Monday, September 26, 2011

Almost Perfect

Even though the Monsters of May were able to pull out a win late last night to stay 1 game up on the Rays - this past sports weekend was nearly perfect for me.

NFL is shaping up to be a great season. Detroit Lions 3-0, and how about the Bills sticking to the Pats?! The Pats have the most uncooth fans on the planet, so glad Brady choked it up.

The G-Men beating up the Birds (Mike Vick does have a point in that the refs throw flags when you sneeze on other QBs yet he doesn't get any late hit calls) to be 2-1.

And Yanks taking 2 out of 3 from the collapsing Sox.

I'm not sure if I want the Sox to hold on limping into the post season, or if it'd be better to see the Rays - one thing I do know though is that Detroit Tigers look pretty damn good.

Playoff Preview this Thursday night on YES.

10 comments:

old professor said...

Regarding the Boston series. Yankees win two of three, but something has to be done about umpiring in the off-season. The same umpire blows a call in the third by calling Swisher out when he was safe; then in the 14th the umpire calls Pedroia save when replays clearly show he was out. In addition the umpire goes after Swisher. Time for the guy to retire or get forced out. He is terrible behind the plate and apparently has a problem with being a base umpire as well.

Yankees play for nothing over the last three games - it will be interesting to see if the team plays hard or just goes through the motions. Boston's fate is in their hands win out and they go into the playoffs. Lose to Baltimore and the Rays are in.

Crash said...

I put this on the other thread before seeing this one. The Red Sox are a dangerous team, if all of sudden their pitching clicks in the playoffs they could win it all...if that happens you can look back at last nights game and point to Proctor giving up another HR.

In my opinion Ellsbury won the MVP last night. He is the sole reason the Sox are still alive. Granderson went 0-5.

The only good thing about the Sox playing it out is they have to pitch Beckett and Lester in the next series, which means each of them will be on short rest for the ALDS...not what you want when you're starters have an ERA around 7.00 for the last month of the season.

Montero and Posada make the post-season roster, I think AJ earned a game 3 start with his last performance. Colon and Hughes are in the pen. Garcia is the emergency long relief when AJ gets shelled after 2 innings.

I don't want the Yankees to lose this series because you don't want to carry that negative momentum forward, but at the same time I really don't want the Sox in at all. If the O's sweep and the Yankees take 2 of 3 then you have a 1 game playoff in Tampa. That would be ideal.

Tigers are overhyped and play in a very weak division. Rangers won't make the ALCS this year, they are out after the ALDS. Detroit and Texas have the same record right now so I don't know who would play the Yankees or how that is decided if they finished tied.

old professor said...

Crash, I disagree that AJ gets the nod ahead of Garcia. Garcia has been consistent and gives the Yankees something other than a hardthrower.

Last night's game was a joke - once again there is a problem with an umpire. The umpire was out of line coming around in front of Martin to provoke him into being thrown out.

MLB needs to get a handle on the umpires and demand consistency and positive behavior. Too many of the umpires can't get the call right and try to be in the spotlight. NO consequences for an umpire for blowing calls or acting inappropriately.

Crash said...

The only good thing is the Rays and Sox are now tied for the Wild Card. I hope they keep pace for the last 2 games and go to a play-in game on Thursday.

Also looks like Yankees are going to draw Detroit in the first round. I will go on record right now, and have been for the last month or so, Verlander and the Tigers are overrated. They will get bounced early. If CC avoids Victor Martinez (he has given up 2 HR to him), and every one else can avoid Miguel Cabrera then the Yankees should win this series hands down. I think the Yankees will get at least 2-4 runs off of Verlander make him work and have him out by the 6th inning. Scherzer and Fister will melt under the pressure of October baseball. It's easy to pitch well when nothing is on the line, try doing it when everything is on the line.

And I completely agree about the umpire. Hughes was being squeezed, and Schrieber was way out of line coming out and standing in front off and looking down at Martin like that. He was completely trying to instigate the situation. At least Martin was laughing through the whole situation. Many other players would have lit into that guy. Schrieber is notorious for his hitter friendly tight strike zone.

Crash said...

Colon is pitching tonight...Yankees have not announced a starting pitcher for Wednesday's game though. If it's not Garcia then that may be the indication he gets a start, and on regular rest could still pitch game 3.

Wonder if Betances could get the start? He had 126 IP in the minors this year making 25 starts.

old professor said...

It will be interesting to see if MLB fines Martin or tells the umpire to get a grip on reality.

Don't be surprised to see Brackman, Betances, Kontos and any other Triple A pitcher in the lineup tonight. There has been some thought of giving CC three innings, but I would not think that would be wise if he is going to start game one.

Speaking of Triple A, apparently SWB's stadium is undergoing renovations and will not be ready for next season. Yankees tried getting permission to move for one season to Newark. Mets using territorial rights vetoed the move. As if the Mets don't have more to worry about - obviously it would be difficult to swallow if a Triple A team outdrew them for a season.

Crash said...

Here is the playoff scenario for the Yankees. Friday's game is schedule to start at 8:37. Right now the Rangers hold a 1 game lead over Detroit, if the Rangers win tonight then the Yankees will face Detroit. If Texas loses and Detroit wins tonight and they finished tied, then the Yankees host the Rangers because Detroit won the season series with Texas (6-3). Interesting to here that Girardi will use anyone and everyone who isn't on the post season roster to pitch tonight...I then saw that Phil Hughes will likely get some work but not start. So is Hughes on the roster, maybe not on the ALDS, but if he performs well enough maybe the ALCS?

And I can't believe Soriano gave up that HR last night. He seemed disinterested in last nights game, probably because it was meaningless and he was just getting work in, so he better be able to throw the switch come Friday. But I am glad that the Rays and Sox are still fighting for it tonight. I hope they end tied and have to play tomorrow.

Also expect Jeter, and probably most of the regulars, in the starting lineup. Saw Jeter's average fell to .298 for the season. He will want to get it to .300.

Crash said...

Last week Red Sox tried trading for Mets pitcher Chris Capuano and it fell through. Now they're trying to acquire Bruce Chen. The odd thing is Chen can't be added to the postseason roster, so the Sox will be getting him for 1 start if there is a need for game 163 against the Rays. The Rays apparently have bad numbers vs lefties this year and the Red Sox are desperate enough to try for Bruce Chen.

old professor said...

Desperate times makes for desperate actions. The Red Sox the much heralded Red Sox and the rotation are a disaster. I would prefer the Yankees face the Tigars (all right handed starters). Key for the Yankess regardless of who they face will be that CC becomes the CC of May and June and Nova pitches well and doesn't get caught up in the hype of Post Season. After that let the chips fall where they may. AJ will get a game four start. It is possible that CC, Nova and Garcia give the Yankees a 3-0 series lead and allow AJ the comfort of screwing up.

A number of sports writers are predicting a Detroit vs Milwaukee series - probably the same group that predicted in preseason a Phillies Red Sox series.

Crash said...

Confirmed report: Betances gets the start for Yankees tonight.

I think the Brewers could run the table IF the Phillies lose in the first round. Brewers just played Philly 7-10 days ago abd they got smoked. Their lineup can't handle great pitching, and the Phillies are the only team with a rotation that can shut you down every night.

No secret here I'm predicting Rays win tonight (they're starting David Price). I think the Sox lose tonight with Lester on the mound (0-3 with an ERA over 10 in his last 3 starts).

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