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

Jack In The Bronx...

That's what "they" are calling this New Yankee Stadium and it's slightly longer than Williamsport dimensions. Ok, before you say it, I know, I know, both teams play there and have the same chances, but come on the Yanks get to play 81 games in the bandbox that replaced the band leader. I also realize this is not why the Yankees won the game, or why the Angels lost the game but it still makes one think.

Key Moments...

For the Angels: Great job by Darren Oliver, the 38 year old lefty (that was pointed out a few times by Joe Buck) to pitch around an absolutely HORRIBLE, potentially game changing call by 2nd base umpire Jerry Layne. The "in the neighborhood" play is there to prevent 2b's and ss's from getting killed with guys sliding into them trying to break up a double play. Way to get your name in the paper (or in this case the blog) Jerry, you were almost "Denkinger-ized". No excuse for that. None.

Maicer Izturis got caught up in the moment thinking he could turn two on a tough play to his left. Get the sure out and live to fight another batter and see what happens. Sometimes players get to thinking "spectacular play" rather than the routine play, or in this case, a sure out.

Vladimir Guerrero left a small village of his teammates on base. I believe the final count was 8. That to me, more than anything contributed to the loss for the Angels.

For the Yankees: What can you say about Alex Rodriguez? There are many who feel as though A-Rod should have been walked, but a lot of managers will tell you it's not good baseball to put on the potential tying run to get to the potential winning run at the plate. The problem with the Rodriguez at bat in my opinion was a poor 0-2 pitch by Brian Fuentes. If you get A-Rod down 2 strikes, you better miss big or expect what happened. #13 has come up large for the Yankees this post-season, and his first row homer tied the ballgame.

Jerry Hairston Jr (older brother of former Padre Scott Hairston) came through for Joe Girardi with a solid single to start the 13th. The Yankees are fairly lucky it ended in 13, since the bench was getting thin, and so was the pen. Did you see who was up? A clean shaven, hardly recognizable blast from Padre past, Chad Gaudin.

So now the Yankees head to Anaheim up 2-0 in the best of 7 ALCS. Game 3 will feature lefty Andy Pettitte for the Yankees, and Jared Weaver for the Angels.

NLCS shifts to Philly...

Philadelphia will be the scene Sunday for game three of the NLCS, with Cliff Lee facing Hiroki Kiroda. The latter hasn't pitched in a while, and has had a tough season. Kiroda spent a bunch of time on the DL, especially after being hit on the head by a line drive in Arizona. His most recent injury though was a bad disc in his neck. We'll have to wait and see what he's got in the tank. It's going to be a chilly one in Philly, temps expected in the mid 40's at game time.

Technology front runners...

The Dodgers are doing a great job of keeping their fans in the moment. The team website (www.dodgers.com) is filled with celebrity 'tweets' and today features a video tour of Philadelphia by former Padre Mark Sweeney who is now an assistant coach with LA. Sweeney's commentary is good stuff, you should check it out.

Female GM?

Numerous reports have Dodgers assistant GM, Kim Ng (ing) interviewing with Padres brass today. She would be the first female GM in baseball. Read more here at the Padres team site. Corey Brock reported a couple of weeks ago, that Jeff Moorad planned to interview at least one minority candidate.

Alright, that's pretty much what I've got for you tonight...enjoy!

Andy

Yankees Use A CC Rider...

On a cold night in the Bronx, the Yankees used their horse, CC Sabathia in a 4-1 win over the Angels in game one of the ALCS. It's not a shock that the Yankees defended the home field, however to me, it is a shock the way the Angels lost. Committing errors. Even Torrii Hunter committed one in the game, just his second error in 2009. Hunter is such a good centerfielder that since 1998, that was his 30th career error. The three team errors led to a couple of unearned runs, and that spelled doom for the Angels.

