Something tells me that this is going to be House Money day at the Rogers Center. I don't know the lineup, but I think that some folks will get some rest.

Frankly, that might not be such a bad thing with a travel day tomorrow, particularly when we know that Henn is not going to pitch well as compared to Halladay.

I want the Yanks to win 100 games and to have home field advantage, but I also want them to be fresh. I'd tell Giambi to take the next week off and play Sheff at first.

QUESTION: Does everyone hope that the Yanks get the Paper Tigers or the Twins in Round 1? I'd personally rather have the team with the low OBP, High K'ing offense, young pitchers, and kids who've never been in the playoffs (who the Yanks went 5-2 against) than Johan & Company (who the Yanks went 3-3 against).

This could be interesting...

Melky Cabrera LF
Robinson Cano 2B
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Hideki Matsui DH
Bernie Williams CF
Aaron Guiel 1B
Miguel Cairo SS
Wil Nieves C

Sean Henn P

There are teams that would kill for that lineup.

Clearly prefer the Kitties over the Twins, but the Tigers'll be better than they look now in the playoffs because it looks like Polanco will be back and Neifi Perez relegated to riding pine.

Didn't they say just a few days ago that Polanco is done for the year?

1) Damn, Giambi is being crushed on PTI and elsewhere on sports tv/radio for his comments in that article which were taken somewhat out of context. See, I'm right that people don't really want professional athletes to be forthright.

2) Yeah, it doesn't look good for the Yankees with Henn going against Halladay, but what you never know.

And here's the Jays:

Reed Johnson LF
Alex Rios RF
Vernon Wells CF
Troy Glaus 3B
Bengie Molina C
Aaron Hill 2B
Lyle Overbay 1B
Jason Phillips DH
John McDonald SS

Roy Halladay P

I'm kind of sick of hearing how scary Johan and the Twinkies are. Yeah, I would rather face the Tigers out the gate, but if we do not, so what? The Yanks have beat Santana in the post-season before. The Twins have a good bullpen w/Crain, Rincon, Neshek, and Nathan as the anchor, but the they're not too good that the Yank offense cannot do damage to them. Besides, if the Twins are the best out there, I'd rather battle them first and move on. If the Yanks are going to do it this year, they better get it done no matter who they face.

Wow! ESPN is going on for about 10-15 min. on the AROD STORY.
AROD has read all of the article and has no problems with any of it...
the timing...
and other nonsense...sorry it's just hard to let go of this.

Ugh. ESPN is still going on and on and on about the A-Rod/SI story. Ten plus minutes with no break. Now Tino Martinez is throwing A-Rod under the bus. I love Tino but here you go...

356AB .233/.321/.351

Tony Womack? Nope. Tino's career post-season numbers. A-Rod?

118AB .305/.393/.534

And A-Rod's NEVER had on OB% lower than .378 in any Yankee post season series. Giambi's stats from 2004? He has none. He was left off the roster.

Give us all a break with the A-Rod bashing Tino. And ESPN, please, I beg you, stop mischaracterizing the Verducci piece. You had Verducci on and he said it wasn't a negative piece, and A-Rod said he didn't have a problem with a single word in the SI piece and Giambi's like a brother. So what's the problem?

Going on 15 minutes into Sportscenter - 14 minutes on A-Rod. If you are going to do a story about the story at least get the initial story right. Tony Kornheiser is talking about it and he admitted he hasn't even read it.

What did Tino say???

Note to self: don't go anywhere near ESPN tonight or the next few days. Thank goodness they don't have anymore Yankee games this season!

8 Word! The whole "fear the Twins" every post season when the Yankees play them is out of control. If the Yankees' pitchers are half-way decent, they beat the Twins.

Tino was saying that it drives other Yankees crazy when A-Rod mentions other teammates slumps when talking about his own troubles (like Jeter and Mo blowing 3 saves in a week) and when A-Rod talks about other players getting lots of money as well. That part was honest but then Tino went into a rant about A-Rod's approach to the game and then cited a bunch of intangible bs that is based on vapor, not performance.

I'll let other people who saw it weigh in.

11 Tino said that the fans and players get tired of A-Rod's excuses when he struggles. No one wants to hear them. They just hear that he is working hard to come out of his slump. Also, some stuff about A-Rod beating himself mentally. Basically, Tino sticking the knife in A-Rod's chest rather than his back.

Glad to see Cano move up to 2nd in the batting order. He's likely to get 5 plate appearances.

Cano needs 38 more plate appearances to qualify for the batting race, with 11 games left.

If Torre rests Cano for one more game, Cano would need 3 PAs in two games and 4 PAs per game in the other nine games. That should be no problem.

But, if Cano misses 2 games and only plays in seven, he'd need 5 PAs in 2 games and 4 PAs per game in the other 7.

Sorry I missed it all, had to get groceries.
Can't wait until BBTN, maybe Peter Gammons will be the voice of reason.

Thanks for the recaps. I was curious, but not enough to actually watch ESPN. :-P

The Columbus Clippers are now the Nationals' Triple-A team. They will keep their nickname and continue to play in the IL. It's only a two-year deal, because the Clippers are hoping to land an Ohio team when Reds' and Indians' Triple-A contracts are up.

