A.J. Burnett battled last night. He was absolutely horrible in the first inning, but settled down and somehow managed to hold the Angels scoreless for the next 5 innings. A.J. was on the verge of being one of the game's heroes. His performance, in innings 2-6, kept the Yankees in the game and allowed them to eventually take the lead in the 7th. Then all hell broke loose. Now before I get into that, I'll finish with my thoughts on Burnett. A.J. needs to be better than he was last night. He's terribly inconsistent. He's either really good or really bad. That usually works out to a guy being a ,500 pitcher, which for the most part, is what A.J. is, or was prior to the start of last season. He's got a find a way to harness his control. I am still a proponent of him pitching to Jose Molina. The two have worked well together but there seems to be a slight disconnect here in the postseason. They're a little off. If the Yanks reach the next round, I wouldn't mind if Girardi has him pitch to Posada, especially if he pitches in Philly. Girardi will prove to be a bigger moron than I already think he is if he has Molina catch him in Philly. Which brings me to my next topic.......

Joe Girardi is driving me crazy. I cannot understand why he does what he does. I understand the reasoning behind letting A.J. start the 8th, and in normal circumstances, I'd be all for it. But last night wasn't a normal circumstance. A.J. should have never started the 7th inning after sitting for as long as he did while the Yankees scored 6 in their half of the 7th. The smart move would have been to go to a fresh arm. That would have also allowed the RP to start the inning from the windup. There's a benefit to having a RP start with no runners on then with runners on. Girardi should have gone to Joba or to Phil Hughes to start the 7th. I'd have had no problem with that. I don't blame Joe for Phil's breakdown either. That's all on Phil for not executing.

I'm also puzzled why Girardi didn't go to the pen after A.J. allowed a leadoff single. Joe's management of the bullpen is totally puzzling. He over-manages one day and under-manages the next. Both have resulted in Yankee losses. I don't get why he brought in Damaso Marte over Phil Coke. Coke has been the go to lefty all season. Why in game 5 of the ALCS does he decide to abandon that and use the struggling Damaso Marte? I'm going to guess that he got the answer from his "book." To Marte's credit, he didn't implode like I thought he would, but that's not the point. Girardi totally abandoned his "bullpen formula" and started making up new rules on the fly. It should have either been Joba, Hughes and Mo for the last 9 outs, or Hughes and Mo. I really think his decision to let A.J. start the 7th was the big reason for the loss. I'm pinning both Yankee losses on Joe Girardi. They're not 100% his fault as there are certainly other contributing factors, but by and large, it's all on Joe.

One of those other contributing factors is the performance of Nick "The Rally Killer" Swisher. I had no confidence whatsoever in his 9th inning AB with the bases loaded. Swisher has been awful all year in big spots. Here's a look at his situational stats in case you haven't been watching:

Runners on: 50-203 (.246/.402/.453) 9 HR, 62 RBI, 52 K
RISP: 27-119 (.227/.380/.361) 3 HR 48 RBI, 27 K
RISP w/2 outs: 8-49 (.163/.379/.204) 0 HR, 14 RBI, 13 K
Bases Loaded: 3-19 (.158/.280/.211) 0 HR, 13 RBI, 4 K

Not too good, eh? Swish definitely kills a lot of rallies. I wonder what his deal is. I have a theory and it goes beyond that he's not very good. I think when Swisher sees all of these ducks on the pond, he gets excited at the thought of knocking in runs and he tries too hard. Normally in baseball when a guy tries too hard he ends up failing more than he normally might. Just a theory. Or possibly, like I said, maybe he just sucks. A little from column A and a little from column B, maybe? Either way, "The Rally Killer" needs to be removed from the lineup. That's another beef I had with Girardi last night. I get starting Nick in RF, but why leave him in the game after he made the last out of the 7th? Girardi typically inserts Brett Gardner in as a defensive replacement late in games. That was the perfect time if you ask me. When you're 9 outs away from the World Series and you have a 2-run lead, you shore up the defense. Swisher should have been lifted. My friend, and sometimes commenter, Danny Mac, has a good analogy when it comes to "The Rally Killer." Here it is:

Having Nick Swisher in your MLB lineup in the post season is the same as a bar league softball team fielding a 9 - man roster because someone couldn't make it; when his spot in the lineup comes up, it's an automatic out.

