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No one knows their teams better than New York City sports fans, and WCBSTV.com Senior Producer Jeff Capellini has bled Jets green, Yankees pinstripes, and Islanders orange and blue since the day he stepped foot on this green earth. He's here to share his questions, comments, and concerns about the teams he loves dearly in his sports blog, "The Green Lantern."
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For whatever reason, Mark Teixeira has looked like a shell of himself at the plate during the postseason.
Maybe he's over anxious. Yeah, that has to be it.
But the cold, hard truth is every player not named Derek Jeter is a bit nervous at this time of the year. Players squeeze the bat a little tighter than usual. They get visions of Reggie Jackson in their heads. They so desperately want to be the guy who delivers the biggest of blows when it matters most.
The Yankees need Teixeira to be the guy who turns that desire into production.
And they need it now.
The Yankees remain 27 outs from world championship No. 27. Teixeira more than did his share during the regular season to get the Bombers to the AL East crown, hitting .292 with an AL co-leading 39 home runs, and 122 RBIs.
But he hasn't even looked ordinary in the playoffs. Granted, his defense contines to be impeccable. He's a vacuum out there, a bona fide Hoover dressed in pinstripes. You certainly can't put a pricetag on good glove work, but he was brought here to be an offensive triple threat -- power, run production and on-base percentage -- and not just against Kansas City or Baltimore.
The time has most certainly come for this AL MVP candidate to start acting like it in the postseason. His numbers are putrid -- a .172 average with 2 homers, 7 RBIs and 16 strikeouts in 14 playoff games.
And that's the good part, for his World Series stats are even worse, with just 2 hits in 19 at-bats. The good news is he homered off Pedro Martinez, the Phillies' Game 6 starter, back in Game 2. Another perfectly timed poke on Wednesday could do a lot more than shake him from his doldrums.
It could catapult the Yankees to the Canyon of Heroes.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi on Tuesday tried to explain away Teixeira's problems, saying the Twins, Angels and now Phillies have done a great job at busting Teixeira inside with hard stuff and then floating junk away.
For his part, Teixeira has not taken the excuse superhighway. He went on and on Tuesday about how his teammates have done a great job of picking him up and how all the extra off days have messed around a bit with his rhythm.
Well, soon the Yankees will have plenty of off days, and odds are he won't be able to rely on his teammates for support while he spends some of his $180 million, so maybe it's a good idea that he start making things happen on Wednesday, or, if need be, Thursday in the one-game cage match for the strap.
In truth, the Yankees as a team are not hitting all that well as their collective .257 average in the series illustrates, but that's to be expected in October and November. The two best teams in baseball get together for a reason and part of that is because each knows how to get a star like Teixeira out.
But right now he has to become more than just a stellar defensive player, more than just "protection" for Alex Rodriguez.
The situation demands it.
Right now, Teixeira is avoiding the A-Rod-type treatment from the media. Maybe it's because he's a really nice guy who says all the right things, has never admitted using performance enhancing drugs or been seen scurrying to and from nightclubs with buxom blondes.
But that gentlemanly treatment will go by the wayside if the Yankees somehow blow this series without so much as a big night or two from Teixeira.
It's a mathematical certainty.
A message needs to be sent soon.
Or Teixeira could find himself trying to dial long distance with no bars.
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If Andy Pettitte is reading this blog right now the Yankees are in serious trouble.
He should be locked away inside a hyperbaric chamber somewhere because he has one of the biggest starts of his life coming up in a hurry.
And from the looks of him he's not ready. Of course, my inner dread and fear could be what's really at play here. If you look at Pettitte's career statistics on short rest he is without a doubt a fine option for Game 6.
But, again, he's facing the Phillies, who have the ability to score runs in bunches. They have Chase Utley, who could win the MVP even if the Phillies lose in six games. They have Ryan Howard, who despite all his struggles you have to figure will eventually deliver some kind of devastating blow.
On three days' rest in his career, Pettitte is 4-6 with a 4.15 ERA in 14 regular-season starts. However, the veteran lefty seems to ratchet up the intensity and block out the fatigue in the postseason as he's 3-1 with a 2.80 ERA in five starts on short rest.
But make no mistake, Pettitte was gassed following his Game 3 win in Philadelphia. He had to work for everything he got. The first few innings were especially taxing as the Phillies jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the second. He didn't look comfortable out there on the Citizens Bank Park mound, like he had on a uniform two sizes too small.