The Yankees are rumored to have reached an agreement with the Scranton Red Barons, but so far there is no official announcement.

Gammons is back on BBTN. Good to have the Red Sox shill back. However, it was fun watching Theo struggling to make deals at the trading deadline without Gammons floating fake trades on the Red Sox behalf.

Let's go Yankees! Let's go Twins! Play today, clinch the division today.

20 Heh.

That was one fast half inning.

Goldman has thoughtful comments about the SI article in the Pinstriped Blog (http://tinyurl.com/p3thd). I hope that Goldman's health problems are not serious.

Henn's ERA is 9?! Ugh.

F you BBTN.
Giambi, Torre, A-Rod all say the right things, yet BBTN is still trying to make out that there are deeper issues.

26 You know there is only one thing to do: turn BBTN off.

Chien-Ming Halladay.

I do have a question: how is A-Rod biracial? I thought both his parents were Latino. Just wondering. Does anyone know?

The Twins 1-0 over Red Sox. Go Twins!

28 Wang's my favorite. No question. But Halladay's the Doctor of groundballs with more experience and Ks. As efficient as Wang is, Halladay needs less pitches. Just as a baseball fan, it's a pleasure to watch Halladay.

25 A couple more outs and Henn will have a lower ERA than the Big Unit.

20 Simone gets cranky harsh on Petey G. No grace period for the old guy?

29 I had exactly the same thought went through my mind yesterday without an answer.

29 Hispanics are actually Caucasian*, Spain is a part of Europe. A lot of escaped/freed/former African slaves in the Carribean (and even South America, just look at Brazilians) stayed in the area, married in with the Hispanic population. Look at El Duque, dark skin color, but a Latino because he's from Cuba.

*(not that race has any real meaning, biologically)

They just used the phrase "house money" in the YES booth.

It's too bad one pitcher cannot carry the whole team on his back. I look at the Jays and know that they "should be" so much more talented than the Red Sox. Maybe next year with Chacin healthy and Burnett more stable,the Yankees can have a real rival.

35 I wonder if the YES people lurk on the Banter.

28 ...with the Wang out.

34 Race is a social construct!

OT: From today's NY Post:

"OLIVER Platt will have to get a shave and a haircut - he's been cast as George Steinbrenner in the ESPN miniseries of "The Bronx Is Burning," Jonathan Mahler's best seller, subtitled "1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City." The story sets the Yankees pennant race that summer - capped by Reggie Jackson's three consecutive home runs in Game 6 of the World Series - against the hunt for the Son of Sam killer, a blackout which erupted into full-scale looting and the brutal race for mayor between Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo. Variety reports that John Turturro will play Yankee manager Billy Martin."

Yeah, Robbie. Steal that batting title from Jeter and Mauer.

34 Trying to be tactful and not use the term, "race," I did a crappy job with my question. Latino usually means people from Latin American heritage. Like you said, they can be from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. I'm not even clear about what the term, "Hispanic" refers to any more. However, like you said, people from Spain are Europeans, but I don't think that they are considered Hispanic.

When A-Rod says that he is biracial what does he mean in terms of his parents? Is one of his parents of European heritage and the other Indian or African heritage? I just don't know a lot about his family background.

39 Eeeee, I love Oliver Platt. He is a good actor who will do Steinbrenner justice and take him beyond a caricature. Who plays Reggie? I would love Trevor Howard or Omar Epps or Mekhi Phifer to play Reggie.

The dreaded lead off walk.

Dp, Henn, dp! No more walks.

40 It's that Hispanic refers to Latin American people, but they are descendents of people from Spain, and Portugal (in the case of Brazillians).

I think A-Rod's mom was one of those descendents (from the Iberian penninsula) and dad's forebearers were from Africa (but then, all our ancestors were from Africa, if you go back far enough).

I hate race based classifications. Really meaningless.

39 Also starring Alex Rodriguez as the young lost boy who is to blame for all those troubles.

40
My question is why did he say "biracial" in the same sentence as rich, good looking and bright? How is biracial similar to those other adjectives?

it's interesting a-rod would bring that up especially since jeter is the one who gets death threats for being biracial and dating "white women"

See BBTN is good for something. I get to see highlights during the Yankee game.

Well, those census forms always say, "Hispanics may be of any race." ;-)

I don't know much about A-Rod's family, either, but he sure looks biracial.

Not that you can tell all that much by looking at people. One thing that's come out of those DNA tests that are so popular now for genealogy and such...most people have mixed ethnic backgrounds, even when they think they don't. And looks are not a good guide. People who thought they were black find they have no African ancestry at all. People who thought they were pure European find there's a big chunk of African or Asian blood in their family somewhere. I'm tempted to try it myself, just to see if anything interesting shakes out of the woodpile.

Henn needs to settle down.

44 Okay, thanks.

Did Al Leiter just say that celebrating winning the division in Baltimore a few years back despite losing the game was "cheap shit"?

I swear I heard that and then dead air for a minute.

