Looking Like Yankees and Phillies...

CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez are proving to be a lethal combination to all that get in the Yankees' way. They combined again to help New York take a commanding 3-1 lead in the ALCS with a 10-1 win in Anaheim.

A-Rod hit his 5th homer of the post-season and third in as many games, matching the output of the Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson in the 1977 playoffs. The Yankee record belongs to Bernie Williams with 6 long balls in the 1996 post-season for the Yankees.

Sabathia moved to 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA in the playoffs with his 8 inning performance, while former Padre Chad Gaudin finished things up in the 9th.

Game 5 comes up Thursday in Anaheim.

Umps having tough post-season...

Is it me, or has the umpiring in the post-season been sub par? Tim McClelland, who really seems already retired, completely blew the call at third base. Jorge Posada had the right to the bag with two men occupying it, but as he stepped off, the runner from second, was tagged, then Posada who over ran the bag was tagged out. According to my knowledge of the rule book, that's a double play. According to McClelland's only one out was recorded. Hmm.

McClelland struck again, saying that Nick Swisher left early from 3rd on a tag play. Only thing is as the video replay clearly shows, McClelland was only watching the catch in center by Torrii Hunter and not the tag up. Talk about making an impact. WOW.

Add Dale Scott to the roster as well. Kazmir's pickoff play at second base, was as clearly an out as you can have. Yet Scott didn't see it that way.

Again not saying these plays determined the outcome of the game, but these guys are supposed to be the best in the world. That's why they make 6 figure salaries. That's why they can take vacations in the middle of the season. That's why they don't have to study video of the games they ump, like pro football refs (who are part time by the way) do, and college basketball officials do. It would only seem logical to want to get better at what you do. Right? How much time could it take to review a game after it's over? Or on their first class flight to the next city?Can't be much time. It's embarrassing to watch. The worst part is the arrogance of some of them as well. In the old days, a player could have a say, a chat with a man in blue, but today, you look at him cross-eyed and you are gone. What a shame.

What ever happened to getting it right? Why can't the umps get together and maybe overrule each other?

NLCS...

It could be all over in the NL as of tomorrow. The Phillies will try to close out the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park. Cole Hamels goes for the home team against former Phillie Vicente Padilla for the Dodgers.

Ryan Howard will try to keep up his amazing post-season, he's recorded an RBI in all 7 of Philadelphia's playoff games. That is a single playoff record.

Stub-hub-bub

The ticket brokering service Stub-hub made a big time boo boo this week. The company sent an e-mail Monday offering fans, METS post-season tickets. METS playoff tickets. Cue up Jim Mora..."PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS?"...the Mets finished the regular season 70-92 and were toast by mid-July. The company suffered an apparent e-mail glitch and sent out a retraction email apologizing for any confusion. PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS?

Manny-reasons why Manny Being Manny isn't good...

Where was Manny Ramirez while the Phillies were rallying to beat the Dodgers Monday night?Let's go with multiple choice, A) Sitting on the bench rooting on his team, B) At the dugout railing yelling and screaming for his team to hold on, or C) In the shower. If you answered C, in the shower, you are correct! Ramirez was unaware of anything that happened in the bottom of the 9th. He was lifted for a defensive replacement and instead of staying with his team, he hit the showers. Great example isn't he?

Alright, that's it for tonight. Have a good one everybody...

Andy