On the Yankees beat

He looks like he'll be in the next Wii game.

Looks almost like the uniforms the Eagles wore yesterday.

Quote from Hypocrite Redsox Fan- NYY Soft Schedule--Conspiracy

I'm sick of hearing about this miraculous .690 WPCT since the AS Break for the cheating NYY. First of all, they got to play LAA at home right before the break and 6 of 9 total vs LAA at home. This doesn't seem right, they got to beat up on bottom feeders with mediocre pitching while the other WC contenders had to beat up on each other. again, this doesn't seem right...I think there is either a conspiracy to keep the NYY relevant in September OR the AL Central and West is THAT MUCH more competitive.

The fact that Rodriguez, Clemens, and Giambi are all takign HGH and/or steroids seems to escape everyone. Cortisone shot for clemens---yeah right!

It just really bothers me to see such a great effort by the redsox most likely go to waste just b/c MLB has to earn their revenue through the tight pennant races, and the NYY being successful. It's an absolute joke!

If Clemens can't "go" tomorrow, The Yanks will probably pitch "both" Igawa and DeSalvo. Hope they can get 3-4 decent innings out of both, and let the bullpen take over. Based on the Torre comment of "setting up" for the playoffs, he is going to have to "back off" the abuse of the bullpen. 10 innings\10 pitchers, is ridiculous, even if the rosters are expanded.

boy yanks cant get out of their own way. jeter and a-rod making errors? come on. you want the division, you have to win today. lucked out in not facing burnett, and now facing litcsh. 4 down...look for some grand slam swings with no one on base.

Thank you for the compliment, Anon! Jim A. is one of our more thoughtful posters and I am only too happy if I have ever been seen as 'identical'.

As for delusional thinking, the RS 'thinker' quoted above apparently has not realized that it is in the less competitive divisions that contests are decided early, and in the more competitive ones that teams are still slugging it out late in the season. If the crazy duo were here would they be typing "fish... barrel... bang..." at this absence of logic?

Hopefully the AA pitchers will pitch as good as Andy is today! Then they'll be back 3!

Way to go Andy!

Stop dream'in of another AL East title and get your head out of your ***!!!!!

Holy Cano-ly

The crazy duo has since left. Can't take the ribbing; that is until Yankee lose a few and they know their team is "ok".

A-Rod hit the crap out of that one didn't he?

I though that that ball was caught. The Yanks have hit some shots today, but they seem to be hit right at guys.

Com'on: 2-3 hits in a row and it's a new game.

A-Rod needs to pull it together.

I was really hoping he'd go in to the post season hot if he's cold it will be that much harder for him no?

At this point I'm not sure LOL. Maybe it's better for him to be ice cold??

WHatever the case...I fear that this post-season will be a referendum on whether or not we will make the "MAX" effort to resign him and it's kinda scary if you're a rational Yankee fan and not an emotional infant.

I consider myself of the first mind.

If A-Rod goes 0 for the playoffs I'll be horribly disappointed-sure...But it will not erase all he contributed to get us to the playoffs. I'd even contend that without his massive production we'd be struggling to place third in the division right now.

I hope and cross my fingers that this year will be like his first year and not his last 2.

Even if its like his last two we need to keep if we can, the regular is important too, without it no post!

Nice job by Veras eventhough he threw a gazillion pitches that 1/2 inning.

He threw 22 with 16 for strikes.

At least he throws strikes!

Now we have the top of the order coming up. Let's string a few together and get some runs.

4-1 is not that bad!

Yanks dont have it today. I would have like to seen some of the younger / other guys in - duncan, sardhina, betemit rather then the regulars. a-rod, damon, jeter, posada, matsui, abreu all look tired and needing a break.

dont worry about division anymore - 2 GB with 6 to play is not worth throwing everything at TB and BAL.

One more win and a Tiger loss or two more wins and then Joe can give some guys a break. I want that last spot locked up.

Litsch pitched a helluva game today. 7 2/3, 99 pitches.

Tip of the cap to the Kid.

Damn it Matsui!

case and point- matsui swings at 1st pitch he sees to end possible rally inning.

REST'EM UP JOE!

