ALDS: Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees

[Slayer 0]

You Yankee fans sure are an indignant sort.... "Why does everyone hate us so much?!"

 

Because you root for the Yankees. To quote some comic I heard on the radio: "Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for the house at a casino... 'Yeah! Dealer busted your ass, bitch!'"

[Guest Princess Leena]

It's baseball. Chemistry is not important.

[Guest Felonies!]

I tend to agree: as long as every cog in the machine does its job, it should matter if they like each other, e.g. those Oakland A's teams that hated each other and Charlie Finley. Still, I'm sure it must play a small part in the grand scheme of things. it can't hurt to develop a rapport with your fellow infielders and so forth.

[The Man in Blak 0]

Since their budget has been rising, they have stopped winning.

http://asp.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/sa....aspx?year=1995

 

Yankees Payroll Ranking in MLB

1995: AL-2nd, MLB-2nd (Toronto)

1996: AL-1st, MLB-1st

1997: AL-1st, MLB-1st

1998: AL-2nd, MLB-2nd (Baltimore)

1999: AL-1st, MLB-1st

2000: AL-1st, MLB-1st

2001: AL-1st, MLB-1st

2002: AL-1st, MLB-1st

2003: AL-1st, MLB-1st

2004: AL-1st, MLB-1st

2005: AL-1st, MLB-1st

2006: AL-1st, MLB-1st

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Quit hating, fucker.

[Brett Favre 0]

I don't even hate for hating on the Yankees, I just don't like people getting mad at fans for getting mad players with the excuse "HEY HE'S A 2X MVP I WISH I HAD HIM!". If a player screws up, I don't see why we couldn't get mad at him, especially if he's having a horrible year at coming through in those situations. Other than that, hate all you want. It makes no difference at the end.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Because every player, no matter how great, messes up. Yankees fans don't seem to realize this.

[Brett Favre 0]

I understand people have a bias against A-Rod. Personally, I don't. But he does need to come through, and it's now starting to piss me off that he keeps going up to the plate, looking nervous as fuck, strike out, make an exaggerated angry face, sit down, and do the same shit four innings later. I know there are Yankee fans that won't back off him no matter what he does, but don't get mad at the other Yankee fans who just want him to come through and are starting to get sick at him for not doing so.

[Guest Paul]

Chemistry DOES matter.

 

Things work a lot better when your SS and 3B actually like one another.

 

Oh, and Sheffield in the post season still does suprise me a little. Not quite sure why Hideki isn't DH'ing with Melky in LF. Especially since Sheff as a Yankee SHOULD be over, now. Go with what brought you to the dance.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

What's with Sheff? I just saw he's out and Giambi's at first, with Bernie DH'ing. I wouldn't imagine he'd be out unless he was hurt.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Chemistry DOES matter.

 

Winning usually breeds chemistry.

[Guest Paul]

Chemistry DOES matter.

 

Winning usually breeds chemistry.

 

As for Sheff...who cares? Not I.

[The Man in Blak 0]

Also, the last year the Yankees won the World series (2000) their opening day salary started at $92.5 million. Their salaries have more than doubled since then and they haven't won a World Series. If money buys a championship, then why haven't they won since 2000 when teams such as the Marlins have?

 

Virtually anything can happen in a short series in baseball. In 2001, the Yankees went seven games with a very strong Arizona team. In 2002, they ran into an Angels team that was just unbelievably hot at the time. In 2003, they forgot to bring some pitching against the Marlins, who came in with a truckload of momentum from coming back on the Cubs 3-1. 2004 is just creepy voodoo shit or, more rationally, a four game losing streak at the worst possible time. In 2005, their pitching forgot to show up against a hungry Angels team.

 

In all of these series, the Yankees were never dominated. With the exception of 2002 (four games out of five) and the 2003 World Series (six games out of seven), they always went the maximum length of games. And, if a couple of things break differently in some of these series (Dave Roberts doesn't steal a base, Rivera doesn't give up a bloop single, Jeff Weaver forgets to show up at the ballpark), the results are drastically different.

 

Having the largest payroll doesn't guarantee you the best team, but it does reduce your risk of losing. If baseball is a game of poker, then the Yankees are the big stack at the table; they're capable of losing any hand and, if a particular series of events happens, they're certainly capable of losing the chip lead or getting busted out. But, on the whole, they have more options in how they can play and they can lose more hands without "going broke."

[bob_barron 0]

Except for Game 1 in 02, the Angels kicked their ass. And that series went 4, not 5.

