WOE is a powerful force to overcome.

Is it me, or is it all the sweeter for coming against Pedro?

AJ was indeed manly. Much thanks AJ.

Mo is Mo.

Wasn’t on the game thread tonight, so didn’t see the comments about the blown double play call in the bottom of the 7th…

The thing that annoyed me the most about it, something Buck and McCarver never mentioned, was the fact that Howard threw to 2nd base, thus admitting that he didn’t catch the ball on the fly.

Good make-up call at least in the top of the 8th on the out call at first.

And great performance by good AJ.  Now hopefully the offense can show up in support of the Battle Cat on Saturday.

AJ was dynamite. I had a good feeling about him pitching well tonight.

Although I prefer that Posada catches AJ, if Molina’s presence behind the plate provides tangible or intangible benefits that contribute to AJ’s effectiveness, then I guess it’s the right move. I’ll say this for Molina, he is as good at framing pitches as any catcher.

[2] I’m glad that the best pitcher I’ve ever seen got one more unexpected chance at WS glory and performed brilliantly, and that we snatched victory from him.

[7]  Well put. I admire the guy like few other people who have wrought so much havoc on the Yankees.  He’s just too damned good to hate.

[7] ... as we often did by hook or by crook.

Anyone catch McCarver’s remark about Melky’s throwing arm?

[5] Oh, you expect real analysis?

Only if it is detrimental to whoever the Yankees are playing.

The Yankee starting pitchers have been like great Alaskan salmon, swimming against a deep, cold current of WOE.

The Phillies are a damn good team.  Pedro still has it.  Teix took care of that mistake, thank Mo, but Matsui got a ball he really didn’t have business hitting out.  Credit the hitters for making Pedro throw some pitches, and give thanks to Manuel for letting him stay in there a little too long.

Let’s drop the hammer on Cole and see BC keep the line moving.  This win feels mighty fine, indeed.

so whats the odds now ?

So I didn’t follow the chatter and was mostly feeding the kids during the game, but I wondered during dashes to the tv if Pedro should have been pulled earlier - I was a little surprised to see him come out for the seventh and a little more to see him still in after Hairston singled.  Was he just pitching too well in the 5th/6th to go to the pen?

Girardi on Jeter: With two strikes he was bunting on his own. We had taken the signal off.

like someone in the last thread. he plays the villain well.

i really wanna take out hamels. and just get the better of him early. he hasnt looked as sharp this postseason so hopefully our offense has a good showing.

pedro = villain.

Was he just pitching too well in the 5th/6th to go to the pen?

Aside from the Matsui HR, he was dominant in the 6th (struck out Teix and A-Rod, got Cano to fly out).  With Hairston/Melky/Molina due up, and with the shakiness of the Phillie pen, I understood why they kept him in to start the seventh. I’d probably have pulled him after the Hairston single though.

I really can’t believe this:  Coolstandings projection now has the Yankees back on top, winning in 6, with a 57.3% WE vs, 42.7 for Philly.  What a difference AJ makes.

I was for the Burnett signing, but he made me scratch my head a lot over the course of the season. Very surprised how sharp he was tonight, but its a good thing because our offense is still sputtering.  A-rod’s hitting is discouraging. He seems to be pressing and trying too hard.  Even so, much better feeling tonight.  I agree that Howard wouldn’t have thrown to the second base bag if he knew he caught the ball and I expected some discussion from Fox as well.

Kepner:

For Burnett, that’s just the 10th postseason start ever for Yanks with at least 7 ip and 9 K, and no more than 4 hits and 1 ER. The Good AJ.

AJ back on 3 days’ rest for game 5, if you please.

Unlike the inning-ending bad call by the umpires in the Yankee half of the seventh, Fox did not gloss over this one for whatever reason.

Imagine that.

Instead of Buck & McCarver, I was subjected to the never-ending stream of idiocy that is 880 AM.  It is absolutely astounding how much more Sterling talks about predicting baseball, and how many more times Susyn says “would you look at that” with every game.

These two things occur pretty much during every single AB now.  Used to seem like once or twice an inning.  I keep a suicide hotline number nearby at all times.

That was a fun game.  AJ was super-nasty, especially with those back door curves in the 6th and 7th.  Good for Teix coming through like that. 

Where’s the complaint thread?  I still can’t believe Girardi started Hairston based on a 5 year-old 27 ABs that included 3 ground ball singles that found holes.  Can’t believe Jeter handed over an AB like that. 

