Playing The ALCS Blame Game

While the NY tabloids and the endless stream of talking heads at ESPN want to brainwash you into thinking that everything wrong that happened with the Yankees this postseason was Alex Rodriguez's fault, the fact remains that, like the team's successes, it was a true group effort to accomplish getting swept by the Detroit Tigers.  It's been a somewhat subliminal staging of The Blame Game taking place in the coverage of the Yanks' ALCS struggles, even within the blogosphere.  So being the fair, reasonable, even-keeled blogger that I am, I decided to take it upon myself to definitively state for everyone how the blame for what happened should be divvied up.  It took many hours of brain wracking to come up with this, so I hope you appreciate it.  Because I did it for you, Yankee fans.

End Of Season News Roundup

(The Cash does not abide.  Courtesy of the AP)

With the shock and disappointment of the Yankees being swept out of the ALCS still fresh, there has been a fair amount of updates, stories, and rumors already coming out relating to this team.  Who's staying, who's going, who's on the hot seat?  Almost any question you could ask has already started to be answered in the last day and a half since the final out of Game 4 fell into Prince Fielder's glove.  Before we finish up looking back on the ALCS and the season that was, and start looking ahead to what the 2012-2013 offseason has in store, let's quickly reset what's happened in the last few days.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 10/19

Truth be told, there's a small part of me that's glad the Yankees' season is over and glad that the inevitable didn't get delayed for one more game last night.  I've been a walking zombie for the better part of the last 3-4 weeks with all that's been going on in my life, and the really late nights and really early mornings of writing weren't helping.  And then there's the whole part where my apartment has devolved into the first stage of a future episode of "Hoarders."  I've got assorted empty beer containers everywhere, pizza boxes everywhere, piles of mail sitting around, a bathroom that I'm almost afraid to go into because it's so gross, and a litany of other chores and assorted daily tasks that normal human beings keep up with regularly that have been dying on the back burner for the last month.  So at least now that I don't have to stay up late drinking, cursing, writing, and getting 4 hours of angry sleep I have the opportunity to get reacquainted with the rest of my life.  That's a good thing, I think.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Michael P. of Yankees Fans Unite expressed a passionate take on the first 2 games of the ALCS.  I remember being that pissed after Game 2 too, so I can relate.

- EJ Fagan of TYA had a slightly more positive take on the first 2 games of the ALCS, commenting on the nature of being a Yankee fan and a offering a reminder to be happy that they made the playoffs again and passionate even if they lose.

- On Tuesday, Mike Axisa of RAB, almost always the voice of reason with the 'pen, reiterated the importance of Joe leaning on his best relievers in the ALCS.  Whoops, guess that didn't happen!

- William Tasker of IIATMS listed the reasons Nick Swisher won't be back next season, and the unfortunate role his postseason struggles are playing in making his departure more likely.

- On Wednesday, Marc Normandin of Pinstriped Bible rehashed Phil Hughes' checkered injury history and the role it may be playing in his Major League failure to live up to his Minor League hype.

- SJK of NoMaas was convinced that Joe benching A-Rod for Games 3 and 4 of the ALCS was a personal decision and not a baseball one.

- Alex Pugliese of Yanks Go Yard used the lessons currently being learned from the A-Rod contract as a foundation for an argument against re-signing Robbie Cano to a big deal.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog compared the shenanigans that sprung up in this year's postseason to the old Bronx Zoo teams of the 70s, ultimately concluding that they were still nowhere close to Billy's boys.

- On Thursday, Steve Lombardi of Was Watching asked, when the rumor mill was really swirling, if the Alex Rodriguez Era in pinstripes was worth it.  Even if he doesn't get traded, which he won't, that's a question that is still worth asking.

- Jamie Insalaco of Bomber Banter took a more clever approach than I in pointing out the ridiculousness of the A-Rod media storm this week.

- Bryan Van Dusen of The Greedy Pinstripes attempted to put a bit of a positive spin on the ALCS sweep by pointing out that the Tiger bats didn't exactly blow the Yankees' doors off.  A small consolation to such a one-sided series outcome.

- On Friday, Alphonso of It Is High... weighed in with his personal choices for who should stay and who should go for next season.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud discussed the Yankees' postseason shortcomings and had some statements from Brian Cashman regarding the direction the Yanks will take this coming offseason.

