WHY MOMENTUM IS ON OUR SIDE

"It's one game, Dude". That's CJ Wilson's arrogant statement last night after the collapse of the Rangers to the Yankees 6-5 in Game 1 of the ALCS. Hey Pretty Boy, you're right. It's only 1 game but the Yanks have 3 left to win, the Rangers have 4. It's not a season Sunshine, it's a Series. And right now, it's a Series for the Yankees to win.

Last night's game was a huge loss for the Rangers. The bubble burst and hopefully for good this Series. Am I counting the Rangers out? No, they're a great ball club, but a defensive CJ Wilson says 1 thing to me. He knows he pitched awesome last night. He also knows the rest of his bullpen didn't and if I'm the Rangers bullpen, I'm annoyed at Wilson today. They know they blew it, why make it worse bro. It's about team, not 1 guys performance. You can tell he's still young and immature. Hopefully the Yankees sense that and will capitalize further. Am I the only one who noticed how arrogant Wilson sounded? Comment and let me hear from you.

Today, Hughes pitches against Colby Lewis. Lewis is beatable and Hughes is coming off an amazing pitching performance against the Twins. Anything can happen as you know. Hughes, who has had success in his short career in Texas can pitch well again today. Lewis, while a good pitcher, could implode after the Rangers were humiliated in front of their own fans. He could also, as history has shown, pitch brilliantly. But I say confidence and momentum is on the Yankees side and they will take this game today.

The Bombers 8th inning heroics last night could possibly lead them into the Bronx with a 2-0 lead but even if they lose today, they have the Bronx, where the ghost of Steinbrenner lives! Let's hope that magic never goes away. Ride it high and stay focused.

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WHY "TEAM" MEANS YANKEES

What is Team? Well, it's working together to get a win. How about never letting your unit fall apart and losing. How about CC stunk up the joint tonight but it really didn't matter in the end. The Yankees struck at the right time and didn't run out of time, until they pulled ahead.

When things were unfolding in this game tonight, I'm not gonna lie, I had a whole blog written already about how disappointed I was with the way the Yankees played. There wasn't much to say. CC was horrible, the Yankees were not hitting Wilson and it was clear to me that they were going to lose Game 1. Wow was I wrong and I'll never doubt them again.

It all started with Robinson Cano's home run. But, at the time, it was not a thought. At the time, they were down 5-1. But let's give a lot of credit to the Yankees Bullpen tonight. Yes it's true, the hitting was spectacular, but the bullpen held the Rangers so the Yankees could rally. Cano, by the way, had 3 hits, so, that helps him in the MVP race. More on that later.

The 8th was amazing and it started with Gardner's slide into first base. Ever since I was 6, my coaches said "Don't slide into first. You get hurt and you don't get to the base faster. " All that is true, But Gardner was a spark plug tonight that started the greatest rally in post season history. Jeter hit. Swisher walked, Tex walked, A-Rod hit, RBI's all around, and Thames came though big time. He put the Yanks ahead and they never looked back. Tomorrow there are going to be a whole new generation of youngsters sliding into first and coaches cursing Brett Gardner. Who cares, hustle wins ballgames.

Today, the Yankees started off scary. I was really worried. But they never gave up and like I've said, this team has confidence, this team has momentum, and while we didn't see it in the beginning, I go back to the bullpen and to Gardner. If Moseley doesn't pitch relief as well as he did, and Gardner doesn't get things going sliding into first, the Yankees lose tonight. The non- stars shined. and God Bless them.

The greatest part of this game was the small ball. Cano homered, but they scratched runs and they never gave up on themselves. Coming back from being down 5 runs is unheard of. But they finally got to Wilson and when the pretty boy left and handed it over to the bullpen, they couldn't hold the Yankees down.

Back to the MVP and Cano. If we learn anything in this ALCS this year, we learn that whomever does better in this series, Robinson Cano or Josh Hamilton, can really cement the MVP. Now I know neither of them are thinking about individual awards, but all eyes are on these guys. So, we will see. Cano was 3 for 4, 2 RBIs. Hamilton had a 3 run homer.

Tomorrow the Yankees will be flying high. If you're the Rangers, your pissed that you beat up CC and lost. If you're the Yankees, you're pleased with yourself and are riding high, ready to kick more ass. Confidence is great, and it's a bitch if the other team has it and you don't.