37 I wouldn't be surprised if a few players lurked here.

41 Looks like Mekhi Phifer is already angling for the role ;-)

http://tinyurl.com/e5n49

Willie Randolph could almost play himself...

51 I think he said cheap champagne, not sure though.

Jeter's bi-racial, don't see how that has much bearing. People like to pick on people who react is my best guess.

Terrence Howard would do Reggie the most justice, not because he's the hot name. He's a real talent, no offense to Omar and Mehki. Any other casting ideas?

44 - "I hate race based classifications. Really meaningless."

I certainly agree from an "all men are created equal/before the law" perspective, but there are one or two areas of life (genetic screening for certain diseases, use of some particular medicines) where it can matter.

I would think the important issue here is A-Rod's socioeconomic history - iirc his dad abandoned the family and he had a rough childhood.

Anyway, the post-season can't come soon enough.

Henn loads the bases.

Wow Henn seriously got squeezed that AB against Wells

51 Dang missed it. Had to let the dog in.

56 And he is at 60 pitches. Guess we can start early guessing who's poping out of the bullpen today.

Wow. Henn is doing the same thing Rasner and Karstens did. Escape artists, the lot of 'em.

54 That is exactly why I named Trevor Howard first. He always stands out in all the roles that he plays. What a talent. The only other actor I would like for the role is Don Cheadle, but he is too old and doesn't have the right physical build. Morris Chestnut is hot, but he is a blah actor.

wow-I'm impressed at Henn standing up to the pressure there.

Can believe Henn got out of it. Are the past three days unofficial auditions for the playoff?

52 Karim Garcia?

Yesss! Henn doing an El Duque impersonation.

Have I mentioned that I love Cano?

61 Don Cheadle is one awesome actor.

And in 63, I kinda meant can't...

I really, really hope A-rod's 0 for his last 5 has nothing to do with Verducci.

Henn doesn't want to be left out of the "gritty rookies" mix...

From Fox Sports:
Although Angels GM Bill Stoneman has not made a splashy trade in his seven seasons as GM, the team is likely to re-open discussions with Baltimore for Miguel Tejada, perhaps re-engage Boston about Manny Ramirez and maybe EVEN TALK to New York about Alex Rodriguez.

71 Did Steve Phillips co-write that story?

eeee... cameraman gets a shot of Melky picking his nose. Do they look for these shots?

Wow...Halladay out of the game. What happened?! That's a shame, he's fun to watch.

70 from Hot Rumors: Posted September 20, by Ben Maller

Steve Somers of all people on Espn News. They couldn't find another FAN host?

61 I was thinking the exact same thing about Cheadle, all of it.

Uh-oh, what's up with Halliday? Did anyone see it?

I feel for Halladay, and I hope he's not seriously here, but does anyone else feel its a great opportunity for Sheffield to pinch-hit for Guiel and play 1B?

What is the injury delay about?

70 Someone tell FOX that the Yankees are not trading A-Rod.

Whoah. Halladay injured? What happaned?

77 *hurt, not here

59 Joe Ratzinger?

What happened to Halladay? I am stuck with gamecast and no additional useful information!

I didn't see anything happen. Suddenly he just called the trainer out, and that was that.

Yeah, he threw a pitch, all of a sudden the pitching coach and the trainer were out there, and that was it.

77 Yeah especially since Romero is a lefty

Has play resumed or is gameday stuck?

86 Lots of warmup pitches. Bernie's coming to the plate now.

The replacement pitcher's been warming up. We're back now.

84 That's strange.

Mauer at .344, leads Captain by 5, Cano by 6.

Dear FOX,

Please tell your producers and your shadow warrior Steve Phillips to have a nice cup of STFU, Banter Brand.

Sincerely, BB

Unless the Yanks lose and A-Rod doesn't do well, then it is A-Rod's fault

(Kaye was just talking about Abreu feeling that if the Phillies didn't win it was his fault, but he doesn't feel that pressure here.)

Well....We've got a PH for Guiel...unfortunately it's Wilson.

Wilson, not Sheffield. Boo.

Yeah, Bernie!

94 Expect to see him later though

I guess when Torre said Sheff wouldn't play until they clinch he really meant it.

Sigh.

Sheff could've done that, with more style.

Boo DPs! Hooray Sheffield?

Ugh, next inning then.

I'm beginning to feel Chris Wilson is non-value-added.

72 EEEEEW! Probably the same cameramen, excuse me, camerapersons who are so intent on focusong on a player grabbing his hoo-ha's.

Does anyone see a need for Craig Wilson on the playoff roster? Guiel can play 1B AND the OF, and can hit righties. Lefties, you say? Hopefully that's Bernie's only playoff job.

102 Are you talking about Chris Widger?

102 Yeah, and don't even get me started on Craig Wilson!

@*#@!)%

what's up with the freakin' home run foghorn???

Henn implosion = Villone for multiple innings, doesn't it?

Who's first out of the bullpen tonight?

110 Proctor

Reflexive action on my part.

Well, Joe said it wouldn't be Bruney, because his velocity's down and they don't want to wear him out.

So of course, it's Bruney warming now...

