THE NEW YORK YANKEES ARE ALDS CHAMPS!

It's fate. If you win or if you lose, there's a reason why... really. If you played hard and lose, the other team played harder. If you win, most likely you played better than your opponent. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat are 2 feelings to the extreme, because when you win, it's the greatest feeling at that moment. Losing never feels good, that's why it's called the agony of defeat. It hurts like hell.

The New York Yankees won today. But they didn't only win, they won their fans back...who, even though were loyal, we were very worried about how things would unfold.  CC Sabathia had a few setbacks this season and while he was clearly on his way back to being great, sometimes you just don't know how that big body is gonna bounce back.  Let's just say CC Monster was the greatest pitcher ever today!  He dominated the pesky Baltimore Orioles and only got into trouble 1 time, that coming in the 8th, but with the bases loaded, he locked and loaded and only ended up giving up only 1 run, an RBI single to Jim Thome.  Sabathia also went out for the 9th, got the complete game, the win and a huge applause by Yankee fans all over the world.  Sabathia went 9 innings, allowed 4 hits and 1 run, striking out 9.  CC improved to 4-0 in post season starts. He truly is a beast!

Raul Ibanez had an RBI single in the 5th scoring Mark Teixeira from second base.  Ibanez was the DH today and Eric Chavez played third leaving Alex Rodriguez to the bench.   Was it a tough call by Joe Girardi? Perhaps. Look, ARod is one of the greatest baseball players of the modern era.  It ain't easy to bench a star, but it's easier to bench them if even they can admit things aren't working out.  Now, do I think we'll see Alex in the ALCS? I do and not only  that, I believe they'll figure him out and he'll start hitting again.  How can I be so sure you ask? Well, I noticed something interesting when he took batting practice today.  He was loose and he was cranking them all over the place.  But if you look at him in the last 4 games he played, he looked tight in the batter's box. He looks like he's locked up. Therefore, when he swings, he was almost too late and sluggish coming to the ball, hence allowing him to strike out 9 times in the ALDS. Terrible.  That fortunately can be fixed and Kevin Long has some work to do...I believe he'll take care of business.

And speaking of taking care of business...Ichiro Suzuki knocked in Derek Jeter from first base in the game today too.  Suzuki had a double on that brought the game to 2-0 Yanks at that point. Also and who can forget Grandy... Curtis Granderson who also struck out 9 times in the ALDS before today's game finally came through and homered today.  He needed that and so did we. It was good to see.

And now, the Yankees move on. The road was long and sometimes painful to us Yankee fans but in the end, we played the Orioles, a team run by Buck Showalter. A team of young nobodies that believed. They believed they could run through a brick wall and they sure as hell believed they could win it all. For Buck though, the stage was set. Because sure, he wanted his young team to win a championship, but for Buck, it was about beating the Yankees, the team he felt like he got a raw deal from years back. He wanted revenge.

I understand revenge. People tell me to lighten up or "forget" about someone who treats me with disrespect. I say karma's a bitch and when disrespect comes my way, I write it on a mental post-it and when the time is right, I revisit it. Trust me, what comes around goes around and for Buck, it came around. He didn't like the way he was treated by the Yankees and he was in our house to settle the score. Don't be fooled by Buck's calm demeanor, he's loved every minute of this, getting under the Yankees skin, but time ran out and good for us Yankee fans, because I have to say, his Orioles were great competitors, they made me nervous.

In the end though, it's not about the Orioles or Buck Showalter. It's about our Yankees knowing they needed to win and we did.  Thank the good Lord.

Final Score: Yankees 3 - Orioles 1

 So now, I am filled with joy again, but there is no doubt the road just got tougher.

The Detroit Tigers are our new Angels, the team we always have trouble beating in the playoffs, and hopefully this year they'll be like the Angels of 2009 and we'll take the series from them!  Believe me, the Tigers are tough as nails, but if the Yankees do what they did tonight, we can do it.  If they don't and if they decide to play without scoring runs like we've been doing all season long, trust me, we're not winning this ALCS. If we decide to actually show up and knock in runs, we have a very good chance. It's not Justin Verlander I'm afraid of. He's great, but for the Yankees, he's beatable. I worry about the others, Doug Fister, Max Scherzer. I worry about their bats; Miguel Cabrera is a beast and Prince Fielder is a freaking over-sized superstar. They're lethal.

But I also worry about us. Our Yankees need a hero, we need a team of 25 heroes actually, playing like their life depended on it. If we don't, we don't have a shot because the Tigers will take advantage of mistakes.  So we need to be our best, that's the bottom line.

So farewell to the ALDS and hello ALCS! The Yankees have done it and life is good when that happens, but let's not think about the World Series just yet. Let's instead think about the next 4 games we need to win. Hell, after beating the Orioles, a weight has been lifted, but there is still going to be a tough hill to climb.  Truth be told though... I can't wait for tomorrow night.

Go Yankees!

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