Erstad make a nice play on a hard grounder to Matsui. He flips to K-Rod for the final out.
Congratulations to the Angels! They executed their game plan. They put the bat on the ball and good things happened. The pitching was very good. Santana beats the Yankees for the third time this year.
A big cheer for Bengie Molina. He had a fantastic series. Garret Anderson didn’t get on base much, but he had two big home runs.
The big bats for the Yankees, A-Rod, Sheffield and Matsui disappointed. There will be a lot of negative talk about Alex tomorrow on talk radio. But really, it was the team’s defense that led to the runs that lost them the series. The Yankees need to address that problem if they are going to beat a team like the Angels in the future.
On to Chicago!
Thank you Angels! The chants may continue. 2000! 2000! 2000! 2000! 🙂
Once again, we all owe David Pinto a great thank you for all your work. Can’t wait to do this again tomorrow night.
A completely East Coast free LCS huh…I’m afraid the ratings and buzz are going to be way down from the last few years
Yeah, no question Fox is pissed.
Nice work David.
This should be a heck of a series. While I’m a Red Sox fan, it will be nice to see different teams in the ALCS this year (at least, I felt that way after Boston got knocked out), especially with the NLCS a rematch.
We might even get some games finished in under 4 hours.
Nice job on the busy and insightful coverage, as usual. Sheff wasn’t bad tonight, though, with 3 hits. The thing with A-Rod, of course, is how you don’t even expect a hit with him in that spot, which is so bizarre given his stats.
Oh well, at least the Astros have the good Yankees pitchers, so that’s almost like rooting for the same team…
Forget A-Rod. How about Matsui going 0-for-5 and living 8 runners on? Nice work, there. I just hope it doesn’t make Steinbrenner made enough to not offer him a contract.
How do you say choke in Japanese? How about “left on base?” Good pitching from Los Angeles Angeles of Anaheim, California USA bullpen after Colon pulled a David Wells, though. Bring on the stats and facts, Mr. Pinto.
And you know Matsui is going to demand 12 million a year…..
Great coverage as usual David. That turned out to be a great series.
so, whose heads will roll in the bronx this offseason?
I wonder why the Yanks didnt start Johnson this game…I know he was on 2 days rest but they didnt seem to concerned about him pitching…Let the second guessing begin.
Who starts game 1 for the Angels?
Mike Witt?
Chuck Finley backed up by Mark Langston
Don’t forget Donnie Moore coming out of the pen.
Dan: I asked that question halfway through this game. Johnson could have pitched 4 innings. Throw Mussina/Leiter/Small for 2. Then give the ball to Gordon and Rivera. Game over. Oh well. Traditional managing loses to outside-the-box hindsight everytime!
As for whose heads will roll: I predict….no one’s. I doubt Cashman will be back; I doubt Mel will be back. But the thing is, they aren’t being “fired” because their contracts are up. It’s just a parting on less-than-friendly terms. I’m sad that Cashman is leaving. He’ll be one helluva GM on a team where he’s allowed free reign. Look at some of the deals he’s pulled off: David Justice, Shawn Chacon for not very much. Mel: He probably deserved to go years ago. The Yanks pitching has been pretty bad for two years now with no signs of improvement. I hope Girardi doesn’t go though. He’ll get a managerial offer, but he’s more valuable than anyone realizes to the Yankees.
Oh and as for game 1: Dumb and Dumber on TV were saying that Paul Byrd will have the honor of getting his ass kicked by facing the White Sox later tonight. Can the Angels possibly win game 1 after flying from New York to LA to Chicago in 24 hours while facing Contreras who’s going to mixing his pitches up like no other?
I disagree about Cashman. He made some lousy deals as well. Wright, Pavano, Weaver, Mondesi, Mike Lowell, etc. Let’s be fair.
The Mondesi deal wasn’t Cashman’s. That was George overreacting and pulling the trigger after watching Enrique Wilson stumble around right field against the Mets. Mike Lowell was let go because there was this fellow named Scott Brosius who led the Yanks to a few World Championships and to the brink of another before retiring before he absolutely had to.
Wright, Pavano…yeah, bad moves. But so was Clement.
Don’t forget that George wanted Jim Edmonds a few years back, and Cashman told him not to get him.
You’re focusing on the trees instead of the forest. But then, again, when talking Yankees, I wouldn’t expect anything else from a Yankee Despiser 🙂
I give them all the credit in the world for their world championships…. but if you examine all the deals over the years, they’ve had their share of turkeys. But with a payroll $80 more than the next team, you’re going to do okay….
A completely East Coast free LCS huh…I’m afraid the ratings and buzz are going to be way down from the last few years.
Last time I checked, Chicago, LA and Houston were the second-, third- and fourth-largest US cities. Granted, St. Louis is smaller, but their following is pretty big. It’s not like this is gonna be Marlins-Indians or anything.
True, these are big markets. But the Baseball Media Gods will be totally flummoxed without the East Coast teams to talk about… there just won’t be as much hype as in years past.
I would have probably rooted for the White Sox anyway. But now since the Angels have advanced, there is no way I want to hear and see those moronic red thundersticks in another World Series. Go Sox!
I HOPE THE ANGLES LOSE IN CHICAGO…………
Boo hoo Skankee losers. The only thing that disappointed me was not getting to see a replay of the GayRod bitch slap.
Thanks for that well thought-out tirade Jack Tanner.
I think Clement was a VERY good investment for the Red Sox, considering he was the only constant on their staff.
Many of us Nationers are grateful for last year’s win, because right now it looks like it won’t happen for a few years. However, should Youk and Hanley come up next year to play first and third, respectively, it could be a very interesting year.
Casey, don’t forget Papelbon and possibly Delcarmen and Hansen. The future is bright.