Dent-This

And he has tons of playing experience in New York and on that mound. He will be very effective in this series.

Alright, this is what i would do... Game 1 - Curt Game 2 - Pedro Game 3 - Bronson Game 4 - Wake Game 5 - Shilling Game 6 - Pedro Now in game 7, i start Wakefield to throw off the MFY bats for the first couple of innings after facing Curt and Pedro in consecutive games. At the first sign of danger or after the third or fourth inning i bring in Bronson for two or three innings then give it over to Timlin, Foulke, Lowe for the last couple of innings. I think having Wake start would be a great way to slow them down in the early innings and get them used to his "slowness" and then bring in the heaters.

I think he should keep the rows until his pitching starts to suffer then go back to this:

I'm going to say four. I know its not going to happen but...if Curt Shilling pitches godly in game one and our offense hits the hell out of Mussina we'll win. With that momentum going into the next game with Pedro pitching against...?...Brown, Leiber, Vasquez?...They are all either hurt or playing at that level without injury. Basically, if we win the first two games we could sweep the series (even if Mussina pitches Game 4). I have faith in our pitching and if we continue to pitch well we will win. But the first game is crucial, and then the second game. We got this we just need to play the kind of baseball all of RSN knows the boys can play. More realistically, probably 5.

Here are the boys averages against Mussina this year: Jesus - 75 AB/18 H/4 2B/1 HR/9 RBI/7 BB/11 K/.240 BA/.631 OPS Manny - 74 AB/15 H/2 2B/1 3B/5 HR/13 RBI/17 K/.203 BA/.713 OPS Trot - 57 AB/11 H/5 2B/1 HR/4 RBI/5 BB/17 K/.193 BA/.603 OPS Tek - 44 AB/4 H/3 BB/22 K/.091 BA/.240 OPS Ortiz - 29 AB/2 H/1 RBI/3 BB/14 K/.069 BA/.225 OPS Millar - 23 AB/8 H/2 2B/1 HR/3 RBI/3 BB/2 K/.348 BA/.988 OPS Minky - 12 AB/3 H/1 2B/3 K/.250 BA/.583 OPS Kapler - 12 AB/2 H/1 HR/4 RBI/1 K/.167 BA/.583 OPS Bellhorn - 9 AB/3 H/1 HR/2 RBI/4 BB/3 K/.333 BA/1.205 OPS Mirabelli - 6 AB/2 H/1 2B/1 BB/1 K/.333 BA/.929 OPS O.C. - 5 AB/1 H/1 2B/1 K/.200 BA/.600 OPS Pokey - 2 AB/0 H/1 K There's gunna be another battle tomorrow night for sure.

Here are some words of wisdom from Darren Erstad about our boys: "These boys are winning the World Series, by the way," said Erstad, an Angel who possesses the kind of iron required of a champion. "That's the deepest team I've ever seen. They have every piece of the puzzle. I don't see anybody beating them." One game at a time...we'll do this.

Come-on its not THAT bad...

There have been alot of balls headed to the backstop period. WP:10 PB:2 Catchers Err:1 And pitchers are also making alot of errors this post-season.