That sums up Swisher pretty nicely.

So it's back to the Bronx for game 6. Andy Pettitte versus Joe Saunders. Pettitte has been much better on the road but AP is a big-time pitcher when it comes to pitching in the postseason. Much like last weekend, the weather forecast isn't very encouraging for tomorrow's game. I think the worst thing that could happen is if that game gets postponed. What do you do then? The debate on the radio is do you start CC in game 6 if there's a rainout. Basically, do you start CC in game 6 on regualr rest and push Pettitte back to game 7? I see pluses and minuses to both. If CC starts and the Yankees win, they don't play an elimination game and the team gets 2 days off before the World Series starts and CC will likely start game 2 of the World Series on 3 days rest. If CC pitches and loses, you then need Pettitte to win , and if he does, CC pitches game 2 on 3 days rest. If Pettitte starts and they lose, then CC pitches Monday and you lose him for the 1st 2 games of the World Series. Best case scenario would be Pettitte pitching, the Yanks winning, and CC starting game 1 on plenty of rest. I'm signing up for Pettitte pitching. Pitching CC basically says to me that they don't trust Andy to win. You also have to do everything you can to get CC to start game 1 of the series. Pitching him in game 6 pretty much makes that impossible. Andy starts game 6 you hear me Girardi. Andy starts game 6. The other drawback of a rainout is it means that John Lackey likely is available if needed. I don't see him pitching at all if the game is tomorrow. Hopefully, like it did last weekend, the weather holds off and they get the game in as scheduled.

This has been a crazy series. With the exception of game 4, they've all been nailbiters. I fully expect the next 2 games to pretty much follow suit. It's going to be tough for the Angels to win 2 straight in the Bronx but it's not out of the question. Pettitte and CC have had great postseasons and I don't see them tanking now. The offense needs to score early. Get 'em on, get 'em over, get 'em in. No more of this getting the first 2 guys on and leaving them there. Start early and don't let up.

My big fear is WWJD. What will Joe do?

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Joe Girardi Is A Big Fat Idiot

Tonight's loss to the Angels has me so frustrated. I had to go to the store to pick up a few things right after the game and the whole time I was there I kept uttering some not so nice things under my breath while shaking my head in disbelief. Tonight's loss was purely on Joe Girardi and his over-managing of the Yankees' bullpen. What he did in the 11th, pulling Robertson for Aceves, made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Even if it worked out it was a horrible move. I think there was only one person out there who thought it made sense and that was Joe Girardi. As soon as the move was made the entire Yankee "Twitterverse" was questioning the move. I got several text messages questioning the move. It made sense to no one. I'm still ticked about it. The guys over at Nomaas had the perfect tweet. It read, "When Tim McCarver actually makes sense, you know you made an idiotic move." If you're familiar with McCarver, you know he's often wrong and makes no sense. Even he questioned the move as soon as it happened. Un-friggin-believable. It was stupid, stupid, stupid.

Girardi said he made the move because he liked the matchup better with Aceves facing Kendrick. Robertson in his career had faced Kendrick twice. Aceves had never faced him. How can you think an Aceves/Kendrick matchup is more favorable than a Robertson/Kendrick matchup when Acevss has never faced him? It doesn't make any sense. Aceves and Robertson are both righties so it's not like there was an advantage of having one over the other. I can see it if Robertson was struggling and had thrown a lot of pitches but he was pitching well and retired the first 2 batters on only 11 pitches. He certainly had some gas left in the tank. It was a very short-sighted move. It was a tie game. The Yankees had lost the DH. If Aceves happens to get out of the inning and then the Yankees don't score, then what? The only RP left was Chad Gaudin. In a situation like that you have to prepare for the long haul. You can't pull RPs like that and leave yourself short-handed. It was stupid, stupid, stupid.

