I'm glad I got the teams I did as I might have ended up getting sick of reading about the Red Sox more than the 19 times I already do each year. I hope the Twins make the playoffs again next season in their first year in the new ballpark. For one, the team I root for (Yankees) owns them in October and I would love to see Selig lose his marbles when it's snowing and 30 out in Minny/St. Paul during the entire ALDS. What's he going to do after the next WBC if the worlds collided to have the Rockies play the Twins in the WS? As a fan of most of the teams in the biggest market in the country, I'm all for spending the money you have to get the best players, coaches and facilities. I've never been a small market guy and that's a product of spending most of my life in New York and Dallas. I saw the small market economy first hand during the months I spent working for the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets. I, along with six of my cohorts, were laid off when the perfect storm of the AFL - we ran ticket sales for the Columbus Destroyers as well as the Jackets - taking a year off (read: shutting down) and the Jackets adding salary in a mid-season trade for Jason Williams hit at the same time. That story was meant to show that I can emphasize with the small market, but I prefer the big time and don't think it's the Yankees/Dodgers/Red Sox/Mets/Cubs/Phillies faults for having. I do have exception when a team has money and doesn't spend it.
Ranting over, on to the Yankees...What was thought to be a weakness, the Yankees starters have allowed just 6 ER in 33 1/3 IP for a 1.62 ERA. The worst start so far through five games was A.J. Burnett's in G2 of the ALCS when he went 6 1/3 IP and gave up two earned. If the Yankees take the commanding 3-0 lead on the strength of Andy Pettitte this afternoon, fans and the media will play up the 2004 ALCS choke job into ad nauseum. The trifecta of Sabathia, Burnett and Pettitte has performed as well through half of the playoffs as any other trio of starters in recent memory. The vaunted bullpen which many saw as the Yankees edge in this series as the teams are very comparable through the lineup and the rotation has been phenomenal, going 17 2/3 while just allowing 3 ER.
For the people who complain that the wildcard team/weakest division winner doesn't have enough of a disadvantage (just one less home game) over the team with the best record in baseball, here's this: The Yankees get to play a Friday and Saturday night game at home in the cold vs. a warm weather team. These weekend night games allow for rowdier, drunker crowds who are fine with staying up all night rooting for their club. The Angels then have a 1 pm first pitch on a Monday in G3. What kind of crowd could there be there?
If the Yankees win tonight, they would tie a major league record (1970 Baltimore Orioles) by winning their first six games of a postseason. The longest winning streak in a single postseason belongs to the 2004 Boston Red Sox and the 2005 Chicago White Sox (eight games). The best postseason record by any team in the Wildcard era is 11-1, shared by the 2005 White Sox and the 1999 Yankees.
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