Postseason | The Baseball Zealot

Hamels and Myers a little tense after “quit” remarks?

A little tension between Cole Hamels and Brett Myers in the clubhouse during the World Series? Couldn’t hurt the chemistry, right?

From mlb.com:

Myers and a Phillies official both dispute a Yahoo! Sports report that Myers and Hamels had a "tense confrontation" in the Phillies clubhouse following Game 5 of the World Series.

… (Phillies director of baseball communications) Casterioto asked Myers if he had seen Hamels.

"He quit," Myers cracked.

…Hamels is sensitive to the word "quit" these days after he told reporters following Game 3 of the World Series that he couldn’t wait for the season to end. Myers said he was unaware of Hamels’ comments following Game 3, although the comments have upset some players inside the Phillies’ clubhouse.

I don’t know about you but that’s a clear indication that there WAS a “tense confrontation”.

The big question (which most media will tend to ignore) is whether or not it’s a really big deal. Hamels and Myers are good friends (“He’s my buddy”, says Myer of Hamels). Can’t we just chalk it up to Series jitters and leave it at that? Or do shall we make it a national story?

If I know the media like I do, they’ll pounce on this like a lion on a juicy bone and we’ll hear every analysis of each angle of this story.

The most surprising thing about this story is that it didn’t happen in New York. The Big Apple media like to pick on their own.

Yankees Chased over Cliff in Game 1 of World Series

It was the the Cliff Lee and Chase Utley Show last night. They certainly quieted the pundits who were so giddy over the Yankees chances in the World Series. That includes ex-Cub Mark Grace who was predicting the Yanks would take the Series in 6 games.

While the Yankees came in the Series with all the momentum, it is the Philadelphia Phillies who now gain the upper hand. Former Cy Young winner Cliff Lee was masterful beyond compare. Allowing no walks, he kept the Yanks scoreless until the ninth inning when Jeter scored on a measly groundout.

Chase Utley was the total offense for most of the game (up until the eight inning). Thanks to his two solo dingers. Philly had a 2-0 lead which is all they really needed with Lee on the hill.

Props goes to C.C. Sabathia. Despite the ‘L’, he pitched a fair game, allowing just 2 runs in seven frames, good enough for a win in most any other game.

Two observations: Ryan Howard’s line looks pretty good (2 for 5, 2 doubles, rbi) but I thought he looked pretty miserable at the plate for his two strikeouts. Also, the Yanks were obvious pretty anemic with the bat last night but one exception was Derek Jeter. He was 3 for 4 and scored their only run.

Tonight, Pedro Martinez for the Phils and A.J. Burnett for the Yanks.

I checked out PJ’s stats and they’re quite interesting. Not the most durable fellow but it’s amazing how times he’s led the league in certain categories.

Obviously, ERA, five times. Hits per 9 IP, five times, Win/Loss Pct, four times, Strikeouts per 9 IP, four times. walks and hits per 9 IP, six times, and shutouts, 3 times.

Innings pitched, Games Started, and Complete Games… eh, not so much.

Go Phillies.

Yankees get #40… off to the World Series for them

The Angels gave them a pretty good fight considering the outcome of the first two games. But the Yankees won. They won their 40th AL pennant. In a league that is barely a century old, that is quite a feat.

As was the ALCS, yesterday’s game between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim was a whole lot closer than the 5-2 would lead you to believe. The Halos were within one at 3-2 with runners on base in the top of eighth inning. The Yankees were helped by two errors in the bottom of the inning to seal the fate of the Angels and put New York into the World Series for the first time since 2003.

For the series, yeah yeah, there was Alex Rodriguez. 9 for 21 with 3 homer and 6 rbis. The Angels caught on quick to him because he also had eight walks. Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon contributed also to the Yanks’ victory. Both had 2 dingers and Damon had 5 rbis while Jeter scored 5 runs.

No can deny C.C. Sabathia’s role in the ALCS. In two starts and 16 innings, he only allowed 2 earned runs giving up nine hits.

Vladimir Guerrero overcame his putrid Game 1 to put up some good series numbers. He was 10 for 27 (.370) with 5 rbis. But Jeff Mathis had some interesting stats. He was 7 for 12 (.583) but with only one rbi. He made his one rbi count, though as it was the game winning hit in Game 3.

The award for most least productive for the Yankees goes to Nick Swisher who not only went 3 for 20 (all singles) with 0 rbis, but didn’t come through in key situations.

As for the Angels, the goat is Chone Figgins. He started out with a 0-18 streak for the series. Before the dust settled, he went 3 for 23 (again, all singles) with 1 rbi and 2 runs scored.

A frustrating LCS for me. This is going to force me to root for the Phillies.

ALCS Beat: Yankees comeback not enough against resurging Angels

As Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over till it’s over”. And as my buddy Don, who is an Angel fan said late night, “If Brian Fuentes had walked Swisher, I think I would have jumped off my roof”.

Fortunately for the Angels (and Don S), he didn’t.