Hughes vs. Colby Lewis tomorrow. If Hughes pitches into the 7th and the Yanks hit this Lewis kid, we are up 2-0. Just the way you want it coming into the Bronx... as a team.

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3 REASONS THE YANKEES CAN MESS WITH TEXAS

Great Piece from the Bleacher Report

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/492324-2010-alcs-top-three-reasons-the-yankees-can-mess-with-texas

WHY THE YANKS LOVE THEIR FANS

Tonights the night Yankee fans! Damn, it took a long time to get here. In my opinion, Major League Baseball really needs to shorten the days off between the playoff's series' so it's not November 12th for Game 7 of the World Series. Am I the only one who thinks playing the fall classic in November is ridiculous? If not, think of it this way, IT'S 2 MONTHS INTO THE FOOTBALL SEASON. It's 1 month into hockey season. Come on. Waiting and waiting just annoys the fans. Look, this is what people live for all year. It's the playoffs and World Series bro. Unfortunately, It's a money machine now. Baseball is no longer a pasttime, it's business. It's been like this for a long time. They set the schedule according to television's needs. They set it according to advertising money. Why do you think every year TV news always does a story about Super Bowl commercials and how much they cost? They are a corporate machine who really don't care about the fan, and DEFINITELY not the young fans. Look, my sons can't stay up past 8:30 or 9 to watch a playoff game. It's past their bedtime. It's sad because in the end, its about getting the biggest audience of the East and West coast combined, and advertising numbers. I understand it's a business, but I also understand the kid fans who can't watch history unfold night after night during the playoffs. Let's face it, all us adults feel like kids when we watch and we can stay up all hours to watch. The kids don't matter too. One year it would be nice to go back to the simple ways, just once, although it won't happen. Have the games in the afternoon, have them all at 3pm ET or 5pm ET, just so the kids get a shot at watching a real live playoff game... the whole game, not just 1 inning. Look, with the introductions of players, field crew and Jay-Z stopping by to sing a song...and then a special guest to throw out the pitch, the next thing you know, the actual game originally scheduled for 8:37pm is now pushed back to 8:48pm. All that crap creeps into the kids "watch" time. That leaves many kids with 15 minutes left to watch a complete inning. But hold on, by the time the commercials are done, the complete first inning is finished by 9:28pm. Come on. Am I the only one who feels bad for these kids?

Enough of my rant, I know it won't change but I wanted to get it off my chest.

Tonight, the Yankees CC Monster vs. the Rangers pretty boy CJ Wilson. I'll get the lineup out as soon as I see it.

Let's get Game 1 New York. Do it for the fans, but more importantly tonight, do it for the kids who can't watch a full playoff game, so they can at least wake up to a Yankee win.

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WHY THE YANKEES KNOW OCTOBER

The announcement for the ALCS rotation has been released, and if you didn't think Girardi and Hughes had confidence in his ALDS pitching performance before, you do now. It breaks down like this:

CC Sabathia vs. CJ Wilson

Phil Hughes vs. Colby Lewis

Andy Pettitte vs. Cliff Lee

AJ Burnett vs. Tommy Hunter

I actually love this rotation for the ALCS, and here's why.

Sabathia will pitch game 1, and he'll pitch it better than his last ALDS start... and the Yankees CAN hit Wilson. If they run on Wilson too, Yanks are up 1-0.

Now we're up to Game 2 with Hughes. Now, I'm not expecting a gem like his ALDS performance because I'm realistic. He's young, they're in Texas and while confidence is high, Yankee fans are not backing Hughes in an away ballpark like they would in the Bronx. But... HE WILL WIN because the Yanks can handle Colby Lewis. Lewis is also a latter rotation guy.

So, the good news is if the Yanks are up in my scenerio so far. 1-1 or 2-0 at this point and they come home to Pettitte in the Bronx. That is a great situation. At that point, you know Lee's on the mound for Texas but you can only care about Pettitte, who is the greatest in a game 3 situation AND the Post Season. I feel like that scenerio can bring New York a win. It will be a close game but a win. So, at this point it's either 2-1 or 3-0.

