I noticed that after I was able to breath and think about the Yankees playoff early exit rationally, then I was able to come to the conclusion that I didn't agree with everyone that Torre should be fired. Initially I thought the team needed a change, but baseball is a funny game and that's what makes Will's piece so well thought out, intelligent and realistic.

Let's Go Willie! Let's Go Mets! Let's Go Luck!

"A bad team beating a good team is not particularly difficult, or unusual. Yankees fans can take some solace in this." Wow! This was in the NY Times?
Even if it was in the Op-Ed section, and out of Murray's jurisdiction, somebody must have slipped Chass a mickey to get that in the Old Gray (Red Sox wearin') Lady.

Farnsworth is another great example of this phenomenon. On some nights, he looks unhittable. There have been times I've watched him and wondered how his ERA was not 0.01 or something. Then a couple of days later he can't get a ball over the plate. Over the season, he's a so so setup guy with great stuff and lousy command.

Do you really think that Kenny Rogers and Jeff Weaver are really aces now?

And notice, I never mentioned A-Rod ;).

I'm excited about the game tonight. I really hope Willie takes the "all hands on deck" approach. That's why I think the Mets have the best chance - I'd rather have their pen over the Cards', and I bet both pens figure into the game. Ought to be a great one.

Go Mets!

Personally, I'm 50/50 on him, depends how I wake up in the morning but I'm no longer completely in his camp.

"Maine is the catalyst for this piece because of how he's pitched in October. The John Maine who was the Mets' best starter for much of the second half was a command pitcher, a guy with a better than 2:1 K/BB who had some trouble with the long ball (a homer every six innings). The John Maine who's saved the Mets' bacon this month, the one who pitched last night, is nothing like that: he's walked 11 men in 13 1/3 innings, while allowing just one home run. Last night, Maine had a good start that was nothing like him, giving up just two hits while issuing four free passes.

The two John Maines are the exact same pitcher, of course, but you wouldn't know that from watching them or from their performance record. And the point about John Maine extends to David Wright, to Billy Wagner, to Scott Rolen and So Taguchi, to Kenny Rogers and Frank Thomas and, yes, to Alex Rodriguez: over the course of a few weeks, baseball players can perform in a manner that varies widely from their established level, and they can do so in either direction. October is no different from May in that regard, although we remember the swings in greater detail, and bestow labels like "clutch" and "choker," "hero" and "goat," based on what we see."

The sample size for one game is clearly too small for any batting statistic to mean a damn thing. Pitching is pretty shaky over one start as well, but it's less shaky. Odds are pretty good a Johan Santana isn't going to get shelled -- he may not pitch to his exact ERA, but he'll almost certainly keep you in the game by giving up three or less. An Oliver Perez, on the other hand, is very likely to lose you the game all by his lonesome.

This is why pitching is more important than hitting in the playoffs and why the old "good pitching beats good hitting" cliche exists. If I was going to bet on tonight's game (sans odds), I would almost certainly bet on Suppan even though he's pretty much of a trash heap item himself. I would say the Cards have a 55% chance of winning with Suppan even on the road. Of course, 55-45 isn't much of an advantage, but it's marginally better than a coin toss.

fiction from esquire:
http://www.esquire.com/features/articles/2006/061005_mfe_November_06_Fiction_1.html

Lastly, dealing with ARod requires a special skill that no manager in the major leagues has ever experienced, and I don't think a lot ever will. How does any manager deal with the constant media attention? Even on days where you'd think Torre might have it easy, it's always about ARod. You think that's an easy job? Even the Red Sox have admitted that all the media attention given to Manny is enough and they want to move him.

The only thing that compares is T.O and Parcells, he doesn't even refer to T.O. by name. I'm sorry, I don't think Torre fractured anything ARod. I think the best solution for the ARod debacle is to trade him, the next best solution was what Alex had posted here from the baseball-analyst from a few days ago.