I see that the Dynamic Duo is warming up in the pen.

Good to see that A-Rod is warming up to his October ways!

YIKES!

He'll be much happier with either the Angels or the Dodgers next year.

I know I'll be happier!

You?

Yes I'm sure you will be too!

Or the Killer Bees.

Only thing that they kill though is Yankee leads.

RS Bat Boy?

I thought it was Red Sox Butt Boy.

I think it's funny how moronic Red Sox fans come in here and talk smack when they were crapping in their collective Depends just a few hours ago.

Only a pathetic fanbase like RSN would actually hold an election for president of said fan club.

Red Sox fans are funny.

Nice inning by Ohlendorf.

It IS a nation Viper.

Isn't it? LOL

Did Butt Boy get elected?

Yeah, We were real worried. Bye Bye AL East title! Hey you got the wild card. Arod, stone cold will get you in and out: "One and Done" as your usual October goes every year for the past 7 years!

It's no fun on an RS blog. Everybody's on the same team there!

Oh well. You guys looked so flat today. You look tired. Pettite as usual looked bad. 6 road games to go! We'll be in the warm confines of Fenway wrapping it up!

Pitching will be your demise. Your starters won't get you to the Head Hunter and the Old Man!

See you next year!!!!

RS Butt Boy, you are such an idiot.

Post Season Roster as I see it

13 Position Players
--------------------
C - Posada
3B - Arod
SS - Jeter
2B - Cano
1B - Dougie
LF - Matsui
CF - Melky
RF - Bobby
DH/Bench - Giambi, Damon, Shelley, Willy B, Molina

4 Starters
-----------
Wang
Pettitte
Clemens
Mussina

8 Relief Pitchers
-----------------
Mo
Vizciano
Joba
Farnsworth
Hughes
Villone
Igawa - Hate to say it but we need the 2nd lefty

Whoever pitches the best will get to go out of these three...
Britton, Bruney or Ohlendorf

Ohlendorf has looked good and fresh. Bruney I think we have already seen the best of this season. I like Britton but he has not gotten enough chances.

Like any postseason it is going to come down to our pitching.

What Red Sox blog are you on?

The one that I went to has a lot of Yankee fans on it and the Red Sox fans are killing, how do you say it? Francoma?

Yeah, you're all on the same team!

Lock up the WC, rest all of the vets and get ready for the post season.

If the Yanks can lock this up tomorrow, then I can see Jeter, Abreu, Posada and Matsui get some significant rest this week.

This will be important if we have to fly to the coast and play Anaheim.

Ridiculous. How anyone can be ok with todays loss is beyond me. Seems the Yanks were more involved with dressing up thier rooks after the game in Wizard of Oz costumes. While I am happy with the great 2nd half run, I am dumbfounded how we lay an egg to Litsch!

I don't think that any of us are OK with it MC.

The Kid pitched a good game. He changed speeds a lot and got us to swing at some bad pitches. He shut Boston down last week also.

Give the Kid credit. He pitched a good game and he deserved to win it.

I think that we'll all feel better once this thing is wrapped up. Then we can all let out a big exhale!

I cannot believe that picture, it is hysterical.

I thought it was a homeless Japanese man.

That picture was just soooo wrong!

The Yankees did look flat and tired and swung at everything as though they were looking to lose or just going through the motions to get this game over with. Litsch threw about 12 pitches an inning. How bad is that? Give Litsch credit, fine -- but what will the Yankees do when they face real pitchers in the playoffs? Hmmm, doesn't seem too promising to me.

I guess the team is entitled to lose a game now and then. 14-4 over an 18 game stretch isn't too bad.
Let's go get 'em tomorrow boys, stop the fooling around and wrap up the WC and keep playing hard.

Well the Yankese magic number is now 1game thanks to detroits loss to MIN!!

With the number down to 1 we come into today with a 90-66 record with a chance to clinch a playoff spot.

Clemens is still slated to start but would not be surprised if Igawa or Desalvo gets swapped in and Clemens gets the rest of the week off to be sure he stays healthy.