Easy guys, it's only one run. It's not the 9th inning, Villone and Dotel haven't showed up. We're fine.

That being said, I see EDSMHP pitching within the hour.

111 Shockingly, you're wrong. It's Bruney warming.

Actually, Lidle? Veras?
I think they want to rest Bruney.

And while I type that, Bruney's up.

110 Who is Karim Garcia?

116 You just beat me to it!

FWIW from Fox:
Alex Rodriguez said last night that he hadn't read the story yet, but he was unfazed by it. Among the biting SI quotes, Jason Giambi says, "Alex doesn't know who he is. We're going to find out who he is in the next couple of months." "That doesn't bother me at all because I have gotten a lot of support from this team," Rodriguez said before last night's game in Toronto. "This is the most support I have ever got from a team. Jason is a very supportive teammate as well." Giambi reportedly told Joe Torre to "stop coddling" Rodriguez. Giambi denied this last night, but it seemed to be confirmed in the story by Torre, whom, it should be noted, figures to have a strong relationship with the author of the article, Tom Verducci, since they wrote a book together nearly a decade ago.

Posted September 20, by Ben Maller

I guess one day was plenty of rest for Bruney...and then Proctor told him not to be a wimp. While handing him the staple gun.

117 That's twice I've done that today, I beat Bama earlier...

I'm glad they explained that the Gatorade jug was leaking. They kept showing just the cup, with liquid spurting into it. I was afraid someone was making like Manny, and peeing in a cup.

Mauer by 4

Mauer just K'd. Average back down to .343.

Bah. Henn out, Bruney in. Probably because he's not used to throwing that many pitches (mostly relieved this year)?

Well, Yanks did well with rookies the last two days, can't expect that a third time.

Wow, 5.1 innings of bullpen. Joe, you're a genius. No, you really are. Better stop the bleeding early! Play like there's no tomorrow!!

I can't help to be excited just by seeing Bruney nowadays.

Lip reading — Bruney: "F me"...

Henn was injured a lot this year.

Though I gotta said, I never had much confidence in him, even when he was healthy.

I've got a bad feeling about this...

Think Dotel will close it out tonight?

What's the YES gun putting Bruney at?

ooooook......

96-ish.

132 96-98 MPH.

Joe, Joe, Joe. If you Sturtze Brian Bruney now, you'll regret it. Let Henn or Dotel or Beam take one for the team, if necessary.

126 4.1 innings if we lose which doesn't seem to be too bad a proposition if we end up saving bullpen arms. Thought with Joe, you never know if the bullpen arms are ever gonna be okay.

It's those back to back doubleheaders that have left the bullpen in this state. We need a retractable roof. :-P

So, throw Lidle out there for 3 innings? I can't really see him on the PS roster, at least not for the first round.

Right forearm strain for Halladay. Same thing Mo had.

Since race is an artificial contruct I prefer the terms Soledad O'Brienesque or Spumoni (many flavors in one) to 'biracial'. Sal Fasano could single handedly make A-Rod beloved if he only said "nobody cares that A-Rod's Spumoni as long as he hits. Personally I love Spumoni." Then A-Rod could take his place in the pantheon of Yankee greats, DiMaggio, Rizzuto, Billy Martin (born Alfred Manuel Pesano) and the Great Spumoni, the greatest Yankee 3rd baseman of all-time.

Is it me, or is the lettering on Romero's jersey unusually large?

136 Second that.

Halladay left due to an injured arm. That doesn't sound good, I hope he's ok.

I knew Robby Rocket would get on base.

Hooray for artificial turf.

Cano and the Captain are now tied and trail Mauer by 4 points.

Can Gary come out and play? I vote that he comes in for Matsui.

146 Captain Cano has a ring to it. Too bad it's taken.

Bruney's not looking sharp tonight.
I think I'll shut the computer down for the night.

Does anyone know what happened to Orel Hershiser? He was one of the few intelligent people on ESPN and I haven't seen him for a while....

Ortiz hits #50, 2-1 Sox

The O better start soon...

Is Sheff going to play or not?

Are you kidding me? Bern, baby, Bern!!!

Who needs Sheff? We have Bernie! :-D

I called that...

Bernie from the right side is a beautiful thing.

Byaaah!

156 Of course, I have been wrong many times before, but I will take credit when I am right.

Bernie got a big, fat meatball. They left Romero in too long.

Dotel coming in

The Yankees' version of Rudy Seanez (aka The White Flag)

159 Maybe Torre got inspired and decided to let Bruney rest. But of course we will see EDSP very soon.

Dotel walks with his feet pointed really far outward. Its kinda weird lookin.

Did anyone else's BB get really messed up, with a smaller comments section and an extra long sidebar?

Check out the sponsor of Dotel's Baseball Reference page:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/doteloc01.shtml

164 yup

164 Refresh

Way OT: The casting discussion for the '77 Yanks miniseries led me to stumble across this site — a talent management company that offers celeb lookalikes and impersonators. No Yanks, but kinda freaky.

http://www.lookalike.com/lookalikes.htm

167 Doesn't help

164 Yeah, what's up with that? Did they change something, or is there something in the sidebar messing up the formatting?