I learned my lesson though. I watched the game on TV at home till the beginning of the 7th. John Lackey had been pitching brilliantly up until then and had a 4-0 lead. Thinking that Big John had things well in hand, I decided to head to local coffee shop and watch the rest of the game on Gameday while I got some work done.

It’s a 6 block walk to the coffee shop and I was away from the game for 15 minutes, 20 tops. Logging into Gameday, I was rudely greeted with a 7-6 Yankee lead. Refreshing the browser didn’t seem to help.

Looking back at it, I had a sneaking suspicion that Lackey was tiring. Mid-inning, the camera crew show him in the dugout and boy, he really looked spent. I remember commenting on that to my kid.

But thanks to a 3-run seventh fueled by back-to-back base hits by Guerrero and Morales, the Angels got back on top for the final score 7-6.

I’d like to say that was the end of the excitement but the Yankees made the Halos earn their pay Thursday night. Angel reliever Brian Fuentes made things a little too interesting. After a two-out, bases empty intentional pass to Alex Rodriguez, Fuentes followed that up with a Matsui walk and a Cano HBP to load the bases. If that weren’t enough, Nick Swisher took him to a full count before popping out to short for third out to end the game.

Fuentes line looked good. One inning, no hits and a save. But that sure didn’t tell the story of the game. However, he got the job done.

The Angels got their miracle. Three-Two sounds a whole lot better than Two-Zero or Three-One.

ALCS Beat: Yankees back on track

I’m so rope they call me Mr. Roper
When the troubles arise I’m the cool coper
On the mic I score just like the Yankees

“3-Minute Rule” by the Beastie Boys

Yeah, the Yankees score alright. Yet, like any team should, the Angels remain hopelessly positive.

"We’ve got a mountain to climb," said Angels center fielder Torii Hunter. "We’ve just got to know we have to go out there [Thursday] and try to get that win. It’s a must-win. It’s not like we’ve got games left. We can’t go out there and let these guys win. If they do, it’s over with. We’re going to come with a different mindset and try to have some fun and get the job done."

But it ain’t going to be easy. With the Yankees now 3 games to 1, it’s simply going to be an uphill battle that will take a miracle to overcome.

Up until Monday night’s win for the Angels, the playoff series for them has been characterized as ugly and full of mistakes. Not Tuesday night. They were simply out-pitched and out-hit and the Yanks won 10-1. C.C Sabathia is doing his best to outdo ARod in his bid to strip him of MVP of the Series.

On just three days rest, Sabathia almost repeated Game One’s numbers, allowing just one run in eight innings with just five his and two walks. In Game One, he allowed one run in eight innings as well with four hits. For the postseason, C.C. is 3-0.

Alex Rodriguez led the hitting attack, going 3 for 4 with his fifth homer of the fall and 2 rbis and 3 runs scored. Melky Cabrera chipped in with a 3 for 4 performance and four rbis of his own.

The Angels have to be disappointed with their offense till this point. Up until Tuesday night, the starting pitching has held up pretty well. No Halo starter has given up more than three ER until last night (and if you want to pick nits, Kazmir only gave up four but we won’t go there). Had the offense been a little more productive even a little more timely, it would be a different series now.

Tonight’s scheduled pitchers are John Lackey and A.J Burnett. Don’t look for Torii Hunter to have a great night. He’s 2 for 23 lifetime against Burnett. However, those two hits? Homeruns.

ARod is in pretty much in the same boat with Lackey. He’s 9 for 51 (.176) lifetime against Big John. Most of those hits have gone for extras though. One double, one triple and FOUR homeruns.

This is first time I’ve said this publically but…

Go Angels!

ALCS Beat: Hello Angels!

Game 3 of the ALCS started ominously (and quite familiarly) for the Angels. Shortstop Derek Jeter led off the game with a homerun off Halo pitcher Jered Weaver. It was Jeter’s 20th postseason dinger which puts him third behind Manny Ramirez of the Dodgers and postseason superman of lore, Bernie Williams.

Down 3-0, in the 5th inning, things weren’t looking much better for the Angels. Things started to click with the help of some questionable decisions by Yankee skipper Joe Girardi. With a decent lead going into the homestretch of of the game, some of his calls just didn’t go his way.

Putting Jerry Hairston in left field is somewhat questionable. But the fact that it required removing the designated hitter is beyond me.

Girardi (left) also replaced David Robertson in the 11th after he got the first two outs only to bring in Alfredo Aceves. Girardi justified his move saying that Robertson threw 33 pitches on Saturday. True but many of those pitches on Saturday were on intentional walks.

Too much micro-managing. Girardi just needs to relax and let his boys play ball.

When all was said and done, the Angels came up with the big ‘W’, thanks to a game-winning double by Jeff Mathis off Aceves.

Box Score

Howie Kendrick was 3 for 5 with a homer and 3 runs scored. Vladimir Guerrero went 2 for 4 with a homer and two rbis. Reliever Ervin Santana got the win.

So the Los Angeles Angeles, on the brink of a 0-3 deficit, buck up and take advantage of some weaknesses as the Yankees did the first two games. Now it’s 2-1 and a whole new ALCS.