They will be facing Jason Hammel who has a 2-5 Record with a 5.88 ERA. Who is coming off a loss to the Angels where he only gave up 2 earned runs.

Up here in Boston all they have been talking about is winning the division. I think it would be devastating to them if they relinquished the division to us but would that only motivate them more in the playoffs?

Let us get rested, while winning both series against the Rays and the Orioles and see what happens. We will be dangerous in the playoffs as a wild card entry or if we win the division.

I don't what they are like in the city of Boston... but every Sox fan I've talked to (me included) would rather go to the World Series as a Wild Card than win the division and get bumped off early.

I'd like to win the division, but I think the Red Sox obsessing over it are doing it as insurance. They don't think they'll win the pennant so they want to be able to say "At least we won the division."

That's fatalistic cr@p to me

All I care about is the playoffs. We're in and by the end of tomorrow so will the Yankees... so not a lot of drama nor potential of devastation in the regular season.

The playoffs... there's plenty of opportunity for devastation there!

That is because you are an intelligent Red Sox fan.

The majority of people I hear on the radio, at work, and during my days here are only talking about one thing, The New York Yankees.

I probably got nagged by 10 Sox fans yesterday after the Yanks loss. I gave each one of them a confused look and wondered why it mattered that much.

They need to concentrate on who their 1st round opponents may be and not the Yankees.

History, which Yankees fans are criticized if they mention, is the basis for that obsession. Teams that have had to look up in the standings to the Yankees for most of their history can't help fixating on them as the team to beat, the one whose defeat would make them truly the best.

The Yankees have no such rival and that is why their situation is essentially unwinnable. To validate itself as 'the best' a contemporary NYY team must compete against the guys in Monument Park, against the best teams in Yankee history, against their own champions. And nobody alive wins against dead heroes.

So it is conceivable that a Red Sox or Mets team can win against their rivals, the mortal Yankees of any given year, but the Yankees can never win against the immortals against whom they measure themselves.

Not true Marianne. The Yankees of today just need to beat EVERYBODY and win a title. They don't have to win more games than the '27 Yanks or have someone belt 62 homeruns. Yankee fans have become acustom to titles, and if they get one, it's mission accomplished.

Part of me wonders if the Yanks were content to let that game "slip" away yesterday knowing that Cleveland has the best record in the AL and we are set to play them in round one. With the recent troubles against the Angels and are 6-0 record against the tribe, one must wonder. No one will say it publicly, but you have to wonder if the Yanks are really hoping to play Cleveland in round one....

I agree Marianne

Think of the Devil Rays, who are competing against the ghosts of Gerald Williams and the dude that Dennis Quaid played in The Rookie

michaelz,

Of course most fans are 'satisfied' with a title. But that is not the same as players and fans feeling they are truly 'the best'.

It seems that Red Sox and Mets fans and players feel they have reached that pinnacle if they can defeat the current Yankees.

Yankees players are criticized for arrogance when they say, "We aren't really thinking about those other guys that much." They are not being arrogant unless it is arrogance to feel themselves competing against another standard.

Even individual players, if they are what is sometimes called 'true Yankees', are not really measuring themselves against contemporary opposing players. Is Jorge Posada measured against today's catchers on other teams? No, he is measured against Thurman. The better he plays, the more that is true.

Those of you who were fans in 1998 may remember that the team that year was incessantly compared, not with opposing teams, but with the 1927 Yankees.

Annoying as it feels to opponents, it is true that the Yankees are always looking slightly past them.

Doomed to fail in their quest, of course, but looking somehow noble in the process.

Michaelz... why would the Yankees be TRYING to face Sabathia and Carmona on the road?

So is Clemens pitching today or what?

Could not agree more with Marianne...

Michaelz that is absurd to think the Yankees will try to lose games so they can play a certain team. That would screw with players heads so much that it would make no sense to do.

A team wants to be playing its best ball going into the playoffs and best ball means...winning games

The Yanks looked tired, like they had no desire to play yesterday. Hope they shake it off for today's game.
Over at NoMaas, they had an interesting article about how it would benefit no to win the division because of next year’s amateur draft.
I’m not saying that he’s right or wrong, just saying that’s interesting

http://www.nomaas.org/division.html

Anybody know any link where we can see the photos of the rookies in their costumes? ha-ha, Shelly looked like he was having the time of his life in that lion costume!

