Bartolo Colon’s playoff spot might be determined by what he does tonight. He’s been like a balloon with a small tear in it. The air has been slowly escaping for more than a month now.

Eduardo Nunez SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Nick Swisher RF
Jorge Posada DH
Russell Martin C
Brett Gardner LF

Never mind the nonsense:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Cortes 2]

From George King in the Post:

Russell Martin was ejected by plate umpire Paul Schrieber in the fifth inning after Hughes believed the ump missed a couple of pitches.

“I said to (the umpire), ‘Did you stretch before the game?’ He said ‘What?’ I asked him again. Then I said, ‘I believe you are kind of tight right now.’ And he threw me out of the game.

“He wanted to hear what I was going to say because why else would he take off his mask and walk around me. I kept my mask on my face, nobody knew what was going on. I thought this was a game it should be fun. I was just trying to loosen things up a bit because he wasn’t having a good time. I didn’t say he sucked, I didn’t say he was the worst umpire in the league, I didn’t say any of that stuff. I just made a joke and he threw me out. No warning. Nothing.

“He said my antics were tired. Me walking to the mound kind of slowly. But it’s frustrating when you are not getting calls. I got thrown out for being funny, I guess. I got thrown out for having a sense of humor. I had Joe [Girardi] laughing. I can’t wait to see the report he is going to write. I felt it was the perfect time to do it. I was just trying to lighten up the mood. It just popped up in my head. I think he took it the wrong way. I just thought of it on the way back from seeing Phil. Phil was getting frustrated. a My standup days are over, shortlived. We can’t talk anymore. I was shocked I got thrown out. I was just trying to get him to laugh.”

Tough room, huh?

[Drawing by the great Drew Friedman]

What do I know from tonight’s games? I don’t know dick, frankly, because The Wife was watching “Dancing with the Stars.” But I followed along on the computer, at least to check the scores, and saw some of the video highlights. What I learned was that Russell Martin was thrown out of the game while behind the plate for arguing balls and strikes. I know that the Yankees caught two runners stealing in one play and that Desmond Jennings made a spectacular catch in left field. Oh, and I learned that aside from Robinson Cano’s two hits, including a first inning home run, James Shield had his way with the Yanks. He lasted until two outs in the ninth, walked Eric Chavez and our old chum Kyle Farmaduke got the final out.

Final Score: Rays 5, Yanks 2.

I also know that Josh Beckett spit the bit, giving up six runs–an inside the park home run was the icing on the gravy–and now the Sox and Rays are tied for the wild card with two games left in the season.

Whoa, Daddy.

Yanks down in Tampa for three to end the season. The Rays are fighting to make the playoffs and they need some help from the Orioles. The Yanks are looking to rest some guys and keep everyone healthy for the ALDS.

Cliff with the preview.

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Jorge Posada 1B
Eric Chavez 3B
Russell Martin C
Eduardo Nunez RF
Brett Gardner LF

Never mind the nap:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Krstnn Hrmnsn]

According to Chad Jennings, Phil Hughes will be pitching out of the bullpen come playoff time.

Yeah, okay, so we wanted the Yanks to win last night and they didn’t. Big deal. They’ve still got the best record in the American League and that ain’t going to change. So here’s my question: do you root against the Yanks the next three days in the hopes that the Red Sox cough-up the wildcard?

Also, the Rangers or the Tigers? I’d much rather the Yanks face Texas in the first round. Careful what you wish for, I know, but I’d take my chances with them over Verlander, Cabrera and company.

[Photo Credit: Moiht]

It didn’t start well for John Lackey. He allowed a walk and single in the first and had runners on the corners with one out when Mark Teixeira hit a ball to the wall in right center field. It hit the top of the wall, a few inches away from being a home run. Two runs scored and the throw came in to Jason Varitek at home as Teixeira tried for third. Varitek had him easily but airmailed the ball into left field instead and Teixeira scored.

And that’s the way things have been going for the Red Sox.