"One million trials

A Monte Carlo simulation uses random numbers to simulate the playoff series. Each game of the series is given a seperate outcome probability, based on the home team, the team's performance during the regular season, and the expected starting pitcher matchup. Since a different sequence of random numbers is used every day, the results may change slightly from one day to the next, even if there was no game and no change in the pitching matchups."

or the one about learning how to be a yankee from mattingly...

or the one about knocking the gambler's teeth down his throat the next time they cross paths...

The last one is pretty funny. I can hear him saying it in that blase, matter of fact aw-shucks voice of his right now: "You know Suzyn, Kenny was a great teammate and all, but the next time we cross paths, I'm going to knock his teeth down his throat. Because losing makes me sick to my stomach."

"Don Larsen started two Game 7s for the Yankees, which was two more than Whitey Ford started."

-From Rob Neyer's column at ESPN.com, which concludes that yes, Oliver Perez is probably the worst pitcher to ever start a Game 7.

Put another way...same teams, same venue...replace Jeff Suppan with Johan Santana or maybe Curt Schilling against Oliver Perez. Would you still say it's a coin toss?

* = but not the last one. (but can you prove that he DIDN'T say it?... yeah... think about it...)

while he may be exaggerating at times and at others using patterns of phrasing that are familiar, i don't think he's being deceitful or insincere. the guy wants to win when he suits up, which he should for the money he's making.

which isn't to say that i don't see where you're coming from.

bringing it back around, i hope tonight's game is close. i want drama from a game seven.

There have been other baseball stars with that kind of attention around them Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi to name a few... the big difference is they received support from their fans and team and everything quieted down. That isn't happening with Alex and Torre/Yankee Management need to do something about it (if they want it to go away).

No one can deny he's a great player, however. But there is a difference.

Reggie Jackson (and even Babe Ruth back in the day) caused a circus in the Bronx but since he delivered in the postseason I guess people were able to overlook it.

So I guess if the circus that is A-Rod is caused by the fans booing him when he is in a slump and people want to "dump" A-Rod due to this circus, it is a shame that we let those so-called fans boo a HOFer out of the Bronx.

http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2006/10/torre_a-rod_don.html

I think ARod has negative aura about him, whether real or perceived, the general public, his teammates, media, et al, have picked up on it and it causes people to respond negatively to him. There aren't too many people coming to his defense.....oh yeah one person has so far, Scott Boras. Nuff said!!!

Just saw this other piece @ WW too:
http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2006/10/costas_yanks_sh.html

In my lifetime, I have never seen an athlete draw so much attention that he didn't bring unto himself. He seems to suck the energy out of the room wherever he goes.

I realized today that I will come to this dilemma if the Mets get into the Serious tonight (and I have a good hunch that they will),

The Yankee fan in me would actually want the Tigers to win it, and the New Yorker in me would want the Mets to do it.

And then, I came to a conclusion, that was just plain stupidity.

If this were a movie, Jeter would be Michael Corleone, ARod would be Fredo Corleone.

28 I actually think Alex Rodriguez's situation would improve if he just stopped interacting so liberally with the media. He told ESPN off and we cheered, then he turned around and talked about injuries. Alex works his way out of his slump and starts to do well on the field, he proceeds to cooperate with Verducci for the controversial article. For all that is holy, STOP talking so much!!!!!

It is interesting that Alex, A.I, and T.O., some of the most controversial athletes in their sports, have conflicted relationships with their fan base that is stirred primarily by the national media. A.I. and T.O. are too honest. They say things that every athlete thinks or says behind closed doors, but don't say. Alex tries hard to say the right thing, but always accidentally says things that reveal the extent of his insecurities which simply increases the media frenzy.

I agree. But I suspect he also says similar things to his teammates, even when the media's not around, which probably contributes to the personality issues.

40- They taught him how to play 3B surely they can give some 'helpful' hints on when to just be quiet :)

Oh to be a fly on the Yankee clubhouse wall for a day LOL!