Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
The Yankees can hand the AL East to the Rays by beating the Red Sox at Fenway tonight, and Joe Girardi has all of his starters in the lineup behind Alfredo Aceves to get the job done. As the Wild Card, the Red Sox would draw the Angels in the ALDS. Boston went 1-8 against the Halos this season.
Aceves has posted a 1.42 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP in his three previous major league starts, all Yankee wins, and pitched at least six full innings in each without once reaching 90 pitches. Given that, he could get away with a stinker tonight and still enter spring training in the mix for the 2009 rotation. After facing Boston tonight, he'll have faced three contenders in his four starts (also the Angels and White Sox). If he has another good outing, he might just go from being "in the mix" to being penciled in.
The Sox are slowly getting back up to health for the postseason. Mike Lowell, J.D. Drew, Sean Casey, Josh Beckett, and David Aardsma have all come off the DL in recent weeks, though Lowell and Drew are both still nursing their injuries (a torn hip labrum that will require offseason surgery and a stiff lower back, respectively). They'll continue to be careful with their players, particularly given the rain that's expected on the east coast this weekend, but will likely also want to get Lowell and Drew enough swings to feel comfortable heading in to the ALDS. Indeed, Lowell will DH tonight (with David Ortiz playing first base in presumptuous preparation for the World Series), while Drew continues to rest.
Speaking of that rain, there's a chance it could wash out Mike Mussina's opportunity to try for his 20th win of the season on Sunday, as there would be no need to play that game if the Rays clinch the division tonight or tomorrow. That said, the rain is expected to taper off come Sunday, and the Red Sox have rescheduled the retiring of Johnny Pesky's number (6) until Sunday based on that forecast. Even if tonight or tomorrow's game gets rained out and thus outright canceled, Moose will still go on Sunday, though given his history of near misses (including a memorable one in Fenway in 2001), one could imagine any number of Sunday scenarios that would bring Mussina thisclose to number 20 but leave him stuck at 19 for the third time in his career.
Oh, and if this series feels weird, it's because the last time the Yankees faced a playoff-bound Red Sox team after being eliminated from the postseason themselves was September 21 to 23, 1990. The last time the Yankees faced a playoff-bound Red Sox team at Fenway Park after being eliminated from the postseason themselves was October 2 to 5, 1986.
Boston Red Sox
2008 Record: 94-65 (.591)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 97-62 (.609)
Manager: Terry Francona
General Manager: Theo Epstein
Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Fenway Park (106/105)
Who's Replaced Whom:
Everyone's still here from last time.
25-man Roster:
1B - Kevin Youkilis (R)
2B - Dustin Pedroia (R)
SS - Jed Lowrie (S)
3B - Mike Lowell (R)
C - Jason Varitek (S)
RF - Jacoby Ellsbury (L)
CF - Coco Crisp (S)
LF - Jason Bay (R)
DH - David Ortiz (L)
Bench:
L - Mark Kotsay (OF)
L - Sean Casey (1B)
L - Alex Cora (IF)
R - Jeff Bailey (1B/OF)
R - Kevin Cash (C)
R - David Ross (C)
L - Chris Carter (1B)*
L - Jonathan Van Every (OF)*
R - Gil Valezquez (IF)*
L - George Kottaras (C)*
L - J.D. Drew (RF)**
Rotation:
R - Josh Beckett
R - Tim Wakefield
R - Paul Byrd
L - Jon Lester
R - Daisuke Matsuzaka
Bullpen:
R - Jon Papelbon
L - Hideki Okajima
R - Manny Delcarmen
L - Javier Lopez
R - Mike Timlin
R - Justin Masterson
R - David Pauley
R - David Aardsma**
R - Chris Smith*
*September call-up **Activated from DL
60-day DL: R - Julio Lugo (SS), R - Curt Schilling
Restricted List: R - Bartolo Colon
Typical Lineup:
L - Jacoby Ellsbury (RF)
R - Dustin Pedroia (2B)
L - David Ortiz (DH)
R - Kevin Youkilis (3B)
R - Jason Bay (LF)
R - Mike Lowell (3B)
S - Jed Lowrie (SS)
S - Jason Varitek (C)
S - Coco Crisp (CF)
Sabathia
Chamberlain
Wang
Mussina
Hughes
I like that starting day lineup, but Aceves would make an excellent sixth man for making sure the whole rotation stays on full rest.
In other news, apparently Mo has been pitching with pain all year.
Uhm, he's good.