2009 Postseason: This, that, and the other

Miscellaneous news and opinions on the postseason so far:

Former commish Fay Vincent takes a look back at the 1989 World Series that literally shook the world.
With the cold weather in the northern cities in the playoffs, this Reuters post is looking for any angle they can. They’re suggesting a neutral site for the World Series in warmer climate… (The Baseball Zealot says: ummm, no).
Greg Trietley of The Pitt News, is the only one I know making this suggestion… make the playoffs longer (albeit with a shorter regular season).
And something not to be read while eating… a puff piece by the Idaho Statesman about Tim McCarver. From the article: “How long will he do it? "I think about (Pat) Summerall’s line about the butterflies before the game," he said. "Whenever that stops, it’s time to leave.”

Somebody get a fly swatter.

ALCS Beat: Yankees looking pretty and Angels losing ugly

The New York Yankees will hope to continue their 2009 playoff dominance today against the LA Angels. They have yet to lose this year in the postseason. It was close on Saturday… real close.

Yankee fans can thank Alex Rodriguez for keeping the Bombers in Game 2. In the bottom of the eleventh inning, he hit his third homerun of the postseason to keep the Yankees tied with the Angels. Before 2009, ARod had one homer in his last 13 postseason games.

Yanks fans can probably also extend a little gratitude towards Macier Izturis. Thanks to his errant throw in the bottom of the 13th inning, ex-Cub Jerry Hairston Jr scored to break the 3-3 tie and brought the Yanks their second win of the ALCS.

Box Score

That’s five errors in two games for the Angels for those counting and a lot out there are. LAA has come into the postseason with one of the best defensive teams in the majors yet it’s one of their facets that has let them down.

They wasted a great outing by Joe Saunders who allowed just 2 earned runs in seven innings and pretty decent work from the pen by Kevin Jepsen and Darren Oliver.

One more interesting key stat from the boxscore:

Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Guerrero 7

Yikes!

So right now, the Yankees are up by two (and already up 2-0 in the 4th inning of the 3rd game as of this writing). It’s nice to say that anything can happen in baseball but not every team can pull off what the Red Sox did in 2004. Is the writing on the wall for LAA? It is unless they can pull away with a comeback today.

Some umps on the DL

Interesting take on the quality of the umpiring lately…

From Fox Sports News:

While federal laws prohibit Major League Baseball from discussing injuries of employees, FOXsports.com has learned that the sidelined umpires include crew chiefs John Hirschbeck (testicular cancer), Charlie Reliford (back), Jerry Crawford (back), Tim Welke (concussion), Ed Montague (concussion and neck), Gary Darling (ankle and foot) and Rick Reed (stroke).

Other umpires who are sidelined by injuries include Kerwin Danley (concussion), Alfonso Marquez (back), Brian Runge (details unknown), Bill Hohn (back) and Ed Hickok (concussion).

Any umpire who makes the bigs is surely a quality product. That said, these particular men in blue, especially Hirschbeck, Crawford, Montague, and Darling are the cream of the crop. Ok, maybe Yankee fans might disagree with the Hirschbeck opinion.

Not trying to excuse any of the mistakes and the whole angle of the story maybe just that, an angle dreamed up by the media. But it IS an interesting take on the story.

Ron Gardenhire, the umpires and a red flag

I’ve never been a proponent of instant replay in baseball. I’ve always felt that deep down, we should stick with the human element. Like umpire Bill Klem once said, “It ain’t nothin’ till I call it”.

But dang, some calls the umps are making recently are making it difficult to maintain my case. There was the incident last Tuesday with Randy Marsh making a questionable call of Bobby Keppel’s pitch. Did it hit Brandon Inge’s uni or not? Marsh said no.

Now, Minnesota Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire is floating the idea of a “red flag” now in response to an incorrect call of a Joe Mauer ground rule double on Friday night (it’s not the first time he’s brought this idea up. He suggested it after a bad call in July).

Gardenhire’s summary of the red flag proposal:

"I’ve said all along that I want a red flag," Gardenhire said in the Star-Tribune after the Cuddyer play. "If you use it and you’re wrong, you don’t get to use it the rest of the game. If you use it and you’re right, you get your red flag back and that would save a lot of money (for ejections)."

The red flag? Bad idea. But worse, it’s a only a natural extension of the current implementation of instant replay and one of the reasons I was against it in the first place. We’re just headed down that road now and there’s not a lot to stop us.

I don’t blame Gardenhire. He’s gotta be pretty pissed. But there’s one tenet I’ve always held to. Whether it’s baseball, business, politcs or whatever, you never make policy decisions based on one particular incident. It might look good now in the heat of the postseason and with the emotionally charged atmosphere of an admitted bad call but it needs to hold up to the test of time.

To his credit, Gardenhire did leave himself an out:

“(the) great thing about baseball is the human element, and we always want to keep it that way. We made enough mistakes ourselves and we missed opportunities to win the game. It just goes that way."

Maybe this red flag idea will just go away.

Tag: Postseason