It’s difficult to avoid writing in tired old cliches when you write about sports. Though I’m acutely aware of this problem, I fall prey to the same old descriptions as much as the next guy. For example, how many times have you read, “The Yankees won in dramatic fashion,” this season? It may accurate, but after a while, it comes across as dull, unimaginative writing. Which is a shame because what you are trying to describe is anything but dull. So at the risk of being redundant, the Yankees actually did win in dramatic fashion last night, beating the Twins with two runs in the bottom of the 12th inning to tie the ALDS at one game apiece. Derek Jeter, who cranked a long home run into the center field black in the first inning, scored the winning run on Hideki Matsui’s line-drive sacrifice fly, while Jacque Jones‘ throw from right field inexplicably went to the cut-off man and not through to the catcher. Mariano Rivera blew a save and Alex Rodriguez was the offensive hero. But Tanyon Sturtze and Derek Jeter came up with major contributions too.

The Twins scored early off of Yankee starter Jon Lieber; an RBI double by Justin Morneau in the first, followd by an RBI single by Michael Cuddyer and a sacrifice fly by Henry Blanco in the second. Once again, Minnesota’s speed was on display and they ran the bases shrewdly. New York tied the score at three in the bottom of the third when the slumping Gary Sheffield nailed a line drive, two-run homer into the left field seats. Jon Lieber settled down and with the Yankees swinging at Brad Radke‘s first pitch with regularity in the middle innings, the game sailed along.

Alex Rodriguez hit a towering solo dinger in the fifth and then dumped a soft RBI single to left in the seventh scoring Miguel Cairo (who had walked and was sacrificed to second by Jeter). Three hits and two RBI for Rodriguez, a two-run lead for the Yankees and all looked fine in the Bronx. Tom Gordon replaced Lieber with two out in the seventh and got pinch-hitter Jose Offerman to line out to Miguel Cairo.

Shannon Stewart worked the count full to lead off the eighth before lining out sharply to Sheffield in right. Next, Gordon struck out Jacque Jones on a nasty curve ball in the dirt. The ball got away from Posada and Jones reached first. Oh, shades of Mickey Owens. Torii Hunter followed and smacked a liner to Bernie in center; Jones held up at second. That was it for Flash as Torre brought in Mariano Rivera. I got a call from Rich Lederer at that moment and he first-guessed Torre’s move, believing that Gordon could work out of the jam. I saw that Stewart and Hunter hit the ball hard so I wasn’t upset to see Rivera in the game.

After the fact, Joe Morgan, the color man on ESPN’s broadcast, wondered if Rivera had had enough time to warm up. Justin Mourneau blooped a single to right scoring Jones and putting runners on the corners with just one out. Rivera got ahead of Corey Koskie but the veteran third baseman worked the count full. Morgan commented that Rivera was going for the strike out, as he threw more fastballs than cutters. Luis Rivas was brought in to pinch-run for Mourneau. Sure enough on the 3-2 pitch, Rivera went with a fastball on the outside corner instead of busting Koskie inside with the cutter. Koskie slapped a line drive down the left field line for a grounds rule double. It was a rare mistake for Rivera, who blew only his third save in 33 post-season opportunities.

Fortunately for New York, Rivas wasn’t allowed to score. Rivera struck out the rookie Jason Kubel easily and ended the inning by getting Christian Guzman to ground out. The Stadium was shocked. I know I was silent, sitting on my living room floor enveloped by a sense of dread. The bullpen was now on for the Twins and they were outstanding. Rivera was much sharper in the ninth working a one-two-three inning. But he was replaced by Taynon Sturtze when the game went to extra innings and shoot, as good as he’s been of late, anything was bound to happen then.

Minnesota’s bullpen didn’t allow a base runner from the eighth inning until Miguel Cairo walked with one out in the bottom of the 12th. Sturtze was solid again for the Yanks until Torii Hunter launched a two-out solo bomb into the night giving the Twins a 6-5 lead in the top of the inning. Awww, nertz. There it is. Memories of Jeff Weaver in last year’s Serious. (Actually, that’s not entirely fair as Sturtze really did perform well.)

Joe Nathan buzzed through the the 10th and 11th innings and was brought out for a third stint in the 12th. Minnesota’s options were limited, and Ron Gardenhire felt that he needed to go for the juggular with his closer. John Olerud whiffed on a check swing to open the inning but Nathan walked Cairo and then Jeter. Rodriguez saw a ball, patiently took a strike and then cranked a fly ball into what used-to-be-known as Death Valley. Rodriguez thought he had a game-winning homer. I thought Shannon Stewart was going to track it down and make the catch, but the ball fell between Stewart and the wall, falling in for another grounds rule double. Cairo scored the tying run.