Except Lackey recovered and pitched well after that. Couple of double plays helped him out and eventually, the Sox put some runs on the board. They scored one in the the fifth, another in the sixth. A wild pitch that bounced right back to Austin Romine at home plate was good enough to end the sixth when he tagged a leaping Dustin Pedrioa on the ass. It was good enough to get Ivan Nova out of trouble but Joe Girardi wouldn’t leave well enough alone, even after Nova’s pitches hung up in the strike zone, and a pair of doubles followed by an RBI single by Varitek gave the Sox a 4-3 in the seventh.

Boone Logan relieved Nova and got Jacoby Ellsbury looking and then picked off pinch-runner Joey Gathwright to end the inning.

Eric Chavez led off the bottom of the seventh with a weak ground ball that snuck into center field for a base hit and Tito Francona walked to the mound to remove his starting pitcher. Lackey moved away shaking his head. “You’ve got to be shitting me,” is what I saw his lips say as he stomped back to the dugout.

Brett Gardner, pinch-running for Chavez stole second on the first pitch Alfredo Aceves threw. The pitch also happened to go wild, so the tying run was at second with nobody out. Jesus Montero fisted a 2-2 pitch to short but it was hit softly enough for Gardner to reach third. The Sox brought their infield in but it didn’t much matter when Chris Dickerson hit a fly ball to center field for the sacrifice fly.

Tie game. Rafael Soriano got ahead of Carl Crawford 0-2 but then left a fastball over the plate and Crawford singled to center. He took off for second on Soriano’s first pitch to Pedrioa, got a good jump too, but Romine made a perfect throw, Cano made a quick tag, and Yankee fans had reason to cheer. They continued to be happy as Pedrioa and Ortiz grounded out to end the inning.

Aceves got the first two men out in the bottom of the eighth and then Josh Bard retired Robinson Cano on a grounder to second.

Mariano replaced Soriano and served-up an opposite field base hit to Adrain Gonzalez to start the ninth (fastball on the outside part of the plate but way up in the zone). Lars Anderson pinch-ran for Gonzalez and Mike Aviles sacrificed him to second. J.D. Drew, making his first start since Christ was a Cowboy, grounded out to first, pushing Anderson to third. Girardi walked to the mound and the infielders joined him. Mariano smiled because Marco Scutaro was coming to bat and the sombitch has a happy history against Rivera. That brought up Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who took a fastball right down Broadway for a strike. Then he took a fastball on the outside corner for strike two. Took anther fastball, just off the outside corner for a ball. A pitch Rivera usually gets. And then the unfair one: a cutter, low and inside, breaking late, almost at Salty’s ankles. He swung right over it for the third out.

Teixeira battled Bard to led off the bottom of the inning and after twelve pitches drew a walk. Greg Golson came in to run and Swisher came to bat as Jonathan Paplebon quickly warmed-up in the bullpen. A throw to first, a strike, then Bard stepped off the rubber before throwing a pitch in the dirt. Another throw to first, this one Anderson had to scoop to keep from going past him. A fastball just under Swisher’s armpits for ball two. A bigger lead for Golson and a throw to first. Paplebon almost ready. Golson ran and Swisher hit a ground ball to first, one out.

Gardner–0-5 lifetime against Bard–took a fastball for a strike and then tapped out weakly to first, Golson to third. And then, an intentional walk to The Jesus. The young Brandon Laird up, but what’s this? Jorge Posada. Pinch hitter. The old man. Believe it.

Fastball, way outside for a ball. Another heater, again, way out of the strike zone, ball two. Another heater missed so they walked him intentionally.

Enter Paplebon. Mr. Romine, this is your life, son.

Slider, up, hanging, fouled off. Fastball, low and inside. Fastball, right there, fouled back. Had a good swing, too. Fastball, in, 97mph, fouled back. Then a breaking pitch in the dirt, swung on and missed. He had his chances, had some good pitches, but he got beat.

Raul Valdes came in for Mo and the deflated sound you heard was the commenters on the Banter. You know how it goes. Ellsbury blooped a single over Nunez’s head but was cut down at second when Crawford tried to sacrifice him over. Crawford reached first and Cory Wade replaced Valdes. Crawford did not run and it took seven pitches for Wade to strike Pedrioa out. Then Ortiz flew out to left to end the inning.