I can’t believe how awesome Mo is at 39, throwing 39 pitches and making it through 2 innings without his best stuff.

[10] Yeah, that was a bit of a head scratcher.

I suppose it’s possible that Melky has a good arm for a CF’er but an average one for a RF’er, but I don’t think that’s what McCarver had in mind.  I think he just really wanted to drive home his point about how charging the ball deters the runner, and so he said Melky didn’t have a good arm, then changed it to “slightly above average” when he realized that wasn’t really true.

How many more times can the pitching staff cover for the hitters? Burnett-Mo is a great combination but an unlikely one. Mo can’t throw 40 pitches every time.

Also agree with everyone- seeing Pedro come soooo close yet again was great.

[26] 3, I hope.

Does ESPN just have to trot Berman out there ? I mean, ok, you signed him to a contract WAAAAaaaaaaayyyyyy too long, but c’mon. He jumped the shark long ago.

Oh, I get it. He’s doing emergency fill-in for Philips ! That makes sense. And being reminding me of that fact actually makes me happy. Yay Boomer.

Now we need Gammons and Kruk to be caught in a motel room tag-teaming an underage sheep.

Kruk is going to eat himself to death someday soon.

AJ was gooooooooooood tonight.

Yeah, so Kruk had this nugget about AJ’s propensity for the bad inning: “you know, the inning where he walks the leadoff guy and you look up after two or three hits and he’s given up four runs.”  A neat trick that shows just how impossibly bad AJ can be during those innings.

@10. Yes. McCarver is a dipshit. “If the outfielder charges the ball the runner won’t try to take third even if the OF doesn’t have a great arm…......Melky doesn’t have a great arm….it’s decent…..a little above average…..what planet am i on?”

And Burnett is a bad ass, and I’ve never seen anything that makes me think he’s a headcase. I think his mechanics get a little wonky when he pitches from the stretch, and I think he lacks a good third pitch so that if his curve isn’t working he becomes a little predictable, but head case? Not that I’ve seen.

i love how the minute a-rod has a little mini slump he’s “pressing and trying too hard” someone define “pressing” for me. What does it even mean? Holding the bat too tight? Swinging at pitches that are balls? Taking pitches that are strikes? Swinging too hard? Not swinging hard enough? Pressing means nothing.

“Pressing and trying too hard” is the new “mystique and aura”

BTW, I know Ryan Howard didn’t catch Damon’s line drive, and you know how I know it? He threw to second! If he thought he caught it cleanly, he would’ve run the ball to first to get Posada that way. But he thought he trapped it, so he threw to second for the force.

That was a completely blown call. Luckily it didn’t matter.

Rollins calling out the crowd. Hate to agree with him but they did seem kind of dead.

[34] I agree, no one calls Beckett a head case and he’s basically Burnett with one more pitch and slightly inferior fastball and curveball. Granted, that third pitch allows him to have something in between lights out and god-awful. But still, I never got the head case thing.

Yay win.

[38] No, I’m not going to buy or click thru for the LSU gear, quit trying.

How have there been six Saw movies?  How is that remotely possible?  Who pays to see them?

Geaux Yankees.

Mickey ‘C’  worked as a Yankees broadcaster for 2 or 3 seasons. Now that was hades.

Gotta admit, I never accused AJ of being a “head case”. He might pitch like headcheese sometimes though.

Maybe someone hypnotized AJ into believing the team he was facing was the Yankees. Yeah, that’ll work.

Need ya one more time in 2009 AJ.

The Phillies loom.

The Phillie Phanatic looms.

Should we really give Petey respect for his pitching last night?

I say no! A tip o’the hat to WOE. 

I am in control.

There is nothing wrong with your monitor. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image; make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your monitor. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to the outer limits.

One more time in 2009.

Unlike the inning-ending bad call by the umpires in the Yankee half of the seventh, Fox did not gloss over this one for whatever reason.

You know what else is interesting?  No one is talking about the fact that the DP should have been called because Victorino interfered with Jeter.  When Jeter received the throw from Cano, he took a giant step off the bag.  Victorino went right into him; didn’t slide over the bag, didn’t touch the bag, I don’t think he *could* have touched the bag.  That’s the definition of interference! (Anyone that taped it can tell me if I’m off base)

I also liked how if a Phillie struck out on a questionable pitch, they would show the K-zone or whatever Fox calls theirs and note, “it was high”, “it was outside”, etc.  If a Yankee struck out, they’d show the k-zone (indicating it was also not a strike) and McCarver would be gushing about how great the pitch was.  They don’t even try to be impartial, do they?