[Brett Favre 0]

Yeah I was just about to say that. Damn Angels.

[bob_barron 0]

The Angels should be allowed to qualify on the basis of that alone.

[The Man in Blak 0]

Yes, you're correct. I had that series mixed up with the '05 series.

 

Out of all of the series I mentioned above, that's probably the only one that's really close to an asskicking, just because the Angels tore the pitching staff to shreds (8.00+ ERA). That being said, the Yankees still kept it competitive and scored a fair amount of runs in their own right, which is why I wouldn't consider it a complete domination...like this year's Oakland/Minnesota series, for example.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Chemistry DOES matter.

 

Things work a lot better when your SS and 3B actually like one another.

 

Oh, and Sheffield in the post season still does suprise me a little. Not quite sure why Hideki isn't DH'ing with Melky in LF. Especially since Sheff as a Yankee SHOULD be over, now. Go with what brought you to the dance.

I disagree that it does with baseball. One player bats. One player catches the ball. One throws. It is not a team sport in that every job is singular.

 

And as far as I know, Derek and Alexander get along fine, professionally. Plus, Derek is always hugging him and shit. Maybe not as much as Fat Giambi who like grope each other, but he does enough.

[The Man in Blak 0]

I'd say that the Yankees are, in general, professional with each other, but I'm not sure I'd stretch to say that they "get along fine", especially after that SI article about ARod earlier in the year.

 

To me, it seems like everybody has some unrealistic expectations for ARod and the rest of the team (Jeter, in particular) doesn't seem too interested in helping him. I don't know if it's because ARod overshadowed him during his years in Texas or if it's because he's got a bigger contract (which would be kind of funny, given how much Jeter gets paid), but you can draw a clear contrast with how Jeter has dealt with ARod and how he's dealt with other players who have struggled in the past (Knoblauch is a good example).

[Guest Paul]

I see the Jeter/A-Rod friendship as a front. I think Jeter hates the fact that Alex makes more than him and will have better #'s than him. I think Alex hates the fact that Jeter will always be more loved as a Yankee and doesn't get the same criticsim that he does. Of course, this is speculation on my part.

 

And now I'm pissed I didn't get to see Bernie start yesterday...but Detroit does. Boo.

[Guest Princess Leena]

I think they respect each other. And that's all that matters. They have no reason to not get along. Alexander is a perfect gentleman off the field.

[Guest Paul]

I think Alex has fake respect for Jeter and vice versa. Like I said though, that's just how I view it.

 

Good inning from Randy.

[naiwf 0]

Between Abreu just holding Bernie Williams (Carlos Guillen) to a single and Kaz Matsui playing for the Yankees, I think it's time to take Miller out back.

[KingPK 0]

Damn, Granderson's speed saved the Tigers' ass twice already.

[Cartman 0]

Someone needs to tell the Yankees about watching the runners during and after the initial tag. Both Pudge and Granderson would be out if Jeter and Arod kept their eyes on them and applied tags while they fell off the bases. Pudge was gunned on top of that but still.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Nice double play from Cap't Clutch there.

[Cartman 0]

I find this series highly amusing

[Rendclaw 0]

Speaking as someone who has been a Yankee fan since Chris Chambliss shut the Royals the fuck up back in 1976, and as someone who recently adopted the Tigers as my Team B, I can say that I have somewhat mixed feelings about what is going on. I basically want the series to go 5 games, bottom of the 9th, and Jeter yanking one out that barely clears the fence and the outstreched glove of Granderson to win it.

 

The Tigers have a legitimate shot, but they have to win like they did yesterday, every game.

 

As for A-Rod, I just don;t think that New York was ever a good fit for him. The pressure is way, way too much for him. He wants to be a hero like his "friend" Derek Jeter, and he doesn;t want people to dog him for that ridiculous contract. Combine these things with the fact that I think he is rather weak mentally, and he's trying way too hard.

 

I honestly don;t think he is going to stay a Yankee in 07 if he does what he has been doing. But from the Tigers perspective, Magglio Ordonez and Pudge haven;t been living up their potential so far either. If the Tiger are going to win, they have to produce at the plate. Period.

[bob_barron 0]

Being from a Yankee fan if you're not from at worst the tri-state area is just wrong

[Guest Felonies!]

Nice of Jon Miller to defer to Ernie Harwell. It's not fair that we can't get the classic voices of baseball like Bob Uecker or Vin Scully to do the World Series.