Paplebon tossed a scoreless frame and then Wade did the same so Paps did it again. Wade got one out in the 12th and then gave way to Aaron Laffey. And now the Banter Crew was just plain annoyed. Even more so when Salty lined a single to left. But then Ellsbury hit into a 4-6-3 double play. Go figure, indeed.

Franklin Morales, a lefty, was Boston’s new pitcher in the bottom of the inning. He threw stack cheddar and The Jesus got some good hacks in, fouling pitches off, and he laid off a 2-2 curve ball before blooping a single to left. Ramiro Pena, in his first time hitting, stabbed at the first pitch and popped it foul, just out of Salty’s reach. Morales slung a pick off throw to first that Anderson grabbed, saving another potential throwing error. Then Pena bunted a ball right at Morales, who bobbled it, but still had plenty of time to nail Montero at second for the first out. Romine had a good pass at a fastball but struck out looking at a high slider and Nunez, hacking wildly, popped up to Pedrioa.

Unlucky 13.

I mean, Aaron Laffey, right? He got Crawford to line out to third and then Pedrioa had one of those Kevin Youkilis at bats, 9 pitches, hits a soft ground ball to third, Pena fired it to first, Pedrioa did his best Pete Rose and dove to the bag. The throw beat him, easily, but Tim McClelland called him safe. Unlucky 13, it was nothing short of a horrible call. Swisher yelled and Girardi got thrown out of the game. Ortiz flew out just shy of the warning track in left. Pedrioa led off first, unable to get a good break. Laffey threw over, fell behind Anderson but then regrouped and struck out the first baseman for the third out.

Pedrioa made a slick play, picking a hard-hit ball by Granderson for the first out in the bottom of the inning. Morales still in there. Cano walked and Andruw Jones stayed on the bench as Golson came to hit. And Golson worked the count full, fouled off a fastball and took a curve ball with no bite for ball four.

Swisher. 0-5 Swisher. Called out at first earlier in the game at first when he was safe. Playing first when Pedrioa was called safe. So Swisher hit a fly ball to right for the second out, Cano moved to third. And Gardner whiffed.

Unlucky 13.

How long could Laffey hang in there, tempting fate? Really, now. But he got an out and then Tony Pena took him out in favor of the human white flag, none other than our old pal Scott Proctor. Now, I’m sure Proctor is a decent guy. He once burned his glove on the field after a bad game in the old Stadium. And he’s a recovering alcoholic who sat alone in the player’s lounge a few days ago when the Yanks clinched the AL East. Sympathetic guy. But not the guy who is going to get outs before he gives up hits and runs anymore.

Darnell McDonald, pinch-hitting for Drew, singled to left. Scutaro walked. Do you want to know more? Isn’t it obvious where this is going? Okay, we’ve come this far, I won’t leave you hanging. Salty hit a ball a long way, in the park, but far enough to chase Granderson to the warning track in center field, far enough to allow McDonald to tag to third. And then Ellsbury. You know, the MVP candidate. Maybe he’ll win the award after hitting a ball over the fence in right center field for a three run homer.

Yeah, the Rays won’t be sending Scott Proctor a Christmas present. And I suppose ol’ Scott won’t make the playoff roster, not that he would have if he’d pitched well here.

You can’t blame Proctor for being himself. Jones, Rodriguez, Martin and Jeter never got off the bench and while the Yanks would have liked to win this one, it was clear that Girardi did not want to win at all costs. He’s got more pressing matters than the Red Sox. For Boston, however, a long day’s journey into night, ended with a sigh of relief. They remain a game ahead of Tampa. Ellsbury gets their biggest hit of the year and as I’ve said all week, I’d be surprised if they don’t make the playoffs.

Final Score: Sox 7, Yanks 4. 

[Photo Credit: Alex Duprey]

It’s Ivan Nova vs. John Lackey tonight.

File this one under the “Go Figure” department. A.J. Burnett pitched a nice game, and by his recent standards it was even better than that. He gave up two solo home runs to Jacboy Ellsbury but pitched into the eighth inning and well, let’s face it, he did better than anyone could have expected. Derek Jeter had three hits and is now batting and even .300; Jorge Posada had a couple too, including a two-run homer, and Alex Rodriguez added an RBI single.

“This game is kinda boring,” my wife said to me in the seventh inning.