I’ll admit I was one of the ones who didn’t like the A.J. signing but it wasn’t because I didn’t think he was able to give us nights like this.  It was because of his age and injury history.  Only time will tell if my concerns were valid.  So far I’m wrong and I hope I get more wrong each passing season.

You know what else is interesting?  No one is talking about the fact that the DP should have been called because Victorino interfered with Jeter.  When Jeter received the throw from Cano, he took a giant step off the bag.  Victorino went right into him; didn’t slide over the bag, didn’t touch the bag, I don’t think he *could* have touched the bag.  That’s the definition of interference! (Anyone that taped it can tell me if I’m off base)

I watched it again and it looks like you’re right.  He made no attempt at the bag.

Speaking of Beckett and Burnett, Beckett seems to have lived down his reputation for being “injury prone.”  How much longer does AJ have to go without a stint on the DL before he receives the same absolution.  I think he’s been healthy at least 2 1/2 seasons now. 

On the head-case charge, a lot of baseball fans seem to automatically attribute any bad performances to psychological factors rather than random variation or the player’s just having a bad day.  People who think that way see AJ have two brilliant starts followed by one stinker, and they perceive the apparent inconsistency as a reflection of some kind of mental instability. IOW, if you’re somewhat unpredictible (which AJ has been for much of his career), that registers as “head case” for a lot of casual observers.

I watched it again and it looks like you’re right.  He made no attempt at the bag.

Points for me.  None for Fox.  Or the umpires.  Or Jerry Manuel who has been defending not sending the runners with, “Look at the replays, he was safe!”

In other news, HBT has it’s “Top 10 Prospects” list for Yankees and Red Sox.

IOW, if you’re somewhat unpredictible (which AJ has been for much of his career), that registers as “head case” for a lot of casual observers.

I dunno.  Most of the guys who we think may be “head cases”, seem to wear those hemp necklaces.  Maybe there’s something to it after all?  (I’m kidding of course)

Or <strike>Jerry</strike>Charlie Manuel

Maybe today is a second-cup-of-coffee day…

Yeah, but when was the last time you saw interference called in a major league game?  This is the new neighborhood play—if the runner can make it look almost plausible that he could have come close to touching the bag, there’s not going to be a call.

[50] Beckett’s injury-proneness was basically blister-proneness.  Burnett actually has a history of arm trouble.  So it isn’t quite the same thing.  As for the head-case thing, there’s also the part about fans never wanting to give the other team any credit at all.  Even if you keep your head and play your game to the best of your abilities, you’re still going to just get beat sometimes.

Mike and Mike want replay.  But they seem to thing that only the Utley out call should have been overturned.  Apparently their definition of sufficient video evidence to overturn a “catch” call goes beyond seeing the ball hit the ground.

Oh and BTW RE [26]: yeah, Mo can’t throw 40 pitches every game.  But he can throw 40 pitches in games 5 and 7 if need be.

Showalter mentioned Victorino being out of the baseline on the DP on ESPN. The replays support that.

Last week M and M were saying they wanted replay only for the “blatantly” wrong calls. I don’t know how you determine which ones are blatant and which are not. Neither of those calls last night were, IMO, blatantly wrong. As long as you have humans officiating games, those are the kind of blown calls you have to accept. If you’re going to have replay to look at all calls, I could serve as a base umpire and rely on replay to call anything that is remotely close.

Burnett has actually been healthier than Beckett over the past two seasons. Lest anyone forget about the various back ailments Beckett has been suffering from? I would bet on Burnett staying healthy over Beckett at this point.

Yeah, but when was the last time you saw interference called in a major league game?

Going into this year, if you had argued a runner had clearly left the bag early on a SF, and should have been called out on appeal, I would have said, “but when was the last time…”.  Of course it’s happened to the Yankees twice this year, and in neither case did the runner actually leave early.  I’m sure I’ve seen in in the last decade, which means it was likely a Yankees’ game.  Which also means it was likely it was *against* the Yankees.

My main point is that it probably wouldn’t have been that close at first if not for the interference.  And for how high a horse McCarver gets on, sure it would be nice for him to say, “he should have been out for interference anyway”.  And I think he would have pointed that out if the teams were reversed.