But that wasn't Girardi's only boneheaded move. He brought in Damaso Marte, a lefty, to pitch to one hitter. Marte threw one pitch for the 3rd out of the inning. The Yankees didn't score in their half of the inning and Girardi brought in Phil Coke, a lefty, to start the inning. Why wouldn't they just keep Marte out there since they were both lefties? Instead they burned through a reliever that could have helped them out later. It was stupid, stupid, stupid.

Girardi definitely over-managed this game. If the Angels come back and win the series those boneheaded moves are going to seve as the turning point. Girardi's idiotic moves though weren't the only reasons why the Yankees lost. The offense, despite their 4 solo HRs, was horrible. Mark Teixeira went 0-3 and lowered his postseason average to .077. He's a had a few big hits but he needs to step it up.

The worst though is without a doubt, Nick "The Rally Killer" Swisher. Is there anyone worse than Swisher when it comes to hitting with guys on base? I don't think so. He was horrible in the regular season. He's horrible in the postseason. Here are his regular season numbers in different situations:

• With runners on: .246.
• With RISP: .227.
• With RISP and 2 outs: .163.
• With the bases loaded: .158.

That's pitiful. Here's how he's done in the postseason (I pulled these from the game logs)

• With runners on: 1-7, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K
• With RISP: 0-4, 3 K
• With RISP and 2 outs: 0-1, 1 K
• With the bases loaded: 0-2, 2 K

That's why I call him "The Rally Killer." He's the last guy I want up with runners on base. I'd almost rather see Brett Gardner get a start over Swisher. I'm about 50/50 on that one. I have no faith in Swisher whatsoever.

It would have been nice to steal this game and take a 3-0 lead in the series. It would have been all but over. Now it's 2-1 Yankees and they're still in a good position. CC Sabathia pitches tomorrow on short rest. I'm expecting him to continue with the good pitching. The team is pitching very well and CC's the ace of the staff. He can handle the short rest. CC needs to pitch deep into the game. The longer he pitches the better. It's really the only way to ensure Joe Girardi doesn't make any more stupid moves. He's already cost the team one game. We don't need him to cost them another one. A little offense wouldn't hurt either.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees/Twins ALDS Recap/Breakdown

This post is about a day and a half overdue. I meant to write this around lunchtime Monday, but one thing lead to another and here we are. Since we're now 2 days removed from sweeping the Twins, I won't go into as much analysis as I originally planned. I'll hit up a few bullet points and then call it a night. Let's dive in, shall we?

The Yankees starting pitching in the ALDS was nothing short of awesome. CC, A.J., and Andy combined for 19 innings, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 14 hits and 6 walks, while striking out 21. That's an ERA of 1.42 and for you WHIP fans out there that works out to a WHIP of 1.05. Pretty impressive, wouldn't you say? The only negative I saw from those 3 was A.J.'s lack of control. A.J. walked 5 and hit 2. Lucky for him (and us) he has shutdown type stuff so the walks didn't hurt him as much as they could have. As long as the runs don't score we're good.

The Yankee bullpen as a whole was very impressive, with the exceptions of Damaso Marte and Phil Hughes. Let's face it, nobody cares about Marte. Hughes on the other hand, didn't look too sharp. Phil appeared in all 3 games, pitching 2 innings and allowing 2 runs, both earned, on 5 hits and a walk. It could have been worse if not for Nick Punto's baserunning blunder in game 3, but more on that later. The hero of the bullpen was probably David Robertson. D-Rob entered the game in a pretty tough spot (2 on w/no out), made it a little tougher for himself (bases loaded w/no outs) and got the team out of it unscathed. That was big right there. But as I said, the pen as a whole, wasn't too shabby. In 3 games, they combined for 10 innings, allowing 2 runs (both earned) on 15 hits and 3 walks, while whiffing 13. The WHIP and ERA came in at the same total, 1.80. That's great for an ERA but lousy for a WHIP. As long as the runs don't score, we're good.