The best kind of boring there is, my dear.

With the 6-2 win, the Yanks have secured the best record in the American League.

The Rays have also won putting the pressure on the Red Sox tonight (oh, and the Pats lost a close one to the Buffalo Bills to boot). John Lackey is starting and so Red Sox fans have probably lost all faith. But in keeping with the “Go Figure” theme, I think he’ll do well enough, and the Sox will take the second game to stay one game ahead of the Rays. Hope I’m wrong, but that’s my feeling.

I went shopping at Fairway this morning and talked tough with the Yankee fans I encountered. Smiles all around. Then an older guy comes up to me and says, “I’ve been rooting for the Red Sox for over sixty years. They are going to blow this.”

Who was I to tell him he was wrong? But I still say the Sox make the playoffs. And I’m not just trying to reverse jinx it–I’d be as happy as the next Yankee fan if the Sox find a way to blow it–I just don’t see it happening. I’ve got a bet with a friend who is a Sox fan–he buys me dinner if the Sox make it to the playoffs, I buy him dinner if they blow it. That’s a win, win for me.

It was supposed to rain all day but the sun is peaking out now. Double-header at the Stadium.

Here’s the Game 1 fun:

Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter SS
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jorge Posada DH
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C
Chris Dickerson RF
Brandon Laird 1B
Ramiro Pena 2B

Against…

Ellsbury CF
Crawford LF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Gonzalez 1B
Aviles 3B
Scutaro SS
Reddick RF
Saltalamacchia C

Never mind coasting:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Food Addict]

One of the joys of fatherhood is indoctrination. My daughter Alison is eleven years old, and I’ve been filling her head with baseball since her earliest days. At bedtime we’d read stories about Jackie Robinson and Lou Gehrig and Shoeless Joe Jackson, and my heart would fill with pride when she’d identify photos of Josh Gibson or Babe Ruth or tell her mother a story about Cool Papa Bell.

Alison’s interest in baseball has naturally led to a love of the Yankees, and recently she’s begun to gravitate towards certain players. Derek Jeter has always been her favorite, mainly because he’s her father’s favorite, but she’s also become attached to players of her own, like Nick Swisher.

Jorge Posada has been another of her guys, and she’s been bothered by his reduced role this season. (But I’ll never forget the bewildered look on her face last August when I told her that he had played second base.) When Jesus Montero was finally called up on September 1st, I explained to her how excited I was to watch him play since he was the top prospect in the Yankee system.

“What position does he play?”
“He’s a catcher, but he’ll probably just DH this season.”
“But what about Jorge Posada? Where will he play?”
“Well, if Montero plays well, Posada might not play very much anymore.”

Alison’s brow furrowed for just a second before she passed judgment on Montero.

“Then I don’t want him to do well.”

I tried to explain to her that this was the nature of baseball, that as our favorite players age, there will always be younger players waiting to take over for them. I promised her that it happened to all players, even the very best, and that even though it’s a little sad, we might eventually grow to love the new players as much as the ones they were replacing.

“I still don’t want him to do well.” She’s a fan.

Alison happened to be sitting next to me on the couch when Montero came to the plate with the bases loaded in a scoreless game in the bottom of the second. The usually reliable Jon Lester was on the mound, so even though the Red Sox had been wandering the desert for a few weeks, it certainly felt like this was a big at bat. If the Yankees were to squander this scoring opportunity, they might not get another.

“Jesus Montero is up. Let’s see what he can do here.”
“I don’t like him.” She scowled.

Alison isn’t ready to like Montero, but she liked the result of this at bat. After working himself into a 3-1 count, he looped a line drive to left, scoring Robinson Canó and opening up a 1-0 lead. Russell Martin followed that with a single to score two more, and chests began tightening throughout New England. But it would get worse; Derek Jeter was up next. He liked the looks of the first pitch he saw and shot it into the stands in right center field for a three-run home run. Suddenly the lead had doubled to six, and Boston fans couldn’t be blamed for thinking back thirty-three years to another lead that slipped away.

