So the Yankees haven’t forfeited yet?

[1] They are hoping the series is rained out and Selig just awards the ALCS to the far superior Angels.

Congratulations to the Angels on postseason win number 4 of 11.

Any truth to the rumor that the Angels are “dangerous on the basepaths”?  This is the first I’ve heard of it.

I like Girardi’s plan to play two left fielders.  They’ll never see it coming.

More annoying TBS commercials, George Lopez or Frank Caliendo(sp)?

David Cone gets the secret first pitch? Really?

Better winning strategy:posting that we’ll win or that we have no chance?

Better way to waste time before 7:57 EST, Mike Tyson’s Punch Out online or looking at pictures of this chick?

http://www.wwtdd.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/000infphoto_1081204.jpg

http://www.gear6.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/january-jones-10-1024x819.jpg

Wife from Mad Men

Looks like she’s had plastic surgery since then.

all pop outs to right wind up as a homer, so i imagine two left fielders does make sense.

[6] Dane Cook.

We should all log into an Angels fanboy site and chatter away as if we were here, ignoring all the Angelboys.  Or not.

[14] Gohalos.com seems to be even-handed and unbiased.  I recommend that one.

In a season loaded with important games, this is the most important yet.

More from the gohalos blog:

If the Angels take this game, not only will it boost their confidence, but give them three chances to close out the series in Anaheim.

So, it means that today’s win counts as 3 wins for the Angels. No wonder it is the most important game of the year.

Pitchers duel between nutjob Padilla and has-been Pedro. Gotta love NL.

Not to mention the two chances to close it out in LA…

Is that WAR for Vlad correct? I guess stats don’t care about history or reputation.

[16] With predictions of the Angels winning in four, three, or as few as two games, it appears RLYW agrees with GOHALOS that a win by the Angels tonight would count as three.

Uh oh-ley.

Didn’t he do that yesterday too?

Is Jeff Weaver available in the bullpen to screw this up?

Boy, that’s a lot of pitching changes.

Manuel gets THAT performance out of Pedro… and puts in Chan-Ho Park?
The Phillies deserve to lose.

I presume that this counts in the records as a forfeit by Philadelphia, yes?

There seem to be a lot of game-changing errors in these NL playoff games.

[27]
Managerial, in this case.
Or in other words.
Chan-Ho Park, is he still pitching?  Good for LA.

Vortex Control Pod? No keys, no manual. It’s not even registered.  Thanks Pin.
Well, I have vice grips and a lighter.

Is that Eric Karros in the FOX studio?  What’s with the hair?  I almost thought this guy was still alive.

No wonder Philly fans are like that.

[30]
Hey, Jonathan - that’s Pin!  Didn’t you see his clip?

Mark Grace is wearing wireframe glasses, so he must know what he’s talking about.

Wanda Sykes is either an old woman or a young boy, right?

Wow, Joe. That is one thin face.

Listening to the pregame via MLB.com…

Jeff Nelson says that NY is considering going to a 3-man rotation… because the bullpen isn’t very good?

CC Sabathia is usually up over 100 pitches after 5 innings?

Seriously… if facts have absolutely nothing to do with it, really, what’s the point?

Hey thurm, how long has it been since you stood the watch?

ESPN chat voters almost agree with SG: 62 percent think Yankees will win, although that changes every second.

Ninja Assassin’s keys to the game?

OK, strike 1 to Figgins and we are away.

Strike three?

Figgins is only 4 feet tall, so no.

How far onto the grass was Figgins.

Nice to see that first out.

Chone Figgins has faced ML pitching before, right?

Cano does look like a ninja.

Is anyone liveblogging this all important game?

Abreu didn’t just get booed, did he?

Most of the people who have tickets to this game probably don’t know who Abreu is.

I read that the Angels are planning to offer Abreu 2 years/$16 million.

I have to figure that some other team (even in this economy) would beat that offer.

He’d fit in particularly well on the White Sox.

