The Twins beat the Tigers 6-5 in 12 innings tonight to win the AL Central. The game was sloppy, infuriating at times, tense and nothing short of thrilling. The reason why we keep coming back. The Metrodome would not go out like a sucker. At least not on this night, a night that baseball fans will not forget for some time. If you root for the Tigers this is as painful as it gets, and for the Twins? Nirvana.
We have our Cinderella.
The Twins will be spent and riding off high octane adrenaline tomorrow night in the Bronx. They will be feeling even better about themselves if they manage to steal a win in New York. The Yanks are 7-0 against them this year and must to guard against being too confident–thoughts of the 1988 Mets-Dodgers leap to mind. They need to stomp on these sweet Twinkie dreams with the quickness. Let’s hope our boys come out and play with a sense of urgency.
Momentum thy name is CC!
This is David vs Goliath, [pure and simple. Yanks are the better team and it is not even close. Still, we all know the Twins can pull out a miracle. Stranger things have happened. They’re hot right now.
But before we get back to the Bronx, for one night, the Twins and baseball are flying high like Sly Stone:
we're 7-0 vs. the Twins this season...
weren't we 9-0 vs. the Tribe in '07 before those damn midges?!
just...WIN !!!
LET'S GO YAN-KEES !! !!!
Yeah, there's so many ways to think jinx here but it's really all about CC. Nathan won't pitch tomorrow, Twins will be tired.
Really, it's all about CC. If he's the LOAD that the Yankees pay him to be, if he is a true ace, he goes out there and shuts them down, nuff said.
It's all about CC.
Of course, tomorrow isn't a Must-Win but for me, it feels like one.
Just for the record: if we lose to the pitcher who shall not be mentioned, I *will* slit my wrists.
[2] Tomorrow is without a DOUBT a must-win!! You can't let them steal a game after playing extra inings and travelling. No Mercy! Sweep the Leg!! Cinderfellas must die!!!
CC will go 7+, we won't see Hughes but Mo will close out the 9th. Yanks 6-Twins 2.
Love that Sly as well, thanks!
they all feel like must-wins now.
CC was just on outside the lines. i believe in him. i'm glad the very large man is our #1 tomorrow!
Nathan pitched 1.2 innings, but only threw 21 pitches. i wouldn't be surprised if he possibly pitched tomorrow. my goal is to not have ANY situation in this series where he'd be called on coming in! : )
[2] It's October, Alex, they all feel like Must-Win.
Oh about Sly Stone..who would have thought that 35 years later, Sly would be the one to make it back from the chaos of that Beverly Hills mansion he rented from John Phillips, while John...yikes....
I think we all know that Yanks-Sox is coming..thelarmis, stock up on the pepto-bismol for your stomach. I got ginseng tea here for me..it will be impossible to sleep knowing that as soon as I wake up the game will be on..
[2] Agreed. The big man has to nail it down. It's not a must-win but it might as well be. Stop their momentum cold and start racking up the wins.
All we need is 6 or 7 strong.
who from here is going to the game? i imagine William will be there. i hope Cliff gets to go. Mattpat, too...
Alex (the other one) will carry the Yankees on his back in this series.
[10] it would not surprise me at all if A-Rod has a HUGE postseason. ditto for CC & Tex. i think Gritner is gonna steal an important base or three and Hughes is gonna nail down some important innings. i also think Matsui shakes off his recent rust and gets some big hits.
[11] All those are safe predictions! I also see Joba whiffing Youkilis to end a rally in the 8th and then doing the electric slide back to the dugout while the Fenway Faithful throw hot dogs at him.
First off, I think Fernando Rodney is still on the mound in Minn. Leyland just flat blew that Grady Little-style.
Second, Pavano must die. I cannot think of anyone, ANYONE I have such negative feelings for....probably unhealthy, but def would be remedied by a major beating. He owes us....more than he can ever pay...
[13] I am not sure Jim Leyland has ever been that great a manager..
I have no Pavano hatred, who among us has never taken a day off work with a strained buttock??
[14] but...but...chip caray said leyland is a - and i quote - "master tactician"!!!
[15] Smoking and looking about 20 years older than you really are..is that what makes you a "master tactician"?? Chip Caray is so bad but the real horror comes later..TimJoe McBuck...
[14] He's better than most. He was the last guy to get the Pirates to the playoffs and won it all with Florida. Not too many managers out there right now with his resume, but I count Torre, LaRussa, Cito Gaston, Terry Francona and Bobby Cox as the only current managers that are undoubtedly better; maybe a few more (Charlie Manuel, maybe Ozzie and Girardi?) that will be considered better down the line.
I worry more about this series than the one after this. I think if the Yankees handle their business in this one, they'll be really hard for anyone to stop. But this series is important and I'm not looking past it.
[15] "Chip Carey says a lot of things, but he works for me."