For this week's Friday Jam I'm going with "Rays On Pinion" by Baroness.  This song has such a quietly kickass intro.  It came on my iPod the other night when I was driving home and it made me feel like I was acting out some kind of opening scene of an action movie.  An action movie starring me driving around in a green Honda CR-V, pretty sure nobody would watch that.  Whatever, this song still kicks ass.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

How's That Trade REALLY Looking Now?

(Another strikeout??  I'm shocked.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

A long while back in the summer of 2011 I wrote a short post gloating about the outcome of the '09 3-team trade that netted the Yankees Curtis Granderson.  At the time, Jackson was struggling through a tough second season in the big leagues and Granderson was one of the top offensive players in baseball.  That post, short as it was, is one of the top 10 most viewed posts in AB4AR history, and if you scroll down far enough on the page to see the "Greatest Hits" section, you'll still see it there, in all its glory.  It's one of the most popular posts I've written, and I imagine it's only going to get more popular now that I've used this post to out my stupidity in writing that one.  After last night, there's no doubt who the winner and loser of that trade really was.

2012 ALCS Game 4 Thoughts & Afterthoughts: DET 8 NYY 1

(Courtesy of the AP)

The odds were already stacked way against the Yankees going into yesterday's Game 4.  The likelihood of them winning the ALCS was incredibly low, and the reality of the situation was that even with CC Sabathia on the mound for them in Game 4 the chances of them getting a win to keep the series alive were incredibly low given the way they were playing.  This was a team on its last legs, a team that had nothing left, and yesterday they played like it.  They continued to not hit, setting the stage for all kinds of offseason talk around bringing in new players and re-evaluating their formula for building a lineup, and also added bad fielding and bad pitching to the mix to really make sure there would be no Game 5.

I hate to ever bring up effort in a discussion about a professional sporting event; I always assume that these guys are out there giving it everything they have.  But that Yankee team on the field last night didn't look like a group of guys who even wanted to be there.  The Yankees laid down and died in Game 4, and they probably would have been better off not even showing up.

Swept...

That was awful.  Just awful.  I know there's things I should be happy about this season, but to go out in that fashion is just mind-numbing and incredibly disappointing.  This team found its stride in the final 4 games of the regular season, entered the playoffs looking like they were primed to break out, and they just stopped hitting.  They stopped hitting and never started again, they just got worse.  Credit to the pitchers, but a heaping helping of blame and shame on the Yankee hitters.  Heads are going to roll this offseason.  Count on it.

The 2012 New York Yankees are dead.  Long live the Yankees.

Can Everybody Just Get Off A-Rod's Nuts??

(Really???  Courtesy of the AP)

Seriously. It’s getting out of control. It doesn’t surprise me that it’s A-Rod attracting all this negative attention and drama, because that’s what’s always followed him around his whole career and that’s always been SOP since the day he joined the Yankees and the New York media horde that follows them. What surprises me is how logic has completely gone out the window when talking about A-Rod and his struggles and his future in the organization. It’s almost as if everybody has been sent back through a time warp to 2006-2007 when bagging on A-Rod for anything and everything was the “cool” thing to do and it's absolutely asinine.

Appreciating Russell Martin's Postseason

(Ouch, guy.  Very ouch.  Courtesy of the Daily News)

Lost in all the talk about the sputtering offense, ever-changing lineups, and who Alex Rodriguez is or isn’t talking to in the stands has been the quietly valuable performance of a one Russell Martin. You remember him, right? The guy who spent the majority of the regular season batting below the Mendoza Line and then turned things around enough in September to probably earn himself a new deal with the Yankees next year? It wouldn’t be all that surprising if you had forgotten about him; his .172/.250/.310 tripleslash in the postseason isn’t exactly a resume builder and is more representative of his early-season struggles than his strong finish. But after playing through what is always a grueling regular season for a catcher, Martin has been out there behind the plate for every playoff game, has done a very good job back there, and that is something that should not be discounted.