Most of the people who have tickets to this game probably don’t know who Abreu is.

Ha!

Sad but true.

And boy, CC looks SHARP.

Or the Mets.

Awesome pitch by CC to get Abreu.

Can we start calling C.C. “Big Train” now?

Is anyone liveblogging this all important game?

I’m afraid to.  Yankees have been winning without a liveblog for some time now.
I think SG is out on the town, probably watching the game from a private booth somewhere.

It’s hilarious that I’m thrilled with Buck’s “I don’t give a shit about the game” game calling because it’s a million times better than Caray rooting for the Twins.

This is a bit of a line up shift for Scoscia, no? I thought he went Figgins-Aybar-Abreu when we last saw them?

Most of the people who have tickets to this game probably don’t know who Abreu is.

Ha!

Sad but true.

There’s 0% of that being true.  There’s 0% of that being even close to true.  The bleachers, grandstands, and standing room sections are probably 95% filled with real fans. 

Tickets dropped to about 40 a pop in the past day or two on stubhub.  Real fans can go.  Real fans do go.

I’ve never seen anyone jinxed a perfect game in the first inning before. Joe Buck is an original.

Vlad looks like he lost some tonnage.

Hunter’s numbers vs. CC are silly.

Not so awesome against Torii.

There’s 0% of that being true.

Whats your definition of most?

Tickets dropped to about 40 a pop in the past day or two on stubhub.

Wow.

[37} 1996. I did well.

Wow. How many years did you have when you retired?

Lackey’s delivery looks different for some reason.

I know CC was sort of a no-brainer, but boy, what a great pick-up.

stood the watch

????

What a weird stat about the Yankees’ lead-off hitters. Only three times since 1980 have they had a lead-off hitter with an OBP over .400.

Randolph in 80, Henderson in 85 and Jeter in 09.

Weird.

Nice start for the Yanks!

Great AB.

Lackey is a bit of a FB pitcher.

Let’s go Yankees!

Vortex control?

It’s hard to imagine Jeter actually playing better than he has this season.

Jeter now has a hit in every PS series he’s played. Given there’s 27 of them, that’s pretty good.

I would like the Yankees to run a bit against Angels.

Lookin’ good boys.

Yay Angels OF defense. Let’s see this BS brand of baseball dismantled.

Yet another broken bat for Johnny.  Much more fun when they result in hits.

Smart baserunning from the power-hungry Yankees? IMPOSSIBLE!

Keep going.  Keep going.  Keep going.

Aw, Tex. You gotta do better than that with 3-0. Come on.

Well, Teix disappoints.

Let’s go Alex!

For the GD crowd: intentional/unintentional?

Why pitch to A-Rod here?

b/c matsui’s OBP is higher than arod’s average.

While not ideal, one of the best things about having second and third and no outs is that odds are that you’ll get at LEAST one run, so I can’t bitch too much about just getting the one run.

And obviously there’s still a chance for more!

Well, Alex gets a run in. That’s gotta count for something.

The street noise is intolerable.  Can anybody help?

[85]
You obviously haven’t been here much, Brian.
And yet, strangely, you have.

Fundamental baseball.

Louis? Louis?  What’s he doing here?

damon’s base running is redeemed!

How in the world did that even happen?  Aybar looked at Figgins TWICE and should have been able to see he was not making a play on that.

Woohoo!!!

HA!

Angels play the game the right way. Yay bullshit.

Brain(s)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow. That was…unexpected.

So… we’re playing Mets?

Seriously, what happened there?

That bus ...has a somewhat deflated left rear tire.
Works for now.

You obviously haven’t been here much, Brian.
And yet, strangely, you have.

That was regular season, Pete!

These are the postseason Yankees!

The ones who make the fundamental Twins overrun bases and the fundamental Angels let balls drop unmolested.

To be fair, it is tougher to get a read on a popup when looking straight up through the rain.  It effs with your depth perception.