Holy Cow!! A-Rod comes through in the playoffs

zybar · « **on:** 10 Oct 2009, 01:39 am »

He had a good first game, but a GREAT second game!!

He has driven in all three Yankee runs tonight and now has 5 RBI's in two games.

Off to extra innings...

George

MarkM · « **Reply #1 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 02:42 am »

You could see the Twins closer melting under the pressure....

shirtaspants · « **Reply #2 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 03:22 am »

Nathan's been weird this year like that. Letting a guy or two through before shutting the door. He's still set the Twins all-time saves record this year, lest anyone forget.

He's "melted under the pressure" the exact same way when he's saved a bunch of games, or won his own blown saves, this past month or two.

I have to rant a bit. TBS' coverage is flat out disgraceful. Blatant Yankees favoritism, total lack of information on the Twins, no balanced coverage at all. It's disgusting how national media acts like any "small-market" team should be so thankful for the mere opportunity to compete against God Himself. How blatantly happy they are when the Yankees do well, how they talk about almost any situation from the Yankees point of view, how they act like when the Yankees are down, they're actually tied, and when the Yankees are tied, its like they're winning. I can't even begin to elaborate more I'm so angry right now.

Anyone not from the Northeast who's had to deal with regional bias by any national media knows exactly what I'm talking about.

For reference, I grew up in CT a quasi-Yankee fan.

droht · « **Reply #3 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 03:44 am »

I think TBS just sucks in general, especially the broadcast team with Ron Darling. I'm an east coast Dodgers fan, so no love for the pinstripes here, but I think the bias thing is overdone. There is a bias, but in large part it exists because the Yanks and RedSox have a disproportionate # of fans.

A-Rod was impressive tonight for sure. Maybe the juice makes you choke in the post-season. Check Barry's career #s as an example. Now A-Rod is clean and he's raking in October. Not sure how ManRam fits into this model though. Maybe he'll get hot and carry the Dodgers to the Series...

Nathan has great #s, but he looks like he's going to get sick on the mound in these situations. I didn't seem him pitch during the regular season as a comparison, but the twitching, fidgeting and lip-flapping exhales are kind of odd. Maybe it is a case of too much HD content.

shirtaspants · « **Reply #4 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 04:00 am »

It seems more like they don't do their research and rely on knowing the BoSox/Yankees by heart. Combine that with a general disdain for small market flyover country and yeah, grr.

Maybe its because we're blessed with outstanding Emmy-winning regional Twins coverage that knows and respects the opponent all the time, but yeah, I guess my standards are high.

I hate to admit that A-Rod was on fire, but he was.

zybar · « **Reply #5 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 04:07 am »

Quote from: shirtaspants on 10 Oct 2009, 04:00 am

It seems more like they don't do their research and rely on knowing the BoSox/Yankees by heart. Combine that with a general disdain for small market flyover country and yeah, grr.

Maybe its because we're blessed with outstanding Emmy-winning regional Twins coverage that knows and respects the opponent all the time, but yeah, I guess my standards are high.

I hate to admit that A-Rod was on fire, but he was.

You are spot on about TBS, but as a Yankees fan who has pretty much watched every game, I can tell you they know jack about the Yanks as well.

To be fair, it is impossible for any national broadcasting team to know a team the way the local broadcasting team does. The local broadcasters spends 6+ months with the team, while the national team parachutes in and out. Even excellent baseball people like Joe Buck, Bob Costas, andTim McCarver can look silly and ill informed when compared to the locals.

BTW, the Twins played a great game tonight and while I am not sorry that the Yankees won, I am sorry that the outcome was impacted by a pretty terrible call. I know umps are human and make errors, but they add two more to try and avoid what happened tonight.

See you on Sunday.

George

macrojack · « **Reply #6 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 04:16 am »

I don't get the closer thing. A Twins pitcher sat Jeeter, Posada and Damon down in order in the 8th inning. Since he's obviously "on" why not stick with him into the 9th? It seems too kneejerk to me that they automatically call in the closer not knowing if he's going to have success when there is a fresh arm available who has just shown you what he's got.

So what's it going to be? Yankees and Phillies?

shirtaspants · « **Reply #7 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 05:02 am »

Quote from: macrojack on 10 Oct 2009, 04:16 am

I don't get the closer thing. A Twins pitcher sat Jeeter, Posada and Damon down in order in the 8th inning. Since he's obviously "on" why not stick with him into the 9th? It seems too kneejerk to me that they automatically call in the closer not knowing if he's going to have success when there is a fresh arm available who has just shown you what he's got.

Because that's their roles. Guerrier is setup, Nathan closes. There have been many instances where Guerrier has given up some and Nathan comes in early in the 8th to fix things up, too. Overall they're both pretty good as a duo.

Nathan's a **** All-Star. He had a particularly poor performance this game, but everyone does. Generally he's sick.

zybar · « **Reply #8 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 12:02 pm »

Quote from: shirtaspants on 10 Oct 2009, 05:02 am

Quote from: macrojack on 10 Oct 2009, 04:16 am
I don't get the closer thing. A Twins pitcher sat Jeeter, Posada and Damon down in order in the 8th inning. Since he's obviously "on" why not stick with him into the 9th? It seems too kneejerk to me that they automatically call in the closer not knowing if he's going to have success when there is a fresh arm available who has just shown you what he's got.

Because that's their roles. Guerrier is setup, Nathan closes. There have been many instances where Guerrier has given up some and Nathan comes in early in the 8th to fix things up, too. Overall they're both pretty good as a duo.

