And That Happened: ALCS

by
October 26, 2009

Yankees 5, Angels 2: “At times we played good baseball. At times we shot ourselves in the foot,” Mike Scioscia said after the game. Someone’s gonna have to point out the good for me, because I missed most of it. Eight errors in the series. Saunders walked five guys last night. Scioscia made baffling move after baffling move. Guerrero getting doubled off first base on that shallow fly ball. Just a lot of ugly baseball from a team that’s alleged to be fundamentally sound.

But like the Phillies over the Dodgers, this is the case of the better team winning, not some default job. It was like old times seeing Pettitte and Rivera taking care of business. It was like an alternate universe seeing A-Rod repeatedly come up strong in the postseason (I love me some CC, but I really think Rodriguez deserved the MVP). Based on how my postseason predictions have gone it’ll make Philly fans happy to hear that I think the Yankees are gonna take this thing, but this time I don’t think even my prognostication will prove poor. Here’s hoping the weather holds up.


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MooseinOhio
14 years ago

I wonder if A-Rod getting exposed for PED usage was good thing, potentially great, for him as he seems to have played more relaxed this season.  He also seemed tight in the past as if he needed to perform exceptionally to justify his salary and living up to all the hype and I think his overthinking and trying to hard hurt his performance.

However after being outed as a PEDs user and his bare it all interview (though he really didn’t bare it all) with Peter Gammons I think he realized that he can handle the worst and maybe that allowed him to relax and just play the game.  I believe over half of his RBI and HR’s came when the Yanks were either tied or losing – not the add-on runs he was known for.  His post-season preformance has been above average and he seems to be more relaxed than I recall seeing him in the past.

Maybe the PEDs issue was a freeing experience for him and finally allowed A-Rod to relax and play to his potential.  However, the same cannot be said about the picture of him kissing himself in the mirror – that was just creepy.

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Mike B
14 years ago

I think Swisher changed the dynamic of the team in a way that finally allowed A-Rod to feel at ease.  That, and he has a friend in Teixera. 

Or, he had been a bit unlucky in the past, and his true talent is finally on display.  Whatever works; I’m on board for the ride.

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Rob²
14 years ago

It’s obvious that Swisher has been able to provide that father figure that ARod has been so desparate for throughout his career.

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MooseinOhio
14 years ago

An interesting side story to the Yankees return to the WS is that they outbid the Red Sox for Teixiera (beat in ALDS) and the Angels for CC (beat in ALCS).  This is not a complaint about the inequity of the salary structure of MLB just an interesting observation about how the Yankees beat both team when it mattered more than once this year.

Of course, they did not outbid the Phillies on anyone this year so maybe the WS will produce a different result for the Yanks.

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jason
14 years ago

Moose,

How exactly did the Yankees beat the Red Sox in the ALDS?  And… how did Teixiera have anything to do with the Angels beating the Red Sox?

I was also unaware that anyone was a real competitor for CC’s services.

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DGL
14 years ago

Um, I believe the Yankees beat the Twins in the LDS, not the Red Sox.

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MooseinOhio
14 years ago

jason – Serious brain malfunctions on my part – apparently the coffee is having limited impact this morning.

The Angels beat the Sox in the ALDS but their lack of offense and poor defense was certainly part of the reason and Tex did help the Yankees beat the Sox in the last half of the season.  I just kind of blurred it all together into one bitg clump of a bad highlights for the Sox this year.

As for CC, I do recall conversations last off-season about Arte Moreno desiring CC as the foundation of his rotation and that CC may enjoy living and playing on the West Coast.  Maybe they were never in contention because of finances but I recall them being considered a viable location for his services. 

Apparently my desire to spark some conversation has backfired on me as my morning fog has not lifted enough to even get my facts straight.  At least I got the WS contenders correct as I think the Philadelphia A’s have a real chance to beat the NY Cubans.

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Patrick
14 years ago

Rob,

Couldn’t agree more!

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Meaux Joe
14 years ago

Has anyone come up with the number of free outs the Yankees were given thru-out the playoffs?

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JBerardi
14 years ago

“However after being outed as a PEDs user and his bare it all interview (though he really didn’t bare it all) with Peter Gammons I think he realized that he can handle the worst and maybe that allowed him to relax and just play the game.  I believe over half of his RBI and HR’s came when the Yanks were either tied or losing – not the add-on runs he was known for… Maybe the PEDs issue was a freeing experience for him and finally allowed A-Rod to relax and play to his potential.”

Yeah. Or maybe he’s just really good at baseball, and a few weeks worth of bad PAs in his last few postseasons really didn’t ever mean a thing.

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Chris Simonds
14 years ago

Didn’t you know? “Fundamentally sound” is sports writer shorthand for “these guys are definitely underdogs but I don’t want to say they only have a snowball’s chance in hell”. Their leadoff guys, Figgins and Abreu,  disappeared for this series, as did Morales and, to some degree, Aybar.  Their pitching was only average and yeah, those errors didn’t help. Too bad, I think they are a better team than they showed against the Yanks. Maybe next year. Probably not though.

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Grant
14 years ago

Mike left Saunders in wayy too long. He probably should have yanked him when A-Rod came up.

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