Mauer just grounded out (albeit with the tying run and 2nd).

*on 2nd.

Dotel gets 2 quickies, then remembers he's Dotel...

Gack. It's EDSP. Why am I not surprised?

Keep your head up Octavio, you will be welcomed next year.

169,170 If everyone is experiencing the same, I am sure Ken will fix it soon.

Thank you in advance, Ken.

175 Wouldn't we be more surprised if we don't see EDSP?

And that explains why Torre relies on Proctor so much this year. He really is having a great season despite the fact that he's topping 80 for game appearances.

Twins have 1st and 3rd and no outs against the Phenom, Craig Hansen.

Twins threatening in the 8th. 1st and 3rd no out

Torii Hunter hits the next pitch into the Monster Seats. 4-2 Twins.

Hunter homers! Twins up 2!

Rondell White doubles and out comes Hansen. His final line: 0 ip, 3 h, 3+ er, 3+ r, 1 bb, 0 k, blown save.

Proctor's the man, but who pitches the 8th and 9th?

Oh wait. Proctor, duh.

Considering we're about to clinch, I'm surprised there aren't many people bantering today.

168 I've spent the last 15 min. looking at famous lookalikes. Creepy, but I kept laughing.

It's funny how I also get excited when I see League on.

182 Actually, if anyone on the Sox were going to be shelled, I wish it would be Foulke or Tavarez or Timlin. Hansen seems like a good kid who was really, really rushed. His confidence has to be killed with the way the Sox have hung him out there.

5-2 Twins. I hope that game lasts longer than the Yankee game, so the Yanks will have a chance to clinch it on the field.

Hang on, Twins.

185 Definitely creepy as hell.

Godzilla bomb coming in 3, 2, 1 . . .?

Brandon League? Doesn't his brother Bush play for the Sawx?

Oh well. Groundzilla.

Against Ryan, we better see Sheff

I am anxiously waiting. Lets do this!

Hey, how about Veras! That kid may yet be of use next year...

184 Spoiled, arrogant Yankee fans who think the World Series title is their birthright, let alone the AL East, so this is nothing to get excited about. I hate those bast*rds... ;-)

Veras has some good stuff. Any chance he can make the PS roster?

Bernie walk, Sheff blast . . . Shef makes a sweet diving play at first to preserve the win in the bottom of the inning?

195 Not bad lately overall from an organization whose minor leagues are in shambles with second rate talent and zero pitching...

Just getting to the party. Hey Chyll, if you're still around, thanks for picking up my slack up back in 64 & 116.

All we need is one swing to extend this puppy....

It is on Jorge.

201 ... and that wasn't the one ;-(

In a way, I am glad that we are not winning today. At least, one bullpen arm will be saved.

Krikies!

I could have sworn Sheffield was off the DL.

So what's the significance of the bullhorn after the victory?

Does anyone think the Yanks will celebrate as soon as they find out in the clubhouse, or wait until their next win?

Oh well. Let's go, Twins!

Wow MLB.TV is not cutting off, I'm surprised.

I suspect there would be more excitement if the Yankees won. Waiting for the Sox to lose isn't quite the same.

Though I'll take it...

209 Ugh. Never Mind.

The Yankees better celebrate. I definitely will be celebrating.

210 Just remember, last time we 'backed in' was 2000. And we know what happened that October...

209 MLB.tv cut off during the Mets' celebration two nights ago.

4 outs to go in Beantown for the clinch...

213 They really backed in 2000. Didn't they lose like 10 of 12 to finish the season?

214 That's cold. Why can't YES just go national and save it's huge fanbase from this misery?

212 Damn straight. The bubbles will be flowin' in the BklynBmr household tonight!

They'll be celebrating... The Yankees played some great baseball this year, even though they had quite a few set-backs. Let's go Minnesota!

Craig Hansen is our MVP...

Hey, at least we took 2 out of 3 with two rookie pitchers.

Reyes walks Ortiz. At least there is no Manny behind him.

Damnit Gardenhire just bring in Nathan

Just today on ESPN.com Olney was praising the Twins' bullpen, he better have been right.

Neshek's pitching motion is Colter Bean-like.

224 Yes, until we play them of course. :)

212, 218 There is absolutely no reason not to celebrate. They won the series with the Jays with two rookies in the past two days. Winning today was to be extra thick icing on the cake. And they know they better watch their diets since they still get a job to finish.

Let's go, Neshek. One last out here.

Yessss!!! Score more and then bring on Nathan.

228 And he's done it.

Lowell K's. 3 outs to go.

yes!

Ok, 2 more outs. Let's go Joe Nathan!

Make that 3 more. Sheesh.

I was wondering why Gardenhire didn't bring in the 2nd best closer in the game with the tying run at the plate in the middle of a pennant race. That's something Torre would certainly have done.

Do you think the guys are in the clubhouse eyes glued to the screen? I hope so.

#*)@#)! Mauer

That hit drove his average up two points! he leads by 5!

236 No question.

Mauer can have the batting title if he helps add on some more runs here.