Things got worse still for the Sox in the third, and again it was Montero. He came to the plate with two outs and runners on first and second, and he smoked the first pitch he saw (and the last Lester would throw) to the wall in left center field. Both runners scored, bringing the lead to 8-0. The game wasn’t yet three innings old, and already the Red Sox were resigned to watching the scoreboard and hoping the Rays would lose. (They wouldn’t.)

Montero struck again in the sixth. Leading off against Junichi Tazawa, Montero patiently worked the count in his favor, then effortlessly flicked a 3-1 pitch into the seats in right for the fourth home run of his three-week career. In three at bats he had singled, doubled, and homered, totaling four RBIs. He’s currently hitting .346/.414/.635 with three doubles, four home runs, and twelve RBIs. Sure, it’s a small sample, but it’s enough.

Whether Alison likes it or not, the future has arrived.

For the Red Sox, the future might be arriving faster than they’d like. Saturday’s 9-1 loss coupled with a Tampa Bay win to shrink their lead to two in the loss column, and I’m sure the Yankees would enjoy nothing more than a double header sweep on Sunday.

[Photo Credit: Bill Kostroun/Associated Press]

Yanks, Sox: Fox.

Make it count, boys.

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Weather situations like this would invariably lead Mike Bonner, the Yankees’ game production guru, to roll out his interminable loop of rain-related songs that included “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” to “Riders on the Storm,” “Have You Ever Seen The Rain,” Who’ll Stop The Rain,” “Fool in the Rain” and any other rock/pop tune that had a hint of precipitation in the title.

As of 6 p.m., despite the radar showing “a big green blob out there coming this way,” as Joe Girardi told reporters at the start of his pregame media session, the Yankees and Red Sox had still planned on trying to play Friday night’s game. At 7:05, the game was officially postponed. Friday’s game will be played as the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday. The game will start at 6:30.

Kudos to the umpires for making the decision early and not delaying until after the West Coast games begin. The Yankees have already been through this twice this season — once with the Red Sox and once with the Orioles, where they had home games start after 10:30.

Freddy Garcia, the scheduled starter, will get the ball tomorrow afternoon in what could be his last audition for a Division Series start.

Should be a fun couple of days, if they can get the games in.

Yanks have a chance to make life miserable for the Sox this weekend.

Cliff’s got the preview.

Supposed to rain for the next three days.

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Jesus Montero DH
Russell Martin C

Never mind the galoshes:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Retrogasm]

Here’s our man Ted Berg talking Yanks-Sox with Mark Normanin:

Tampa spanked a Scranton-New York mash up 15-8, and that score does not do the game justice. It was 12-0 after four innings. The American League East Champions are entitled to a sleeper after clinching last night.

From this game we should take the following, in decreasing order of importance: nobody got hurt, Bartolo Colon was terrible, and Jesus Montero went three for three with two walks after a couple of ghastly games. The only regulars in the lineup were Jeter, Swisher and Teixeira, and they all came out after the game was out of hand in the fourth. Mad props to the Scranton boys who scored eight runs in the final few frames.

If I didn’t mention it earlier, the Yankees are American League East Champions. Before the season, I thought they had little chance to take the East crown. During the season, they proved me wrong and stayed close to the top, but I still never thought they’d outclass Boston because Boston was murdering them head-to-head. So to win the East so early that the last series with the Sox means diddly squat? Inconceivable.

Happy to be wrong. Hope I’m as bad at prognosticating the Postseason results because I still can’t see this rotation getting it done. To me, we’re in 2004-2007 territory. A great season, a great run differential, but having to throw one bad starter after another in the Postseason. The good news is that in AL at least, looks like everybody is in a similar jam. The Yankees can coast home from here, win a couple of the remaining games, rest players liberally and still pick up the best record in the AL. That’s what they’ll probably do.

But of course, given the fact that they play out the string against Red Sox and the Rays, the Yankees will determine the Wild Card winner. Should the Yankees arrange the off-days for the regulars so that the Rays play Scranton four times and the Red Sox draw the Bronx Bombers for all three games at the Stadium? There are two possible reasons for doing this: 1) The Yankees hate the Red Sox and want to ruin their season as early as possible. 2) The Yankees fear the Red Sox and want to avoid them in the ALCS if possible.

