Where My Team Stands: New York Yankees

Continue Reading October 1st, 2007

If we’ve learned anything about Octobers the last few years, it’s that the month tests, stretches and hones every aspect of loyalty fandom.

Alex Belth is is the author of Stepping Up: The Story of All-Star Curt Flood and His Fight for Baseball Players’ Rights and the editor of Bronx Banter. He also writes for SI.com. His words are after the jump.

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The demise of the Yankees has been talked about ever since they won 114 games in 1998. It gained steam in Buster Olney’s book, Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty and peaked when New York blew a 3-0 lead to the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS. But the ‘04 collapse, which would have sent many other organizations into a tailspin, didn’t kill the Yankees. Yes, New York has lost three straight playoff series (a lifetime for long-suffering Yankee fans). Still, for the past three seasons, they have put themselves in early-season pickles only to rally to play in October. The Yanks can still absorb high-priced mistakes (Carl Pavano, Kei Igawa), and big-ticket free agents (Clemens, Damon) like no other team, but since GM Brian Cashman has been allowed to develop young players, Chien-Ming Wang, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera and now Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain have all played crucial roles.

On top of that, of course, Alex Rodriguez is having the best offensive season a Yankee has had since Maris and Mantle in 1961. Moreover, he’s won over his critics, producing over and again in big moments all season. With two games left, he’s scored 142 runs, with 32 doubles and 54 home runs, a beautiful, zaftig statline with only one blemish — 0 triples. A Rod’s 155 RBI is the most by a Yankee since Joe D (and it’s only good for 10th-best in Yankee history). According to OPS+, Rodriguez has four of the five greatest offensive seasons of any Yankee third basemen, and his 2007 season is one of the five or 10 greatest ever for a third baseman. This year, he’s ducked a front-page sex scandal, mentored Cabrera and Cano and generally terrorized the American League into submission.

But in New York, the playoffs are the thing, and Rodriguez desperately needs to avoid a repeat of the ‘05 and ‘06 postseason. He needs to have his Reggie moment. The Yankees don’t even need to win; Rodriguez just can’t go bust again. If he does, he’s as good as gone. But if the Yankees win the World Serious, or if Rodriguez performs admirably in defeat, it’s hard to imagine him playing anywhere else.

The Yanks have had more than Rodriguez this season too. Jorge Posada is having a career year and would be a stellar MVP candidate if it weren’t for Rodriguez. Bobby Abreu and Robinson Cano recovered nicely after struggling early, and Derek Jeter, playing through a balky knee late this summer, is having another representative season. Mariano Rivera’s strikeout numbers are still strong, but he’s sporting the worst ERA since he’s become a closer. Of course, Joba Chamberlain has been enormous — he’s the best young pitcher the Yankees have had since, well, a young Rivera.

The starting pitching remains the biggest question going into the playoffs. The Yankees have the weakest staff of all the American League playoff teams, yet it’s not that hard to imagine Wang, Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens doing well. Then again, it’s not a stretch to picture them getting ripped either. I mean, who knows what they can expect out of Clemens, who was shut down with a leg injury for the final two weeks of the regular season. But the Yankees need their starters to show up in order to get passed Cleveland in the first round. The Yanks were 6-0 against the Tribe this year, but you can throw that right out the window; they didn’t face C.C. Sabathia at all, and saw Fausto Carmona just once.

My sense is that if the Yankees make it past the first round, they’ll be tough to beat. But as Joe Torre said earlier in the week, they’ll need a good deal of luck on their side, along with the good pitching and timely hitting. For Rodriguez, as great as he’s been this year, it’s another make-or-break moment in his career. He’ll be center stage, and his next career move will most certainly be determined in the weeks to come.

The Yanks will try and have their starters go six, and then hand the ball to Vizcaino, Joba and Rivera.

Where My Team Stands: Chicago Cubs

Continue Reading October 1st, 2007

If we’ve learned anything about Octobers the last few years, it’s that the month tests, stretches and hones every aspect of loyalty fandom.

Mike Cetera is associate editor of The Beacon News in Aurora, Ill. His words are after the jump.

When a girl rips your heart out, stabs it, stomps on it, burns it and spits on it before shoving the mutilated muscle back into your tortured chest, you’re not likely to take her out on another date. That’s something most guys just wouldn’t consider. But stupid men return for more punishment; this is the essence of being a Cubs fan. We are stupid men (and women).

And though we have been slow to heal since that disastrous late-inning collapse in 2003, a number of us have fully thrown ourselves back into the relationship during this clumsy march to the postseason. Despite all of the overwhelming evidence telling us to run, run far away, some of us have left ourselves vulnerable again. Here’s why:

• Anything can happen in the playoffs. Last year’s Cardinals team (not to mention the 2005 White Sox, which limped in to the playoffs before destroying everybody) are no longer curse words, but are spoken of with the kind of reverence normally given to grandmothers and clergy. Some claim the 2007 Cubs are the 2006 Cardinals, a team that its own fans (Read: Mr. Leitch) only begrudgingly supported down the stretch because they were just so awful. So it goes for this Cubs team, which has been about as inconsistent as it comes. The team has suffered through stretches where no one can hit, only to be saved by above-average starting pitching and a bullpen that (despite its maddening closer) has been stingy, particularly in the second half. When the hitting finally righted itself in August and September, however, the starting pitching began to look a bit flimsy, particularly “ace” Carlos Zambrano, whose stubbornness (he won’t drink water, so he continues to cramp up) has begun to rival for biggest eccentricity his penchant for emotional outbursts. In the end, there just haven’t been enough stretches where the pitchers and the hitters have been hot at the same time. Yet none of these inconsistencies matter come Wednesday. The team is in the playoffs.

