On Sunday, the Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays, notching their 103 victory of the season. Already playoff bound, the Yankees now await the winner on the AL Central, which has yet to be determined. On Tuesday, the Tigers and Twins will have a one-game playoff for all the marbles.
At the beginning of the year, I picked the Yankees to finish in first, with 99 wins. They exceeded my expectations, and those of many others, with a 103- 59 record that was by far the best in baseball. After a slow start, the Yankees have come on since the All Star break to blow away the field. some notes on their record:
- The closest team in baseball to the Yankees in terms of record was the LAA of A, who are 6 games behind the Yankees at 97-65. The closest in the NL are the Dodgers, who are 8 games behind with 95 wins.
- The Red Sox finished 2nd in the AL East, and won the wild card. They also finished 8 games behind the Yankees. After storming out to an 8-0 lead in the head-to-head series, the Red Sox lost 9 of 10 to the Yankees (including consecutive 4 and 3 game sweeps at the Stadium), to finish tied at 9-9.
- The AL Central teams are playing a 163rd game to determine the division champ. Both teams currently have 86 wins, which places them an astounding 17 games behind the Yankees. I know the playoff system is what it is, but it does seem unusual that the only disadvantage faced by the division champ (besides the one-game playoff), is one less home game in Round 1. It does seem like winning 17 more games than your opponent should be worth something more.
In the game itself, the Yankees had a nice victory to send themselves into the post-season. Alex Rodriguez tied an American League record with 7 RBI in one inning, smacking both a 3-run HR and a Grand Slam in the Yankees’ 10-run 6th inning. He trails only the Mets’ Fernando Tatis, who famously hit two Grand Slams in one inning while with the Cards.
The 2 HR, 7 RBI game allowed A-Rod to finish with 30 HR nd 100 RBI. This marks the 12th consecutive season, and 13th overall, in which he has had at least 30 and 100. After missing more than a month with his hip injury and subsequent surgery, A-Rod has somewhat quietly produced an excellent season at the plate. To rack up these numbers in only 124 games is pretty special.
The Yankees finished the regular season with some excellent offensiveand pitching numbers:
2009 American League Ranks
| AVG | R | OBP | SLG | OPS | SB |
| .283 | 915 | .362 | .478 | .839 | 111 |
| 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 7th |
| ERA | BAA | OPS | SV | WHIP | QS |
| 4.26 | .251 | .734 | 51 | 1.35 | 76 |
| 4th | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | 7th |
Team Leaders:
Hits- Jeter 212
Runs- (tie) Jeter/Damon 107
RBI- Teixeira 122 – Lead the AL
HR- Teixeira 39- Tied for AL Lead
OPS- Teixiera -.948
Avg.- Jeter .334
The Yankees had 7 players with 20 or more HR, 7 with 80 or more RBI, and 4 with over 100 runs scored.
Wins- CC 19
ERA- CC- 3.37
Strikeouts- CC 197
WHIP- CC 1.15
Saves- Who Else? 44 (of 46)
The top 3 in the rotation (CC, AJ and Pettitte) finished 46-25 for the season, 21 games over .500. Mariano continued to defy time, going 44-46 in save chances, with a 1.76 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP. Alfredo Aceves came out of nowhere to post a 10-1 record out of the bullpen, with 3.54 ERA, in 84 innings (6th most on the team). Phil Hughes was 8-3, with a 3.03, and transformed into a quasi-1996 Mariano, serving as the 8th inning bridge.
Great season for the Yankees, and an even better bounce-back after missing the playoffs for the first time in ages last season. I can’t wait for the playoffs to start, because despite the great season, the goal for the Yankees remains World Series or bust.
October 5, 2009 at 11:05 am |
7 rbi in the most meaningless game. Who else but A-Roid?
October 5, 2009 at 11:42 am |
Anyone who didnt know that Grand slam was coming just doesn’t know A-Rod. He is the deadliest hitter in the game when his team is up big, lol.
Still, I think if he catches fire in one of these series, esp with a title at the end, it might finally be over. He needs to take command with like 3 HR and 7-8 RBI in a series.
October 5, 2009 at 1:42 pm |
Its bound to happen eventually. Law of averages.
October 5, 2009 at 2:02 pm |
Nothing on Wright?
October 5, 2009 at 2:36 pm |
What’s the point? And I’ve got pre-trial findings of fact and conclusions of law due today on a huge contract case. I’ll make some wise-ass remark soon enough.
October 5, 2009 at 2:56 pm |
OK, good luck then. Good thing you don’t have any more baseball to watch…
October 6, 2009 at 9:20 am |
No more baseball to watch? Of course I do. And I have a Mauer XXL and and a Verlander XXL in my shopping cart at mlb.com waiting to be bought around 8:00 P.M. tonight.
Really torn about today’s game. I always root for the Twins because they are a small-market team managed so intelligently, and Gardenhire is an ex-Met. But Detroit is a down-trodden city worsened by this recession, and I think the Tigers have a better chance of upsetting the Yanks than the Twins because Verlander will get games 2 and 5.
October 6, 2009 at 11:49 am |
There will be no Game 5. The Yankees will win in 4 tops.
I think Detroit could use the boost more than Minny, especially with that trumped up circus that they ran last night on MNF (seriously, make a bigger deal ESPN).