Burnett pitches Game 4. Assume it's a loss because that's what we get with him lately. Now it's 2-2 or 3-1. But assume he wins, which, let's face it, he could pitch a no-hitter (What a story that would be). We're 3-1 or we just swept the Rangers. OR, back to my original scenerio to make my point, assume he loses. We're 2-2 or 3-1.

CC's back. I say right then, we either win Game 5 with our ace on the mound or we hand the ball to Pettitte to wrap it up in Texas for Game 6.

Again, pitching wins ballgames but that means small ball and running mentality. That's something many teams have forgot about. It's about manufacturing runs. A perfect example is the Rangers themselves. They beat the Rays that way. Guess what? Yanks can play that game too, and adding a few home runs to that and we got something.

Let me also throw these stats at you, courtesy of the New York Post. The Yankees and Rangers split 8 games this season, the breakdown went like this:

Batting Avg:

Yanks: .269

Rangers: .241

Runs:

Yanks: 39

Rangers: 33

Home Runs:

Yanks: 6

Rangers: 5

Stolen Bases:

Yanks: 6

Rangers: 6

OBP:

Yanks: .373

Rangers: .342

ERA:

Yanks: 4.20

Rangers: 4.63

Strikeouts:

Yanks: 51

Rangers: 77

Walks:

Yanks: 28

Rangers: 41

Damn, I love October.

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WHY JETER WILL LEAD US

The Yankees against the Rangers, and as predicted, the Rangers are already talking trash about how they're going to beat the pinstripes and advance to the World Series. I have 2 words for you that will prove that it cannot happen like that: DEREK JETER.

Derek Jeter may have had a bad season at the plate but all indications are he is up to speed for the playoffs and about the lead his team to another World Series shot. After all he knows the playoffs better than anyone.... He's our captain and who else can we learn about winning from, than a man who has been in the playoffs every season since his career began, except 2008.

Jeter is our leader. Jeter knows how to win and knows how to motivate a team like no other. Look, early on, people took shots at him when he became Captain. They said he wasn't strong enough, not emotional enough and not a good leader. Well, look at him now. He helped lead his New York Yankees to a Championship (again) in 2009 and we're in the playoffs again in 2010.

Anyone in that clubhouse will tell you, you don't need loudness and emotion to lead a team... you leave that to the Swishers and the Burnetts of the group. Jeter plays it cool. And when he speaks, not yells... people listen. When he acts... people follow.

Friday night starts Game 1 of the ALCS in Texas. Sabathia verses Wilson who I said is beatable... and I'll stick with that. Wilson IS beatable and the Yankees CAN win this game. Pitching is key, smart hitting and running is key, but the most important key is Derek Sanderson Jeter. He's the first batter Wilson will see. He knows his job as leadoff and will do it better than anyone. It's funny... for years on the Yankees, they signed big time leadoff men to get their team quick runs and early confidence. Names like Tony Womack, Kenny Lofton, Johnny Damon, Curtis Granderson, they even tried Brett Gardner. In the end, they always go back to Derek. Why? I'll tell you why, because, while all those other great leadoff guys could get on base, Jeter makes sure he does, because he knows if he doesn't, he's let him team down. That's why he's still the leadoff guy. He has baseball smarts and knows that if he gets on, the rest of the team can rally, every time.

Jeter is the key Friday night and beyond in this playoffs. There is no other. Captain, my Captain, lead us to victory.

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WHY THE YANKEES ARE IN CONTROL

There's a big game on tonight that can really propel a strong momentum going into the ALCS Friday night against the Yankees. Now first off, I want to state that I love the Yankees chances. Here's Why: confidence is high, pitching is hot as hell and getting Hughes over the first hump has given him the feeling of invincibility. Hitting is spectacular and small ball has emerged as a compatible asset to the stellar pitching. The Yankees are a freight train barrelling into town, whichever city that is.

But let's face facts, both Texas and Tampa Bay are good. If the Rays win tonight, they will be flying high tonight and going into friday, it could be dangerous. Why? They'll be in the packed Trop and the Rays will be talking smack because they won 3 in a row from the Rangers... Something that doesn't happen.

If Cliff Lee shuts down the Rays tonight, that team will continue to be a driving force toward the unthinkable, a possible World Series in Texas that has never happened before.

But... and this is a big but, I believe in my New York Yankees. Here's Why... And I'll analyze both teams.