Going out on a limb, I think the first one is purely a fan’s reaction. Yankee fans would love to stick to the Sox, but for the Yankee organization, I hope it’s low on the priority list. If it came down to the last day of the season, and everything else was set in stone, and the Yanks could twist the needle by starting Brackman in the final game at Tampa, I could see that happening. But not some week long choreography.

But the second one deserves consideration. The Yankees are 4-11 against the Red Sox. CC Sabathia has struggled in all five tries against them this year. Of all the teams in baseball, they seem the most comfortable against Mariano. The most able to lay off the cutters outside the zone anyway. As a scaredy cat fan, I think they should do whatever possible to end Boston’s season now so that they don’t have the chance of losing to them in the ALCS.

Luckily, the Yankees are not comprised of scaredy cat fans. When I was a player, I certainly was not upset to see a top team knocked out of a tournament before we had to deal with them. But I also didn’t get too worked up about it one way or the other. If a team wants to consider itself a true champion, they’ve got to have the huevos to take out all comers. Whatever lineup Girardi puts out there should just try to win every game they play, and let the chips fall where they may.

Give guys rest. Line things up for the ALDS. But manipulate the final week of the season to push a floundering team out of the Postseason in favor of an equally good surging team? Pass.

Think it’s been weird for Sox fans to root for the Yankees? One of my Sox buddies was cheering with no problem cause he said the alternative was hockey season. Another Sox friend, however, refused to budge. I thought he just didn’t want to give me the satisfaction. Then he said, “What makes you think I want to watch these bastards anymore?”

Point taken.

A month ago, did anyone think the final series against Boston would be essentially meaningless for the Yanks? Dag.

Here’s the lineup:

Derek Jeter SS
Eduardo Nunez 2B
Mark Teixeira DH
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Jesus Montero C
Jorge Posada 1B
Brandon Laird 3B
Greg Golson CF

Never mind hating the Sox, Russ:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

September is the month when baseball’s long marathon breaks into a sprint known as the pennant race. For some teams, it’s an opportunity to take a victory lap, while for others, it’s a time to either go to the whip or hold on for dear life. However, not every team finishes the year by charging hard toward the finish line. Just as many end the season bringing up the rear, seeking a merciful end to a long summer of losing

The ultimate stigma for a baseball team is a 100-loss campaign. Among the 2,446 major league seasons played by the existing 30 franchises, only 140, or less than 6%, have ended in such ignominy. Unfortunately for the Houston Astros, 2011 was such a year. However, long-time fans should be willing to cut the organization some slack. In the club’s 50-year history, this was the first time it suffered 100 defeats, leaving the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Angels as the only two franchises to never pass the century mark.

100-Loss Seasons by Franchise

Source: baseball-reference.com

No team has lost 100 games more often than the Athletics, who caused fans in three different cities to suffer through 16 seasons of milestone futility. In the National League, the Phillies lead the way with 14 seasons at 100 or more losses, which might explain why Philadelphia has a reputation for being so ornery. Between the two clubs, the city of brotherly love has been witness to 25 years of historically bad baseball, so you probably can’t blame its residents for not believing in Santa Claus.

Longest Current Streaks Without a 100-Loss Season

Source: baseball-reference.com

It took 50 seasons for the Astros to finally drop 100 games, which is noteable because the franchise broke into the National League along with the New York Mets, who lost a record 120 games that year. In 2003, the Tigers gave the Metsies a run for their money, but pulled up short at 119. Even in losing, those Tigers left something to be desired.

Among American League teams, the Yankees enjoy the longest stretch without a 100-loss season, an honor it almost forfeited in 1990. That year, the Bronx Bombers lost 95 games, the most since going down to defeat on 102 occasions in 1912. In the National League, the Dodgers and Cardinals each boast an even longer active streak without a 100-loss season. Both teams last passed the century mark in 1908, which just so happened to be the year the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. Since then, the Cubs have failed to win another Fall Classic, while the Dodgers and Cardinals have gone on to lead the National League in pennants.

