ARod2212

I still contend that the Yankees win last year if Olerud doesn't get hurt, but that's just a small opinion, not taking anything away from the comeback. I don't know if he can make that type of an impact for you guys this last series, and possibly the postseason. However there is no doubt in my mind you would be better served with Millar being a cheerleader for the playoffs. Olerud is a smart hitter, the kind you want up, especially if you are down 5 leading off an inning. Guys like him start rallies, ala Paul O'Neill.

You guys are lucky Cleveland forgot how to play baseball. If Aaron Small wins tonight (I'm still a little up in the air about it) I really think its over. There is no way Johnson will lose on Saturday.

I'd also like to make the point, that if a Pitcher wins MVP or reliever wins Cy Young, it mainly goes to them because an Offensive player, or starting pitcher, did not have an outstanding year, leaving the award up for grabs. If you want to make the comparison, a DH has to step above and beyond all offensive players who play the field. Ortiz has not done that.

Sorry I haven't been around, computer is acting funny and is being fixed as we speak. I'm at school, in my break period. Just to shed some light on this ever changing issue. Rodriguez now leads Ortiz in Hits, Runs, Average, On Base, Slugging, Homeruns, Stolen Bases and OPS. Ortiz now leads Rodriguez in RBIs, Doubles, and Walks. Unless the award is RBI man or clutch player of the year, Ortiz is not having a better season than Rodriguez. (And the totally un-clutch A-Rod had a game tying homer last night. Ya know in case you missed it) Hey, to be more of an *******. If we're talking clutch, the past week Ortiz has a .550 OPS and a .200 average. Not saying at all that this last week defines the season, but everyone has said the stretch will determine it. And I think Rodriguez' past 7 days (1.180, .348 avg) has been hugely 'clutch'. Inside track to only Player of the Week maybe, but it supports the argument.

Dislocated elbows tend to be bad. Really tough break for Roberts, he's had a hell of a season. Good win, really encouraging to see Sheffield with some more hits and RBIs. Seems like Aarons wonderful run may be coming to an end, but man has he been a godsend. Still locating and throwing strikes. I trust him a helluva lot more than Jaret Wright too.

If it was a direct cause and effect, then I could justify it the same way. However there are two things. You can't just turn off your muscles by not taking steroids for a month, and steroids don't teach you how to hit a baseball with consistent solid contact. If what you guys say is true, that when R-Palm got caught he went off HGH, he wouldn't just stop hitting the baseball. He'd lose distance, maybe. But his mechanics will still be the same, and still should have been hitting line drives. He wasn't, he was popping up and grounding out. Going through what most people call a slump. More importantly, steroids don't cause you to be able to hit. Pot will make you act weird, HGH won't give you good leg drive and hand-eye coordination. Think of it like Curt Schilling. He was hurt last year, he had to rehab and got back to his old playing ability. What happened when Curt was on the Opening Day roster and didn't perform? He went to the minors. He took a lot of time to get back to his full potential, but he's just about there. Giambi had a parasite and a tumor, which sapped him of just about all his strength last year, he basically went a full year without playing. Now you are telling me, he's supposed to be back and ready to go at his full ability by Opening Day? No, he had to work at it for a while, get his strength back and the fundamental hitting mechanics down to start hitting the ball solid again. He started hitting line drives and took off from there. It is really not that uncommon of a case.

You go with RBIs, XBH.. these are hugely determined by ballpark and team situations. How about percentages, a little more of a fair assessment of hitting. OBP Rodriguez .419 Ortiz .397 Rodriguez is better (in my opinion, the best category to judge a hitter's success at the plate. It is number of chances vs. amount of success, pretty good way to see how good they do at the dish.) SLG Rodriguez .609 Ortiz .621 (This is where Ortiz has made his hay, but most baseball people will agree that OBP is the more important half of the following stat.) OPS Rodriguez 1.029 Ortiz 1.018 (Ortiz has made progress, but still Rodriguez is better) You can take Range Factor and Zone rating all you want. I for one, don't buy into it. Jeter improved in both categories last year, when the Yankees had the groundball inducing Kevin Brown and Javier Vazquez, and strikeout/flyball guys Pettitte, Clemens and Wells out of the rotation. I don't think Jeter got that much better defensively. It's all circumstantial. I'll go with a guy going 62 games without an error at one of, if not the most difficult position to do that. I think someone who posts the best errorless streak in 7 years deserves some defensive credit. Hey if you want to get into defensive stats, why not go with Win Shares? Rodriguez has 27.7 Batting WS and 3.0 Defensive. Ortiz has 27.2 batting WS, and 0.1 Defensive. Averaged total of 31 > 27. (If you don't know what Win Shares is, don't just dismiss it out of ignorance. If you want to make an argument against this part of my post, know what you are talking about.) This belittling Rodriguez' defense doesn't add to Ortiz' defensive value. Again, DEFENSE HAS VALUE. If all non-pitchers had to do was hit, I think we'd see some better hitters out there. Being able to do both makes Rodriguez more valuable than Ortiz.