The defense played error-free baseball for the 3 games and as I illustrated in the 2 paragraphs above, the pitching was very solid. The Yankees collective pitching line was 29 IP, 29 hits, 6 runs, 5 earned runs, 9 walks, and 34 Ks. That's an ERA of 1.55 and a WHIP of 1.31. Perhaps the best stat is that the Yankees didn't allow a single HR in the 3 games. As I said, impressive. As the saying goes, pitching and defense wins championships.

The offensive heroes were without a doubt Derek Jeter and A-Rod. Alex had a monster ALDS. I asked my magic 8-ball if A-Rod's October woes were behind him and it said all signs point to yes. For the series, A-Rod hit .455 (5-11) with 2 HR and 6 RBI. Alex went a combined 0-6 in his first 2 ABs of each game. If you do the math, that means he went 5-5 in his final ABs. That's clutch right there. I said it after each game. I'll say it again. Alex is going to have a monster postseason. I think his head is finally in the right place and I don't think he feels much pressure. His October will be huge. Jeter's hot-hitting spilled right over from the regular season. Jeter went 4-10 with 2 walks and 3 extra-base hits. The Captain is always on base, which is exactly what you want from your leadoff hitter.

The rest of the offense with the exception of Jorge Posada, who hit .364 and had the big HR off Pavano, and to a lesser degree, Mark Teixeira, because he had the 2 clutch hits in game 2, was rather unimpressive. Outside of Jeter, Posada, and A-Rod, the only hitter who topped .200 was Hideki Matsui, who hit .222. Johnny Damon and Nick Swisher were absolutely awful. Both hit .083 for the series and both struck out 4 times. The bats need to wake up.

The Yankees also got a little help. The Twins are supposed to be a very sound baseball team. They committed 2 huge baserunning blunders that very well could have changed things. Nick Swisher made a heads up play to nail Carlos Gomez when he slipped rounding 2nd. That blunder cost the Twins a run as Delmon Young was about to score. And as I mentioned above, Nick Punto made a critical mistake in game 3 when he rounded 3rd to far and couldn't get back to the bag in time. Jeter made a nice play right there to read the situation and get the ball to 3rd before Punto got back. Both of those plays could have changed the course of the series. As could have umpire Phil Cuzzi's horrible call in game 2. Cuzzi called a Joe Mauer fly ball foul when it was clearly fair. Mauer would have been on 2nd with no outs. Instead he ended up with a single and he didn't score, thanks to David Robertson. One can't assume though that if the correct call was made that the outcome would have been different. There's no way of knowing and it's pointless to even discuss.

Add all that up my friends and you've got a 3 game sweep and the Yankees are off to the ALCS for the first time since 2004. It should be a very good series. The Angels have always been a thorn in the Yankees' side but I think the tide is turning. The teams split the season series with the Yankees winning 3 of the last 4, including 2 of 3 in Anaheim. The Yanks also won 3 of 4 against the Angels at home. The Yankees have the best home record in all of MLB. The Angels have the best road record in MLB with the Yankees only 2 games worse. It should be fun. I hope to write a little preview of it on Thursday sometime, assuming my schedule allows. So check back for that.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yanks Walkoff To A 2-0 Series Lead On Teixieira's 11th Inning HR

What. A. Game. That was freaking amazing. I don't care what anybody thinks. Nothing compares to postseason baseball. Nothing. Tonight's game was a nail-biter. I was literally on the edge of my seat for the last few innings. My heart is still racing. Wow. I'm still in disbelief. The Twins have the bases loaded with no outs and don't score. Mark Teixeira then delivers a Yankee Stadium special and gets a pie in the face for his troubles. You gotta love it. The Twins must really hate playing the Yankees. 4 losses on 4 walkoffs. Unreal.