Losing Seasons by Franchise

Source: baseball-reference.com

The Astros weren’t the only team to establish a new mark for futility this month. When the Pirates lost their 82nd game on September 15, the franchise increased its record long run of losing seasons to 19. Only 50 games prior, the Pirates enjoyed a share of first place in the N.L. Central, so at least their fans had the chance to dream just a little. The Orioles weren’t as kind to their followers. By the All Star break, it was clear that Baltimore was headed for its 14th consecutive year below .500, which not only extended an organizational record, but also brought the franchise within one of the Red Sox’ and Athletics’ American League leading string of 15 subpar seasons.

Not surprisingly, the Yankees streak of four consecutive losing seasons is the shortest in the American League (the Diamondbacks, in 97 fewer years, have only had three straight subpar seasons). The Pinstripers also own the distinction of having the lowest percentage of below-.500 seasons in the major leagues. On the other end of the spectrum, the Rangers have had the highest percentage of losing campaigns (62.7%) among teams in existence for at least 50 years. Meanwhile, no franchise can compare with the Phillies aggregate level of futility. In the 129 years since the team entered the National League, 72 seasons, or 55.8%, have ended up below .500. Once again, the nastiness expressed by Philadelphia sports fans makes all the sense in the world.

It’s easy to cheer for winners. That’s why bandwagons get so full this time of year. However, we shouldn’t forget all those other teams that get run over and left for dead along the victory trail. After all, in competition, success requires someone else’s failure. So, here’s to the losers. Just don’t let them play for my team!

The Yanks beat the Rays in the afternoon game today, 4-2, thanks to good pitching from seven different pitchers and some offensive muscle via Robinson Cano, and in the process secured a postseason spot – not that this had been too much in doubt the last few weeks. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Rays get a few wins in this series just to make the Red Sox sweat some more – there ain’t no Schadenfreude like Red Sox Schadenfreude – but as the night game went on, and the Sox lost, and the Yankees were poised to clinch the AL East, the whole enchilada… well, no complaining about that. It was 4-2 Yanks again, thanks to C.C. Sabathia and old pal and pinch-hitting hero Jorge Posada.

It was reassuring to see C.C. Sabathia looks slid after a few disconcertingly unsteady outings. The Big Man went 7.1 innings, allowed two runs, walked 2 and struck out 6. He did exit the game with the score tied at two, the bases loaded, and one out – but that’s what David Robertson is for. He entered and needed just a single pitch to get Ben Zobrist to ground into a double play and end the inning.

The excitement came in the bottom of the 8th, when Nick Swisher doubled, Mark Teixeira walked, Robinson Cano was intentionally walked, and then – somewhat to my surprise – Jorge Posada pinch-hit for The Jesus. You could hear a million Yankees fans, with the Al East title within reach, thinking “wouldn’t it be great if…” – and then he did. Okay, not a grand slam, the most dramatic possible outcome; but a nice two-run single that gave the Yanks the lead, the game, and the division. I don’t know how many more big ABs Posada has with the Yanks, but I’ll bet you can count them on your fingers.

I was one of those people who, before the season started, did not think the Yankees wouldd make the playoffs – I just thought they didn’t have the pitching. I’m not embarrassed by that prediction (unlike, say, my AL Central prediction, which I will aggressively suppress), because the Yankees’ staff, A.J. Burnett aside, has over-performed all year. No one expected Freddy Garcia, Bartolo freaking Colon, or Ivan Nova to be as good as they were- not Brian Cashman, not Joe Girardi, not even Garcia and Colon themselves. The team’s success is a testament to those guys, to the offense, and to the bullpen, with a hat-tip to Girardi – who drives me crazy at times, as all managers drive all fans crazy at times, but damned if he hasn’t pulled another good bullpen more or less out of his ass. Anyway, I thought they’d be good, but not this good, and whatever happens in the playoffs I am happy to’ve been wrong.

So many of this season’s big memorable moments have been about their aging greats – Jeter’s 3,000th, Mo’s 602nd, and now Jorge’s clincher, which while not supremely important – the Al East was not much in doubt – felt like a nice last hurrah. The old guard’s going out in a blaze of glory.

And you know, if the Rays were to win tomorrow…that’ll be just fine.

Bombers go for the sweep as C.C. guns for win number 20.

Sic ’em, champ and:

Let’s Go Yanks!

[Photo Credit: Joel Zimmer]