Either way it was going to be a tough chore to get to a "locked in" CC Sabathia. He went 8 dominant innings, and is proving to be quite worthy of the lucrative deal he signed in the off season. He's showing why they were crying in Lake Erie when the Indians traded him to the Brewers. Sabathia almost single handedly led the Brewers to the playoffs, but since he was being used seemingly every day he ran out of gas. He then ran out of Milwaukee and signed the "big bucks, no whammy's deal" with the Yankees. How nice must it be for Joe Girardi to throw Sabathia for 8, then turn to Mariano Rivera in the 9th? Trivia: What does CC stand for? I'll answer that later in the blog!

Game 2...

Another one of the Yankees big money free agents will go in tomorrow's game two, AJ Burnett facing the Angels, Joe Saunders.

NLCS Game 2...

That's the way the Dodgers have been winning games all year long. Andre Ethier is usually in the middle of it as well. Such was the case today in LA, when the Dodgers evened up the NLCS with a 2-1 win over the Phillies. Both starters were dealing (pardon the cliche) in the game. Vicente Padilla, an unwanted man in Texas, found a home in LA, going 7 1/3, while striking out 6. He gave up a homer to Ryan Howard for the only Phillies run. Pedro Martinez was his usual post-season self, going 7 scoreless innings while striking out 3...

Crazy 8...

Then there was the 8th inning...and a typical Dodger rally. Here's the official play-by-play since it's too crazy to recap myself...(courtesy of CBS Sportsline.com)

DODGERS 8TH
Chan Ho Park pitching:
Casey Blake:	Strike looking, Ball, Ball, Blake singled to left
Juan Pierre ran for Casey Blake.
Ronnie Belliard:	Pickoff attempt to first, Bunt foul, Pickoff attempt to first, Belliard reached on bunt single to first, Pierre to second.
Russell Martin:	Ball, Ball, Ball, Strike looking, Bunt foul, Martin reached on fielder's choice to third, Pierre to third, Belliard out at second,Pierre scored on Utley's throwing error
Jim Thome hit for Hong-Chih Kuo.
Scott Eyre relieved Chan Ho Park.
Jim Thome:	Pickoff attempt to first, Ball, Thome singled to right, Martin to third
Juan Castro ran for Jim Thome.
Ryan Madson relieved Scott Eyre.
Rafael Furcal:	Ball, Foul, Ball, Ball, Furcal walked, Castro to second.
Matt Kemp:	Foul, Foul, Ball, Kemp struck out swinging.
J.A. Happ relieved Ryan Madson.
Andre Ethier:	Ball, Foul, Foul, Foul, Ball, Ball, Ethier walked, Martin scored, Castro to third, Furcal to second.
Chad Durbin relieved J.A. Happ.
Manny Ramirez:	Ramirez popped out to third.
End of Inning (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Error)

Jonathan Broxton would then come on in the 9th and go 1-2-3 and even the series at 1-1. It was a much needed victory for the Dodgers with the next 3 games to be played in much chillier Philadelphia.

Game 3...

We have to wait until SUNDAY for game 3. Unbelievable. It's going to be Hiroki Kuroda going for the Dodgers, against another former Indian, lefty Cliff Lee for the Phillies. I still like the Phillies in this series, they play great at home, and their pitching still makes me a believer.

McCourt Case...

I'm not a Dodger fan by any stretch of the imagination. But I am rooting for them in this respect. I certainly hope that the impending divorce of owner Frank McCourt and wife Jamie McCourt. Padre fans know already that this can and will affect ownership and play on the field if it gets out of hand. At first glance, it's not looking good, consider this from today's Los Angeles Times:

Dennis Wasser, who represents Jamie McCourt, on Thursday rebutted claims that Frank McCourt is the club's sole owner.

"We disagree," Wasser said. "We are confident that, if the ownership issue must be adjudicated, the Dodgers will be determined to be community property, owned 50% by each of the McCourts."

But Marshall Grossman, who represents Frank McCourt, said he has documents to back up his assertion that his client is the sole owner.

"Anyone reading them will readily see that Mr. McCourt's ownership is 100%," said Grossman, who declined to release the documents.

Wasser said he was unaware of any such documents and said he knew of no reason why California's community property law would not apply.

This could get ugly LA, enjoy this playoff run...

Odd Pair...