Texas Rangers: Cliff Lee is amazing, and he'll be great tonight, but he won't be pitching on Friday night whether he wins or loses tonight, C.J. Wilson will and the Yankees can beat C.J. Wilson. They've seen him a lot and they know what he has and he's not a number a 1 starter. And, by the way, don't be fooled by the TBS and ESPN radio announcers... Wilson is good, but beatable. They talk about him like he's Jesus and I just don't see it. Also, Cliff Lee won't pitch on 3 days rest and as Klapisch says, until he does that successfully, Lee's not elite. . So, that's a plus for NewYork. If New York takes game 1 with Sabathia and has a matchup of the most winningest post season pitcher Pettitte against Lee in Game 2, it's logical to side with New York.

Tampa Bay Rays: David Price, a proven starter has good nights and his bad nights too. But the bottom line is, if Price pitches tonight, they'd be fools to put his young inexperienced arm out there on 3 days rest against the Yankees Friday... Then what? They'd have to trot out one of the others, Shields, Garza, Niemann? The Yankees can beat all of them.

Again, the only way the Yankees win the ALCS is, Eye on the prize: pitching needs to be slightly better than the ALDS, small ball, speed and hard defense, and I'll take an unstoppable A-Rod and Tex, kind of like last year.

To me, tonight doesn't matter to New York. Yankees get what they get, and either way, They know what to do. It's October baseball, the way New York likes it.

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WE WANT SWISHER TO HOST SNL

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/We-Want-Nick-Swisher-To-Host-SNL/147227285288083

WHY JETER DESERVES A PAY DAY

After this season it will be contract time for Derek Sanderson Jeter and already people are slamming the guy for having a horrible season in a contract year. "Oh, the guys worth $5 million next year." "Jeter's lost a step, he can't play anymore." These people are 2 things... 1. They never played the game of baseball. 2. Aren't a Yankee fan.

Derek Jeter will get what Derek Jeter wants and it's all because of what Derek Jeter has done as a New York Yankee. Will Derek Jeter test the free agent market? No. Will another team offer him more than the New York Yankees? No. Stay calm everyone, Derek Jeter is a Yankee for life and I say this based strickly on his numbers and not by anything he's said in the past about him only wanting to be a New York Yankee. We all know that if he said he wanted to stay a Yankee for life and he sucked, he'd be traded or not re-signed. The New York Yankees love Jeet and Jeet loves the Yanks. Enough talk, let me break this down so you understand why:

Jeter is the all-time Yankee Leader in Hits with 2926. He's ahead of every other iconic Yankee you know, Gehrig, Berra, Mantle. Jeter's the guy.

He is 3rd all-time in Yankee Runs. He has 1685. Gehrig is 2nd with 1888 and Ruth has 1959.

Derek is 2nd all time in Yankee Doubles. He has 468. Number 1 is Lou Gehrig with 534. Derek Jeter will break this record if he is re-signed.

Not his strong point but worth noting is that Derek Jeter is 10th on the all-time Yankee list with 234 home runs. He breaks the top ten.

In RBI's, Jeet is 9th on the list with 1135. Guess who's 10th... Don Mattingly with 1099. Still in good company.

Derek is 1st on the all-time Yankee list in Singles. 2163. It's not a glorious number, but let's face it, singles eventually turn into runs. I'd be proud of that.

In Total Bases on the all-time Yankee list, Jeter is 4th with 4218. He's behind Ruth, Gehrig and Mantle.

Let's also mention that he's 6th in Bases on Balls with 948.

Oh, and a statistic that I didn't even know but am glad I found out today. Do you know Derek Jeter is 2nd on the all time Yankees list of Stolen Bases with 323? Guess who's number 1... Rickey Henderson, with 326. Next Year, Jeter will break that one too.

And I love these Hits numbers. In 1999 he had 219 hits, in 2006 he had 214 and in 2009, he had 212. That was only a year ago, so let's not base Jeter's entire career on 2010. While his season wasn't as good as the others, we are in October where we belong and after that, he goes into negoitation.

My guess is they treat Jeet like a king. I cannot imagine that Jeter will be greedy but he needs to walk into their office with this stats and go through it line by line so they remember, because after all, it IS business.

But to all those awesome Yankee fans out there.... Don't worry, Derek Jeter will be a New York Yankee for life. I guarantee it. It's the only way we know.