Twins seem like a less-polished Angels team, with less pitching. I’ll put my money on them. The pessimist in me has me thinking of randoms like Cuddyer, Kuble and Delmon Young doing some damage, but the optimist in me lights up at the thought of punishing Carl Pavano, if he gets a start.
12-1, 8-2, 2-0- Yankees in 3. Maybe you can get a CC jersey, and have it taken in to a XXL
October 6, 2009 at 12:50 pm |
Agreed. Twins win tonight. Yanks sweep Twins.
What about Boston and Anaheim (or whatever they’re called now)?
October 6, 2009 at 12:58 pm |
I’m going Boston. I think the top 3 are better than the LAAof A top 3. Weaver, Kazmir and Lackey are good, but Beckett is a killer and Lester and Bucholz are hot at the right time.
It could swing if the Angels kill them on the basepaths , or if it turns into a bullpen battle.
October 6, 2009 at 1:24 pm |
But Beckett has been petty ordinary this year, and Bucholz is just a kid. Anaheim has a better lineup, Boston a better pen. Flip a coin.
October 6, 2009 at 2:21 pm |
I hope for a knock-down, drag-out 5 game series, all extra-innings, lol.
October 6, 2009 at 3:13 pm |
Daniel Murphy ended up 4th in baseball in UZR rating at first base, behind only Youk, Kotchman and Ishigawa. Told you he had a lot of range and was very aggressive at first. On top of that, he hit .282 with 37 extra base hits after the All-Star break.
October 6, 2009 at 3:33 pm |
Don’t know if you caught selig on the radio today, and I know he’s the boss, bit baseball is far outpacing basketball and football in terms of teams making the playoffs and playing fr the championship.
October 6, 2009 at 3:43 pm |
In what respect, Charlie?
October 6, 2009 at 4:43 pm |
First, what’s up with the unprecedented use of my name? Lol
as far as the parity- in this decade 20 of 30 MLB teams made the playoffs. Better than NFL or NBA. No repeat champs since the Yankees. Steelers and pats been 5 of last 6 SB. 8 world series spots last 4 years, 8 different teams.
Plus a decline of only 5% in attendance this year. Factor in the economic issues and the reduction of Yankee and met fields. That’s not bad all things considered.
October 6, 2009 at 5:00 pm |
The name use comes from Sara Palin’s infamous interview with Charlie Gibson.
But the WS winners were all high payroll teams, except for Florida. And look at this year’s playoffs: Anaheim, Boston, NY and Detroit (winning 3-0 right now) in the Al are all high payroll teams, and the same can be said for the NL, with the exception of the Rockies. But no matter what Selig and big-market apologists say, the fact remains that the small-market teams are a huge disadvantage in baseball, but not in football.
October 6, 2009 at 7:27 pm |
Horrible call on the Polanco strikeout pitch by Nathan, and Ronnie Boy tries to say it broke over the plate.
October 7, 2009 at 11:12 am |
Low and inside. Ronnie’s the best, but he was a pitcher. You’ll learn to appreciate him this week.
October 7, 2009 at 11:35 am |
Do Darling and Carey have the Yankees series? Seems like the C-squad should get the NL games.
As for last night, Nathan got a BS strike-out, and Inge was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, with no-call. Sure there were other chances, but I’d be pissed as a Tigers’ fan.
All things considered, I prefer the Twins. I like the idea that they spent it all getting there, and had to hop right on a plane. As opposed to the Tigers who may have had a “we made it, the playoffs is a fresh start, now we can relax” approach.
I am pumped for tonight.
October 7, 2009 at 1:48 pm |
The thing with Inge is that I think the “if it hits your baggy uniform shirt you’re hit by a pitch” rule is bullshit.
Why presume Darling and Carey are the C-squad? Darling is probably the most respected color man in baseball right now, and who better to cover the Yankee series than a guy who lives in NY?
October 7, 2009 at 2:04 pm |
It is bullshit, but its also a rule. Its bullshit that you can tip the pylon with the football while your whole body hovers out of bounds for a TD, but if you make a catch you need both feet down, and to maintain control the whole way down. But thats the rule, so call it.
This was a do-or-die game, and the Tigers got screwed by a no-call and a bad-call.
Mostly I dont like the TBS crew, but I’d take Dick Stockton or Don Orsillo over “BASE HIT to left, there’s one out, throw to home is, NOT IN TIME DOUBLE PLAY.” What a FUBAR job. Combine that with the fact that the Sox somehow got Orsillio to call their games.
I also don’t like Darling’s voice. The Hawaiian-Chinese-French Canadian accent is not the most pleasing. He sounds like he is trying to bring something up from his throat while he talks sometimes. Give me the indistinguishable Midwest of Cone-O’Neill-Flaherty any day, lol.
October 7, 2009 at 3:01 pm |
Darling grew up in Red Sox Nation, he was just born in Hawaii.
October 8, 2009 at 7:06 am |
Gotta give Darling insightful points based on last night. He reminded me of Leiter sometimes, with good perspective. Still his voice killed me.
Might do John and Susan on Friday, lol.
Huge game for Burnett on Friday. He better pitch his ass off, even though he repeatedly denied asking for a caddy.
October 19, 2009 at 2:21 pm |
What was Itzuris thinking, throwing that ball to second? Bastard.