Rainout Effects On Tonight And Beyond

(Good thing the tarp was out to protect against the rain that wasn't falling.  Courtesy of the AP)

The Yankees have already gotten screwed enough by the scheduling of this year's postseason.  They started the ALDS on the road despite winning their division and having the best record in the American League; they faced a compressed ALCS schedule that could have required them to use a 5th starter.  So I guess it's only fitting to have them lose the one positive thing they still had going for them thanks to last night's rainout.

Personally, I thought it made more sense to start the game, try to get as much in as they could before the rain, and then wait it out and finish late night/early morning.  It would have cost both teams their starters, but with the forecast in Detroit not looking much better tonight or tomorrow, at least they would have had a better chance of getting the game in.  In any case, the Yanks and Tigers will try again tonight, and with CC still the scheduled starter the advantage is still Yankees.  But there are a lot more negatives that came with last night's cancellation than positives.

2012 ALCS Game 4 Preview: The Hour Is Getting Late

It's officially do-or-die time for the New York Yankees.  Their backs are against the wall, there is no tomorrow, and they've got to do the impossible.  They have to take it one game at a time, and overcome the odds, but they're playing with house money tonight so all that's left is to go out and do it.

Did I cover all the cliches for the 0-3 hole the Yanks are in?  Good.  Glad that's out of the way.  In all seriousness, the Yankees are in the best possible situation they could be for a must-win game tonight.  They're got their ace on the mound, they've got their 2 best relief pitchers rested and available for 2 innings apiece if needed, and they've got a lineup that at least showed the ability to battle last night against the best pitcher on the planet.  That doesn't change the fact that a win tonight only guarantees them one more day of must-win-ness, but it's something.

It's as simple as it could possibly be.  The Yankees need to win tonight or their season is over.  No stats needed to support that, no arguments for or against anything, and no looking ahead to the next situation.  Win tonight or it's curtains.

Updated Starting Lineups (4:25PM)-

NYY: 1) Ichiro- LF, 2) Swish- RF, 3) Cano- 2B, 4) Teix- 1B, 5) Ibanez- DH, 6) Chavez- 3B, 7) Martin- C, 8) Gardner- CF, 9) Nunez- SS

DET: 1) Jackson- CF, 2) Infante- 2B, 3) Cabrera- 3B, 4) Fielder- 1B, 5) Young- DH, 6) Peralta- SS, 7) Dirks- LF, 8) Garcia- RF, 9) Laird- C

Pitching Matchup-

CC Sabathia (17.2 IP, 12 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 16 K in 2 postseason starts) vs. Max Scherzer (5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K in 1 postseason start)

This Opposite-Field Hitting Situation Is Bullsh*t

The taking of hittable pitches, the popping up of hittable pitches, the swings and misses at balls way out of the strike zone, the glaring lack of power, and the constant shuffling of bodies is all frustrating enough when you watch the Yankee offense right now.  But to me the most maddening thing has been their continued stubbornness in not adjusting to the Tigers' pitching strategy and failing to take outside pitches the other way.  What is the deal?  Has everybody just gotten that bad at staying back on the ball and taking it to the opposite field?  Has Kevin Long turned every left-handed hitter into a pull-only baseball robot??  I refuse to believe that, but let's go to the numbers:

• Robinson Cano- .420 wOBA in 119 PA hitting to the opposite field in the regular season
• Mark Teixeira- .212 wOBA in 34 PA
• Nick Swisher- .471 wOBA in 59 PA
• Curtis Granderson- .255 wOBA in 82 PA
• Eric Chavez- .408 wOBA in 67 PA
• Raul Ibanez- .266 wOBA in 62 PA

I knew it!  I know for a fact that Chavez hit an opposite field HR against the Tigers in their own park earlier in the year, and I watched Cano hit one over the Green Mawnstah.  Teix has pretty much given up on it, and C-Grand and Raul's numbers aren't pretty, but the other guys can get it done.

It's not like this group doesn't have the ability to go the other way; for whatever reason they're just not doing it in this series.  The Tigers' pitchers have executed their game plan and are just straight up taking the Yankee lefties to school.

2012 ALCS Game 3 Thoughts & Afterthoughts: DET 2 NYY 1

(I feel ya, guys.  Courtesy of the AP)

Justin Verlander is a great pitcher 25 hours a day, 8 days a week.  The Yankee hitters are beyond terrible right now.  On paper this was a decidedly one-sided matchup going into last night's game, and that's what scared me.  The Yankees were dying to score some runs, anyway, anyhow, and they had to face the pitcher who's hardest to score them against.  He wasn't even at his best, like he was in Game 5 of the ALDS when he closed out Oakland, but he was plenty good enough to beat this team and put them on the brink.  Valiant effort by the relief corps backing up an early-exiting Phil Hughes, but an effort that was once again in vain.  The fat lady isn't singing quite yet on the 2012 New York Yankees, but that bitch sure is humming loud.

2012 ALCS Game 3 Preview: Weak And Powerless

I don’t know if it makes me overly pessimistic after only watching 1 game of this series so far, or realistic because of how bad the Yankee offense looked in Game 2, but I admittedly have little faith in this team tonight. The manner in which they carried themselves on Sunday, more than the negative results they produced, was very disconcerting and signaled a dying team. There was no energy, no emotion, no life from a team playing an incredibly important home playoff game, and that doesn’t bode well for the Yankees in the rest of this series. Now the half-empty, boo-filled Yankee Stadium didn’t help matters at all, so maybe a change of scenery will help guys relax, but relaxed or not, facing Justin Verlander tonight is going to be a tough task. Yes, the Yankees have hit him before, but they’ve done that when they’re healthier and swinging the bats much better than they are right now. With the way they’re not hitting and the way Verlander is pitching, a complete game shutout seems like a very realistic possibility tonight.

In the most literal definition, tonight is not a do-or-die game. If the Yankees lose, they still have a chance to run the table and win this series in 7 games. But realistically, a Yankee loss tonight pretty much seals this deal up and in all likelihood ensures that this series doesn’t make it back to New York. If the struggling hitters have just been waiting to make their adjustments at the plate, tonight would be the night to do it.

Updated Starting Lineups (4:20PM)-

NYY: 1) Gardner- LF, 2) Ichiro- RF, 3) Teix- 1B, 4) Cano- 2B, 5) Ibanez- DH, 6) Martin- C, 7) Chavez- 3B, 8) C-Grand- CF, 9) Nunez- SS

DET: 1) Jackson- CF, 2) Berry- LF, 3) Cabrera- 3B, 4) Fielder- 1B, 5) Young- DH, 6) Dirks- RF, 7) Peralta- SS, 8) Avila- C, 9) Infante- 2B

Pitching Matchup-

Phil Hughes (6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K in 1 postseason start) vs. Justin Verlander ( 16 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 22 K in 2 postseason starts)

Fair To Throw Some Blame K-Long's Way?

(Has the hitting doctor lost his touch?)

Kevin Long has done a lot of good things since becoming the Yankees’ hitting coach. He cleaned up Nick Swisher’s swing to help him make more contact, hit for a better average, and maximize the value of his power and pitch recognition skills. He did the same thing to Curtis Granderson’s swing to help him unleash his power potential in his speedy bat and make him a more effective hitter against left-handed pitching. He’s worked with Robinson Cano on pulling inside pitches with power, he did some things with Jorge towards the end of his career, and he’s helped Alex Rodriguez fix his timing and swing mechanics when A-Rod has been off multiple times during his coaching tenure. Sure, not all of his efforts have produced fruitful results (see Derek Jeter’s new swing last season or Teix’s new approach early this season), but overall Long has done a solid job, built a reputation as a coach that players in the clubhouse love working with, and inspired my “Dr. Long” Photoshop character that’s still one of my all-time favorites.

But in light of the offense’s collective disappearance in this postseason, the third straight season that the Yankees have had a playoff slump with the bats, the question is starting to be raised about Long’s future with the club and whether or not he deserves to have the spotlight shined on him for the lack of production from the lineup. It appears as though some of Long’s teachings have turned guys like Granderson and Cano into one-dimensional, dead pull hitters incapable of doing anything even remotely useful with pitches on the outside, and essentially provided opposing pitchers with an easy-to-follow blueprint for how to attack and shut down the Yankee lineup.

Lineup Needs To Be Blown Up For Game 3

(Just sit down, Curtis.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

The offense is fucking up big time in the postseason. They are the primary reason why the Yankees had to go 5 games to beat Baltimore in the division series and why they currently find themselves down 0-2 going on the road against Detroit. There’s no point in trying to say it any other way; these guys, with a few exceptions, have flat out sucked a dick at the plate and wasted what has been a great team pitching performance. The Yankee starting pitchers have allowed just 14 runs in 7 postseason games, a number that even in my wildest dreams I wasn’t expecting them to do, and yet the Yankees are 3-4 in those games. That’s almost hard to fathom given the names and reputations and career numbers in the Yankee clubhouse, but it’s a sobering stone cold fact.

Joe and Kevin Long have stayed consistent with their messages of guys “needing to step up” and needing to “make adjustments up there” to try to turn this around, but it just isn’t happening. The hitters clearly aren’t making adjustments, the small tweaks to the batting order and baserunning strategy are returning little to no dividends, and the clock is starting to count down on the Yankees’ season. At this point, the time for waiting and adjusting is over. The Yankees need a spark, something to try to generate offense where this is none, and it needs to start with a major shakeup of the lineup for Game 3.

The ALCS, Where Bullpen Logic Goes To Die

(Best relief pitcher on the time right now.  Didn't pitch in the biggest spots.  Does not compute.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

It got glossed over by almost everybody after Game 1 because of the 9th-inning drama and Derek Jeter injury in extra innings, and it got glossed over again yesterday thanks to Hiroki Kuroda's outstanding performance, the lineup's non-existent performance, and Jeff Nelson's horrible 8th-inning call, but I can't bite my tongue about it today.  The failure on Joe Girardi and his staff's part to use David Robertson and Rafael Soriano in the 8th and 9th innings of both games in this ALCS is an absolute managerial disgrace of the highest order, and a much bigger contributing factor to the Yankees losses in those games than people realize.

2012 ALCS Game 2 Thoughts & Afterthoughts: DET 3 NYY 0

(Courtesy of the AP)

As big a loss as Derek Jeter's broken ankle was on Saturday night, it didn't have to automatically signal the end for the 2012 New York Yankees.  There is still a lot of talent left on this team, and there is still a starting pitching staff that's throwing the ball as well as they have all year.  Pitching always wins in the postseason, and as long as you can get good pitching you have a chance.  Jeter's injury could have been just the wake up call that the rest of the scuffling offense needed, something for them to build from and pull motivation from and to use as a jumping off point for a turnaround.

Instead, it looks like the moment Jeter broke his ankle in Game 1 was the beginning of the end for the Yankees this season.  They came out yesterday against a perfectly average pitcher in Anibal Sanchez and looked absolutely helpless against him.  There was no spark, no energy from an out-on-their-feet offense, and another brilliant starting pitching performance, this one by Hiroki Kuroda, was wasted by their inability to do anything even remotely productive.  They failed to plate a single run, to even mount a single real scoring chance, and every boo they got yesterday from the Yankee Stadium crowd was well-deserved.

Down to 2-0 and heading to Detroit to face the best pitcher in baseball on Tuesday night.  The lights are slowly being turned out on the Yankees, and it doesn't look like anybody is in a rush to flip the switch.

Looks Like A Good Angle To Me...

At the end of today's game, Craig Sager said something to the effect of "just imagine if the umpires had a look at the same angle that we've gotten to to see."  Yeah, imagine that.

Jeff Nelson had the BEST angle to make that call and he straight up blew it.  Dude even admitted it.  Would it have made a difference in the end?  Impossible to say but probably not with the way this team is hitting.  But that was an unforgivable fuck up by Nelson and just another example of MLB looking like a bunch of assholes for not having a better replay process already in place.

2012 ALCS Game 2 Preview: Falling Away From Them

After the jubilation of Friday night's victory in Game 5 of the ALDS, the Yankees didn't have much time to celebrate.  They had to shift their focus to the Detroit Tigers, their opponent for the ALCS, and start working out some of their offensive kinks if they wanted to have a chance at winning this series.  Andy Pettitte took the ball last night and pitched pretty well, but another double dose of offensive futility and some absolutely abysmal bullpen management by Joe combined to waste Andy's start and put the team in a 4-0 hole heading into the 9th inning.  Some A+ drama sparked by 2 2-run homers off the bats of Ichiro and Raul Ibanez (who else?) tied the game, but only really delayed the inevitable as the Yanks ended up losing 6-4 in extras and losing even bigger when Derek Jeter broke his left ankle.  There's a lot to recover from heading into tonight's game, but the Yankees have to make the recovery and have to wake the fuck up offensively.  Going down 2-0 heading into Detroit would make this series damn near over already.

Starting Lineups-

NYY: 1) Ichiro- LF, 2) Cano- 2B, 3) Teix- 1B, 4) Ibanez- DH, 5) Martin- C, 6) A-Rod- 3B, 7) C-Grand- CF, 8) Swish- RF, 9) Nix- SS

DET: 1) Jackson- CF, 2) Berry- LF, 3) Cabrera- 3B, 4) Fielder- 1B, 5) Young- DH, 6) Dirks- RF, 7) Peralta- SS, 8) Avila- C, 9) Infante- 2B

Pitching Matchup-

Hiroki Kuroda (8.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K in 1 postseason start) vs. Anibal Sanchez (6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K in 1 postseason start)

Why Does This Sh*t Always Happen When I Go To Weddings?

Seriously, that's not even meant to be a humorous question.  There have been four instances this year where I've had to take days off from the blog for wedding-related activities, and every single time something out of the ordinary happened.

My one buddy's bachelor party on April 21st was the amazing 15-9 comeback win against the Fraud Sawx, and his wedding on June 2nd was the 4-3 loss to the Tigers when Joe and Kevin Long got run by Bob Davidson.   My other buddy's bachelor party on September 22nd was the crazy 14-inning win against Oakland that started the almost month-long Raul Ibanez Clutch Hit Party, and his wedding last night was Game 1 of the ALCS, where the Yanks showed nothing on offense again only to make a dramatic 4-run comeback in the 9th to tie the game only to lose in extras.  Oh, and Derek Jeter, the most consistent player in the lineup right now, broke his ankle and is out for the rest of the year.

Maybe I should just start being a huge dick to everybody so I don't get invited to any more weddings.  I always end up missing out on great games and great blogging material.  Game 2 preview coming up shortly...

Saturday Morning Food For Thought: A-Rod vs. The Tigers

No time to look back tonight, as much as I'd like to gush about how absolutely dirty CC Sabathia is.  Game of the ALCS is tonight, and the biggest question surrounding the Yankees will continue to be how they plan to use Alex Rodriguez.  He's been absolute crap against righties (0-12 w/ 9 Ks in the DS), and the Tigers will roll out 4 righties in this series.  A-Rod's career numbers against each are as follows:

- Vs. Doug Fister: 1-5, 1 BB, 1 K

- Vs. Anibal Sanchez: 0-3

- Vs. Justin Verlander: 8-24, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 4 BB, 3 K

- Vs. Max Scherzer: 1-10, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K

Not exactly inspiring numbers, although he has been very good against Verlander.  My guess is Joe keep A-Rod out tonight, and if Chavez does nothing against Fister we will see A-Rod back for Games 2 and 3 against Anibal Sanchez and his lack of postseason experience and Verlander and A-Rod's familiarity and positive track record against him.

Still An Ace...



2012 ALDS Game 5 Preview: The End Or The Beginning

And this is exactly what I hoped wouldn't happen so that I wouldn't have to write this as my Game 5 preview.  The personal commitments I alluded to yesterday are a wedding that I'm in this Saturday.  And while that's a beautiful thing and an honor to be a part of and all of that stuff, it still royally screws up my plans to watch and write about the most important thing in the world every October, Yankee playoff baseball.  Rehearsal and rehearsal dinner is tonight, and the wedding itself is its typical all day/all night affair on Saturday, so at best I'm going to get to watch the first half of tonight's game, miss the end, and if the Yankees do advance I'll also miss Game 1 of the ALCS.

As for that whole "advancing" thing, what do you really say about this team?  If you would have said before Game 1 that the Yankee starters would combine to allow just 8 ER in 30.2 combined IP, that should have worked out to a slam dunk 3-1 series victory.  And if anybody in the lineup not named Derek Jeter or Mark Teixeira would have shown up in this series that's exactly what would have happened.  But the station-to-station problems and RISP Fail that plagued the offense all season has been kind enough to stick around for the playoffs, and now it all comes down to tonight.

Updated Starting Lineups (2:30PM)-

NYY: 1) Jeter- SS, 2) Ichiro- LF, 3) Cano- 2B, 4) Teix- 1B, 5) Ibanez- DH, 6) Swish- RF, 7) C-Grand- CF, 8) Martin- C, 9) Chavez- 3B

BAL: 1) McLouth- LF, 2) Hardy- SS, 3) Jones- CF, 4) Davis- RF, 5) Wieters- C, 6) Machado- 3B, 7) Mark Reynolds- 1B, 8) Ford- DH, 9) Andino- 2B

Pitching Matchup-

CC Sabathia (8.2 IP, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K in Game 1) vs. Jason Hammel (5.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K in Game 1)

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 10/12

Sorry for the short intro this week. Everything I could possibly say here has already been said in my other series-related posts this week. The Yankees need to win tonight and they damn well better or I’m going to be really pissed about not at least being able to see the final game of the season.

- On Monday, Jimmy Kraft of Yanks Go Yard looked back at past performances to show how CC has been very ace-like in his Yankee postseason career.

- Mark Duggan of Pinstriped Bible broke down Russell Martin's brilliant defensive 5th inning in Game 1.  Russ probably earned himself a new deal next season with that performance.

- Brien Jackson of IIATMS, after A-Rod's slow start to the ALDS, asked how long a leash A-Rod should have been given before Joe moved him in the batting order.  We got our answer on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

- On Tuesday, Domenic Lanza of TYA compiled and presented the staff MLB and Yankee award selections for the 2012 season.  I went off the board with Teix as my biggest disappointment.

- Another one from the Pinstriped Bible team on Wednesday, when Bill Parker compared Robinson Cano's career performance against some great second baseman to try to project Cano's future and value of his next contract.

- Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily made a point to remind everybody that this year's playoff format is absolute dogmess.  Because somebody has to keep saying it.

- On Thursday, Mike Axisa of RAB put a nice little bow on the A-Rod pinch hitting story by discussing it as the beginning of A-Rod's end, echoing the sentiments I had after the game.

- Brian D. of Yankees Fans Unite dished a harsh dose of perspective and reality to people who were ragging on A-Rod for his performance.  It is important to remember that most 37-year-olds aren't 30/30 guys anymore.

- William Juliano of The Captain's Blog analyzed Joe's decision to pinch hit Ibanez for A-Rod in Game 3 and similar decisions he's had to make managing an older team.

- SJK of NoMaas took a more positive look at the events that unfolded in Game 3 and punctuated Raul Ibanez's introduction into Yankee immortality with another great Photoshop.

- Alex Belth of Bronx Banter posted his frustrated take on Game 4 last last night.  It's worth reading based on the title of the post alone.

No Friday Jam today.  Song will be covered in the Game 5 preview.

Enjoy your weekends, everybody.  Hopefully it includes a couple of ALCS games.

2012 ALDS Game 4 Thoughts & Afterthoughts: BAL 2 NYY 1

(Way to look alive, guys!  Courtesy of Getty Images)

The emotional high that everybody was surely riding from Wednesday night through yesterday afternoon was immediately grounded with the news coming out that Joe Girardi's father had passed away.  Things become even more somber when it was reported that Joe's dad actually died on Saturday, and that Joe had kept it quiet until an obituary was posted in a local paper earlier today.  Knowing that Joe has gone through the emotional ups and downs with his team through the first 3 games of this series while dealing with his father's passing makes the job he has done even more impressive, and puts an "emotional" decision like whether or not to pinch hit for Alex Rodriguez in the proper context.

Another thing that this sad news did was give the Yankees another reason to go out and get a win last night.  It wasn't as if they were already lacking motivation with a trip back to the ALCS on the line, but to be able to do it for their manager, as a tribute to him and his dad, is the type of stuff Hollywood writers used to come up with before they all ran out of ideas.  If there was a "let's win this one for Joe" speech given in the locker room, odds are it came from the mouth of Derek Jeter, who despite being limited to DH duties because of his bruised foot wasn't missing this game for his life.

Emotions were high, there was a lot at stake, and the Yankees held the advantage going into the game again.  Everything should have added up to a win and a series victory.  Instead, last night ended up being one of those textbook deflating losses where everybody swinging a bat just didn't show up.