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CELEBRATING AN ALDS SWEEP

WHY HAPPY THAMES ARE HERE AGAIN

It was a strong pitching performance by Phil Hughes, and you couple that with unbelievable hitting and that's the perfect combination. Oh right, I said that in my last post. I said it because I had confidence in my team when all the doubters of talk radio panicked and thought it couldn't be dont. Phil Hughes was the Phil Hughes that the Yankees have been waiting for for the past 3 years. He was lights out and pitched like a seasoned veteran.

Everybody hit tonight... and everybody ran. Stolen bases kick ass and if you can move that runner to second, especially with the way they Yankees are hitting right now, it's a guaranteed run. Teixeria, Jeter, Swish, Grandy, Posada, Thames, A-Rod, Cano all looked good. Cano's got wheels and I love that he legged out a triple. I'd hate to say it because i'm a Melky fan, but shipping Melky to Atlanta was the best thing for Cano. He forced to focus on baseball and stop screwing around.

One thing that was truly great about this series and hopefully for the next 2 series' is the DH situation for the Yanks. I was alittle worried when Matsui went to the Angels in the off season. I wondered how the would fill the void. Lets face it, Thames ain't Godzilla. When they got Berkman at the deadline, I thought "Ok, they're are making some moves to improve the hitting in that DH role", but then he came up flat as well. Then, the postseason started and although nothing was done by Thames in Game 1, Berkman was all over the ball in Game 2 and Thames came through big in Game 3. That DH role is valuable and we are much better with them.

The key all series was pitching. CC, while he wasn't the true CC, hung tight and kept us in the game. Pettitte stepped up big time and while he struggled in the early innings, he to kept us in the game. Hughes by far was the most impressive tonight and I love that he shut everyone up who doubted him.

The best part about this Division Series is everyone had written off the New York Yankees, except us true Yankee fans. They read the stats and don't go with their gut. No one had faith in Phil Hughes, except us true Yankee fans. He pitched his heart out tonight.

Celebrate boys, you played your ass off. Take it in, reflect and get ready, the ALCS is right around the corner. Happy Thames are here again.

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WHY HUGHES CAN KEEP MOMENTUM

Talk radio this morning is all about doubt. I mean, I live in New York right? And the Yankees have won the first two games in an away ballpark, right? And now we're back in the Bronx? Right? Was that a dream? No it wasn't.

It's 8:45 in the morning and I'm hearing noise on my radio. They are bitching that the Yankees pitching staff is not good. That's all I hear. They are saying Hughes as the number 3 is a horrible idea. What the hell are they talking about? Before the Division series even started, all I heard was how great is was that the rotation was Sabathia at 1, Pettitte at 2 and Hughes at 3. Under the circumstances, our pitching was slim after Sabathia, and we needed a healthy Pettitte there because Burnett couldn't get the job done.

Now all I hear is that while we won the first 2, Hughes won't be able to handle Game 3. They are bitching saying Hughes isn't seasoned. They're complaining that Hughes never started a playoff game in his career. They are moaning like little girls that Hughes can't handle the pressure.

I even heard on ESPN this morning someone say "the Twins could win 3 in a row from the Yankees, it's not unheard of". One the last comment, no crap, anythings possible, but let's get real. Anything can happen on the other end as well. Hughes could and can pitch a spectaular game tonight, based on confidence and momentum and of course, his stuff.

I'm disgusted with the way they talk about the Yankees. Here's the bottom line. Hughes is rested. Hughes is ready. Let's not forget 2 important things, simple things. Hughes is an 18 game winner. Why? Partially because they Yankees offense helped him all season when he ran into jams, partially because he had pretty good stuff this year and partially because the bullpen protected his lead which lead to a Hughes win. Last time I checked, that was how you played the game of baseball. Everyone needs to shut their mouths and let the game unfold. Let Hughes pitch. Momentum is on the Yankees side. The entire Bronx is on the Yankees side. The key tonight is pitching from Hughes (I'll say he goes until the 6th), He's got a solid bullpen backing him up and we need the same small ball we've seen so far. Also, if you run on the Twins and bunt on the Twins and simply HIT on the Twins, we clinch tonight. The ALDS Division Champs Title is in our grasp. Don't listen to anyone but your teammates, you're fans and yourself Phil Hughes, you are a winner in my book.

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