Daily Archives: October 22, 2009

Yanks are close. But close doesn’t count, do she?

People get ready. G’wan be lots of cheering tonight as the pennant is on the line for the New Yorkers.

Give ’em hell, boys:

Let’s Go Yan-Kees!

Tonight’s starter, Big John Lackey on how to deal with Alex Rodriguez:

“You’ve got to pick your spots, obviously,’’ said John Lackey, the pitcher tasked with keeping Rodriguez off the bases in tonight’s elimination game for the Angels. “It’s tough to pitch around one guy in this lineup because they’re so deep. But if I pitch up to my capabilities, I think I’ll be OK. I’ve had a little bit of success against him [9 for 51 lifetime, 4 homers].

“It would be nice to get the guys out in front of him. That kind of limits the damage right there. You’ve got to try to get those guys out in front of him, and hopefully he’s hitting with nobody on base.’’
(Amalie Benjamin, Boston Globe)

Speaking of Lackey, Joseph Pawlikowski over at River Avenue Blues (the blog for the city that never sleeps), weighs in with his take on the man.

And then there is AJ Burnett.

When I think about Burnett, I can’t help but think of Todd Drew. Been thinking about Todd all day, really. Todd liked AJ, loved his stuff, was a fan. After two good outings so far this October I feel that Burnett is due for a clunker. But another part of me–the part that is touched by the Todd Drew Angel from Above–wonders if he won’t be onions, hunches be damned.

Which one of these?

“This is why I signed,” Burnett said before yesterday’s off-day workout. “The opportunity to pitch in the postseason, you know. …The first year over here I have an opportunity, so I’m taking full advantage of it. I cannot wait.”
(Pete Botte, New York Daily News)

Neither can we, Meat. Neither can we.

There is a show of Robert Frank’s most famous photographs at the MET. I haven’t been yet but plan of getting there soon as I’m a great fan of those pictures.  In the Times review, Holland Cotter writes:

I’m reading feelings in here, but I think Mr. Frank was reading them into his subjects, which is why his pictures, separately and together, feel so personally laden. At this point, in 1955, he was on the first leg of a transcontinental car trip that would last 10 months and take him 10,000 miles. He was still learning the American language, the language of race and class, a stranger in a strange land that was getting more baffling.

How did he come to be there? Born in a German Jewish family in Zurich in 1924, he was interested in picture making early on. He apprenticed with several leading local photographers in his teens; in his early 20s he was doing promising work, examples of which are in the Met show. But he was temperamentally restless and impulsive. He needed to leave home, so he headed for New York.

Years after he took these career-making pictures, Frank directed an infamous (and officially un-released) documentary about the Rolling Stones.

Today’s news is powered by Jethro Tull, circa 1978:

• The Captain is indeed under the weather:

Television cameras caught Jeter coughing numerous times during the Yankees’ 10-1 victory over the Angels in Game 4, when he went 2-for-5 with a walk.

The New York Times reported that Jeter left Angel Stadium clutching a bottle of NyQuil, and manager Joe Girardi confirmed the shortstop’s illness in a news conference on Wednesday.

“I noticed it on Monday, and he was pretty sick,” Girardi said. “He was still pretty sick yesterday. I’m hoping that he feels better, but it didn’t seem to affect him Monday his first at-bat. That’s just the type of player that Derek is. He’s tough.”

• What’s not eating A-Rod?

Rodriguez said his transformation to a more comfortable and more focused player started in spring training. After acknowledging in February that he had used steroids, then having hip surgery, Rodriguez decided not to have great expectations and to eliminate distractions. That approach has worked.

It has worked so well that Rodriguez would not dare change after getting three hits and driving in two runs in a 10-1 win over the Angels in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Tuesday night. When Rodriguez was asked if the toughest part of his day was explaining how he was doing what he is doing, he laughed and said it was not.

“I don’t talk much anymore,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t have to explain myself. That’s a good thing.”

(more…)