In all, on full rest mind you, Pettitte threw 104 pitches -- 59 for strikes -- in his six innings. Not great, but it got the job done.
Pettitte isn't going to blow anyone away. He relies on location and getting ahead in the count. Unlike a sinker or junk-ball pitcher, less rest can be a benefit because you can get more downward movement on the ball. Pettitte's style demands that he hit his spots. On short rest there's no way to really know if his fastball won't float, if his slider won't slide.
It may end up being chuck-and-duck time. You'll know when you see those eyes under the bill of his cap, his glove enveloping his face like Hannibal Lecter's mask.
The difference between a nice six-game Series win and a you-never-know-what-can-happen deciding seventh game rests on one fatigued 37-year-old left arm. It also may be the key to avoiding an offseason of Joe Girardi having to answer a billion questions about short rest and three-man postseason rotations.
It's not panic time by any means, but if you aren't a little nervous you're probably not human.
From where I am standing -- and shaking uncontrollably -- I believe the best case scenario on Wednesday is Pettitte goes five innings and limits the damage. It's time to lower the standards for a quality start. Usually it's six innings and three runs, which Pettitte did not accomplish in his Game 3 win.
I'd settle for five innings and three runs in a heartbeat on Wednesday.
Unlike A.J. Burnett, who proved beyond any doubt on Monday that he's just not a guy you can hitch your wagons to on short rest, Pettitte is a true war horse, someone you know will go down swinging, even if he doesn't have his best stuff.
Odds are Andy will not have anything close to his best stuff in Game 6, but at the same time you have to figure his performance won't warrant forgiveness from the fans.
"Big Game Andy" always seems to find a way to give his team a chance to win.
So whatever he does have Wednesday should be enough to keep the Yankees out of the Game 7, winner-take-all conversation for at least half the game.
Which will be fine by me and everyone else in Yankees Universe.
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Imagine if you will A.J. Burnett going out there in Game 5 and outdueling Cliff Lee.
Not only would the Yankees have their 27th world championship and New York City yet another day of revelry along the Canyon of Heroes, Burnett would likely be your World Series MVP.
How's that for irony?
We all know Burnett's dossier. When he's on he's amazing. When he's off he's just another extremely overpaid professional athlete. Yankees fans expected a lot more of the former than the latter this season, but were for the most part extremely disappointed. Signing Burnett seemed like something out of the 1980s. You know how it goes -- big name, big money, little return, later remembered in the same vain as Ed Whitson ... that sort of thing.
But Burnett seems to have some magic in that powerful right arm right now. He was utterly devastating in Game 2 and likely saved the Yankees' season with his seven-inning, one-run performance. While to some it appeared to come out of left field, the truth is an effort like that was just waiting to go public. We all knew he had it in him. He's shown it before. He just didn't show it enough from April through the first two rounds of the postseason for anyone in the Universe to be convinced it would ever make an appearance again.
Well, despite the fact that the fanbase can't be blamed for assuming the worst with this guy, he proved everyone wrong.
Now it's time for him to do it again -- on just three days' rest against a pitcher in Lee who is performing on an entirely different level right now, and against a lineup that can explode at any given moment.
For my money, Johnny Damon is the World Series MVP right now. Despite a so-so .294 average in the World Series -- .254 in the entire playoffs -- Damon had the biggest hit of Game 3 and his at-bat and subsequent base running in the top of the 9th inning of Game 4 on Sunday will be talked about in Yankees circles for the rest of time.
But Burnett has a chance to etch his name right up there with the greatest big-game pitchers in Bombers postseason history with his effort on Monday. If he is better than Lee and the Yankees clinch the title, it will be nearly impossible, in my opinion, to overlook him for the MVP.
More importantly, Burnett will finally become a Yankee. You need a title to be part of the club. Without one, you're just renting the uniform. There's only four true pinstripers on this roster and we all know who they are. Burnett's right arm may very well hold the key to guys like Damon, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, etc., finally earning their respective places in the land of Yankees immortality.
To do it will be no easy task. Lee was absolutely scintillating in Game 1, hurling a six-hitter with 10 strikeouts in the Phillies' 6-1 win. Right now, the Lee trade -- him coming over from Cleveland prior to the deadline -- is one of the best in baseball history, regardless if the Phillies come all the way back to win this thing or not.
He's that good and his presence on the mound makes Philly a totally different team.