236 I suspect some are reading the banter as well.

240 I'd rather everyone but him add runs.

The Sox bullpen strikes again!

241 LOL! That would be cool.

Wow, Morneau's certainly making a case to win the MVP over Jeter as well...

Yes!!! Come on, at least two more insurance runs here.

Heh. Go Twinkies. It's a beautiful thing...

245 I'm hoping that Morneau and Mauer split the Twins' votes and Jeter gets the MVP.

O-VER!

Very nice. I like.

8-2 Twins. Papi-proof this MF, Minny!

247 ...but not you, Mauer. You're gonna have to stop that.

248 Santana could get some of those votes too.

Ha, they should just pop the bubbly now...

Wow, it's getting ugly for Boston.

o-VER! o-VER! o-VER!

Is it wrong to be glad they could be eliminated at Fenway?

251 If Papi gets up again, Sox will have tacked on 3-4 runs at that point.

253 Good point. Olney and all the people pushing Santana are helping out the Captain.

Wow ... 8-2 now. But can't really breathe until it's OVER in Boston. The baseball season is so long that you all must know what I mean.

236 Now somebody's gotta confess, who here works for the Yankees??

248 I hope so. I'd be more than ok if Jeter gets MVP and Cano gets batting title.

261 Speaking of which, what is everyone at right now? Cano, Cap and Mauer, that is?

I don't know guys, if Minny wins the division, I think Morneau has got a pretty good shot...especially if the Cap's BA continues to go south.

To think I didn't think the Yankees would make the playoffs this season. Wow! I'm ready to scream softly with joy at the last out in Boston.

264 You go girl!

261 I can't imagine a Yankee employee posting here though it would be cool.

Here's your lineup for Friday, folks:

See: Columbus Clippers
Sheffield at 1B. ;-)

262
Mauer .344
Cap'n .339
Cano .339

Mauer leads them both by 5 I'm pretty sure.

Where on internet explorer is this refresh button i keep hearing about Please an answer

Ha. ESPN showing the highlights from the Twins/Boston game.

Oh, I'm rooting for the Tigers to win their division.

Everyone, I need to go run to dinner. So let me be the first to offer hardy handshakes all around. If Boston comes back, then you can blame me for totally jinxing it.

258 Maybe, maybe not, but Sawx are down six. Papi would be the seventh hitter. Do the math from there...

2 outs to go...

266 That'd be very cool.

YES better put footage of the celebration on their site

274 Guys, I must reveal something, this is Joe Torre, and frankly, I'm sick and tired of all the insults.

SIDDOWN, TEK!!!

270 F5 key.

270 The refresh button is on the tool bar. It is two circular green arrows on a white background.

One more to go.

1 out away from the post season!

This is Karim Garcia. Keep up the good work!

275 I'm recording on DVR and can burn a DVD of the whole thing if anyone wants it.

276 Joe, I apologize on behalf of my critical co-posters:)

THAT'S IT YANKEES WIN THE DIVISION!

Hooray! I love the Yankees!

What???? Red Sox fans leaving the park early?? Never!! hahaha

AL EAST CHAMPIONS!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!! NINE STRAIGHT!!!! NINE STRAIGHT!!!!! NINE STRAIGHT!!!!!

1-2-3 in the 9th in Boston!

Oh that is such a sweet wrap! In your ear Fenway....

282 This is Pedro Martinez. "Who is Karim Garcia?"

283 Would it be possible to get that online?

Yesss!!! The Yankee clinch the AL East! Just to irk, Cliff: We win!!!!!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

276 Enjoy the celebration and the pops!

Take that Red Sox Nation! Order has been restored!

The Pale Hose are in huge trouble too. Oh it's a very good night.

Well, we're happy. I hope the team is happy too.

283 Could you please put the footage online if YES doesn't? Please? Thanks so much.

257 Nope, MFD. In 2004, I know the Sox fans were extra happy about winning the pennant in the Bronx. Enjoy it, I say.

Thanks, Twins. 9 division titles in a row - woo-hoo!

Somewhere that gimpy crow is smiling...

Giambi's drinking some of the champagne. He's the only one I've noticed drinking it.

298 They gotta be.

302 Is this on YES?

302 What about everyone else?

The Sox will be eliminated completely with a loss tomorrow.

MLB TV for the season $70.00. Watching the NESN screen grow dark after the Red Sox are eliminated, PRICELESS

299 I could certainly do that, although it will take an extra step or two - maybe I'll upload to YouTube if YES doesn't put it up eventually...

295 Oh I am!

304 Yes.

302 Cairo was drinking it too, and I think I saw A-Rod take a sip...

306 Well wait, maybe they'll win the next ten straight, right?

The lead to NESN's extra innings post-game show is video of champagne flowing in the Yankees' clubhouse, and Caron and Eck are giving the Yankees credit. It just doesn't get better!

THanks for the tip on the button simone we win

ESPN showing a bit of the celebration. Melky!

Raise your glasses, lads and lassies and join me in a toast —

To a unbelieveable division crown and yet more legendary feats to be witnessed in the post season!

Bottoms up!