Mike and Mike have been calling for replay for a while.  I didn’t hear their rant this morning, but for the most part the calls they’ve pointed out have been the ones that have benefited the Yankees.  I thought seeing the play live that Howard hadn’t caught the ball.  I think the HP ump should have seen it too.  Selig wants to address this w/ non replay; I wonder if the 1B ump was positioned better (Where?  I don’t know; he’s on third) if he would have made the right call.

Whether he’s a head case or not (and yeah, I thought he was one when I believed that it was he who requested Molina, which is apparently not true), he’s wild and inconsistent.  Tonight, his ridiculous movement was effective and I loved it.  He kept his mechanics right for nearly the entire game (there were only a couple of “flying open” moments).  This is the upside of AJ.  Bravo.  I’m still dubious about the 5-year deal, but clearly the team wouldn’t be here w/o him.  I expected Wang to come back and be fine.  Instead, he was awful and then broken.  AJ was a necessity, rather than a luxury.  Which is to say that it appears I was wrong. 

I didn’t find the Fox broadcast to be biased against the Yanks.  McCarver gushes constantly about Jeter.  They praised Molina’s pickoff extensively.  They DID point out that the Yanks got jobbed on the line drive DP.  Heck, McCarver seemed to pick it up in real time, which is amazing to me.  In real time, it absolutely looked caught in the air to me (which is why I’m not pissed at the umps for it). 

McCarver and Buck drive me nuts, but not b/c they’re pro-Phillies.  Because they’re morons.

Burnett’s deal was 5 years, $82.5 million.  So now it’s 4 years, $66 million.  I thought it was a good signing then and I like it even more now.

SG - are you going to update WS odds today?

[58] I don’t have data to back this up, but my own anecdotal observations indicate that runner called out for leaving a base too soon is a much more frequent occurrence than runners being called for interference.  As in a few times a year versus a few times a decade.

[59] In real time, I screamed “TRAP!”  On further review, I had to admit it was closer than I thought.

Molina did go out to the mound once and tell Burnett to lose the slide step because it was messing him up.  I don’t know whether Posada would have done that, but I’m not sure it’s worth three Molina PAs.

[61] BP has NYY 53.9368%, PHI 46.0632%.

In real time, I screamed “TRAP!” On further review, I had to admit it was closer than I thought

It was pretty close and I can understand why the ump would call it an out.  The tell, as others have pointed out, was Ryan Howard throwing to second.  If the ump made a quick call and then watched Howard throw, he probably knew he screwed up.  If he had waited a second, he could have corrected what would have been a bad call by watching Howard.

I don’t remember if the ump made the call right away because I was trying not to scream and wake the kiddies.

As for the interference, that was ridiculous.  He wasn’t close to the bag - at all.  Maybe an NBA center with a 7’4” wingspan could have touched the bag, but no player in MLB could.  If that had been a Yankee, the media would have been screaming at such a bush league play.

McCarver and Buck drive me nuts, but not b/c they’re pro-Phillies.

I don’t think they are pro-Phillies per-se.  I don’t even think they’re anti-Yankees.  I think that they (or perhaps their Fox overlords) are going to play it up to their audience, and I think it’s much more “in vogue” to point out calls that help the Yankees.  For example, while they did point out that it was a trap, pretty sure they gave the umps a pass b/c of how close it was.  I just think they make a bigger deal out of calls that go *for* the Yankees than ones that go *against* the Yankees.  But that could be my own bias.

[62] Yeah, it’s anecdotal vs. anecdotal.  Perhaps we (and by that of course I don’t mean “me”) could use Retrosheet to get actual numbers on it.  I know listening to the radio when it (appeal called out on SF) was done during the regular season (against the Mets?) I was screaming, “they NEVER call that!”  Which of course just means I don’t remember it.

Even tougher than remembering how often it *is* called is how often it *should be* called.  E.g. last night to me seemed blatant, and not one of those that you could say, “well, he was close enough to the bag”.  There are other times it probably should be called but you could rationalize it by, “the runner reached for the bag and probably could have touched it if he really wanted to”.  Anyways, it’s all academic, b/c you’re right that it probably would never be called.  However, now if later in the series it *is* called against the Yankees we’re on record!

[10] Yes. “It’s above average, not great, but a little better than average.” This after Melky fired a 95 mph fastball to Jeter from right field.

SG - are you going to update WS odds today?

Yeah, fiddling with the depth charts now.  Should be up in the next hour or so.

In real time, I screamed “TRAP!”

Return of the Jedi fan?

I’ve seen runners interference called. Against the Yankees. I think last season.