God, where to start? I don't even know. There's so much to discuss. I guess will start with the night's hero, Mark Teixeira. Talk about coming through in the clutch. Mark's ALDS was not exactly off to the best of starts. Then he singles to set-up A-Rod's game-tying jack in the 9th and that apparently opened the flood gates. Next AB, game over. Those were 2 clutch ABs. He also came through huge with the leather. Woo. Welcome to the party Teix.

Teixeira's heroics wouldn't have been possible if not for A-Rod. Alex is having a monster series. A-Rod is 4-8 with 5 ribbies in the 1st 2 games. I think it's safe to say that his postseason slump is over. He came through in the biggest of spots there in the 9th. Wow. Unbelievable. As I wrote the other day, I think Alex is going to have a huge postseason. Did I write that? I think I did. Let me check. Yup, I did. And I'll restate the reason again. I think Alex is feeling no pressure. Not sure if you caught his postgame interview he did with Michael Kay, but Alex in a roundabout way alluded to that. As he said, the Yankees have a great cast this year. A-Rod no longer has to be "the man." I think that's huge for him. Expect a lot more from A-Rod this October.

I still have no idea how the Yankees escaped the 11th inning without giving up a run. That was some magic right there. Marte started the inning and stunk up the joint. David Robertson came in and somehow wiggled out of the jam. I thought the only way D-Rob was getting them out of that inning was if he picked up a K. He's been so good at doing that this season. No Ks but there was some clutch heads up defense. Thank God for Mark Teixeira. I'll be shocked if he doesn't win the Gold Glove this year.

Damaso Marte. Why is he on the roster? Oh yeah. It's to get out the lefties. FAIL.

Brett Gardner. He has to be smarter than that. It made absolutely no sense for him to take off on Damon's liner. If the ball made it through, he could have trotted home. How does he not make sure that the ball hits the ground? I just don't get it. That could have ended up costing the Yanks the game. Epic fail.

A.J. Burnett pitched a pretty good game. He allowed way too many walks though. A.J. issued 5 free passes. He also hit 2 hitters. He's got to have better control. That could have gotten real ugly, real fast. Teams usually score more than 1 run when they have 10 guys reach base. But as I've said before, the good pitchers always seem to find a way to wiggle their way out of trouble. A.J. was pretty good at that tonight. He has dominant stuff. He just needs to keep it over the plate. Overall, a really solid postseason debut for Burnett.

Walks almost killed the Yankees tonight. Two of the three Twins runs were scored by guys who walked. The 2 runs the Twins scored in the 8th started with a 2-out walk. Phil Hughes had a rough go of things tonight. I think he'll be fine though.

Finally, some thank yous.

1. Thanks Joe Nathan for again imploding against the Yankees in the postseason. The Yankees own you. They own you all around. In his career, Nathan's is 0-4 with a 4.64 ERA and 3 blown saves against the Yankees.
2. Thanks to the LF umpire Phil Cuzzi for blowing that call in the 11th. Mauer's hit was about 2 feet fair. I'm not sure how he missed that since he was right on top of it. That was a game-changer.
3. Thanks to my wife for being a trooper. She was standing on our stairs when A-Rod went deep. So I made her watch the rest of the game from that vantage point. Talk about uncomfortable. But hey, you don't want to mess with the mojo.

The Yanks are now off to Minnesota with a commanding 2 game lead. Any momentum the Twins had is gone baby gone. Phew. I was a little worried before game 1 because of how hot the Twins were. Teams that hot are scary. I guess I had nothing to worry about. Game 3 should be very interesting. The Yanks are scheduled to face.....wait for it.....wait for it.....Carl Pavano. Oh man this should be fun. I don't see how the Yankees would let Carl Pavano beat them. That would be a tough pill to swallow, wouldn't it? I don't see it happening and quite frankly I'll be shocked if it does.