• The offense: Homer-happy Wrigley Field has been a tough place to score runs in a hurry this year largely because of the oddity of the wind blowing in more often than not. No player entered September with more than 19 home runs. Since then, three players eclipsed that mark during an impressive stretch that saw the team all-but put away the Milwaukee Brewers. Because the home run ball has been tougher to come by, the Cubs have been forced to rely more on speed and fundamentals, two areas the team has been terrible at for years. The Cubs have more speed in the lineup than past incarnations — even if the stolen base stats don’t show it — which could give starting pitchers fits. And speed, unlike power, isn’t inconsistent. Specifically, look for Ryan Theriot to take extra bases and break up double plays.

• Alfonso Soriano: Yes, the Cubs paid too much. No, he shouldn’t be a leadoff hitter. But he is as responsible for the Cubs’ late-season surge as anyone else. Soriano hit double-digit home runs in the final month, and despite his shaky defense, saved at least two games by throwing runners out at the plate. The lesson: Don’t run on his arm. Now, about those lifetime playoff stats …

• Bob Howry and Carlos Marmol: In addition to Soriano, Howry and Marmol can be credited with saving this team. With Howry, it’s not so much of a surprise. Historically, he’s been stronger out of the bullpen in the second half than in the first. This year is no different. Going into the final weekend, Howry had an ERA of 1.95 since the All-Star break, allowing just 28 hits and seven walks in 37 innings. Meanwhile, Marmol, the Cubs likely future closer, has been a dominant surprise all year. In just his first full season, Marmol had an ERA of 1.45 and had 95 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings pitched heading into the final weekend. If the game is close when the Cubs go to the bullpen, this team will be in good shape.

• The no-name squad: Every team worth rooting for has a couple of guys who become fan favorites because it’s clear they have limited talent. They made it to the top because they try harder. The Cubs are no exception. This year’s David Eckstein just may be Theriot, who nobody heard of before the start of the season. He’s provided a near constant spark, however. The Cubs also have benefited from some late-season call-ups, including catcher Geovany Soto, whose performance both at the plate and behind it have led a number of fans to not only call for Soto to make the postseason roster but for him to start in place of Jason Kendall, whose bat has only been mildly helpful since coming to the team in a trade. (And his defense may have cost the team games.)

• Nobody is bitching: The Cubs of recent vintage have been terribly hard to root for mainly because the team has been just plain awful, but also because the players were nearly impossible to like. Credit Lou Piniella for keeping the clubhouse griping to a minimum. Dusty Baker couldn’t or wouldn’t control his players, and it made everyone seem petulant. It’s pretty hard to cheer on a team full of jerks.

All right. We’re in. Some of us refuse to trust the girl we brought to the dance. More of us may just be suckers thinking that after 99 years we’ll finally get some. Bring on the heartache.

Mourn The Mets

Continue Reading October 1st, 2007

Before we commence burying the Mets’ and their historic collapse, let’s take a moment and congratulate the Phillies, who had to earn their way here. (Daulerio was at the game in Philly yesterday and we’re pretty sure Victorino got him with that water hose.) The Phillies will be incredibly fun to watch over the next week or so. But, oh heavens, those Mets.

Whether it was the Guillermo Mota curse, or just the brilliant prognostication abilities of Steve Phillips, the Mets just finished off one of sports’ greatest collapses. (We heard some Yankees fans mocking the Mets last night, but we’d be careful, were we Yankees fans, crowing about somebody else choking.) What in the world happened? Jason Fry of Faith And Fear In Flushing saw something wrong with this team months ago, and his elegy this morning is a must-read.

I never liked this team. Early on, when they were ahead of last year’s pace, I was vaguely embarrassed by this. Like a lot of us, I found myself groping for explanations, and worrying about why they left me cold. Was this the ugly side of raised expectations? Of the first stages of hegemony? Was this how being a Yankee fan began? What wasn’t to like? But I struggled to warm to them during the spring, and when they stumbled through the summer I stopped fighting it. I let a bit of hard-earned cynicism take over, dissecting fandom like social scientists examine human attachment. I told myself that when they made the playoffs, I’d find myself liking them just fine. But then the second half of September came, with the second horrible body blow administered by the Phillies, the inept handling of the pitching staff, the idiotic displays of temper, and the repeated assheaded baseball. And finally, those horrifying quotes by Delgado and Glavine and Pedro, the astonishing admissions that yeah, the team was bored and complacent. That right there was the end of the pretending that I would change my mind.