I wouldn’t mind interference being called. But it’s just one of those things that both teams do.

Here’s the umpires’ take on the trap-play (bolding mine):

“The objective is to get it right, we asked each other what we had seen and the replay confirmed we got it right,” crew chief Jerry Davis said, according to the Post.

What replay were they watching?

I wouldn’t mind interference being called. But it’s just one of those things that both teams do.

Sure, when the guy slides way out of the baseline and reaches out and barely touches the bag, I get, “it’s just one of those things”.  But last night, the only way it could have been *more* blatant was if he didn’t slide and just tackled Jeter.  Just like the phantom-play called last series; they do it all the time but if you’re not even going to pretend you’re *not* breaking the rule it should be called.  Either way, does this make you feel better?

Speaking of bush league, what do people think of Ruiz jumping around behind the plate trying to fool people about location?  Cheap crap, or heads-up?

In my own limited and long-ago experience as a hitter, you can sense the catcher moving back there.  I’m certainly not suggesting that the hitter is entitled to know the intended location, and the reality is that you don’t really do much peaking because you risk getting a) quick-pitched and b) plunked. But it is distracting as hell, and when HS catchers did that to me I would move all the way back in the box and really exaggerate the follow through on my next swing.

As for the head-case thing, there’s also the part about fans never wanting to give the other team any credit at all. 

True, but many times when A.J. gets into trouble it’s mostly due to his lack of control (excessive walks, wild pitches, etc) which put him into a position to really get creamed.  There have been times when he’s gotten knocked around to no end in one inning - this is a result of not only his lack of control but of the other team’s ability to capitalize on it.  So it’s a bit of both really.

[59] In real time, I screamed “TRAP!”
Like this?

[38] I agree, no one calls Beckett a head case and he’s basically Burnett with one more pitch and slightly inferior fastball and curveball.

If the Yankees win the WS, and AJ wins his next start, I think the head case label will disappear, as will the clutchness thing that has followed A-Rod, although he will probably have to get a couple of hits that contribute to victories.

[69]What replay were they watching?

That should disqualify Davis from working another game in this series.

That should disqualify Davis from working another game in this series.

Seriously.  If the guy is shown the replay and STILL gets the call wrong, there is no way you can let that guy continue to call games.

Sure, when the guy slides way out of the baseline and reaches out and barely touches the bag, I get, “it’s just one of those things”.  But last night, the only way it could have been *more* blatant was if he didn’t slide and just tackled Jeter.  Just like the phantom-play called last series; they do it all the time but if you’re not even going to pretend you’re *not* breaking the rule it should be called.  Either way, does this make you feel better?

I get it. There were plays from LCS where the Angels runner did the same thing, clear as day interference. And I think I posted something in the chatter wishing interference be called either on the phantom tag game or the one after that.

And I was at my friend’s place yesterday and screamed that interference should be called.

That blatant stuff should be called. I’m just approaching it from the angle that the Yankee players probably do similar blatant stuff, and as luck may randomly fall, I’d rather the Yankees not be on the bad end of the ump.

Anyone else get this after watching the video in [71]?

That blatant stuff should be called. I’m just approaching it from the angle that the Yankee players probably do similar blatant stuff, and as luck may randomly fall, I’d rather the Yankees not be on the bad end of the ump.

Of course they don’t.  Everything they do is always perfect.

Of course what I REALLY want is for the other team to be called for it first, so the Yankees can see what they can/can’t get away with and adjust to it.

“Which is to say that it appears I was wrong.”

I disagreed with you at the time, but you shouldn’t be using ex post facto results to judge your evaluation.

Re “head case”, my 2-cents hypothesis: it’s not normally acceptable to get angry at a guy doing the best he’s physically capable of - a pitcher doesn’t have his best stuff, oh well - but ok to get mad at him for underperforming due to fear or the like.  And we have a need to direct our ire at someone when things don’t go our way.  So there’s an incentive to say e.g. that Hughes is pitching badly because of his state of mind and not having gotten mechanically out of whack.

Of course it must be the case that sometimes a player is impeded by his mental state, and some players must be more susceptible than others.  Not mindreading avoids errors though.

So there’s an incentive to say e.g. that Hughes is pitching badly because of his state of mind and not having gotten mechanically out of whack.

Or that he’s gotten mechanically out of whack because of his state of mind.

“Or that he’s gotten mechanically out of whack because of his state of mind.”

Sure.  I was referring to a recent claim that he needed to fix his mind before the rest would follow.