Now, the Twins were really in a fix. They walked Sheffield and brought in the soutpaw J.C. Romero to pitch to Hideki Matusi. The infield was positioned at double-play depth but the outfield was playing in. Godzilla jumped on the first pitch, which under normal circumstances would have likely gone for a single. It was a low, line-drive hit right at Jones. No way Jeter could score I’m thinking. But he didn’t stray far off the base and he tagged. Perhaps Jones didn’t believe that Jeter would try to score because he threw the ball to first baseman Matt LeCroy. Jeter slid home with the winning run and the Yankee stadium crowd, which had been up-and-down like a yo-yo all evening, erupted with cheers. Finally, relief!

Had the Yankees lost, they would have been in some spot. Now, the series is even. Game Three becomes critical with Johan Santana penciled in for a Game Four start at the Metrodome. But before I get ahead of myself, let’s soak in yet another exhilerating come-from-behind victory by the Yanks, a team that proved once again to be one tough out.

Batgirl and I have a running commentary on the Yankee-Minnie series over on the All-Baseball home page (Round One and Round Two). Give it a gander…In addition, feel free to throw in yer two-cents on tonight’s game as it unfolds. Go Yanks!

The game went according to plan for the Twins. Their ace Johan Santana pitched seven shut-out innings, and the back-end of the Minnesota bullpen pitched two scoreless to finish it off. Torii Hunter made two characterisitcally deft defensive plays and the Twins scrapped together just enough offense to win. In theory, the game also went according to plan for the Yankees as well. Mike Mussina allowed two runs over seven innings; Flash Gordon pitched a scoreless eighth and Mariano Rivera did the same in the ninth. The offense had a runner on base in each of the first eight innings and they racked up nine hits against Santana.

So wha’ happen? Well, five, count em’ five, double plays killed the home team, who were shut-out for the second consecutive time in the post-season. According to Joel Sherman:

With runners moving in the first inning, Bernie Williams struck out into a double play. The combination of Jorge Posada’s slow legs and Torii Hunter’s powerful arm merged to produce an improbable out at home in the second inning. Miguel Cairo failed in two sacrifice attempts in the fifth. And Ruben Sierra swung on a 2-0 pitch with two out and none on in the ninth with the Yanks down two runs.

Did we mention the Yanks produced five double plays, and went 2-for-15 with men on base, hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position?

It was a frustrating night for the Bombers and their fans. The crowd had to sit on its hands as the Yankees failed to come up with a big hit. Ruben Sierra, who hit the ball hard in his first three at-bats, hit a home run foul, which was initially called fair. The fans started to cheer and then held their breath as the umpires huddled and eventually made the proper call. Vexed again. (As an aside, the playoffs always attract a ritzy crowd in New York. Did you get a look at the corporate fatheads sitting behind home plate last night in the “rattle your jewlery” seat? It’s enough to make a true-blue Yankee loyalist empathize with those who regard New York as US Steel.)

Mike Mussina pitched a good game. In fact, his stuff seemed sharper than Santana’s did. But an RBI single by Yankee-killer Shannon Stewart and an opposite field solo home run by Jacques Jones was enough to do him in. He was a hard-luck loser once again. According to the Daily News:

Mussina’s most glaring mistake came in the sixth inning, when Jacque Jones hit a one-out homer to left field. He said he threw the ball on the outside part of the plate and doubted that the ball would go out when it left Jones’ bat.

He also suggested that he wouldn’t take that pitch back, or change anything else he did last night, since it should have been good enough.

The Yankees hit the ball hard but again, failed to come through with a timely knock. Hideki Matsui had two hits, as did Alex Rodriguez. After a cheap infield single, Rodriguez stroked a line drive to center in his third at-bat and was robbed of an extra base hit by Hunter in the eighth. Gary Sheffield was 0-2 with two walks; Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams were each 1-4. Give Santana credit for winning on a night when he was far from his best. There are two ways to look at the game. Either it was just bad luck on the part of the Yankees, and if they play the same way again tonight, things should fall their way, or, they squandered a golden opportunity to beat Minnesota’s ace when he was vulnerable. Should they face him again, what are the chances that Santana will be off his A-game?

But it is just one game. According to Larry Mahnken:

And as disappointing as the loss was, I don’t see it as being much more than that — a disappointment. A letdown, a lost opportunity, but hardly a demoralization. They knew what they were facing here going in, and that if they didn’t beat Santana they’d have no margin for error. They’ve have to beat Radke twice and Silva. They can beat those guys, and they can get good pitching out of Lieber, Brown and Vazquez. But now they need it.

The Yankees are looking a huge game tonight while the Twins are playing with house money. Who would have thought that it would come down to Jon Lieber? The Bombers have lost plenty of Game One’s in recent years. But they’ve never had such uncertainty with their pitching staff either. Big game in the Boogie Down tonight. Keep the faith and Let’s go Yanks.

Open Thread

It’s going to be mad chilly in the Boogie Down tonight. I won’t post my thoughts on the game until tomorrow morning, but for those of you who are following the game within typing distance of your computer, feel free to start a conversation in the comments section below.

Let’s hope for a good game tonight. I’m headed out to Brooklyn after work to get a hair cut from my favorite barber. Figure I’ve got to represent and look sharp: it’s the Yankee way, right? Before the game I’ll say the same prayer I say every year as the post-season starts–although two games will already be in the books by the time the Yankee game begins: that is, no matter what happens, I just hope the Fates don’t have it out for some unsuspecting zhlub. I know we love to have heroes now, and that means somebody will be labled as the goat as well. But please, don’t let anyone–even if he’s a Red Sox–become the next Fred Merkle or the next Bill Buckner. I don’t wish that on anyone, least of all a Yankee. (Shudder.)

Enjoy the game and stay warm.

If anyone is following the Angels-Red Sox game this afternoon and wants to share their observations and impressions, feel free to do it in the comments section below. I’m going to miss it, and y’all know that I love to hear how the other have lives.

The New York papers are replete with previews, puff pieces and predictions this morning. While there is nothing especially remarkable, Jack Curry has an informative piece on Johan Santana. Meanwhile, Aaron Gleeman, Seth Stohs preview the series from the midwest. I asked a couple of writers about their thoughts on the Yanks-Twins match-up. Here is what they’ve got to say:

Allen Barra (author of “Brushbacks and Knockdowns: The Greatest Baseball Debates of Two Centuries”):

To tell you the truth, I feel the Yankees will win, but that they’ll win in some way that is just not apparent to me.
Though the Yankees swept the Twins last week, the unpleasant truth is that they were behind in both games (as I recall) when both Santana and Radke were lifted, which doesn’t bode well for this series.
Yet, I’ve got to hand it to Mussina. After a horrible first inning, he gutted it out and kept the Yankees in a position to win. I don’t suppose he’s likely to have a second stright game with a horrible first inning, particularly at Yankee Stadium. My gut feeling tells me that the Twins will probably be tougher than whoever the Yankees play in the second round.

Tim Marchman (NY Sun):

I think this will be a really telling series for the Yankees. Their offense is structured around the walk and the home run, and Santana and Radke are going to take away the walk. (Carlos Silva will, too- 70-some Ks and 35 BBs in 200+ IP! An unnoticed and bizarre season.) Theyíre not good at hitting for average and theyíre not going to get much better at it with the Twinsí defense in the picture, and that leaves them with the home run.

For a team that hit 241 HRs, this isnít a team of power hitters. Matsui, Jeter, Sheffield and Rodriguez all wait out the pitcher and swing for line drives, which often go over the wall. If they can change their approach, swing at more fastballs early in the count and swing for the fences, I think theyíve got a decent shot at winning one against Santana and a great shot at splitting the other two. Whether they can do that is an open question, and, I think, points up how remarkable the OíNeill/Martinez Yankees were, because what they did better than anyone was adjust their approach to take advantage of their opponentís weaknesses. The Twins arenít a great team, and past Santana Iím not even sure theyíre a very good one, but in my mind theyíre the slight favorites here. (Of course, I said the same thing last year

The Yankees beat the Blue Jays 3-2 in the final regular season game of the 2004 season, giving New York 101 wins on the year. Not bad for an old team with lousy pitching, right? While no offensive player–with the exception of Hideki Matsui–had a career year, Gary Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, and Bernie Williams all had interesting, productive campaigns. Miguel Cairo, Ruben Sierra and Tony Clark were all valuable role players. While the pitching wasn’t as good as we’ve seen in recent years, Mariano Rivera had one of his greatest seasons, and Tom Gordon was terrific too. The return of Orlando Hernandez made for a good story, though his status for the post-season remains in doubt. Kevin Brown and Javier Vazquez and Mike Mussina have had their moments but overall, they’ve been inconsistent. Moose has been sharp of late and will start Game One. Along with the surprising El Duque, only Jon Lieber has pitched up to pre-season expectations.

As expected, the Yanks will host the Twins begining Tuesday night in the Bronx. They will have to deal with Johan Santana and Brad Radke, not to mention Minnie’s deep bullpen, and scrappy offense. For the first time in a long while, many prognosticators see the Yanks as ripe for the taking. While it is hard to disagree with the fact that New York’s pitching is indeed suspect, I’m sure the Twins–and their fans–aren’t getting ahead of themselves just yet.

It was sunny but chilly in New York today. It feels like the playoffs. Hopefully, there is still some good baseball ahead of us. Anyone excited yet? I’m feeling calm myself. Talk to me on Tuesday afternoon, and I’ll be jumping out of my skin, ready to go, geeked, but cautiously optimistic as always. It’ll be great to see the Yanks play in some big games again, but of course, Mr. Santana is waiting too. It won’t come easily for New York, but then again, if it were easy it wouldn’t be as much fun, right? Here’s to them being up for the challenge.

Lets go Yank-ees.

While the Yankees JV team dropped two games in Toronto, there are more serious matters transpiring around baseball. The Cubs and the A’s played themselves out of the playoffs. The Giants are hanging on by a thread after a devastating loss to their arch rivals in Los Angeles yesterday. So while things are looking up in Los Angeles for both the Dodgers and the Angels, I’m been more consumed with the failures in the Bay Area and the Windy City. (I am pleased for Jon Weisman and the Dodgers fans, less excited for the Angels fans, simply because I don’t like Anahiem…still, if they wind up playing Boston, that should be some kind of serious.) Maybe it’s because, like Roger Angell says, baseball, like life, is more about failure, about losing rather than winning. It’s funny, but more than anything, I’m feeling for my fellow team-oriented bloggers. Down goes Ruz and Alex, there goes Athletics Nations, and Mark and Elephants in Oakland…John Perricone is teetering.

I can only imagine how difficult it must be for fans of the Cubs and A’s who watched their team’s bullpens let them down this past week. (Of course, both teams had other problems, but the bullpen disasters are tangible and dramatic from a distance.) I’ve tried to put myself in their shoes and ask how would I be feeling if this were the Yankees? Man, as much as I can empathize with a Chicago fan, there is no way I’m presumptuous enough to suggest I know how they feel. There is just no way. But if anything, following the fates of the Cubs and A’s closely the past week has made me feel a whole lot better about the Yanks, who have a shaky bullpen themselves. Hey, at least the Bombers are still playing. No matter what happens in the playoffs, at least they’ve got an opportunity to entertain us, or break our hearts–or like in 2001, both. At this point, every game (excluding today’s regular season finale, of course) is gravy, every win is something to savor.

El Duque wasn’t effective on Friday night and there is no telling if his shoulder will hold up enough to get him through a post-season start. However, Kevin Brown pitched well enough last night for him to be a suitable replacement. Mariano Rivera also threw a scoreless inning yesterday, which brought his season ERA to 1.94. Unless he pitches again this afternoon and get’s lit up, he’ll end the season with an ERA under 2.00. And that’s a small, good thing.

I stayed late at work last night and then strolled down to Murray Hill to see an old friend. Actually, he’s a former boss. I loaned him a book years ago and recently was overcome with the urge to get it back. I followed the Cubs game on Gameday and was thoroughly upset for my labelmates Ruz, Will and Alex C when those not-so-lovable losers found a way to sperl a gem by Mark Prior. It was a pleasant autumn evening in New York, not quite chilly yet, but cool enough to need a jacket. I hadn’t been in Murray Hill for a minute, and there a lot more restaurants and bars along 3rd avenue in the 30’s than I remembered. Almost each one of them had a series of big-screen televisions, all showing the Yankees-Twins game. (As I passed by, the Twins were up 1-0.)

I hadn’t seem my erstwhile employer in a few years and was taken aback when he greeted me at the door. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans and wore a light green bandana on his head. His head was shaved. The reason this was striking is because he usually sports a head of big hair. “Nice doo,” I told him. “Yeah, well, it’s a long story.” “Jesus. You have cancer.” “Yeah. I think I’m in the clear now, but it was a bad summer. Yeah, a really bad summer.” This coming from a guy who doesn’t ever complain. “God, are you really pissed?” “Yeah, I’m filled with rage.”

He invited me in and he found my book, “The Faulkner-Cowley Letters.” We chatted for about twenty minutes, catching up. He was as aimable as always. He isn’t the sort of guy to delve into his personal problems, so our conversation was light. How is so-and-so, what are you working on, my brother has a kid, that kind of thing. He looked good all considering. And though he isn’t so much of a baseball fan, yet I could hear the game on the TV in the other room. His ten-year old kid was in his pjs getting ready to watch the debate. I left hungry, but pleased that I finally had my book back. I passed by the bars and the score was now 2-0, Twins.

By the time I got home the lead had changed hands several times. Emily was sitting on the couch sorting through some bills. I had time to take my jacket off and then Godziller Matsui tied the game with his 31rst dinger of the season. I settled in, watched the home plate ump upset both teams with questionable strike calls and finished a quick dinner. After Matsui walked with one-out in the bottom of the ninth I turned to Em and said, “Wouldn’t it be fitting if Bernie ended it right here?”

Then he did just that, smacking a line-drive homer over the left-centerfield fence. Alex Rodriguez and Kenny Lofton were the first teammates to grab him as he approached home plate. Derek Jeter was next. The team celebrated, having clinched the American League East once again. Williams’ homer set the team record for long balls in a season by a Yankee team (241). It was the 100th win of the year for New York. I thought that it would have been cool to be walking past those bars down in Murray Hill, just to feel the excitement in the air. But truth be told, I was content right where I was: at home, with my girl, where I’ve been all season.

While the Yanks swept the Twins, Minnie will be a formidable foe should the two teams meet up again next week. The Yankees won’t sleep on them, not with Santana pitching, not with their bullpen. Still, it last night was a good night in the Bronx. The team celebrated in a tempered manner. They weren’t business-like or morose; they were smiling and happy. Emily enjoyed watching the locker room interviews. I am too spoiled by the team’s success to get too excited about a division-clinching celebration. To be honest, I also started thinking about my friend having cancer. Our conversation was so casual, so typical, that it was easy for me to forget the seriousness of his condition, even if his diagnosis looked good.

I woke up in the middle of the night and thought about him for a good while. Then I tried to distract myself with the Yankees, the memory of Bernie rounding the bases. It’s been another terrific year for us Yankee fans, no matter how much we worry about how the team is lacking, no matter what happens in the playoffs. As the fans celebrated the win, the YES cameras showed a woman in the stands who held up a hand-written sign which read, “Thanks Yanks.”

Amen to that.

And Then There Was One

I climbed into a reclining chair at my dentist’s office on 57th street in Manhattan yesterday just minutes before the first game of the Yankees-Twins double-header. Looking up, I noticed a TV. So while I was having a cavity-filled and my teeth cleaned I watched the first five innings of the game. Man, dentistry has come a long way. Getting a cavity filled doesn’t involve the kind of messy drilling that I remember as a kid. But while the immediate events in my mouth weren’t nearly as uncomfortable as I had anticipated, the Twins drilled Mike Mussina around for three first inning runs. And though Johan Santana was clearly not going to pitch a full-length game, three runs is an awful lot to spot the probable AL Cy Young.

But Derek Jeter lead off the bottom of the first with a double and he scored on a single by Gary Sheffield. Maybe Santana was human after all. Hardly. The Twins’ southpaw allowed two base-runners in the second and then got out of trouble by striking his way out of the inning. Man, even when he was handling my team, there is something to be said about watching a dominant pitcher at work. The second time Jorge Posada was up, he swung through two high fastballs. So I figure that Posada has to be sitting on the change, or Santana’s nasty slider, which dives down and in to righties. But instead, Santana threw two more fastballs. They were both out of the zone. He’s got to come with the soft stuff, right? Nah, he blew Jorge away with a fastball on the outside corner. Man, you’ve just got to guess right and hope that he makes some mistakes in order to beat a guy like Santana right now.

Mussina wasn’t elegant, issuing walks and allowing hits, but he didn’t allow anymore runs to score. I watched the first five innings, and endured some kind of lecture from Maria, a portly, plantain-eating chaza, who cleaned my teeth, about the art of flossing. I smiled at her, half of my face still numb from the novacaine, when she handed me a complementary tooth brush. “You look just like Mike Gilbert,” she tells me. I had never heard that one before. “Oh yeah, who is Mike Gilbert?” “He’s a friend of my son’s. He’s a sheriff you know.” Sheriff Mike Gilbert? Jeez, no, Maria, I did not know that.

Unable to eat anything solid, I headed to the best Jewish deli in my neighborhood for some matzo ball soup. The mexicans working behind the counter had the game on the radio. “What’s the score?” I asked. “5-3…Yankees.” Really? “Did they get the runs off Santana?” “No, the bullpen.” Okay, the sky isn’t falling for the Twins faithful. I got my soup, and walked into my apartment as the Yankees ended the game with a 6-4-3–nice pick Tony Clark–double play.

Emily and I watched Game Two together. Hideki Matsui hit a three-run dinger to the opposite field in the first inning, his second long ball of the day, and 30th on the season. Alex Rodriguez added a solo shot later on, and the Yanks held on for a 5-4 win. The story of the game for New York was Tanyon Sturtze’s performance, one and two-thirds innings of scoreless ball. Perhaps they’ve found a cure for what ails Paul Quantrill. The game ended on a double play, and Mariano Rivera had his second save of the afternoon, his 53rd on the year.

The night ended on a high note for New York and a low one for the Red Sox, who were thumped by the Devil Rays. Pedro Martinez was roughed up again and has now lost four-consecutive games, the first time that has ever happened to him in his career. With Boston now four games behind the Yanks, New York needs just one more win, or a Red Sox loss to secure the division title for the seventh straight year.

It was a good day for the Yankees and their fans. But leave it to Selena Roberts, she of the Mike Lupica-No-Joy-In-Yankeeville-School-of-Thought, to rain on the parade. The kindest way for me to characterize Roberts, a columnist for the Times, is as a dilettante. Today, she writes that these Yankees are just no fun. They are dour professionals who have had all of the fun squeezed out of them by the high expectations that come with playing for George Steinbrenner. Haven’t we heard this before? This isn’t Paul O’Neill’s Yankees anymore. Okay, we get it. Get over it. But noooo, Roberts wants to know why the Yanks can’t be more like the Twins or the Red Sox. Believe that. I don’t know, why can’t the English learn to speak?

You’d think that there is nothing more that writers like Roberts would like than to see the Red Sox win. Or anybody else but the Yanks win. If the Yanks do manage to win the Serious, this line-of-thinking would have little merit. We already know what Roberts and Lupica and the like will say if the Yankees lose. Meanwhile, if the Yankees win one more game, it will be the first time in the organization’s storied history that they’ll have won 100 games, three years in a row. There are plenty of good stories on this team. Even if Steinbrenner and a decent portion of Yankee fans dismiss the season as a failure should they fail to reach and/or win the World Serious, that shouldn’t prevent sportswriters from coming up with a new angle. But that would require some thought. Ah, I suppose it’s easier to rip the team. Remember, this is coming from the New York Times. The home town paper. Oy veh.

The Yanks and Twins were rained out yesterday and will play two today. However, even if the weather held up, El Duque wasn’t going to start as scheduled. He’s suffering from a sore shoulder. Ah, just in the nick of time. I’m guessing that he’ll be okay but it’s just one more uncertainty for Yankee fans to worry about as the playoffs near. The Sox beat the D-Rays in extra innings last night and now trail the Bombers by two-and-a-half games.

It’s a damp morning in New York with rain on the schedule for the rest of the day. Hopefully, it will clear up by tonight so the Yanks and Twins can get their game in. If not, I suppose they’ll play two tomorrow. While Minnie is in town be sure and check out some of the fine people from the Twinkies-blogging mafia: Aaron Gleeman, John Bonnes, Seth Stohs and of course, the rookie of the year herself, Batgoil.

The local papers are filled with articles about the Yankees’ pitching woes. In the Times, Tyler Kepner reports:

No matter what team the Yankees play this time, this postseason staff is an enigma. Will Vazquez be included? Brown? In what order? When asked on Sunday if he had ever been less certain of his rotation on the eve of the playoffs, Stottlemyre said no.

“This is probably the least of the nine years I’ve been here, about how our pitching situation is going to line up,” he said. “I still think it will. I’m certainly not down on everybody. I still think it’ll align itself here in the last week. I still think we’ll be very competitive in the postseason with our pitching.”

It has been months since Vazquez and Brown have looked consistently strong. Scouts have suggested a variety of mechanical flaws nagging Vazquez, including a lower arm angle and awkward landing position on the mound. Brown, essentially, threw batting practice to the Red Sox on Sunday, offering high fastballs with no movement at a velocity that did not exceed 90 miles an hour.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox beat Tampa Bay last night and clinched a spot in the playoffs. They remain three games behind the Yankees in the loss column with six games to play.

Until We Meet Again…

Curt Schilling dominated the Yankees yesterday while Kevin Brown didn’t make it out of the first inning. According to Jack Curry:

The Red Sox made Brown look old, awful and unreliable. Brown’s velocity never touched 90 miles an hour, his sinking fastballs were fat, high pitches and – as he searched in futility for the right feel on the ball – he licked his fingers more than a 5-year-old licks an ice cream cone.

After the game, Brown told the Times:

“The stuff I was throwing out there today, I wouldn’t say it’s a whole lot different than what I was throwing before I hurt my hand,” Brown said. “Why do you think I was frustrated to begin with? Why do you think I got irritated enough about the way things were going to hit something like that?

“It wasn’t because I was mad at the pizza guy because he didn’t deliver the pizza on time. I was irritated with the way I was throwing the ball or not throwing the ball. It was a similar situation today.

“The difference is, I guess, having three weeks to think about it, I’ve realized that I’m trying to control things I can’t control.”

Esteban Loaiza replaced Brown and the Sox bombed him too. It was a fun afternoon for the Fenway faithful and a forgettable one for the Yankees. There was some minor mishegoss between Kenny Lofton and Doug Doug Mientkiewicz which eventually led to batters being thrown at and a couple of ejections. Without getting too involved in the particulars, Suzyan Waldman of the YES network called Lofton a “baby” on her post-game report. She ripped him but good actually.

At the begining of the season I was really down on Lofton being a Yankee, but I warmed up to him seeing him laugh and jive it up in the dugout this year. However, it’s clear by Mariano Rivera‘s animated reaction to Lofton a couple of weeks ago, and even Waldman’s brief tirade yesterday that Lofton isn’t the most popular man in the Yankee clubhouse.

No matter. Along with the disgruntled utility infielder Enrique Wilson, Lofton will likely not be in pinstripes next year. Right now, the Yankees hold a three game advantage over Boston in the loss column with six games remaining in the regular season (seven for the Sox). The Bombers are still the favorites to win the division. They have today off, while the Sox face Tampa Bay. The Twins come to town for a three-game series starting tomorrow night.

So, it appears as if Mike Mussina, El Duque and Jon Lieber will start for New York in the playoffs. What then, to do with Javier Vazquez and Kevin Brown? Does Vazquez pitch a game four? Can Brown be effective out of the bullpen? Should he get a start himself? Which one of these? Thoughts? What do you guys think?

Staff Infection

I watched Saturday night’s game with Cliff Corcoran. In the eighth inning when Boston cranked out seven runs against the Yankees’ weak bullpen corps, Cliff said, “The Yankees are playing this game like they are the Red Sox. I didn’t have much hope of them winning tonight, but then they made it close, only to have a few things go wrong late”

De Ja Vu All Over Again, Daddy-O

The Yankees and Red Sox played characteristically tense game at Fenway Park last night, one that was filled with home runs, lead-changes, clutch hits, a couple of blown calls, and some excellent fielding (Matsui, Rodriguez, Mueller, Nixon and especially Caberera). The Red Sox hit three home runs (Ramirez and Nixon off of Mussina, Damon off of Gordon) and Pedro Martinez had a one-run lead going into the eighth inning. But the lead didn’t last long as Hideki Matsui hit a solo shot into Boston’s bullpen to tie the game (Godziller, who has mashed against Boston this year, was the star of the game for the Bombers). Martinez remained in the game and allowed a soft double to Bernie Williams on a 3-2 pitch that hugged just inside the right-field line. Ruben Sierra, 0-3 with two strikeouts to that point, drove Bernie home but hitting a very tough pitch into center.

The Yankees would score an insurance run and though Mariano Rivera walked Trot Nixon to start the ninth, he was bailed out when Jason Varitek grounded into a 1-6-3 double play. Orlando Cabrera reached second on a bloop double to right and Bill Mueller grounded out sharply to Rivera to end the game. Mariano was not especially sharp, but his deft fielding ability helped him earn his 51rst save of the year, a career high. Flash Gordon pitched the seventh and eighth innings and allowed the solo homer to Damon, but pitched brilliantly otherwise.

The win puts the Yankees five-and-a-half games ahead of Boston. It was another discouraging loss for Martinez against New York, arguably more painful than last weekend’s torching in the Bronx. Boston manager Terry Francona was booed when he finally removed Martinez from the game, shades of Grady Little indeed (sportswriters, start your laptops). The Red Sox have all but conceded the division title to New York and now are looking to the playoffs. They know that the wildcard team has won the World Serious for the past two years and they are keeping their eyes on the prize.

But perhaps the strangest post-game development were the comments made by Martinez:

“I wish they would [bleeping] disappear,” the three-time Cy Young Award winner said. “Disappear, and never come back.

“I would probably like to face any other team right now. Pitch a good game, make good pitches and still can’t beat them? It’s frustrating.”

… “I thought I pitched a better game today, I made some pretty good pitches and they battled their butt off,” Martinez said. “What can I say? Just tip my hat and call the Yankees my daddies.”

… “I wanted to bury myself on the mound. . . . You work so hard, you make good pitches, it doesn’t pay off. You make bad pitches, you continue to lose and give it up. It’s stupid, it’s frustrating.” [N.Y.Post]

Calling the Yankees his dadies? Is this some kind of reverse psychology? I don’t think so, but it sure is a tabloid’s wet dream. While I love it when the Yankees beat Pedro Martinez, I take no pleasure in hearing him sound so shaken. What’s so satisfying when the Yankees pull out a win against him is that he’s such a fierce, defiant, incorrigible competitor. To hear him sound so defeated just doesn’t seem right.

I’ve got an article on ten rap records that are worth revisiting over at The New Partisan. Check it out if you like that sort of thing.

Also, I’ve been thinking about coming up with a list of the best comedy records of all-time. I listened to comedy records often when I was growing up, my favorite artists being George Carlin, Bill Cosby, Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Woody Allen and later on, Richard Pryor, Albert Brooks and Lenny Bruce. I liked stuff by Nichols and May, Bob Newhart, Monty Python, The Goon Show, Peter Sellers, Derek and Clive, Robin Williams, Franklyn Ajaye, Steven Wright, Lily Tomlin, Bob and Doug McKenzie and Rodney Dangerfield too. I know I’m missing some other good ones, but that’s what I can come up with off-the-top of my head.

If I had to come up with a list of the best records I know of it would look something like this (in no particular order):

Bill Cosby: “Wonderfulness,” “Revenge” and “To Russell, My Brother Whom I Slept With.”

Richard Pryor: “That Nigger’s Crazy,” “Is it Something I Said?” and “Wanted: Live in Concert.”

George Carlin: “AM/FM,” “Class Clown” and “Occupation: Foole.” These three records were compiled into a two-disk set. I highly recommend them.

Steve Martin: “Let’s Get Small,” and “Wild and Crazy Guy.”

Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner: “The 2000 Year Old Man” and “The 2013 Year Old Man.”

Lenny Bruce: His first four albums which are collected on cd on “The Lenny Bruce Originals Vol 1 and 2” and the uncut “Carneige Hall Concert.”

Eddie Murphy: The first one, self-titled, and “Comedian.”

Joel Sherman has an article about the Yankee-Sox rivalry today. He notes that since the start of the 2003 season–and including last year’s playoffs–the Yanks and Sox are 21-21 against each other. In order to catch the Yankees and win the AL East, Boston needs to sweep New York this weekend. Regardless, the bottom line is which team lasts longer in the post-season, right?

The Yankee rookies dressed up like Elvis after the game yesterday. Not bad, but they couldn’t hold a candle to the sight of Pimpzilla last year.

There was a good piece on Alex Rodriguez and clutch hitting by a guy named Darren Everson in the Daily News this past Tuedsay. Don’t know if anyone caught it. But it was on-point. It seems that Reggie Jackson isn’t a huge Rodriguez fan yet:

“Great clutch players don’t get questioned,” Reggie Jackson said before last night’s 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays. “They don’t question (Mariano) Rivera. Or (Bob) Gibson. Or Whitey (Ford). The great clutch players of the past, you saw enough, you viewed enough, you witnessed enough that I don’t need statistics.”

Everson talks about the perception that many of Rodriguez’s dingers come in garbage time:

A closer examination reveals otherwise. It shows, among other things, that 17 of Rodriguez’s homers have either tied a game or put the Yankees ahead – one more than Gary Sheffield. Sheffield, universally regarded as an MVP candidate, has hit 10 home runs in the seventh inning or later this season. A-Rod, the defending AL MVP who has hardly been mentioned in connection with the award this year, has hit nine.

Nice observations by Everson.

One thing I’ve learned about myself since I’ve been writing about baseball is that I don’t have a lot of patience. I like to think that I do, but I don’t. It’s easy to be impatient. The Internet provides almost instant information. How can you be calm, and forgiving in the world of Gameday and Instant Messaging? What’s unnatural about this is that baseball is a game that requires patience. For players and fans alike.

It’s easy to see why young ballplayers lack patience. They hit a snag, start to struggle and they can lose their confidence. In yesterday’s game at the stadium, many of the Devil Rays players looked as if they had a bus to catch. They made careless errors and had horrible at-bats. It’s as if they want the season to end last week. On the other hand, veteran players know how to weather difficult times, mentally and emotionally.

Take Bernie Williams, for example. Williams is clearly in the twilight of his career. He doesn’t hit for average anymore and doesn’t have much power either. But he scored his 100th run of the season yesterday because he still has enough patience to work walks and get on base. Not bad for an old man on his way out, huh? Of course, it helps to play with an impressive offensive team. Look at Mike Piazza. His numbers would look respectable too if he were on a good team.

Anyhow, I know that I appreciate Bernie’s accomplishment. I also stand duly impressed with Greg Maddux winning his 15th game yesterday. He’s now won at least 15 games in 17 straight years. At the begining of the year, I did a rountable preview for the Yankees season and one of the questions was weather or not Mike Mussina would finally win twenty games this season. One thing many of the writers said was that he’d win 15 falling out of bed. Which got me to thinking just how difficult it is to win 15 games on a year-in, year-out basis. Or course, you have to stay healthy, be lucky, and have a good offense, but still, it’s not so easy as Mussina has found out in 2004. Maddux is the man.

The Yankees clinced a playoff spot for the 10th consecutive season yesterday with their 7-3 win over the Rays at the stadium. It was a soporific, late-afternoon affair. Again, Tampa looked as if it would have rather been somewhere else. The Red Sox rallied, but fell short against the Orioles last night. The Yanks head to Boston leading the east by four-and-a-half games.