- Jeffrey L. Bewkes
[17] Scioscia
[17] i just thought of you... an hour ago, the dude downstairs got a deliver from - yup, you guessed it - papa johns! i'm not positive it was pizza though - i think it was a drug buddy of his who was here til just a coupla minutes ago. i'm about to close shop, so hopefully all will remain quiet as i hit the bed.
there's another guy who lives in this complex and delivers for papa johns...
good night all
Sterling: The marathon is over and the sprint has begun. Rub my feet, Suzyn.
[21] Suzyn: Woobloolboloobooblloooo!!!!
[20] No wonder that place is messed up. Get out as fast as you can!
[19] I knew there was someone else. I put him in category one because he hit the ground running, but his managerial career arc might (hopefully) follow Leyland's.
[21] I'll now soon go to bed with visions of Suzyn singing Broadway tunes to John as she rubs his feet..
7:07am first pitch tomorrow for me, can't wait!!
[22] You guys seriously have to stop talking about NY pizza, it's killing me..a friend here took me to a Italian pizza joint with brick oven, imported ingredients from Italy, chef lived there and speaks Italian, etc etc..pizza wasn't even close to as good as Jerry's on East 13th St in Midwood...am crying now......
Teams like the Twins always worry me. They will play loose and fearless.
[23] That's just the thing - you don't want Italian style pizza, you want American pizza. That's the "real" pizza anyway.
Miggy posted a .942 OPS for the year, so ya can't complain about that. But getting drunk before 2 critical games may have blown their entire season. Maggy posted a .804 OPS, so that disappointment ceratinly cost at least one game. Other then those 2, the Tiggers didn't have much offense.
They were 6.5 games ahead on 9/8. After that, they played 3 games UNDER .500. Carey said it was a historic choke. Yeah, the twins poured it on at the end, but the Tigers controlled their own fate... and really blew it. The Twins did have a very good schedule the last 3 weeks, but considering Morneau was out, they played impressive baseball. Oh... and Detroit lost 3 of their last 4, while the Twins won 4 of 4. Downright Metslike.
All current facts considered, tonight is pretty close to a must win. That sounds silly for a first game of a series, but with a tired Minn, home court advantage and CC on the mound, a loss tonight would bode very poorly, and put a LOT of pressure on AJ and the rest of the team.
Reposted from last thread:
Burnett has struck out 79 of 434 batters while pitching to Posada this season. Opponents are hitting .270 against Burnett and have a .775 OPS when Posada is his catcher
In contrast, Burnett has struck out 77 of 288 batters while throwing to Molina. Opposing hitters have a .221 batting average against Burnett and a .658 OPS when Molina is his catcher.
That's not a perfect stat, as you would need to look at what teams/batters were faced, Home vs Away, and other factors, but nonetheless, those are pretty strong numbers. .117 better OPS, .049 better BA and 50% more Ks with Molina. I'll assume if AJ gets a 2nd start, unless he is a God with Molina Friday, that Po would start the 5th game.
We need an early lead and a crushing victory!
Couple three things.
1. From Sports PhD, via River Avenue, the post-season's worst hitters. Interesting. Ranking the teams according to their worst hitter, the Yankees are waaaaay out in front with Melky. The difference is even more dramatic if you order the second-worst hitters on each team. Our second-worst batter is Robinson Cano. Yikes. That's a relentless line-up.
2. It sounds like the Division Series roster will not include Fast Freddy Guzman, because they're taking Cervelli and Marte. That's not official, but Girardi was hinting at that conclusion.
3. BRIAN DUENSING = BRAIN UNSIGNED
I don't know what it means; I'll leave that to our resident hermeneuticists. (Maybe he will one day have Frankie Cervelli as a battery-mate?)
As we all care about one another, I think it's important to post this:
Suicide Watch
1) Mattpatt (automatic... fire and all)
2) [3] Weeping
3) [7] thelarmis? (is it possible to OD on pepto-bismol?)
4) A-Rod... if he doesn't come up big
5) Miggy or Leyland (Seppuku. Tiger team vote on this one.)
Please guys... 911 and keep your phones close at hand.
3. BRIAN DUENSING = BRAIN UNSIGNED. Anagram?
Sports PhD is correct, until you put Molina in the lineup.
Then it gets ugly.
[27] 1. I'm not sure what the utility of that is. They guy even acknowledges that: "Strange things can happen in a short series.'
As such:
Brian Doyle's 1978 WS:
.438 .438 .500 .938
[28] Thanks for having my back, OYF!
[27] RI, I'm sorry, what kind of unmitigated bullshit is that? In what universe is a guy hitting .320 with 25 dingers and nearly 50 doubles just a cut above Melky and below Damon, Swisher, Jorgie and Mats? If it's because he can't hit with RISP, I'd entertain that argument, otherwise, that just makes no goddamned sense at all.
Sports PhD, my eye!
OH!!! *POST-SEASON!!!*
Hah ah ah ahh h ha h!!!
Channeling Litella: Never mind!
I think we all know that Yanks-Sox is coming..
Not me, i'm calling Yankees - Angels right here, right now.
I think the Angels are just going to run Martinez and Varitek off the field.