Nathan's a **** All-Star. He had a particularly poor performance this game, but everyone does. Generally he's sick.

Nathan is indeed an All-Star, but his track record in the playoffs is very poor.

Here are his postseason stats:

- 7 games pitched
- over 7.1 innings, he has allowed 7 runs
- his ERA is 8.59
- his record is 0-2

He also has similar stats in his three All-Star appearances.

One can't help but come to the conclusion that he simply can't handle the pressure.

George

macrojack · « **Reply #9 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 12:45 pm »

I understand the philosophy behind the closer and what the roles are of various pitchers. These are, however, roles, not rules. In order to avoid going down by two games in a best of five, you got to go with whatever will get the job done. If you guys know that Nathan has bad history in pressure situations, and the screen is showing a graphic indicating that Texiera has gone 6 for 10, A-rod 6 for 12 against Nathan, Scoisia should know that too. Why not stay with Gurrier and get the job done since he has it working? You can always go to Nathan after an out or two if it isn't working.

I just think the automatic practice of bringing your closer in no matter what is misguided.

Wayner · « **Reply #10 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 12:48 pm »

What bothers me is that MLB asked the Yankees what day they wanted to play on the first day (after the Twins 163 game over the Tigers). Of course they wanted to play on Wednesday, because that way, the Twins wouldn't have gotten any sleep. This should have been a decision made by the commissioner, and the first game should have been on Thursday. More money and power.

Anyway, I'll laugh all winter if the lowly 1/5 the cost Twins dash the hopes of the Yanks.

Wayner

zybar · « **Reply #11 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 12:56 pm »

Quote from: Wayner on 10 Oct 2009, 12:48 pm

What bothers me is that MLB asked the Yankees what day they wanted to play on the first day (after the Twins 163 game over the Tigers). Of course they wanted to play on Wednesday, because that way, the Twins wouldn't have gotten any sleep. This should have been a decision made by the commissioner, and the first game should have been on Thursday. More money and power.

Anyway, I'll laugh all winter if the lowly 1/5 the cost Twins dash the hopes of the Yanks.

Wayner

Stop whining about the decision to play on Wednesday. The Yankees didn't select Wednesday because the Twins played Detroit on Tuesday and would be tired...the Yankees selected Wednesday so that they had a day of rest between games and would only need three starters in the series and could use their superior bullpen each day.

The Yankees earned the right to decide when they played by having the best record in baseball. You absolutely should get some type of advantge for proving to be the best over a 162 game season. It is in the rules and everybody knows that coming into the season - it's not like it was made up at the last minute!

If the Twins didn't want to be tired for the first game, they should have won their division sooner and not needed an extra game to secure it.

You won't be laughing...

George

Wayner · « **Reply #12 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 01:01 pm »

David slew Goliath.

Wayner aa

macrojack · « **Reply #13 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 02:23 pm »

Wayner - David and Goliath are fiction. The Yankees are looking very real.
It is hard to imagine the upstart Angels taking them down. And the Dead Sox seem to be on life support.

St Louis has dug themselves a hole and the Rockies, much as I love them, look badly overmatched. So it looks to me like the Yankees and either Philly or Torre.

droht · « **Reply #14 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 02:47 pm »

Regarding the scheduling thing, I thought they should have played the playoff game in Detroit on Monday. Otherwise, theoretically at least, Detroit would have been penalized (if they had won) by being forced to play the decider on Tuesday and game 1 on Wednesday because Minnesota didn't have a place to play. Maybe they should not book dual use stadiums on days when a playoff game could potentially occur. Just a thought.

I am shocked to see the Sox down 2-0, but frankly, after the Dodger game on Thursday and the Yanks last night I haven't even considered watching that series. No excitement for me.

It would be great to see the Dodgers and Torre vs the Yankees. I'm afraid my team would get crushed by The Empire, but that's how it goes sometimes. Yanks v. Phils is probably more competitive, with potential for some real offensive fireworks.

Wayner · « **Reply #15 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 02:57 pm »

It also helps to have dirty umps. Mauer's foul ball was clearly a fair ball. Also Wednesday's strike zone favored the Yanks. I think they (umps) are afraid to call strikes on the Yanks, but call chin high strikes on the Twins.

David and Goliath are not fiction. I don't piss all over your religion (or lack thereof).

Wayner

sts9fan · « **Reply #16 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 03:50 pm »

Nathan had fear in his eyes. I never had a doubt of the outcome of that game.

hmen · « **Reply #17 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 04:44 pm »

The Yankees have owned Nathan for quite a while.

zybar · « **Reply #18 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 05:11 pm »

Quote from: Wayner on 10 Oct 2009, 02:57 pm

It also helps to have dirty umps. Mauer's foul ball was clearly a fair ball. Also Wednesday's strike zone favored the Yanks. I think they (umps) are afraid to call strikes on the Yanks, but call chin high strikes on the Twins.

David and Goliath are not fiction. I don't piss all over your religion (or lack thereof).

Wayner

Dirty umps?? Easy there Mulder. There are plenty of other websites where you can talk silly conspiracy theories.

The strike zone was consistently called across the first two games, there was no favoritism for the Yankees.

Yes, the left field ump made a terrible call. Nobody (including the umpires) is debating that or shying away from it. Even after the bad call, the Twins had based loaded and nobody out and didn't score. They also left 17 men on base and had some bad base running. That is why the Twins lost, not the umpiring.

George

Wayner · « **Reply #19 on:** 10 Oct 2009, 05:15 pm »

My name is Wayner, not Molder. You need a little respect for your fellow ACr's.

Wayner