Now let's get the homefield, hope and pray everyone stays healthy, and give 'em hell!

Let's go, Yank-ees!

302 Giambi is getting a few days off - might as well enjoy himself!

Shoot, with the off day tomorrow, I say they all ought to enjoy themselves. Except Carl Pavano. He doesn't deserve any champagne. At least not the good stuff. A bottle of warm Cold Duck, maybe, but not the good stuff.

Is Melky old enough to drink champagne? LOL! My guys look so happy.

314 No problem. You should consider using Mozilla Firefox which is a more efficient browser with more security.

306 11 back with 10 to play is eliminated today!

301 Yep, probably sitting on the shoulder of the Bambino

317 Eh, I'm feeling generous. Let Pavano sip some champagne.

308 Thanks a lot. Hopefully, YES will put it on so you don't have to go through all the trouble.

They look happy, right?

319 Not in the wild card.

305 They're spraying it, pouring it, but not drinking it. I don't know if it's because they don't want to get drunk, or if it's the cheap stuff, and Giambi has low tastes. ;-)

Robby and Melky were standing with their arms around each other, bouncing up and down in tandem, and spraying champagne.

Awwww, Joe talking to Jeter. The guys pouring champagne all over each other.

Stupid ESPN: the Yankees clinching the division in an awkward way. Screw you. Haters.

301 We must tell everyone this story, and make it another legend. What date did the crow land? What was Boston's record after that? Anyone know?

LOL! The Big Unit doused Kim Jones with a bottle of champagne. Just poured the whole bottle over her head.

319 For some dumb reason I thought you meant in the East.

Feels good....

324 I hope this is the first of many times we get to see Cano and Melky celebrate together. This year, and in the future!

326 August 1st, IIRC. Randym77 probably knows for sure...

327 I love that guy!

ESPNews showing the celebrations. Awww, Jeter pouring champagne on Joe and hugging him.

Can ESPN please give the A-Rod story a rest and show the celebration?

f*ck ESPN...

And Sheff poured champagne over Torre's head while he was being interviewed.

And now Mo's doing it.

Please someone put this up on Youtube

327 Now, is that revenge in disguise? Very funny.

330 Yea! It'd be so nice to see Cano and Melky ten years later like Jeter and Jorge now.

327 Someday, MLB will end these stupid territorial TV rights, and Yankee fans everywhere will just be able to watch it on YES themselves. In the meantime, thanks randym and everyone else for giving a view of the goings-on.

301 Yeah somewhere at the bottom of a pile of hawk guano there's a great big grackle smile. It's a nice thought.

Johnny D and Jason Giambi being interviewed. LOve the celebration. Laughing at the plastic on the cameras.

Yes, the crow (grackel) incident was Aug. 1.

326 Here's the background:

http://tinyurl.com/qku47

331 It was August 1st. Since then (including that game): 18-30, many injuries (including 2 hospitalizations), and Anibal Sanchez's no-hitter.

Villone pouring champagne on Jason.

337 You are probably right. LOL!

Johnny D in the playoffs while the Red Sox watch him at home. I love it.

338 Is it tomorrow? And yes, big thanks for everyone providing the updates.

And thanks to all Banter mates for sharing this season together. I am sure we will have some excellent moments in the next 1.5 months to come.

339 Hawk Guano... Isn't he the announcer for the White Sox?

326 And here's the hero:

http://tinyurl.com/nso48

338 MFD My question is: why the F' do we get the Turner Superstation and WGN broadcasts as part of the regular Cable package so I get stuck with the Braves and Cubs but can't get YES. It's Grackel Crap I say. Grackel Crap!

Interviewing Joe now. Thanking George and praising Brian, scouts, and office. Awwww, Joe choking up with tears. LOL! Just saw Sheffield pour champagne on Joe and now Mo. I'm so happy.

345 here here!!

327 I think Randy has a thing for Kim - he's always smirking at her when she asks her dumb questions after the game...

344 Hey, I haven't got time to think about that Johnny thing.

347 Thank you very much!

God d@mmit, I wish I could watch...ah well, hooray!

Jeter's being completely doused with beer and champagne. Completely. A-Rod was one of the perpetrators. Afterward, they hugged. Maybe kissed, too. ;-)

I must say, Jeter looks ten years younger now. He looks like he's 22 again.

Oh jeez, Kim - way to make it awkward with the last question...

355 All of a sudden, I don't think Captain gives two sh1ts about the MVP award.

Melky seen drinking the hard stuff in the background. Is he legal?

With the Matsu and Sheff injuries in May and the ESPN Obit being read in June, other than '98, this may be the best of all the consecutive Easts.

356 What did she say?

355 I keep telling myself that he is 22, so he has another 15 years to play.

344 They showed an interview with Johnny and Kim Jones getting doused on the NESN postgame show...after that, the NESN hosts pretty much dropped their graciousness and said "maybe we'll come back to the Yankee celebration, maybe not". LOL...really Caron and Eckersley are pretty good guys, but you could tell they just didn't want to deal with being reminded of Johnny on the other side rubbing in the Yankees' success in their face.

Thanks everyone for sharing celebration for those of us who don't get YES or ESPNews. Sounds like a blast.