2 down, 10 to go.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yanks Release ALDS Roster

The Yankees have finalized their postseason roster and there are a few surprises, but nothing major. I blogged a few days ago with what I thought the roster would be. Here's that list:

• Hitters: Jorge Posada, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Melky Cabrera, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Brett Gardner, Eric Hinske, Jose Molina, Jerry Hairston, Jr., Francisco Cervelli and Freddy Guzman
• Pitchers: CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, A.J. Burnett, Alfredo Aceves, Phil Coke, Brian Bruney, David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, and Mariano Rivera

Here's the actual roster, those that are bolded were on my roster above.

• Hitters: Jorge Posada, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Melky Cabrera, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Brett Gardner, Eric Hinske, Jose Molina, Jerry Hairston, Jr., and Francisco Cervelli
• Pitchers: CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, A.J. Burnett, Alfredo Aceves, Phil Coke, Damaso Marte, Chad Gaudin, David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, and Mariano Rivera

I had Freddy Guzman and Brian Bruney on my roster. The Yankees went with Chad Gaudin and Damaso Marte. The Yankees obviously felt there would be an added benefit to bringing along 8 RPs instead of 7, which is the reason for Guzman's exclusion. I'm not sure I agree with that line of thinking but I have no problem with it. The Yankees will only play back-to-back games twice. There's a day off in between games 1 and 2, games 2 and 3, and games 4 and 5. There's plenty of time-off for the bullpen arms to recuperate. I'm not sure they need 8 RPs. I think Guzman could bring more to the table as a pinch runner off the bench. I can only assume that the Yanks felt there wouldn't be a need for that. I hope there isn't.

I can understand why they picked Marte and left Brian Bruney off the roster for this round. The Twins have a lot of lefties in their lineup and it makes a lot of sense to have a 2nd lefty in the bullpen. I get that. I don't get though why they're bringing Chad Gaudin along. If the Yankees advance past Minnesota they're likely going to need a 4th starter, with that starter being either Chad Gaudin or Joba Chamberlain. I thought they'd pick the one they wanted to start and send them to Tampa to get work in so their arm stayed strong. I thought the other would be in the bullpen for the duration of the playoffs. I'm not a fan of using them sporadically, if at all, and then having them start again. If CC, A.J., or Andy don't go deep into the game, Aceves or Joba can take the ball. With Gaudin on the roster they now have 3 long-men and I don't see why that's needed in a 5-game series played over 8 days. But what do I know? I can see Gaudin not seeing any action. If that's the case, and I think odds are good that it will be, than why not bring Guzman along as a threat off the bench? It makes me wonder what the Yankees' exact game plan is. I wonder why they feel the need to have both Gaudin and Joba on the roster.

First pitch is a little more than 7 hours from now. I'm pretty geeked up. I think it's very important that the Yankees win game 1. Besides being in the driver's seat, it'll take a lot of the wind out of the Twins' sails. CC is making his 1st postseason start in Pinstripes. He hasn't fared well in his past postseason outings. I'm expecting big things from the big man, starting with a shut down performance in game 1. The last thing I want to see is another postseason falter. I think we all don't want to see that. I'm hoping to get tickets to game 2. I have a ticket to game 5 but I really don't want that game to be played. I want them to win in 3 and not be in a position to play an elimination game.

October baseball. How can you not love it?

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Breaking Down The Postseason

The ALDS kicks off a little less than a week from now. The big unanswered questions left are who will the Yankees play, which series will they take, and who will be on the playoff roster? Let me address those one-by-one:

1)Who will the Yankees play? The smart money is on Detroit as they're up 2 with 3 to play. I'd much rather see the Yankees play the Twins though, purely because in a short series, Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson and Rick Porcello could easily beat you. I think they match up better against the Twins pitchers. The Tigers offense however isn't on par with the Twins. The Tigers OPS is about 19 points lower than that of the Twins. The Yankee pitchers would obviously fare better against a weaker lineup. I guess it doesn't really matter which team the face. I think there are pluses and minuses for both and the Yanks match up well either way. But if pitching wins championships, I guess I'll skip Verlander thank you very much. What would be ideal would be if the AL Central came down to the final day. Justin Verlander's turn is Sunday I think. If they're tied or if it's a 1-game playoff, the Yanks would see him later in the series or possibly on short rest.

