yankees228

Curtis has looked absolutely lost at the plate over the past few series.

Gom has been saying this for awhile, so at the risk of further inflating his ego, even when Hughes is on, he almost never hits his spots with his fastball. EDIT: Nice play by Granderson to recover against the wind.

First off, I was talking about the postseason as a whole. Second, just like my comment, MVP awards are merely opinions, and hardly serve as concrete evidence when making an argument. Most would agree that A-Rod could have easily won that award. Third, stating that I think A-Rod was the biggest reason they won the World Series is hardly a slight at Sabathia. He was great, but I just think that A-Rod had such a profound affect on so many of their eleven wins, that he was the difference maker. I believe that since the inception of the Wild Card, A-Rod's 2009 postseason is the greatest ever. While his pure numbers probably fall short to Bonds' in 2002, the amount of big hits A-Rod had is staggering, even surpassing Ortiz's accomplishments in 2004. -Game tying RBI single in the bottom of the 6th inning in game 2 of the ALDS. -Game tying two run home run in the bottom of the 9th inning in game 2 of the ALDS. -Game tying home run in the bottom of the 7th inning in game 3 of the ALDS. -Game tying home run in the bottom of the 11th inning in game 2 of the ALCS. -Go ahead RBI double in the top of the 9th inning in game 4 of the World Series. When you couple those big hits with his pure numbers, I'm not sure an argument can be made for any individual player having a greater impact on the 2009 Yankees' postseason run than A-Rod. EDIT: Additionally, when you consider the aforementioned correlation between A-Rod's success and the Yankees' success, I truly believe he was the biggest individual reason why they won.

In my opinion, the biggest reason the Yankees won the World Series last year was that A-Rod hit in the postseason. As I've mentioned before, over the last few years, the success of the Yankees correlates almost directly with how well A-Rod is playing. Prior to the 2009 postseason, the last time A-Rod really hit in October was the 2004 ALDS. I don't think it's much of coincidence that the 2004 ALDS was also the last time the Yankees had won a postseason series.

What a pitch to freeze Buck. The Jays are very lucky to have gotten that last run.

These are all good match-ups for Bard.

Wow, this is absolutely brutal.

Part of the reason that the AAV is so high (in all likelihood) is that the years aren't higher. If Howard got the same amount of years as Teixeira, his AAV likely would have been closer to 20M.

I agree with your general point, but I don't think you can draw a parallel between the starts for the 2009 Yankees and the 2010 Red Sox. The Yankees, like the Red Sox, were hurt by slow starts from key players. However, for the first twenty eight games of the season, the Yankees were without their most important player. It was a unique situation.

Here's all the information about the Morales' AB. http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2010/04/25/about-the-morales-at-bat/ Multiple issues here. First off, the manager needs to be decisive, and cannot just change his mind like that. Make a decision and stick with it, don't go halfway. Additionally, once the count goes to 3-0 the chances of retiring Morales are very poor. Couple that with the fact that Girardi had strongly considered walking Morales prior to the AB, and that it was now second base that was open (instead of third base), he should have walked him at that point. Maybe my criticisms of Girardi seem excessive, but I really believe he holds this team back.

"Bingo." ~ Gom

Couple points from today's game. I've been saying all year long that I think Gardner needs to play everyday in left field. Between his patience and speed (especially now that he's hot), he certainly holds his own offensively, and adds a different dynamic to this team. Additionally, the disparity between him and Thames defensively is enormous. Thames seems to cost them at least once a game defensively (when he plays the outfield), and if they really want to play him against lefties, I think he has to DH. Also, I didn't hear Joe's explanation (because I missed the post game show), but giving away a ball to Morales was ridiculous. The communication in situations like that needs to be better, and that goes back to the manager in my opinion.

I've been very impressed with A-Rod defensively so far. Last year he was awful, coming back from the hip surgery, but he appears to be fully healthy.

I have a hard time believing Swisher didn't feel comfortable swinging away, when he homered the previous night, and doubled in his previous AB. I understand your take on it, but I just don't think players should be allowed to make the decision to giveaway outs. If a guy really feels the need to bunt in a particular situation, go ask the manager right before you go up to the plate. @ Jacko

This is an unnecessary hyperbole, and one that continues to perpetuate a fallacy. Excluding close safe/out calls in non-crucial spots that benefitted both teams, and strike/ball calls that benefitted both teams, if memory serves, here were the bad calls during the postseason that occurred in crucial spots and/or directly influenced whether or not a run scored... Calls that benefitted the Yankees: -Joe Mauer's bloop down the left field line being called foul in the top of the 11th inning of game 2 of the ALDS. -The missed double play at third base during the run down in the top of the 5th inning of game 4 of the ALCS. -Chase Utley being called out on the back end of a double play in the top of the 8th inning of game 2 of the World Series. Calls that went against the Yankees: -Nick Swisher being called out for leaving too early from third base on a sacrifice fly in the top of the 4th inning of game 4 of the ALCS. -Johnny Damon's line drive to Ryan Howard being ruled a catch in the bottom of the 7th inning of game 2 of the World Series. -The home plate umpire ruling that Ryan Howard touched home plate in the bottom of the 4th inning of game 4 of the World Series.

Couple additional points in this thread. In the ninth inning on friday night, Girardi pinch hit Thames for Johnson leading off against Fuentes. I understand that Joe wanted Thames, who hits lefties well, to face a lefty, but I still don't like the move. In that situation, down two runs, a walk is as good as a home run, and few players on the team are better at getting on base than Johnson. I'd prefer that over the platoon advantage. The second point comes from today's game. Swisher bunted on his own in the fourth inning with nobody out, to move two runners up. I think it was a terrible decision, but I won't discuss that, because, according to Swisher, he did it on his own. However, what I will say is that I disagree with Joe's policy of allowing hitters to sac bunt on their own. In my opinion, a hitter should not be allowed to giveaway an out on their own. Those decisions are for the manager to make. I understand that Joe isn't the only manager to have this policy, and I'm sure it's quite common, but I still disagree with it.

Really well played game by the Yankees. One of the better wins so far this year. Impressive effort.

I think it's important for the Sox to get an impact bat, but I would be very hesitant to deal Buchholz.