I love it! I know exactly what you mean. Academically, October has always been my worst month. As for the Guardians, I am pretty certain they are going to take the Central. I am looking at Chicago's losing more than anything. I think they'll be the Wild Card competiton. In the end, I think we'll all be in the playoffs. Chicago is just not good enough to hold their lead for 2 weeks.

You take 'experience and intimidation', I'll take the guys who get people out and we'll see who's on top. You know what experience is? Al Leiter, Kevin Brown and Boomer Wells. I'd take Wang over anyone of those guys, and probably anyone on either staff right now to start a game. 96 MPH sinker? Sick. I agree, Randy Johnson is going to need to step up (which I am feeling more and more confident he'll do). However, if he's average I think that Wang, Chacon, Small and Mussina can pick up the slack. They all bring something good to the table.

His numbers aren't better than Rodriguez'. Ortiz has far less merit for the award, other than 'clutchness'. We've been over this 40,000 times. Unless Ortiz has way better numbers than everyone else, there is no way he should win. He doesn't, so he should not win.

Oh, and Bubba better get more reps in the outfield. Besides his outstanding defense and good arm, he can do those things at the plate most of the lineup can't, like bunt and run. He's creeping that average up there too.

hahaha, its a major league record because you can only have 3 assists an inning no matter what. It's probably been tied 40,000 or so times. I love what C-Ming did for us today, and I would love to have him start in the playoffs. Johnson, Wang, Mussina, Chacon? Personally, I think Chacon would be a huge boost to the bullpen, since he's done it before and he can save some innings on Gordon setting up. And were that to happen, I wouldn't mind having Aaron Small start a playoff game. However, I want Jaret Wright nowhere near a postseason mound. I know, he's pitched well. But he gets amped up, overthrows and could cost us the game by the first inning. I'll take the calm and collected Small and Wang over that.

That is how you hit a game winning homerun. He looked like a pimp doing that. Nice comeback win, and good stuff from Wang.

Rodriguez has already broken the record for most homers by a righty at Yankee Stadium. Again, extremely simplified. Defensive play + offensive play = total value It doesn't matter if he's able to play the field, he hasn't. And for the 46th time, I'm not saying a DH can't win it, but Ortiz' numbers don't justify it considering Rodriguez has been pretty much better across the board. A designated hitter has to without a doubt prove he's having a better offensive year, to make up for his lack of defense and Ortiz isn't doing that. Case closed.

He went 60 something games without an error, best for a third baseman in 7 years. He's not a slouch out there.

A DH can be the MVP, but he's got to have far and away better numbers than everyone else, like Bonds in 2001. Even if Barry was a DH, I would give him the MVP for that year. When the offensive statistics are razor close and one guy is providing defensive value, he should take precedence.

Ah, yes. This proves Ortiz is better. Thank God I now see the light. (I was going to ignore you, but I guess I'll just make fun of you) I guess that begs the obvious question, why doesn't he play there everyday?

haha, I like irony. Out of all our wins, I pick this one as really big. It won't be remembered much, but I think this is a big win.

N.I.C.E. Way to go Chacon. Once again showing that you can't f*** with the Yankees, we're simply going to win, and that's it. Go New York, Go New York, Go.

f***ing Spartans.

Didn't Manny basically say the same thing in July?

I don't care if we win 11-1, 11-10 or 1-0. A win is a win, and a blown lead when your starter is gone after two innings on a ******** tossing, it is not reprehensible. They won, case closed.

So what I get from this post is that you are ignorant and have the attention span of a flea. Way to go -30 respect points. Anybody else want to go against what I said?

Refute this post, or shut up. http://www.talksox.com/forum/showpost.php?p=78006&postcount=267 Somebody, prove me wrong.

The girl is making a valid point, and your just dismissing it. Ignorance sure is nice, isn't it?