2)Which series will the Yankees take? Since the Yankees have the best record, they get the choice of which ALDS schedule they want. They can take ALDS series A, which has games on 10/7, 10/9, 10/11, 10/12, and 10/14 or ALDS series B which has games on 10/8, 10/9, 10/11, 10/12, and 10/14. It's thought to be advantageous to take ALDS series A because of the added off-day. I agree with that. If the Yankees choose ALDS series A, they will be able to go with a 3-man rotation and still have guys pitch on regular rest. CC pitches tonight and would pitch again on 10/7, which gives him 5 days rest. He could come back and pitch game 4 on 5 days rest. If the Yankees played in ALDS series B, CC would start game 1 on 6 days rest and would pitch game 4 on 4 days rest. Andy Pettitte is slated to pitch game 2. He would be lined up to pitch game 5 in ALDS series A and would only pitch game 5 in ALDS series B if Sabathia pitched game 4 on short rest. It's advantageous to the Yankees to keep guys on regular rest. But if there is anyone who can pitch on 4 days rest, it's CC Sabathia. I don't think there's any advantage in taking ALDS series B. Series A keeps the rotation at 3 (no Joba or Gaudin) and everyone pitches on regular rest. It also frees up a roster spot since only 3 SPs are needed. An extra hitter could be key. Series A also means A-Rod can get some extra rest.

3)Who will be on the playoff roster? As I mentioned above, if the Yankees take ALDS series A they'll only need 3 SPs. That would allow them to carry an extra hitter on the roster. I think there are several players who are a given so let's just get them out of the way:

• Hitters: Jorge Posada, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Melky Cabrera, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Brett Gardner, Eric Hinske, Jose Molina and Jerry Hairston, Jr.
• Pitchers: CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, A.J. Burnett, Alfredo Aceves, Phil Hughes, Mariano Rivera

Those 19 guys are definitely a given. The breakdown right there is 13 hitters and 6 pitchers. I think the team would be best off if they carried 10 pitchers. The choices are Joba Chamberlain, Chad Gaudin, Phil Coke, David Robertson, Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte. You have to have a lefty and Phil Coke gets the nod over Damaso Marte. I don't see them carrying both Chad Gaudin and Joba Chamberlain. I'm not sure that either would make the ALDS roster. Both are candidates to start in the ALCS. I think if you put one in the pen, you're committing him to the pen for the duration of the playoffs. If the Yankees want Joba to start, I think Gaudin doesn't make the playoff roster for any series. Personally, I'd prefer to see Guadin get a start in the ALCS and Joba to join the pen for the playoffs. Joba was electrifying as a RP. I think the Yankees would have a lights-out back of the bullpen with Joba, Hughes, and Mariano. I leave Gaudin off for the ALDS and throw Joba in the pen (for the entire playoffs). Bruney and Robertson get the final 2 spots. So spots 7-10 go to Bruney, Coke, Robertson and Chamberlain,

13 hitters and 10 pitchers leaves 2 open spots. The choices to round out the offense for my money are Francisco Cervelli, Ramiro Pena, and Freddy Guzman. It makes sense to carry a 3rd catcher. If the team faces a lefty, they could sit Matsui and DH Posada. The 3rd catcher would allow them to make a defensive substitution late if need be. For that reason, I'd put Cervelli on the roster. Which brings me to Ramiro Pena and Freddy Guzman for the last spot. Whoever gets this spot is going to see little playing time. In my opinion, this guy's role would probably be as a pinch-runner. Guzman is definitely quicker than Pena. I've got to go with Freddy.

Here is my roster for the ALDS:

• Hitters: Jorge Posada, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Melky Cabrera, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Brett Gardner, Eric Hinske, Jose Molina, Jerry Hairston, Jr., Francisco Cervelli and Freddy Guzman
• Pitchers: CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, A.J. Burnett, Alfredo Aceves, Phil Coke, Brian Bruney, David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, and Mariano Rivera

When the ALCS rolls around, I add Gaudin to the roster and take Guzman or Cervelli off. I'm not sure which I prefer. Guzman would be nice to have as a pinch runner against the weak-armed Red Sox. Yeah, I think I keep Guzman either way.