All right I gotta go... enjoy! See yas tomorrow!

Interviewing Derek who looks hot. I just saw them pour the beer and champagne on Derek. Hilarious. What are they saying in Spanish?

Kim's last question to Jeter (paraphrasing): "You and Alex shared a hug - many of us thought we'd never see that..."

Jeter: "Well we've hugged before, we've been together a while."

Now stupid Bob Lorenz commented on it too.

Melky's legal. He's 22 now.

I think they're going to be showing that Jeter/A-Rod hug a lot. They're making a big deal about it.

Oh, well. It will give the "Chokeback Yankees" people more material. ;-)

Someday those of us relocated from the tri-state area will be able to watch...but anyway WHOOOOOOO-HOOO!!!

365 Weird question, funny answer. Arod's really got to learn from Jeter in terms of giving interviews.

Hey, Scotty Proctor! Give his arm its own beer!

361 Too funny.

Wow, he just dropped to the floor and did 10 one-arm pushups. Strange.

368 I agree. Jeter has down the pat the art of answering a question without saying much.

Scotty and Jorgie are way too dry.

371 What was that?

371 Who?

Posada being interviewed now - he's completely dry!

364 Somehow, not surprising. He seems to do that a lot.

375 Mike J...oh you all know by now.

375 Kidding, kidding - Proctor was just being interviewed before.. ;-)

Jorge!!! He looks a little damp.

Abreu's up now and he looks positively giddy - good for him!

Is that Pete Abraham on the screen behind Abreu right now?!

382 Yes, I think it was!

382 I am waiting for his update on his blog.

381 It's really great for him, and he really deserves to be in the playoffs. He finally gets his chance.

ESPNews is interviewing Giambi and he keeps taking swigs of a 750 ml bottle of Dr. Jack Daniels.

Ha - Kim Jones looks like a drowned rat.

I think the Unit is sweet on Kim. He's pouring a can of beer over her. She's soaked. Mo looks dry as a bone. She's wondering why she's getting it and he isn't.

386 Has to be revenge in disguise.

387 I think you're right. He's got that "aww shucks" look on his face giving the interview. Heh.

The lockerroom's almost empty, but RJ was still hanging around. Pouring booze over Kim's head until she interviewed him.

I think they'll post video on MLB.com. They did last year.

Ridiculous! ESPN just won't let it go with the SI story. They just teased Sportscenter with it during the Tigers-White Sox game.

Ha - Cano and Melky are absolutely hysterical - they just showed a quick clip of them doing some synchronized celebration dance with everyone else looking on...

Good riddance to the White Sox.

390 You are right. I can't believe I forgot about it.

394 Well, if anyone wants the complete celebration I can provide.

ESPNNews showing the Mariano interview now...

391 ESPN is out of control. F'em.

Mo is being interviewing now. He thinks about winning. This is all so great.

395 Thank you, thank you. You will probably be the only one who can provide the complete version. The MLB footage will only be seconds.

yay

Damon is seems drunk.... :)

I haven't seen Matsui at all, but I see tons of Japanese media in the background hunting for him...

395 Would love to have a copy, that would be great. Thanks for the generous sharing.

399 Damon is one nice dude. He was probably drinking with the teammates for clinching, and also drinking for the past teammates who just lost...

Wow, I have seen about 98% of the games this year, and 98% of the pitches in every game (yeah, pathetic I know) and I miss the celebration because of reasons that I can't explain. I am highly annoyed. I hope they replay what every Yankee said, cause dammit I deserve to see it.

283 Just saw your post. Help me out brotha.

402 See 395. We have a special supplier here on the Banter.

395 Yes, absolutely. I need to see it in all its glory.

Stay tuned - I will burn to DVD tomorrow and then try to extract everything and post by the weekend....

406 Thank you.

406 You may end up having to do this a couple more times, but thanks in advance!

All of a sudden, I care much less about the MVP. I'd still like for him to win, but this feels so much better.

406 That would be huge for those of us unable to get that! You rock, brah!

YES has video of the celebration up already:

http://www.yesnetwork.com/index.jsp

yankees.com also has some footage up as well

411 Thanks Randy. Boy, there is a LOT of tension in the last 10 seconds or so of the footage when A-Rod gets in the picture. Pretty obvious the guys are trying to purposely pour the champagne into his eyes, and then they have the tensest little dance together afterwards, jumping up and down. I'm guessing none of that footage will make espn...

Like SF Yank, I'm out here on the coast in no man's land. Thanks to everyone with YES for keeping the rest of us transplants posted on the festivities.

413 I can't really tell, but are you being sarcastic?

There's a bunch of celebration screenshots over at NYYFans, under the Your 2006 AL East Champions thread.

Some cool post game stuff from Peter Abraham (LoHud), including:

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As the celebration slowed, reliever Kyle Farnsworth took note of the fact that the Red Sox would occupy the same sodden room tomorrow. "The best thing is Boston has to come in here next," he said. "It's the smell of victory they've got to smell. You can print that."

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http://www.thejournalnews.com/blogs/lohudyankees.html