Another ALCS with the MFY, who could have imagined? It could have very well been the Twinkies, its not like they didnt have their chances to cash in. A reunion with the MFY in the ALCS seems appropriate considering ALL the circumstances. Lets do this the right way this time. Post-season lore looms on the horizon. Game 1 Starters: Mike Mussina - had three regular season starts against us: Apr.17 - 5 IP/7 H/4 R/3 ER/1 HR/4BB/2 K/99 P/L(5-2) Sep. 19 - 7 IP/1 R/1 ER/0 HR/2 BB/8 K/117 P/W(11-1) Sep. 24 - 6 IP/5 H/3 R/3 ER/2 HR/3 BB/6 K/103P/ND(6-4) - MFY won Career post-season vs. Bos: 3 G/4.11 ERA/0-2 REC/15.3 IP/16 H/7 ER/4 BB/17 K Career post-season in ALCS: 7 G/3.07 ERA/1-3 REC/44 IP/32 H/15 ER/11 BB/51 K ________________________________________________________________________________ Curt Shilling - had three regular season starts against the MFY: Apr.17 - 6.1 IP/6 H/1 R/1 ER/1 HR/4 BB/8 K/121 P/W(5-2) Jul.23 - 5.1 IP/10 H/7 R/7 ER/1 HR/2 BB/3 K/112P/ND(8-2) - MFY won Sep.26 - 7 IP/1H/2 R/2 ER/0 HR/4 BB/6 K/103P/W(11-4) Career post-season vs. MFY: 3 G/1.69 ERA/1-0 REC/21.2 IP/12 H/4 ER/2 BB/26 K Career post-season in NLCS: 3 G/1.44 ERA/1-0 REC/1 CG/25 IP/15 H/4 ER/7 BB/31 K This pitching matchup for game one is certainly in our favor. I'm not taking the MFY lightly i just have confidence in this team. The batting matchups are in our favor as well. I predict many strikeouts a few walks and about 4-5 HR's in this one. Shilling will lead us to the promised land! HAVE FAITH! This is us after Game 7(hopefully it wont go that long):

The MFY...obviously. Although, we match up well against both teams especially if that series goes to 5. I feel i need redemption though, revenge will have never tasted so sweet.

So, with the MFY pitching Vasquez tonight and the Twinkies pitching Santana we know its going to be a good game. But say the MFY loose tonight and are forced to a fifth game in NY who would Torre pitch in the final game? Should he give the ball back to Mussina or try his luck with El Dookie and hope his (exhausted) bullpen helps him out? I think pitching El Dookie would be the most idiotic thing in the world. But who knows, if Dookie is healthyhe can put up very good numbers (8-0 to start the season). In his last start Aug. 19th against the Twinkies this was his line: 6.1 IP/7 H/5 R/5 ER/3 BB/6 K/107 P/ND(13-10) - MFY won this game His last outing against TOR was a train wreck ontop of a plane crash: 3.0 IP/5 H/5 R/5 ER/1 HR/3 BB/2 K/64 P/L(8-2) Overall Dookie has had a good season posting: 84.2 IP/73 H/31 R/31 ER/9 HR/36 BB/84 K/1432 P/8-2 record/3.30 ERA If his is healthy i think this is a no-brainer. But if he cant pitch (or Torre doesnt want him too) Mussina will get the call. Mike has pitched against the Twinkies twice this year once on Aug. 18th and the last on Sep. 29th. Aug. 18th - 4.0 IP/5 H/4 R/4 ER/1 HR/2 BB/2 K/68 P/L(9-7) Sep. 29th - 6.0 IP/7 H/3 R/3 ER/ 1 HR/4 BB/3 K/101 P/ND(5-3) - MFY won. Game 1 - 7.0 IP/7 H/2 R/2 ER/1 HR/1 BB/7 K/103 P/L(2-0) Although Mussina managed a good outing in Game 1 his two regular season starts against the Twinkies weren't that great. Should he pitch Game 5 and win we can only hope Leiber starts off the ALCS against us. As for the Twinkies beating the MFY, all i have to say is that Santana and Radke aren't going to pitch in Game 1 or 2 of the ALCS if they do. Plus...bring the Empire ON! If I was Torre id go with Mussina and put Leiber/Dookie (if healthy) on the hill in Game 1 of ALCS. Either way a five game series is going screw up both rotations.

Rematch anyone? The Red Sox are coming.

Here are some facts about Mendoza in prior ALCS appearances: 0-0 record/0.75 era/12 IP/7 SO/2 BB/1 ER/7 H/1 SV I'm picking Mendoza because he has experience and is not a liability. Leskanic scares the hell out of me. Williamson, out of the question.

GREAT GAME GUYS! Keep it rollin. 8 more to go. BELIEVE

IT.IS.ON! Bronson will own game three! Sweep.