Duncan over Matsui? Sure, why not. I know I'm sick of watching Matsui ground out to second against left-handers, so I guess Torre is now, too.

The 5pm starts, ok, it's true I will miss the start of the games (at least on TV - there is radio, right? I can listen on the way home).

Duncan over Matsui... it all comes down to how Matsui's knees feel. I like that Torre is considering it. I hope he's also considering Hughes in game 3.

I won't be up in arms if Shell gets the start while Giambi and Matsui are reserved, but that's not how I would start the playoffs. I'd use Mink and Melk in the field, and surround them with the best batters, regarless of the lefty pitching matchup.

Anyone have any idea what I'm trying to say there?

Sorry. I hate the waiting game, but I should at least preview my comments.

2 "I know I'm sick of watching Matsui ground out to second against left-handers, so I guess Torre is now, too."

QFT. I'm hoping Shelley gets the start against CC on Thursday personally. It's a win-win IMO with Matsui and Giambi available for PH duty if we can work our way into the pen.

Life will be a lot easier if we can nab one on Thursday...

"In 2006, Rodriguez said, he would have struggled the rest of the game and brooded for two days. This time, he said, he looked around the infield and saw Derek Jeter and Robinson Canó laughing. So he laughed at himself and wound up going 2 for 5 with a home run.

"The ability to laugh at yourself is something that I haven't been good at my whole life, and I think I've laughed at myself more this year than I have in my whole 12- or 13-year career," Rodriguez said. "It's been fun to laugh at myself, and the guys having fun with me."

I'm also not thrilled about the broadcast team. I really don't want to listen to Brenly for 3+ hours.

On the flip side, it would suck to be a Cubs fan with a 10pm start.

Anyone nervous at all about this series? I'm hoping that all the talk about CC is just hype. His record speaks for itself but the Yanks have owned him in the past (even though they haven't seen him for 3 years).

I think the Yanks will go as far as their pen takes them. Beyond Joba and Mo (who has made me nervous lately), we have no relievers that make me comfortable. I'd love to see Hughes in the pen this series rather than as a starter. I think his stuff would translate well in the 6th and 7th innings.

The Shelley Duncanstein is my favorite. I usually go one step further by calling him Mary Shelley Duncanstein. But it often leads to funny looks.

Someone pointed out in a post a last week that, regarding the umpires, he/she hopes that none of the playoff games are decided by bad calls. Well, last night's "safe" call would have made me furious if I was a Padres fan and it now looks like a playoff-caliber game was indeed decided by a "bad" call. Had the correct call been made, the game would have been tied with 2 outs and the bases empty. No one knows how the game would have turned out but a bad call decided the outcome, period.

I hope that this was the last bad call that decides a game this fall, but I'm not so confident about it.

12 I was impressed by the TBS presentation. I've gotten so used to FOX's shamless promotions in the middle of games that is was a delight to see them treat the game as the most important thing.

Speaking of Tony, has anyone here ever heard Tony Gwynn Jr speak? He was on XM last night and I thought it was his dad - sounded just like him.

16 The call at the plate was awful, but so was the blown home run call, which would have ended the game in the 9th in Rockies' favor. It wouldn't be the first time this year we saw the umps screw up one call and then "make up for it" by screwing up another call later.

The blown call in DeSalvo's tough-luck loss vs the Ms, later made up for by a phantom tag call that cost the Ms a game, comes to mind.

ugh.

I think game three is more of a pivotal game for us. Say we win one of those first two and then we go back home and could take game three behind Wang. Then we could close it out at home in game four. Would you pitch Hughes up two games to one? Would they come back with CC on short rest?

If we lose games one and two, then game three is obviously critical and I would want Wang in there for that one. I know that saving Wang for game three goes against conventional wisdom, but I might give it a try.

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/SExY

Wow, great url generation by baseball-reference there...

i am also nervous about cleveland. any of these 4 teams could run away with the pennant.

break out the tums.

Of course, it's still early, but I like what I've seen so far.

My first reaction to the non-prime-time schedule was that TBS favoring RSN over the Yanks' national following. Then I realized that they were trying to avoid mid-afternoon Angels games in the LA market. That's kind of interesting, since 3/3:30 starts are great for school kids. Back in the early seventies, playoff games used to start around 3. I recall walking home from school with my transistor radio pressed against my ear and then turning on Channel 4 as soon as I got in the house. I guess that TBS recognizes that today's school kids are too wrapped up in their video games to be a significant playoff market. That's a shame.

vs RH: 762 AB .275/.310/.413
vs LH: 213 AB .203/.229/.545

So whatever trends that allowed Jeter, Posada, and A-Rod to smack around Sabathia in the past may still be valid. Keeping lefties in the lineup to a minimum is probably a good idea- It's too bad Betemit sucks as a right handed hitter, or else I wouldn't mind seeing him play first base on Thursday. With Mink there and Damon, Melky, and Cano in the lineup, the pressure is going to be on the three big right-handed bats.

Further, I think this is where Torre's decision to protect Abreu and his fragile confidence by benching him against tough lefties all season will come back to haunt the Yanks.

vs. LHP: .222/.391/.500
vs. RHP: .175/.309/.302

If you want to bench him, then bench him, but don't play the "tough lefty" card.

Either way, it would have been interesting to see....

With the Yankee games on TBS, does that mean we'll miss those annoying Dane Cook ads? 'Cause that would be all right by me.

With Matsui's knee acting up and him not hitting well right now, I'm fine with starting Duncanstein's Monster instead. Won't second guess Joe here.

As for the Atkins double, the umpires conferred responsibly. None were clear that it was a homer, so the call on the field stood. Umpires are working together much better than they were a few years ago, and most obvious blown calls (such as homer calls) are being overturned. The umps will still miss one now and then, but do you really want 5-minute delays for video reviews?

I believe that the umps' trigger-happiness on ejections (e.g. Joba) is a much bigger problem than blown calls.

Sox should be heavily favored, as Lackey has never done well in Fenway, and would make 2 starts there in a 5-game series.

http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/RhGY

Oops ..... my bad .... wrong series :-)

never mind that both team's managers, both pitchers and both team's hitters were clearly unhappy with his zone throughout the night ... the true sign you're not just being "quirky-but-consistent", but rather, just a lousy ump

The other numbers are the "money line". The minus 120 means that the Yankees are the favorite and you must bet $120 to win $100. The number without the minus (105 in this case) indicates that Cleveland is the underdog and the amount you would win for every $100 bet on them. Of course, the team you bet on has to win the game outright before you win the money.

The above information is provided for entertainment purposes only as gambling on baseball is generally a bad idea (see Rose, Pete).
;-)