Wang
Moose
Pettitte
Chamberlain (w/ Aceves)
Hughes (w/ Aceves
If they're fortunate enough to sign Sabathia, the more the merrier, but it would be foolish to plan on doing so.
I just hope the plan to limit Joba's innings next year does NOT include any bullpen time. I would prefer to never hear any of that claptrap (Joba should be a reliever) ever again.
4 Do you think the Yanks should sign one of Moose and Pettitte right away (probably Moose as Pettitte has said its Yanks or retire), and then if they do not get Sabathia, sign the other?
Or would you say sign both right away and then go after CC?
http://tinyurl.com/5kften
6 Definitely resign Moose swiftly, but most likely they'll have to resign both before CC lands anywhere.
I was at the game on October 5, in the bleachers. Mattingly batted leadoff in an attempt to pass Boggs (sitting out with a cowardly "hamstring injury") for the batting title. Mattingly hit some ropes that day but fell short.
Er, that's it.
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/yankees_building_new_vacation
10 Interesting. I would rather have Boggs rest and be ready for the postseason, than do something to injure himself trying to get a batting title.
guess I'm watching the store tonight.
Not sure which is less interesting, this meaningless game or the presidential debate ...
If they wanted to try for the AL East, Pauley would be in the bullpen, not starting.
This game has the classic spring training feel to it ...
Hm, I just realized that the most recent comment was almost a half hour ago and probably you've all left.
http://tinyurl.com/3hldb8
Okay, it's not exactly a news bulletin that the Yanks have drafted poorly. But that table of their best 1997-2005 draft picks is eye-opening. Their most successful position player, by a huge margin, was...Andy Phillips.
they just cut off the resumed Yankee game on tv here to show...the debate!! Arrrghh!
I wonder if the Sox "really" don't care about the division..short series, opening in LA...then again they have the Angels number so..
I know this is the definition of a meaningless game, but I hope our guys can hold on to this lead.
[X} has the most [Y] since [completely arbitrary date]
Now C. Smith throws two strikes, then 8 out of his next nine pitches miss and the Yankees have two men on.
Yes, I remember quite a few arbitrary dates in college. Those were the days. (Not that I set any records, believe me.)
Mets lost again...
They should Gameday the debates. What was the break and speed on that last pitch from Jim McNeil, I wonder? B. Obama doubles on a fly ball to M. Ahmadinejad.
The debate was close enough that whatever you expected to see going in is likely what you took out of it. No one made any mistakes. No one landed any particularly sharp lines. Both came off well. Perhaps most importantly, they really did stick to the issues. It was relatively substantial as presidential politics go. To that end, if you didn't know much about their positions, you might have learned enough to tip one way or another, but otherwise I imagine everyone thought their preferred candidate won.
Meanwhile, the Mets are now two back in the East and one back in the Wild Card with two to play and both the Twins and White Sox lost, keeping the Twins up by 1/2 game with two left (the half is an extra game the White Sox could make up against the Tigers if necessary).
60 To be fair, this is about the time of night when the subways stop running. The entire city becomes a ghost town right about now. Oh the memories I have of rushing to get to the last train of the night...
debate: check out the comments from the BBC, interesting to read as they find the US media asks mainly softball Qs...from watching how UK pols get treated by the media I am inclined to agree..
The Veep debate scorecard is gonna be interesting ...
The only rational explanation I can come up with for your comment is that it was written in jest, an irrationally strong response to a lukewarm comment. I'm hoping that's the case.
I'm sure you're right that the debate left Democrats quite strongly believing Obama won, Republicans similarly believing McCain won. But what about the uncommitted and Independent viewers? Those are the ones the candidates were trying to speak to.
64 And sometimes the last train (on the Green line at least) is before 1 AM, which is (or at least was) last call for most bars. I haven't been out in Boston in a few years though, so things may have changed.
Unless you are a hot chick, or with a hot chick, it is also impossible to get a cab anywhere on a Friday or Saturday night, especially after the trains shut down.
Nate Silver has a sort of answer to your question over at fivethirtyeight:
http://tinyurl.com/3fvyov
"Kyle Nearing Hurricane Strength. Kyle passing west of Bermuda today; could threaten northern New England, including Cape Cod and eastern Maine on Sunday."
Today in Boston: 80% chance of rain all day.
Sunday in Boston: 70% chance of rain all day.
Today: Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Patchy dense fog before 2pm. High near 70. East wind between 7 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between one and two inches possible.
(That sounds bad.)
Sunday: Showers, mainly before 10am. High near 70. Northeast wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Sunday Night: A chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 62. West wind between 10 and 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
(That sounds much better.)
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