And that, oddly, made the rest easier. I will always love the 1985, 1999 and 2006 teams, despite the fact that they never won titles. I was never going to like this one, even if it wound up rolling down the Canyon of Heroes. The 2007 Mets were the smug, self-satisfied hare to the tortoises of Philadelphia and San Diego and Colorado. Badly constructed and badly led, in the end they got exactly what they deserved.

So, is this all for Willie Randolph? On one level, this is a complete team collapse, something 25 (or so) men do together, grasping hands and leaping off the cliff. But we think it’s impossible not to hold a manager responsible for something like this. Will Mets fans ever trust Willie Randolph again? How could they? What more evidence could a team need?

I’m OK, And That’s Not OK [Faith And Fear In Flushing]

Norv’s Worst Debacle Yet

Continue Reading October 1st, 2007

News And Notes From Week 4 In The NFL …

• Up until yesterday, you could almost have made a case for Chargers coach Norv Turner. (If you were trying really, really hard. The losses were to a dominant Patriots team and the surging Packers. But yesterday, Norv Turner lost at home — at home — to the Chiefs … the Chiefs! Herman Edwards coaches that team! Even those with the anti-Norv sites can’t believe this is happening so fast. One thing to enjoy about this, though; it will be the first and last times a stadium of people will ever be chanting Marty Schottenheimer’s name.

• We had a grand time at the Bills game yesterday; that’s the closest the NFL will ever come to the feel of small-town, mom-and-pop, college-football-esque home field experience. (Note: We’ve never been to Green Bay.) We even saw the beginning of the Trent Edwards era. Any stadium still quaint enough to play “Shout” every time the home team scores is A-OK with us. One thing, though: Bill Buffalo is a terrifying mascot. Not does he look like devil spawn … but why he is blue? WHY???

• Aided by Pro Football Prospectus, we thought Tony Romo was going to collapse this year. This is what we get for doubting an Eastern Illinois Panther. And man, the Rams: Marc Bulger isn’t quite the Daunte Culpepper fantasy disaster of a few years ago, but boy, has he destroyed some teams.

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• We have a feeling New York sports fans — though we’re not sure what the Giants-Mets fan crossover is — would have traded a Giants win for a Mets win yesterday. And it’s a good thing Phillies fans are so ecstatic right now, or they might notice how bad the Eagles looked (again) last night.

• Yes, yes, the Buzzsaw. As Steve Breaston celebrates, we cautiously point out that this Buzzsaw team looks like a “real” football team than we can remember. They’re not gimmicky, they’re not fluky, they’re not stumbling around and staying in games because teams aren’t used to being in the desert / confused by the maroon uniforms. The Buzzsaw looks tough, and that’s the first time we can remember saying that in about 15 years. The next five games look winnable; 3-2 would be enough.

Rocky Mountain High (In Colorado)

Continue Reading October 1st, 2007

As Tuco said when he got the drop on Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, “There are two kinds of spurs, my friend. Those that come in by the door [crosses himself], and those that come in by the window.” The Rockies came in the latter way, beating the Diamondbacks 4-3 on Sunday to force the unlikliest of one-game playoff showdowns for the final spot in the NL postseason field. And so it shall come to pass, Padres vs. Rockies at the Coors Field Thunderdome, today, 7:35 p.m. ET The Padres have their Patron Saint, Jake Peavy, on the mound; praise be to his 10-1 record over his past 11 starts. But the Rockies — winners of 13 of their past 14 to earn a ticket to this dance — have their own guardian angel. He’s blond, bespectacled, has a high-pitched voice and is on excellent terms with the Almighty; at least if one can believe the movie Oh, God, anyway.

Yes, I speak of course of John Denver, who is obviously guiding the Rockies’ fortunes from above. This is the 10-year anniversary of the month that Denver died in a plane crash, leaving little doubt that the Rockies would reach October. One could hear Denver singing the strains of I Guess He’d Rather Be In Colorado as San Diego was losing to the Brewers, 11-6, to force the playoff. The Rockies have been to the postseason just once, in 1995. Colorado went 71-46 after May 22, when they were 8½ games back in the wild card race. That record was second only to the Yankees (74-45). Peavy is 0-0 with a 1.29 ERA in two starts against the Rockies this season. He is 4-4 lifetime against the Rockies, 3-3 with a 3.96 ERA at Coors Field. Colorado will counter with Josh Fogg, aka Dragonslayer, for his propensity to beat the other team’s ace. Fogg is 1-1 with a 6.28 ERA in three starts against the Padres in this season. So anyway, this should be fun.

• The Philadelphia Story. We’ll have more on this later — including detailed analysis from the Mets’ perspective – but may I just say how happy I am that players from the winning team in the NL East celebrated by dousing their fans with a fire hose? You so rarely see that in sports anymore. Shane Victorino and Antonio Alfonseca did the honors after the Phillies beat the Nationals 6-1 on Sunday, which coupled with New York’s 8-1 loss to the Marlins, allowed the Phillie Phanatic to climb those Rocky Balboa steps and dance a victory dance. The Phillies advance to the postseason for only the 10th time in their history, and will play host in Game 1 on Wednesday against the winner of today’s wild-card tiebreaker between San Diego and Colorado.