Tommy Lasorda and Kobe Bryant were seen sitting together, in Tommy's seats right next to the Dodgers dugout. LaSorda who is an active Twitterer, tweeted about Kobe today: @TommyLasorda may not know this but Kobe bleeds Dodger Blue just like I do. And we both speak Italian!

Final Musings...

Full disclosure, I'm on vacation now for a couple of weeks, and will certainly try to update the blog as much as humanly possible. Please forgive me if there are a few lapses over this period of time. I'm visiting family out of town and it's great to see them after a long baseball season. Looking forward to getting back to SD though and the start of USD's basketball season which tips off November 13 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion against Stanford.

Have a great night!

Andy

TRIVIA ANSWER: CC Sabathia's full name is...Carsten Charles Sabathia

Let's Get The Show On The Road...

To me the worst thing about the MLB Playoffs, is having to wait so long in between series. I realize that the schedule is such because of team travel and all that, but LET'S GO ALREADY! I'm so used to having a game every night, or nearly every night, that my A.D.D. is starting to kick in and I'm ready to watch some baseball again....

We'll get the NLCS first, in a repeat of last year's match up the Dodgers and the Phillies. The only thing different is the Dodgers have the home field advantage this time around. Not sure we could ask for a better pitching match up in Game 1, two young talented lefties, as Rancho Bernardo's Cole Hamels goes for the Phillies against 22 year old Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers. Hamels is the reigning World Series MVP, and even though his season hasn't gone like last year, it's hard to argue against his post season experience. Hamels was 4-0, with a 1.80 ERA in 5 post season starts a year ago. Kershaw, out of Dallas, Texas and Highland Park High School, the same school that produced the Padres Chris Young, pitched well in his start in the NLDS against the Cardinals, but didn't figure into the decision.

X Factors...

For the Dodgers, I believe it's the starting rotation. Not a short series, can't ride 2 hot pitchers to the World Series. The Dodgers will need effective starts from the lefties, and then hope somebody like Vicente Padilla can step up.

For the Phillies, the choice to me is obvious. It's Brad Lidge. The biggest question begs to be asked, is Lidge back after picking up 2 saves against the Rockies? The Phillies have the offense, the defense and starting pitching to get back to the World Series, but will the bullpen be a help or hinderance to that goal?

Lineups...

From the Dodgers official Twitter page, @DodgertownUSA, we present the LA starting lineup for game one...1. Furcal - SS, 2. Ethier - RF, 3. Ramirez - LF, 4. Kemp - CF, 5. Blake - 3B, 6. Loney - 1B, 7. Belliard - 2B, 8. Martin - C, 9. Kershaw - P.

Don't have the Phillies lineup yet, but I'll try to find it out for you soon.

More Musings...

Congratulations to Cole Hamels and his wife, on the birth of their first child, Caleb Michael Hamel, delivered Friday.

If you are looking for an amusing, yet honest take on what it's like to be a Phillies relief pitcher, check out Scott Eyre's blog http://scotteyre.mlblogs.com/ Scott is a friend from our Chicago days, and a funny guy. Give him a read.

The Dodgers also announced their rotation for the series (again courtesy @DodgertownUSA), Kershaw, Padilla, Kuroda, and then former Padre Randy Wolf. Kuroda had been out with a disc problem in his neck. It was reported that he threw a five inning, 50 pitch game in Arizona today, then threw 25 more pitches in the bullpen.

Leadoff men...

How important is a good leadoff hitter? Here's the list of the final four team's leadoff hitters:

Jimmy Rollins - PHI, Rafael Furcal - LAD, Chone Figgins - LAA, and Derek Jeter - NYY. Pretty impressive stuff.

A look at more from the NLCS tomorrow and a quick preview of the ALCS then as well...

Til then....

Andy

And then there were 4...

Baseball's version of the final four is now set, and the run to the World Series should be an interesting one. I offer you this breakdown.

NLCS...Philadelphia/Los Angeles

The Dodgers played a great NLDS series in sweeping the Cardinals. I admit again, I never saw that result coming. I wonder now, how the LA pitching will match up in a longer series. It came to haunt them last year after taking care of the Cubs in 3, then having to face the Phillies and their potent offense. I will say this, the Dodgers have found a way to get things done all year long. They managed to not only stay afloat but actually increase their lead in the west without Manny Ramirez for 50 games, and just seem to have that ability to surprise.

The best thing that may have, and I stress MAY HAVE, come out of the Phillies series win over the Rockies, was a renewed confidence in Brad Lidge, and Lidge's confidence in himself. We know the Phillies have the offense, and starting pitching, but the bullpen has been an achilles heal with Lidge and Ryan Madson. I can't help but root for Charlie Manuel, a good old fashioned "baseball guy" who got the giant monkey off his back winning it all last season. Rollins, Victorino, Utley, Howard, Ibanez and Werth is a formidable 1-6 that not many teams can match up with.

Bottom Line:

Here's why. I would still take Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton and JA Happ, over the 4 that the Dodgers will likely send out. Randy Wolf, Clayton Kershaw, Vicente Padilla, and either Chad Billingsley or Hiroki Kuroda (who's neck injury is healing) is good, but not as good or better than the Phillies 4. Also remember, that when you play games this late in the year in cold weather cities it comes down to starting pitching. I give that edge to the Phillies. The Dodgers will keep the series competitive, it's hard to argue that their bullpen as a whole isn't better than Philadelphia's. It's also fair to compare the late inning heroics that the Dodgers have managed, especially in walk off wins at home to the magic of the Phillies. In the end though, I believe that the Phillies are the better team and will advance.

My Pick: Phillies win in 6

ALCS...Los Angeles/New York

The two best teams made it through the Division round and now await each other in the league championship series. Is it me or do the Angels seem like a team of "destiny"? A team record 47 come from behind wins including the improbable 2 out comeback against Jonathan "Riverdance" Papelbon and the Red Sox. Then there's the Yankees, playing in a New Yankee Stadium which has been referred to as the "Jack in the Bronx" with all the homers being hit there, clicking on all cylinders. Big names, Jeter, Rodriguez, Teixeira and Posada have come through for them the entire year. Enough pitching and an emerging bullpen anchored by a sure fire hall of famer (but not the best closer ever as he's been described, what a show of disrespect to the greatest of all time, Trevor Hoffman) Mariano Rivera will make them a favorite.

Bottom line:

It's a great match up. Two very classy managers, both former big league catchers, in Mike Scioscia and Joe Girardi and two fine franchises over the years will battle it out. If the game one pitching matchup is John Lackey against CC Sabathia, all I can say is WOW. The Yankees have been the best team all year long, they have just about everything a team could want, pitching, power, some speed and defense, which makes them tough to beat. I think though that the Angels are equally as good. They had a terrible tragedy to deal with and lost a bit of focus after the sudden passing of Nick Adenhart, but they regrouped and climbed atop the West standings and never looked back. I think the Angels are the team to beat here. They may not have the names, but they have the talent. Torrii Hunter has been a stabilizing force, Chone Figgins creates challenges with his speed, Vladimir Guerrero is one of the best pure hitters in the game, and the surrounding cast of guys like Kendry Morales, Juan Rivera and Erick Aybar to name a few will get it done.

My pick: Angels in 7

Well there you go, agree or disagree, those are my thoughts. Your comments as always are welcome. I just hope that these two series are good and competitive!

Random Musings...

I know hockey isn't a popular sport in Southern California, but where I grew up (Chicago an "original 6" city) it's big time. I have to give a shout out to my beloved Chicago Blackhawks, who were down 5-0 in the first period, and fought back to win the game 6-5 in OT. The biggest comeback in team history. Ok, stop laughing and keep reading....

It was a pretty good Monday Night Football game too, I'm sure the viewership was down a bit from last week, for obvious reasons. But a hard fought game with the Dolphins scoring with under 10 seconds to beat the Jets. From the little I've seen of Mark Sanchez, he's going to be a good QB in the NFL.

Just wondering, if Brett Favre retires (AGAIN) what will ESPN do? Is he the face of the NFL? I mean come on ESPN, there are other good stories out there, and they deserve some coverage as well.

Alright, more tomorrow...have a great night!

Andy