There you have it. What do you think? What changes would you make? I think no matter how it gets sliced the team is going to have a great shot to win it all. I'm liking their chances.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Pitching Staff Comes Through In 3-2 Win Over Angels

I got a text alert from the Yankees an hour or so before the game started. It said that Girardi was keeping A-Rod, Damon, and Swisher out of the lineup. When I read that my first thought was, "Well I hope A.J. is on because it'll be a weak lineup." The offense hasn't exactly shown up when they play in Anaheim. At first I was puzzled as to why Girardi would sit those guys in what I thought was a big game. It wasn't a must win, but it was still important nonetheless, in my opinion anyway. Besides getting one step closer to winning the AL East, the Yankees could get one step closer to wrapping up home field advantage throughout the playoffs. I didn't quite get the move, especially with tomorrow being an off day. Then I read how poorly A-Rod, Damon, and Swisher have performed against Scott Kazmir. The move then made more sense. I still didn't like their chances. With 1/3 of the regular lineup riding the pine, the pitching had to be there. As you all should know by now, it was.

I had my doubts with the wildly inconsistent A.J. Burnett getting the start but he got the job done. He allowed a few too many baserunners for my taste but his 11 Ks neutralized any real threats. A.J. pitched pretty well. 3 of his last 4 starts have been pretty good with one being really bad. Throw out the bad start and we're looking at: 18.2 IP, 18 hits, 9 walks, 17 Ks, and 4 ER (1.93 ERA). Not bad but he needs to bring that WHIP (1.45) down a little bit. Allowing so many baserunners will eventually catch up with you. I'm really hoping Burnett has his stuff together. He's going to be a big part of the team in October. The Yanks need him if they want to go deep into the playoffs.

Big up to the bullpen for pitching 3+ scoreless innings. Marte picked up 2 huge outs. He got Yankee killer Chone Figgins to fly out with 2 on to end the 6th. He then got himself out of a little jam by getting Bobby Abreu to ground into a 4-6-3 DP. Phil Coke bailed out Albaladejo. That was big. Ian Kennedy even got in on the action. IPK was a little shaky. Scratch that. IPK was a lot shaky. That was scary. Kennedy seems to forget how to have control whenever he pitches at the big league level. 2 walks and a hit-batter. 15 of 28 pitches for strikes. He's got to be better than that. But he didn't allow any runs, so I can't speak to ill about his outing. But like with A.J., allowing too many baserunners will eventually catch up with you. So watch yourself IPK. And what would a 3-2 win be without Mariano Rivera picking up the save? He's the GOAT. 'Nuff said.

As expected with that lineup, there wasn't a lot of scoring. It all came at once with the big knock coming off the bat of Robbie Cano. Robbie may not come through a lot with RISP but his hit today was clutch. He seems to be doing that more and more lately, though still not nearly at the level he needs to. Robbie's buddy Melky came up with the other big hit and I hope that snaps him out of his slump. Melk was in a God-awful 1 for 21 slump before that base knock. He then followed that double with a single in his next AB. Slump over? I hope so.

The win today has to be a huge confidence booster for the Yanks. They finally won a series in Anaheim. I don't remember the last time they did that. The Yanks could very well find themselves playing the Angels in the ALCS. These 2 wins hopefully got that monkey off their back. The win also puts the Yanks one step closer to clinching the division (magic # is 5) and one step closer to clinching HFA throughout the playoffs. Their magic # to clinch HFA over the Angels is 4. They very well could wrap both up this weekend against the Red Sox. The magic # to clinch the East could be as low as 3 by the time the Yanks take the field again. All I can say about that is, go Royals!

Off day tomorrow as the team flies back home. Enjoy it while you can because the real fun is about to start.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie