October 2009
All squared at one
AJ squared away the 2009 World Series with a magnificent pitching performance in Game 2. His control, command and concentration were evident from the first pitch. In fact, every first pitch all night long!
Pedro? Well, Pedro was pretty good too. I actually thought the Yanks would rough him up a little more than they did. He was wily. He was calm. Pedro’s experience showed with every batter and he made quite a few Yankees look a bit lame.
But, hey… enough about these pitchers. This is about hitters. Sure, pitching wins Championships as they say… but you can’t win if you don’t score runs and the pitchers don’t score runs ; )
So, since those darn pitchers were so glaringly good.. let’s talk about who is definitely not Yesterday’s Hitter.
How about Ryan O’Howard. Hmm… O fer 4 with…. 4 strikeouts. Definitely not YH material.
Let’s see…. Chase Ut-O? Nope. Not so good .. O fer 3.
Jayson Werth? Victorino? Naw.. .2 fer 8 between em… and one was a lil dribbler.
Raul Ibanez… not so bad. A couple of ringing doubles and scored the only run.
Matt Stairs… thankfully NY scored and erased the only productive hit on Philadelphia’s side of the ledger. If you hit that same ball to O’Rod 10 times.. he’d catch it 9. At least!
Did I say O’Rod? Well, if the shoe fits… now O fer 8 in the Series with… 6 Strikeouts! No YH for you bud.
Pre-game hype had a host of speculation on Jose Molina catching and possibly switching Posada to the DH. Let’s tip our hats to Girardi who made the right calls. Molina did a fabulous job of handling AJ… check.
Posada is NOT the DH (smart move) and enters to PH and assume the catching duties. Posada hits an RBI single.. Yes Joe, way to go. But, sorry no YH for Jorge.
Mark Teixeira. How could he not be? What an incredible moment and at bat for him in the 4th. After suffering through the wily ways of Pedro for what seemed like an eternity, the NY fans were even becoming disenchanted with their “who’s your daddy” chant.
The place was like doomsville, until Mark hit that bomb to deep right center. What a swing Mark!
But.. sorry bud, no YH for you. You see, you can’t win if you don’t score more runs than the other guy. Mark? Well, he merely tied it. It was this guy that wielded the most potent bat of the night for New York.
Godzilla! He walked, he singled, he bothered the heck out of “your daddy” on every at bat. Until, finally Peter made a mistake. It wasn’t much of one. In fact, maybe Godzilla was the only hitter that could take that ball off his shoe tops and drive it out of Yankee stadium. Well, maybe one other guy.. and just maybe.. the ghost of The Babe was digging Godzilla : )
Funny, watching the post game shows. We never saw Hideki interviewed. I imagine the language barrier had something to do with it. Or, possibly.. .Hideki was being mobbed by the Japanese media and never had a chance to breathe anywhere near a Fox camera.
Well, we’re giving you the kudos now Hideki.
Congratulations Hideki Matsui - You are Yesterday’s Hitter!
Chase(d)… off a Cliff
One game does not make a series. The Yankees can be thankful for that. Even so, an early statement has been issued by the Defending Champion Phillies; If you want the title, you are going to have to take it!
Unlike their AL adversaries who gladly handed the Yankees win after win with poor baseball fundamentals, the Phillies were on in every facet of the game. Well, almost… a very late inconsequential error (or was it?) allowed the Yankees one teensy little run in their 6-1 whipping.
Not to say that CC was not doing his job. He pitched extremely well. Yes, he gave up two runs. The Phillies lineup just puts pressure, pressure and more pressure on opposing pitchers. CC was feeling it.
The Phillies get on base. They populate the base paths. They threaten you from #1 to #9 in the order. They treat every pitch as an opportunity to score or drive in a runner.
CC was good. He just wasn’t able to hold off the inevitable pressure. Take a look at what happened to the Yankees when he stepped out of the game. The moment CC left the game, the runs came in bunches. Not a very appealing sight for Girardi and the Yankee fans.
As great as CC was, Cliff Lee was above and beyond. Of the two best friends, Cliff was the better… again! My bet is that the two didn’t share a friendly beer after this one though. The battle is on. The friendship can wait.
Cliff Lee’s fabulous complete game against the powerful Yankee lineup was fun to watch. He was perfect with his pitches. He upset timing. He fielded the ball with boyish exuberance. He got lucky on a comeback and grinned from ear to ear. Mostly though, he was just mesmerizing to the Yankee hitters. Ten strikeouts, three to the hottest hitter on the planet – Alex Rodriguez.
There was nobody more locked in for this game than Cliff Lee.
Well, let me take that back. There was one other guy. Chase Utley. What a hitter. So patient. So calm. So…. good.
By now most of you have read about the incredible records Chase set (or equaled) last night. His first inning walk broke a tie with Boog Powell for the most consecutive games to reach base in a Post Season – 26. His 6 pitch walk set the tone for the Phillies offense. A 2 out walk that started a rally.. .extended the inning and put CC on task to fight for every out.
His 3rd inning Home Run put him in a select group for Home Runs in Game 1 of a World Series. More importantly, it put the Phils on top. Again, he made CC work. 9 pitches later, he deposited the ball into the stands.
By the 6th inning CC had to hate to see Utley come to the plate. Hats off to CC, he came right at Chase with two quick strikes. The thing about Utley though, is he is patient. He doesn’t mind hitting with two strikes. He is confident and he is good. Pow! Another ball deposited into the right field seats. 2-0.
And with that Home Run, Mr. Utley joined none other than the Sultan of Swat – Babe Ruth as the only two players to club 2 Home Runs off of a LH pitcher in the World Series. Wow. Need I say anymore?
Congratulations Chase Utley – You are Yesterday’s Hitter!
Peter, Peter Yankee beater
Cat and Emma… this one’s for you : )
With the excitement of Game 1 in the 2009 World Series upon us, let’s roll back the clock and find ourselves a Yesterday’s Hitter for the ages.
It’s October 28,1981… Game 6 of the World Series is played in the Bronx between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees. LA had lost the first two games of the Series in the same ballpark and fell behind the powerful Yankees 0-2 before traveling back to the West Coast.
The friendly confines of Dodger Stadium were just what LA needed.
They swept 3 games from New York and took a 3-2 lead in the series for Game 6.
But, hold on a second.. a little history about this whacky season for Major League Baseball.
The 1981 season was marred by a strike.
The season was broken into two halves of approximately 50 games each. The strike began in June and ended in August. MLB commissioner, Bowie Kuhn, made the decision to crown the playoff teams as those who had won “the first half” and “the second half” in each Division.
The problem with that skewed thinking is that it left out the two best teams! The Cincinnati Reds had the overall best record in baseball at 66-42. They were left out of the playofffs because they did not win either “half” of the season. The same went for the St. Louis Cardinals who had the best overall record in the NL East, but failed to capture either one of the two “halves”. So, to put it mildly, the Playoffs and the Series were not representative of the best baseball had to offer in 1981.
However, it did feature the hottest commodity in baseball – Fernandomania!
Fernando Valenzuela’s rookie year with the LA Dodgers was nothing less than spectacular. He won his first 8 games (5 by shutout) and gave LA a force on the mound. He joined Jerry Reuss and Burt Hooton on the bump.
The Dodgers had their steady eddie infield of Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey and were Skippered by Tommy Lasorda.
The Yankees featured sluggers Reggie Jackson and Dave Winfield. Their pitching staff was loaded with Dave Righetti, Ron Guidry, Goose Gossage and Tommy John (who started Game 6).
With John on the mound in Game 6, the Yankees rode the unexpected power of Willie Randolph to an early lead. Willie clubbed his second HR of the Series (a solo shot) in the bottom of the 3rd inning. The Bombers had the lead 1-0.
LA’s offense had been pretty hot in 2 of the last 3 games and they came right back to tie the game 1-1 on catcher Steve Yeager’s RBI single.
In the bottom of the 4th… the game began. This is where the blogging would go crazy (if they had such a thing in 1981).
Hooton gave up a leadoff double to Graig Nettles before settling down and getting two quick
outs. Since the game had no Designated Hitter at the time, Hooton intentionally walked Larry Milbourne to get to Tommy John’s spot in the order.
Yankee skipper, Bob Lemon decided to PH for Tommy John and sent Bobby Murcer to the plate. TJ went a little haywire in the dugout (which was not lost on the Dodgers) when Murcer harmlessly flew out.
Buoyed by the controversy in the Yankee dugout, the Dodgers struck in the 5th. The Penguin (Ron Cey) knocked in a run to give LA a 2-1 advantage. Then Pedro Guerrero tripled home two more and LA had New York by the throat.
They piled on again in the 6th when Yankee pitching committed the cardinal sin of walking the opposing pitcher with one out. If there were such a thing as a Rally Monkey… it would have been jumping in the Dodger dugout.
Davey Lopes followed with another walk before Bill Russell singled home Hooton to give LA a 5-1 lead. Unfortunately for the Yankees… they were not done scoring. After the 6th run came home on an error, Pedro Guerrero stepped up and delivered another 2 RBIs on a 2 out single.
Pedro would go on to Homer in the 8th and ended Game 6 with an incredible 5 RBIs. Pedro, Ron Cey and Steve Yeager shared the first ever Co-MVP award in the World Series.
And why not? There had already been so many firsts for baseball in 1981 - capped by the LA Dodgers being the first (and only) team to have ever lost the first two games on the road and wind up as the World Champs.
Congratulations to Pedro Guerrero – You are Yesterday’s Hitter!
Johnny Be Good
Well, it’s finally here… the 2009 World Series will feature two powerhouse teams. For the 40th time the AL will be represented by the New York Yankees. They will have their hands full in trying to beat the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies for their 27th World Series Title.
These two played for the title in 1950.
Oddly enough, it was the Yankees as the defending Champions in that matchup. The Yankees swept Philadelphia in 4 games.
In Game 6 of the ALCS last night it appeared the Angels just might postpone that reunion. They had a strong outing from Joe Saunders and took a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning on a Bobby Abreu single to right.
That was about all she wrote for the Halos. The Yankees had yet to lose in their new digs this Post Season and last night was no exception.
The main players in the NY lineup came out to play. Jeter was on base 3 times (all walks), Tex had 2 hits, A-Rod had 2 hits and was on base another 3 times with a free pass. It was a walk in the park for Alex all night long.
But, the damage was inflicted by the #2 hole, Johnny Damon. His 4th inning at bat with the bases loaded proved to be the key that unlocked the door to the World Series. Damon drove in 2 runs with his patented one handed swat.
The all time Post Season leader in wins took the reins and led the Yankees to the ALCS Championship.
The Angels again floundered in the field, committing one gaffe after another. Poor base running, inability to throw a ball 50ft, unable to catch a soft toss.. and on and on and on.
It appears the New Yankee Stadium has the same magic as the old one and visiting teams feel the mystique.
Now, it’s time to see if that magic can hold back the Phillies.
As for last night’s YH? You certainly could argue that Alex Rodriguez had a fabulous day at the plate. He had two hits and walked 3 times as the Angels had suffered enough punishment from his Louisville Slugger.
But, it all comes down to producing runs and nobody did a better job at that than Johnny Damon.
Congrats Johnny – You are Yesterday’s Hitter!
Monkey Mo
It looked for all the world like another Yankee blow out in the 1st inning. Jeter singled. Damon singled. Just like that there were 2 on and nobody out for Mark Teixeira. Fortunately for the Angels he has not been on his “mark”. John Lackey and the Halos escaped with no damage.
Thrilled by that turn of events and with their backs against the wall in Game 5, the Angels came out swinging.
AJ Burnett was completely ineffective and looked like he was serving up soft toss.
A leadoff walk started the rally. Abreu doubled and Torii Hunter followed with a crisp 2 RBI single and the Angels struck first. Something they have needed desperately. They went on to score twice more with a Vlad Guerrero double and a Kendry Morales single.
Now it looked like an Angels runaway in Game 5. 4-0 after 1.
Oh how strange this game is. For the next 6 innings absolutely nothing happened as AJ found his mark and shut down LA.
On the flipside.. Lackey was mowing down the Yanks.
Until the 7th. A one out Melky Cabrera double. A disputed walk to Posada. A ticked off walk to Jeter and the bases were loaded for NY. Lackey retired Johnny Damon and the Yanks had yet to score. 2 outs, bases loaded.
Enter Mike Scioscia and exit a reluctant John Lackey.
Scioscia summoned Darren Oliver to face Mark Teixeira and flip him around to bat Right Handed. Mark, who had singled earlier to provide a tiny bit of spark to his offensive woes, exploded a double into the gap to score 3! He came around to score the tying run and it appeared the monkey was off Mark’s back in the ALCS.
The Yanks erupted for 6 runs capped by a Robinson Cano triple that gave them a 6-4 lead!
Deflation and disbelief loomed in Anaheim.
Oh how crazy this game is. Enter the Monkey.
Just as abruptly as they had lost the lead, the Halos snatched it back with 3 runs of their own in the bottom half of the 7th!
Torii Hunter scored the winning run on a clutch single by Kendry Morales and the Angels had comeback from the graveyard to an improbable Game 5 win.
Morales ended the day with 2 hits and 2 RBIs, one that ended the the 4 run burst in the 1st inning and the final RBI that capped the 3 run comeback in the 7th.
Congratulations Kendry Morales – You are Yesterday’s Hitter!
Worth Repeating
The Phillies are repeat NL Champions and are rolling toward a possible repeat as the World Champions.
They powered through the LA Dodgers for the second consecutive year in 5 games and look stronger this year then they did in 2008. That has to be a scary thought for whoever comes out of the ALCS (most likely the Yankees).
Ryan Howard did not continue his Post Season RBI streak, but he didn’t need to. When the Dodgers zigged, the Phillies zagged. LA pitched around the big man in the first inning putting two on base for Jayson Werth.
Jayson jacked a 3 Run shot to Right Center and the game was over early.
Just for kicks and grins, Jayson powdered a ball to deep Center field for a 2nd Home Run to make it a 4-1 game before the mop up crew came out and polished off the Dodgers for 2009.
Shane Victorino continues to be a power house from an unlikely source as he pounded out a deep Home Run to Left field that may have been the hardest hit ball of the night. The Flyin Hawaiian was a constant offensive force in the NLCS.
There was more evidence of the supremacy of the Phillies. The Dodgers issued more than 20 walks in the 5 game series. Free base runners that the Phillies gladly capitalized on.
Carlos Ruiz tied a Post Season mark for the most RBIs out of the 8th spot in the lineup. He had 7. Top to bottom this Phillies squad is impressive.
Chase Utley has reached base safely in 25 straight Post Season games. That ties another MLB record (Boog Powell). When you have that type of balance, it’s no wonder you are the defending World Champions.
Jayson Werth still has his eye on the prize, and it is that type of focus that brings World Series Champions. Can they repeat?
“Big games call for big times. We’ve got four more games to win.” – Jayson Werth
Well, Jayson… you sure came up big last night against your former team. Congratulations… you are Yesterday’s Hitter!
Meant to be…
Records are funny things. They can stand for what seems to be an eternity, but the moment they are tied or eclipsed it’s as though they are awakened.
One day after seeing Ryan Howard tie Lou Gehrig’s incredible statistic of knocking in an RBI in 8 consecutive Post Season games… Alex Rodriguez decided to join the party.
It was the CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez show in Los Angeles yesterday. CC was lights out on the mound and Alex was lights out in the box.
Now, don’t get me wrong. . It’s not as though I didn’t see and recognize the awesome game that Melky Cabrera put together. He was awesome knocking in 4 RBIs on the day. He just didn’t control the game in the manner that A-Rod did.
And let’s not even get into the discussion on Horriblue! If you watched the game you had to be completely disgusted with the quality of the “umpiring”. Horrible. Repeatedly Horrible.
Alex walked. He stole a base. He singled. He scored on a ground ball in the infield.
He homered.
He doubled.
He moved up on a sacrifice fly and caused an errant throw to score another run. He was a cheer leader in the dugout. He was everywhere. He was doing everything.
In the midst of the domination by CC, the Yankees plowed through the Angels uncontested and pushed their way to 3-1 series lead.
It’s looking more and more like the two best teams in baseball are the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees. If baseball’s World Series is meant to showcase the two best teams, then it looks like we are going to get what is meant to be.
Congratulations to Alex Rodriguez – Yesterday’s Hitter!
The Thunder Rolls
…. and the Lightning strikes! It was over even before it began. In a shower of hits and a flurry of runs, Game 3 was over before the fans had their hot dogs, or their seats.
The Phillies pummeled Hiroki Kuroda in the first and second innings enroute to a decisive romp at Citizens Bank park. The onslaught was so quick and powerful that Kuroda bowed out
before retiring 6 batters. He was hammered. Even the balls that were eventually caught were lambasted.
With all the pre-game discussion about the cold weather having an impact on the hitting, I can only say those prognasticators were … half-right. Cliff Lee was astounding again. He could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, wherever he wanted all night long. And while he was tossing up zeros. . . The thunder rolled.
Up by a 6-0 margin by the end of the second it was just a matter of piling on for the Phillies. Their lineup is solid from the top to the bottom. They had doubles by Jimmy Rollins and Dodger killer Carlos Ruiz. Triples by Howard and Pedro Feliz and Home Runs by Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino. Big Thunder.
Much like the Yankees, there are simply no holes to find outs with. Not even Cliff Lee himself is an easy out. He hit the ball hard all night long and ended up with a single and a run scored.
With that incredibly lopsided final score of 11-0 you might expect to find one guy that just raked out the hits and RBIs. But, true to the Phillies team makeup… the thunder was rolling through the entire lineup. It started at the top.
After a Rollins fly out, Shane Victorino singled and stole second. Utley followed with a single of his own before the big thunder came to the plate. Ryan Howard’s line drive into the right field corner was the lightning strike the Phillies needed. He chugged his way around the basepaths and his head first slide into third ignited the crowd. Two runs were in.
Moments later the Thunder boomed off of Jayson Werth’s bat. A deep laser like shot that landed well into the batter’s eye in center field. 4 runs were in.
The game was basically over at that point. The thunderous roar of Beat LA reverberated throughout the stadium.
Ryan Howard’s triple and 2 RBIs set a Major League Record for consecutve post season games with a Run Batted In – 7. My bet is he’ll add to that. Ryan is seeing it and hitting it like the former hit king that proceeded him in Philadelphia – Pete Rose.
But, the nod for YH has to go to the spark that created all of that thunder and lightning… Shane Victorino. He singled in the first, stole second and just created havoc on the basepaths all night long. He had two walks and a punishing finishing touch 3 Run Home Run in the eighth.
Sometimes it’s the spark that causes all the damage.
Congratulations Shane Victorino – You are Yesterday’s Hitter!
Out of Character
I’m not quite sure what’s going on in New York. It’s head scratching stuff. For one thing, I was certain I would see highly competitive games. That much has held true. The head scratching is coming from the ill advised plays in the field. Just weird stuff you might expect to see in a Little League game, not a League Championship Series.
I know, baseball is a very different game. It’s full of shoulda’s, woulda’s and coulda’s. But these occurrences are not only becoming laughable.. they are nearly predictable based on the flow of the Series to this point.
It’s completely out of character to see a stalwart defensive team like the Angels implode in the field. From miscommunication dropped pop ups to missing the bag on a simple double play. Just .. well, everything… Including losing the game on a wild throw ala Ut-Oh. Huh?
Take New York even: AJ Burnett WP’s a guy home only to be saved by a little known rule when the ball bounces into the stands. Only to repeat the gaffe moments later and allow the tying run. Huh?
And speaking of out of character… How about Derek Jeter. He homers to put the team up 2-0. Nothing unexpected there, he’s done it more than Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson in the Post Season for his Yanks. What was out of character was the little maneuver he tried defensively to catch the runner rounding 3rd base (ala Nick Punto) when there were 2 outs and the game was tied 2-2. Throw to first! That’s what we expect from Jeter.
Then, to top it off… this crazy and whacky game. Jeter doesn’t even attempt to move runners over from 1st and 2nd in a 2-2 game. Instead, he swings for the fences, dribbles into a double play and cancels the chance for a very important run. Later in the game, Mr. October/November/December commits an error.
What in the world is going on?
If the Angels were playing anywhere near their capability they’d lead this Series 2-0 or, at the bare minimum, be tied 1-1.
Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda.
Because one guy that has not been out of character (or is he?) is Alex Rodriguez. He continues to have a Playoff resurrection. Another game tying Home Run keeps the Yankees alive when they were certain to have bumbled the game away.
Oh, and what was that count? No balls, two strikes! C’mon .. this guy is a closer. A good one! A no ball, two strike hittable pitch to the second coming of Babe Ruth. Please…
Out of Character to say the least.
Congratulations Alex Rodriguez. You are Yesterday’s Hitter!
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