So, even though Burnett shouldn't really worry about what Lee is doing, he sort of has to. Burnett must pitch to the scoreboard. He must figure out a way to prevent the Phillies from establishing any momentum. He has to keep Ryan Howard guessing up there, further the slugger's run toward automatic induction into the postseason Hall of Shame. He has to contain Chase Utley, who may try to mistake him for CC Sabathia.
The key for Burnett is two-fold. He has to throw strike one like he did in Game 2. He was ahead of just about everyone. Secondly, he has to hope that curveball/slider combination, which was so deadly in his last outing, shows up again. I'm not sure if we can demand greatness on three days' rest from Burnett, but if he can somehow keep this thing close into the late innings he will have more than done his job. And regardless if he gets the win in a Yankees victory, he will be most valuable to everyone who calls the Bombers their team.
A lot has been said of Charlie Manuel's decision to not pitch Lee on three days' rest in Game 4 against Sabathia, a move that backfired badly and may have sunk the Phillies' chances. I said it would back when I first heard about it. On Sunday night at the postgame press conference a clearly annoyed Manuel snapped a bit when asked about it, adding he wouldn't have started Lee even if the left-hander had begged him.
Does that make Manuel a bad manager? Not right now, but if his ace on full rest is somehow outpitched by Burnett on short rest how will that make him look?
Besides becoming a first-time world champion and forever being enshrined as a true member of the Yankee empire, Burnett can and should do one more thing if he's victorious on Monday night.
In the postgame interview with Fox or Yes or anyone else who wants his first words upon becoming an immortal, he should, in no particular order, thank George Steinbrenner, his teammates and the fans.
And then he should pie himself.
Because he will have most definitely earned it.
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Rex Ryan insists the 2009 Jets are a good football team.
You just have to wonder if he honestly believes that. If he does, well, maybe he needs Jet therapy more than I do.
The main reason why Ryan's team is average at best is because it never puts together a total team effort against a good opponent.
To the credit of most of Jets Nation, I didn't sense any overconfidence from the fans heading into Sunday's game against Miami on the heels of last week's 38-0 win over the hapless Raiders. I think while we were all happy with that win, and we didn't have any delusions of grandeur.
I would hope, at this point, the vast majority of us would know better.
These Jets, like countless Gang Green teams before them, simply suffer too many breakdowns on a weekly basis to ever warrant being a favorite in a game, let alone a team one can just assume will get the job done.
One week Mark Sanchez looks like the rookie he is and then, like against the Dolphins, he looks like veteran he's not. One week the defense is the true model of the Baltimore Ravens. The next it's barely good enough to stop a college team.
But the one aspect of the Jets that I thought I'd never see lay an egg is the special teams. Yet during Sunday's 30-25 loss that unit didn't just struggle, it was an abomination. One would never expect a Mike Westhoff-coached unit to play that poorly.
On a day where Sanchez threw for 265 yards with two TDs with out an interception and the defense rendered the stupid "Wildcat" offense clawless, the Jets' specials allowed not just a 100-yard kickoff return, but also a 101-yard kickoff return.
To quote myself, you simply cannot make it up.
Ted Ginn Jr. had lost his No. 1 receiver spot, but thanks to the Jets having no one other than kicker Jay Feely who could make a tackle, Ginn is now once again the toast of Miami. Ginn embarrassed the big-talk, no-spine "Titans."
And while I'm at it, I've had enough of the throw-back uniforms; not because they aren't nice, but because no matter what colors you dress the Jets up in they don't hide the fact that this is still the same sorry team.
I cannot believe I'm saying this, but the truth is I'm running out of superlatives to use to describe this team on a weekly basis. No joke. What more can I possibly say that hasn't been rehashed by every media type in New York for the last four decades?
It's the same thing week after week. The only thing that changes is the manner in which the Jets let their fans down.
I've called their losing ways an art form. But I'm not even sure anymore if that does it justice.
We know they are the Same Old Jets, as much as we all tried to avoid saying those words through the first seven weeks. Now at the midpoint and with the team entering its bye, there's really no reason to believe this season will end any differently than the previous 40.
Maybe the Jets sneak into the playoffs, but to what end?
I'd love to say Just End The Season and move on to meaningful NHL discussion, but all that will do is give my wife another reason to badger me about yardwork.
If nothing else, you'd think the Jets would just give us something positive to focus on going forward, even if it's not a run at a playoff spot.
But even that could be asking too much.
So, be prepared for 8-8 or worse and deal with it.
It shouldn't be too hard.
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Through two games the pitchers have ruled this World Series.
But that should change on Saturday.
Citizens Bank Park may be more of a home run hitter's park than the new launching pad in the Bronx -- and that's saying something. Balls have a tendency to fly out of that place. The question is: what will Andy Pettitte and Cole Hamels do in Game 3 to prevent a potential onslaught?
Often, when a series is touted as being a slugfest before even a single pitch has been thrown, as was the case this time around, it doesn't live up to the hype. Cliff Lee made sure of that in Game 1 and, shockingly, A.J. Burnett followed suit in Game 2. CC Sabathia and Pedro Martinez weren't too shabby either.
Bot now we've got Hamels, who was largely unspectacular during the regular season at 10-11 with a 4.32 ERA and has followed that up by going 1-1 with a 6.97 ERA in three postseason starts against the likes of the Rockies and Dodgers, teams that don't hold a candle to the Yankees offensively. This has come one year after Hamels was unbelievable in helping the Phillies to their first World Series crown since 1980.
What happened to this guy?
As far as I am concerned, the Yankees have the edge here. Pettitte, also known as "Big Game Andy," has quieted many of the naysayers who took him to task for going from being a great postseason pitcher to start his career to a guy you get nervous about now that he's come toward the end. The 37-year-old southpaw went 2-0 with a 2.37 ERA in three starts during the first two rounds. Odds are, with the way he's throwing the ball right now, he'll also silence those who point to his 3-4 mark in 11 career World Series starts as a sign that he's not what he once was.
Advantage: Yankees.
Both of these left-handers rely on precision because neither will blow opposing hitters away. Considering how each has performed so far this postseason, the respective lineups they will face and the stadium they will pitch in on Saturday, you have to like the Yankees' chances over the first six or seven innings.
Personally, I've never liked Hamels because of what he said about the Mets being "chokers" during their late-season collapses in 2007 and 2008. Granted, the Mets did blow huge divisional leads only to end up watching the playoffs from home, but Hamels should've kept his mouth shut. To borrow a familiar adage from the NFL, he should've acted like he's been to the end zone before. Maybe because Philadelphia is town filled with mostly disgruntled souls who always have something to say he just adapted to his surroundings.
Either way, I view Saturday night's game as the perfect stage for the "Bronx Bombers" to finally make an appearance in this series. I also think Alex Rodriguez will finally get his act in gear and show that he's not only the best regular season player in baseball, but also that his stellar first two rounds of this year's playoffs were indeed no fluke.
A-Rod is 0-for-8 with six strikeouts so far against the Phillies. But why do I think he's going to put a dent in some left field seats at Citizens Bank? Saturday's game is huge for this guy. He pulls another o-for and the sharks will be out for blood. For the record, A-Rod is 0-for-4 lifetime against Hamels. Take that however you like.
Looking ahead, I think Charlie Manuel isn't truly serious about starting Joe Blanton in Game 4. If the Phillies lose on Saturday, Manuel will cave and start Cliff Lee on short rest against Sabathia. If he doesn't, and the Yankees send the big man out there up 2-1, well, this series may not end up as the classic we all figured it to be. Lee should be starting, period. Imagine the hysteria in Philly on Monday if the hometown team is up 3-1, with its ace having beaten Sabathia twice.
I'm calling your bluff, Charlie. Your team isn't that good.
Believe me when I say I'm impressed with the Phillies, but Burnett showed Thursday that any pitcher on any given day can shut down even the most explosive of lineups. Lee did the same in Game 1, but all things being equal Burnett is not Lee on even his best day.
And right now Hamels isn't Pettitte.
Just like a hoagie isn't a hero.
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At some point in the next week or so, Alex Rodriguez is going to wreck the World Series.
I just have no idea which team will be left in pieces.
Through two games of this year's Fall Classic A-Rod has looked like the clueless lost cause he's been in postseasons' past.
However, I think it's just a passing phase. Nobody plays as well as this guy did for two rounds and then totally breaks down.
Not even A-Rod ... I think.
His 0-for-8, six-strikeout performance over the first two games had more to do with the fact that the Phillies' Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez were stellar. They were especially locked in against A-Rod, despite his lifetime .300 average (21-for-70) against the duo in the regular season. But that stat is quite misleading because of A-Rod's hits only five have been for extra bases and he only has 10 RBIs.
So, in other words, Lee and Martinez know how to contain him. I think anyone would sign up for allowing A-Rod just 16 singles in 65 at-bats.
Now, things should get even more interesting -- or dire depending on how you look at it -- on Saturday when Rodriguez faces Cole Hamels. A-Rod is 0-for-4 lifetime against the crafty left-hander.
But, again, these are just statistics. A-Rod has waited forever to get to the biggest of stages. He'll have to find a way to overcome what appears to be mismatches and meaningfully contribute or the Yankees will be prevented from capturing world title No. 27.
They simply cannot do it without him, Mark Teixeira & Co., or no Mark Teixeira & Co.
If Rodriguez plays poorly and the Yankees lose this series he will be targeted by everyone. They'll say while he silenced some of the naysayers with his performances in the first two rounds, he didn't step up when it really mattered most.
It will happen. Trust me.
How Rodriguez handles his slow start mentally is probably the biggest thing to watch. Obviously we don't know what he's thinking, but body language has always played a big role in how he appears to be doing internally. He's an emotional guy to a degree. You start seeing bat flips and chewing gum slaps over the next game or two and you'll know he's starting to feel the pressure.
A-Rod's struggles have yet to dominate the World Series discussions because he hasn't really failed to come through with runners in scoring position. Nobody has hit, really, for either team, Chase Utley's two homers in Game 1 aside.
But with the tiny dimensions of Citizens Bank Park beckoning and a very hittable Hamels (this year) toeing the rubber on Saturday, the Yankees haters, of which there are millions, will be chomping at the bit to see A-Rod fall flat on his face.
Alex, the time is now. Both you and the Yankees cannot wait another inning to get this offense going. The Phillies are too good and Lee will be back out there faster than you can say Mummers' Day Parade.
"An A-Bomb ... from A-Rod." You have to figure John Sterling is just dying to say it.
Time to do it.
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A friend of mine and I were having a conversation not too long ago where he tried to explain from an outsider's point of view why most every non-Yankees fan hates Yankees fans.
And I'm starting to really understand the mindset. Maybe it's not sheer jealousy afterall.
Forget the fact that Cliff Lee pitched circles around the Bombers' vaunted lineup in Game 1 of the World Series. I don't care who stepped into the batter's box -- "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, Roy Hobbs, Mr. 3,000, Pedro Serano, whomever -- nobody was touching that man on Wednesday night.
Yet many Yankees fans (note how I say "many" and not "all"), out of frustration, being wet and cold, or simply because they might have had one too many, reverted to that all-too-familar stance of turning on their team when things started to go bad.
Or, as my buddy said, "You're my guy ... until you're not."
Why are you filling the airwaves with demands that Johnny Damon be benched? Why are you booing a young stud like Phil Hughes off the mound? Why oh why are you leaving in the seventh inning of a 2-0 game when you know full well the Yankees led the majors this season in late-inning comebacks and walk-off wins?
I don't get it. I seriously don't.
So the Yankees lost. Boo-hoo. Last I checked it was just the Series' opening game. Last I checked the Yankees have been embarrassed in Game 1s in the past only to come back strong later. Remember 1996 against Atlanta? How about 2001 against Arizona? In both cases the Bombers were down 0-2 and made magic happen regardless if they ended up lifting the trophy or not when all was said and done.
Maybe a good percentage of Yankees fans are just winning fans, not true fans of their team. If this is indeed the case, you have to realize you are the reason why the Bombers' fan base as a whole lacks credibility in the eyes of the rest of the sports world.
It's one thing to expect greatness, as most of us do, but it's something else entirely when you expect greatness on YOUR terms. I said the other day I'd never buy an AL champions hat. That's because I expect a world championship. I have CONFIDENCE that one will be captured. But if there are hurdles the players must leap over along the way I leave it to them to do it. How dare I impose demands?
More importantly, how dare I turn my back on them when things don't go letter perfect by MY design?
Now, you may think that beating traffic on the Deegan Expressway is the prudent thing to do on a work and school night. But how many of you would be eager to run to your cars if the CC Sabathia and the Yankees led 2-0 in the seventh? Believe me when I tell you it would be a fraction of the percentage.
Make no mistake, it is about winning. But it's also about going through hell and coming out on the other side with a medal of valor for courage. It's about fighting that urge to say the sky is falling after a loss. It's about being loyal to the bitter end.
The Yankees may get swept. They may also win in five games. They may lose a heartbreaker in seven. They may also stage an improbable ninth-inning rally in the deciding game to take home title No. 27.
Where will you be when this happens? Crying to anyone who will listen about how Joe Girardi stinks as a manager or how Mark Teixeira has been a postseason bomb for the most part?
Or will you be at the stadium or in front of your television fighting the good fight and praying to your respective god, while all the while doing what all true sports fans truly do, believing in your team regardless of the perilous senario it finds itself in?
I know where I'll be ... and it sure as hell won't be on the phone to WFAN or on a train from the Bronx in the seventh inning.
Win or lose.
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I have to admit I don't feel the usual crush of dread heading into yet another big Yankees playoff series. Don't get me wrong, the World Series is hardly just another round of the postseason, but considering what the Bombers have accomplished so far, many in the Universe should feel at ease.
More importantly, they should try to enjoy this one.
Combining the fact that the Yankees have finally vanquished the Angels in a big spot with the fact that the Red Sox are out playing golf in Florida, we should all feel that this team has probably hurdled its biggest psychological barrier.
The Angels, as has been widely talked about, are the only team with a winning record against the Yankees since the Joe Torre era started in 1996 -- by about a mile. The Angels beat the Yankees in both the 2002 and 2005 ALDS, and owned them nearly every time they met due to their superior smarts and sound fundamental play.
Not anymore.
The Red Sox started 8-0 against the Yankees this season, only to see the Bombers win nine of the last 10 meetings. Then Jonathan Papelbon did his thing and the Nation went dark.
It's almost a perfect scenario for the Yankees. They did struggle at times in the ALCS, but now that it's over and they didn't blow a big series lead, I can't imagine this team not playing fast and loose in the Fall Classic.
Now I won't call it a house money series. I do believe the Phillies are the slight favorites, and the Yankees still have plenty of pressure to deal with -- from their rabid fan base's expectations to the potential media backlash to the ever-present talk of spend big, win big or else. Each is sitting in the background like the Grim Reaper.
I respect the Phillies more than any team the Yankees have matched up against in October and November since 1995. The reason is simple. If you really look at the Phillies you will see many qualities of the dynastic Yankees of 1996-2000.
The Phillies are champions through and through. They play the game the right way and have figured out ways to mask their few flaws.
It's really a case of picking your poison. Philly's lineup is ridiculous. It's an American League 1-8 that will only be better in Yankee Stadium with the DH.
Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Raul Ibanez, Jayson Werth ... the list goes on and on.
But rather than break this series down position by position, as most every other media type has done, I'll tell you straight out why I think the Yankees will prevail.
Simply, they have the best starting pitcher, the best position player and the best reliever in this series. All three will play pivotal roles. And how the Yankees do will be directly related just how well the pinstriped money has been spent.
Let's start with CC Sabathia. The massive left-hander has earned every penny of his $160 million contract this season alone. Take his 19-7 regular season and then quickly segue to his unbelievable 3-0 mark, 1.19 ERA and 20 strikeouts to just three walks in 22 2-3 postseason innings.
Bet the farm that Sabathia toes the rubber three times in this series. Don't worry about the big stage or playing in front of Philly's hostile fans. Sabathia is every bit the warrior the Yankees thought they were getting before the free agent sweepstakes started last winter.
Then there is Alex Rodriguez. At long last, after years of this guy playing the role of the mental midget in Adonis' frame, he has taken over. You can make a case that A-Rod deserved the ALCS MVP over Sabathia, but in reality his overall numbers are what really matter.
Rodriguez, after missing 30 games to start the season due to hip surgery, still finished with 30 homers and 100 RBIs. Then came all the familiar cries that he'd once again fall flat in the postseason. Well, A-Rod silenced all those critics in the bottom of the ninth of Game 2 of the ALDS against Minnesota.
In all, Rodriguez is hitting .424 (14-for-33) with 5 homers, 12 RBIs and 10 runs scored through nine playoff games. There is absolutely no reason to think the A-Rod of postseasons' past will make a cameo against the Phillies.
The guy is locked in and loaded. And when he's like that he is the best baseball player on the planet.
Lastly, there's Mariano Rivera. The pressure is on the greatest closer in baseball history to finish this time around what he didn't finish against Arizona in 2001 and never got much of a chance to complete in 2003 against Florida.
There are serious questions right now about the reliability of both Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain because each was less than stellar in the first two rounds, so more pressure will be on Rivera should he be needed for six-out saves. And considering the lack of extra off days, just how much Joe Girardi can use Rivera more than one inning will remain the million dollar question.
But I think if you ask me who I trust more, Rivera regardless of the number of outs needed and consecutive days pitched or Brad Lidge, a guy who looks like the untouchable Lidge of 2008 again, I'll still take Rivera every time.
These three Yankee stars aside, a case can be made that the Phillies have the edge at the majority of the remaining positions -- with Howard-Mark Teixeira, Utley-Robinson Cano and Rollins-Derek Jeter so close you can barely shine a flashlight between them either way.
But the Phillies are the superior defensive team and have more World Series experience than this Yankee team, as hard as that may be to believe. Plus, we still don't know what A.J. Burnett is and if Girardi has to turn to Chad Gaudin in Game 4, that could be a batting practice session in Citizens Bank Park.
Ultimately, if you are a fan of the Yankees you have to dance with the girl that brung ya. You have to pray that Sabathia, Rodriguez and Rivera deliver.
Because if even one of those three fails to get it done, the Phillies could very well be the two-time defending World Series champs by the end of the first week of November.
But the bottom line for me is I believe the Yankees' biggest stars will step up and do the necessary damage. This pinstriped machine seems to have destiny written all over it.
Yankees in 7, chalk up No. 27 and start cutting up the confetti for the Canyon of Heroes.
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What the Jets did Sunday in Oakland was historic on many levels, but if anyone -- and I mean anyone -- gets too giddy over it I will be paying you a visit with a sledgehammer.
And make no mistake, I will slam home the fact that this was just one win ... over probably the most dysfunctional franchise currently in sports.
All right, glass half empty nonsense aside, there was just one negative to come out of the 38-0 win, which just happens to be the worst home shutout loss in the Raiders' 50-year history. What happened to Leon Washington in the first quarter was a crying shame, but if you believe that everything happens for a reason -- which I most certainly do not but will play along for my own selfish reasons -- the injury opened the door to the future.
You saw Shonn Greene. The kid is a beast and now, with a one-two punch of Thomas Jones and the rookie wrecking ball out of Iowa picking their way through an offensive line that has finally come together, the Jets appear to have an offense. Add Jerricho Cotchery and Brad Smith back into the mix at some point and -- dare I say it -- the Jets could be balanced offensively for the second-half run.
I'm not going to lie. If you've ever had even a shread of optimism about this team, or have been saving up the karma points for a serious cash in, you have every right to be absolutely giddy about Greene. Here is a guy who can one day win a rushing title. He appears to be, as I Tweeted last night, a combination of Frank Gore and Larry Johnson. He hits the line with a head of steam and is every bit the type of running back who can pull away from a defense that Jones isn't anymore and Jet-era Curtis Martin never really was.
Greene went for 144 yards and two TDs on Sunday, while Jones finished with a workmanlike 121 yards on 26 carries and a score.
Having a running game that is among the best in the NFL is something we can all be excited about because, first and foremost, if the Jets have the ball and control the clock bad things cannot happen on defense, and second, this running game will mask many of Mark Sanchez's faults.
Sanchez was economical on Sunday -- just 9-of-15 for 143 yards -- but did not turn the ball over. He showed once again he can throw a really accurate deep ball with the 35-yard TD pass to David Clowney, who now gives the Jets a really solid receiving corps provided Cotchery comes back fully healed from his hamstring injury.
Sanchez did some nice things, but when you run for 316 yards -- the Jets are the only team in the last 34 years to run for at least a perfect bowling score in successive weeks -- the sky's the limit.
Now, the naysayer's obvious point would be, well, the Jets did all this rushing damage against Buffalo and Oakland, who have a combined five wins and are 32nd and 30th, respectively, against the run. But I say, you have to start somewhere and if the schedule says you're playing a patsy, you pound that patsy.
It's what good teams do.
Switching gears, I am not going to get too crazy about the defensive effort. The Jets frustrated horrible JaMarcus Russell into three first-half turnovers before he got the boot and Bruce Gradkowski is, well, Bruce Gradkowski, so don't go overboard with any thoughts that the Jets' defense is back or that Rex Ryan has fixed all the problems.
He hasn't. The test will come against Miami and that stupid "Wildcat" offense next week.
And while I'm at it, say this about the Dolphins: You looked pretty Jet-like blowing a 24-3 lead in losing to the Saints on Sunday. Yes, I realize the Saints are elite, but if you are so good, how do you blow a 21-point lead at home in front of Marc Anthony, J-Lo and all those other folks?
If the Jets really want to impress their fans heading into the Week 9 bye, they have to go out and beat the hell out of the Dolphins at the Meadowlands. There's really nothing else to say on this issue. You want to show that the Same Old Jets aren't really the team we've seen through seven games? Fine. Get to 5-3.
Right now the Jets are in a decent position to make the playoffs. I am not ruling out winning the division, but let's face it. New England is the better team. The Jets' losses to Miami and Buffalo probably sank that ship.
But there's no reason this team can't be a wildcard team. The Jets are 4-2 against the AFC, with a win over 4-3 Houston, and, wouldn't you know it, the Jets and Texans are currently "tied" for the final playoff berth in the AFC.
Again, this is all very premature. Get to 5-3. Get the wounded back. Continue to make up for the losses of Kris Jenkins and Washington.
Then we'll talk seriously.
Email Jeff Your Thoughts
In the aftermath of the ALCS Game 5 disaster, shortly after the Yankees inexplicably gave away their 40th AL pennant, I wanted to see Joe Girardi brought before a firing squad.
Several hours later, I still want him roughed up for causing me and all of Yankees Universe agita. But at this point doing anything more than slapping him around a bit won't do the Yankees any good. We have no other option save for Tony Pena.
This much is true: Girardi is as infuriating a manager as the Bombers have had in some time. He seems to take managing by the book to an asinine extreme.
My main bone of contention with Girardi is, like it or not, he had managed every game of the playoffs like it was Game 7 of the World Series.
Until Thursday night.
Brother, make up your mind.
When schizophrenic A.J. Burnett walked out to the mound to start the bottom of the seventh inning I was stunned, both literally and figuratively. I needed oxygen. I really didn't care that Burnett was cruising after a disastrous first inning. I wanted him out. I'm sure I wasn't alone either.
What transpired from the seventh inning on should never have happened. Girardi used eight relievers in the Game 3 loss and was criticized for it. But in Game 5 he stayed away from several of the guys who have pitched well in this series, most notably Phil Coke and David Robertson.
It's like he manages to the previous game's media response.
If you don't want to kill Girardi for allowing Burnett to start the seventh, okay, I get that to a degree, but after he gave up the leadoff hit to Jeff Mathis, who, by the way, has hit the same left-center field spot with seemingly every hit he's had in the series, Girardi inexplicably stayed with Burnett.
Now I know entering the inning Burnett had only thrown around 80 pitches, but we all know his penchant for falling apart in a hurry. When Mathis got that hit, Girardi should have turned to his Game 3 playbook because he had some wiggle room with a 6-4 lead. I wouldn't have minded if he changed pitchers every pitch from then on. But no, Burnett stayed in and walked Erick Aybar and you know the rest.
Girardi does deserve credit for trusting Damaso Marte, but only because the move worked. But to have anyone other than Coke pitch to Bobby Abreu was a big mistake.
In a perfect world, Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain or even Alfredo Aceves should have started the seventh. Girardi could have pieced that thing together for one inning with all the arms he had, regardless if the reliever he brought in struggled perviously in this series. He had a two-run lead with Mariano Rivera ready for a six-out save.
End of series, pop the champagne.
And who knows? Maybe Rivera wouldn't have been needed for all six outs. CC Sabathia made sure the Yankee bullpen was ready to go on Thursday. Girardi didn't exploit that as he should have.
Now, the Yankees are in a bit of a death struggle because you know if they lose Saturday the entire Universe will be recounting horrible images of 2004. I realize Sabathia will be on full rest should we get to a Game 7, but even the biggest Yankees optimist has to be concerned that the Angels will show up wearing Red Sox uniforms.
Girardi needs to dust off that Northwestern diploma and think things through here.
Because if the Yankees fall apart the rest of the way, the manager must go regardless of how the potential debacle transpires.
This series should be over. The grounds crew at Yankee Stadium should be putting the World Series logo on the infield right about now.
Instead, we fear the worst and pray for the best.
Email Jeff Your Thoughts
Click here for the latest on Gang Green, including a 2009 training camp report, schedule, roster, injuries and statistics.
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The Jets play at New Orleans, Oakland, Tampa Bay and Indianapolis as part of its grueling 16-game schedule. New York will host Tennessee, Jacksonville, Carolina and Atlanta, among others.
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