Here are some pics of the rooks...

http://riveraveblues.com/2007/09/24/and-starring-kei-igawa-as-a-flying-monkey/

Trying to lose, no. Not all that motivated to win, possibly.

Sully, how many times to the Angels have to knock the Yanks out before you start thinking "maybe we'd like to play someone else." It isn't that they want Carmona & Sabathia and the tribe, it's that they are sick and tired of being cannon fodder for the Angels. I think the Angels are in the Yanks' collective heads, that's all....

Here is another link to the Rookie Hazing pictures...

http://intranet/kbase/searchform.ASP?urn=28373&tb=S

Marianne, I think you are confusing the drivel that gets published by stupid reporters trying to fill columns with the thoughts and concerns of the Yankees. You can't tell me that players like Giambi, Mussina, and Rodriguez, players that came to the Yankees primarily to win championships (yeah I know about the fat contracts) will feel inadequate with one title simply because Berra has ten. That's ridiculous. This, of course, doesn't even account for the hunger the younger guys (like Melky, Cano, and Joba) must have. This is probably a stupid point to argue, but it's been seven years since this team has won it all and that's what they are tired of reading about. Trust me, a title is enough this year, especially with what this team had to go through...

Oops, I thought I saw Shelly as the Lion over at Sports Center, The highlights were too fast; but great job once again by the veterans picking a nice theme to dress them up.
Thanks McCarthy for the links! Although the last one didn’t work for me. I’ll try later.

Whoops my bad not sure where that link came from....

This should be it
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09252007/sports/yankees/yankees/photo01.htm

michaelz,
You are right. Marianne is an annoying "couch" psychologist (or is it psycho) trying to reach for some higher explanation that is hypothetical at best. I don't think they intentionally lost, but after the kid mowed them down for 3-4, they became distracted. Thats when you need your horse to shut the other team down, and keep the team involved in the competition. We will wrap it up tonight, and Bosox will lose. We will win the division by default and will BEAT the Halos. Cleveland is a hot team right now. Stop fearing the Angels, the tide she is a'turnin!
F....F...B (kook!)

The Daily News has pictures of "OZ" in their Yankee section also.

Just go over there and click on one of the pictures. It will take you to the gallery.

Funny Stuff. I might print them out on the color printer here and hang them up in my office.

This is a little disconcerting. We're trying to wrap up the playoffs and possibly a division title and it seems like most of the posters on this board want to talk about wizard of oz photos. Comon' guys (and girls), you can do better than that...

MichaelZ,

We're going to make it, don't worry. All we need is 1 out of 6 or for Detroit to lose. At the very worse, and I mean WORSE, we'd have a one game playoff with Detroit, and that's assuming that we lose all 6 and they win all 6.

The rookie photos are a nice distraction and they're funny.

Besides, the players were having a good time with them so why shouldn't the fans?

Mike from Jersey,

It is always best to just say so when you don't understand or don't agree with another poster's comment. When you resort to tantrums, namecalling, and quickly switching to an argument that you hope you do understand, it reflects poorly on you, not on the person you insult.

If you usually don't like another persons contributions, just do as Diane used to say -- scroll on by. (Diane, where are you?)

MORE BABBLE FROM EMPTY HEADS:
Marianne [Jim A-hole feminine side] calm down , have another box of donuts , and take a few laps around the trailer park.
Michaelz perhaps a change of meds for your crazy ass.
John G your office? you must mean the mens room at the cracker factory.
McCarthy your bad is pretending you know what your talking about.
Rick Keyes thinks the bullpen is babied by JT.What games have you been watching?But then again you expect this from a person who wanted Cashman fired and A-Rod traded.

Marianne,
I have been known to cast a few bad reflections, but you know what they (who are they?) say.....waaa, waaa..
Go Yankees! Go Scooter! Kay-Mouth is a JINX!

Anonymous,

{SMACK}{SMACK}, BEEEEEE-YYYAAATTTCCCHHHH!